awaken | hyunjin. [🗸]

10. burning the midnight oil

Like people need oxygen, Hyunjin needed an escape. His face was still black, blue, and red from the multiple times Mrs. Hwang clobbered him--the aging diamond ring on her finger cut into his skin and caused scabs to form overnight. He wasn't sure how or why she still had the faith to wear that thing anymore, much less to use it as a weapon.

That's why Hyunjin was wide awake at eleven o'clock at night the following day. Dealing with this type of pain was new to him, and he would never dare to reveal his sensitivity to his mother. Besides, there really was no better time to get upset than eleven PM in Hyunjin's severely unbiased opinion, when his mother was awake and drunker than ever, completely unable to register other people's emotions--she wouldn't remember a thing even if she managed to hear him from across the house.

One hand caressing his prominent cheekbones, Hyunjin scrambled around his pitch-black bedroom with shaky hands and no idea where he was going. If he remembered correctly, Mrs. Hwang had left a pair of multiple-year-old-crutches against his door for him, so he groped around the dark for them and slouched until he was at the right height to fit them. He had no particular mission other than to leave this hellhole for a while; thus he crept out of his bedroom and out the door that led to the garage. He swore he saw a backdoor in the garage when he first entered this way, and that would ultimately be a more stealthy means of egress than the garage door itself.

The crutches hurt, but Hyunjin powered on, using blind luck to make his way out the backdoor and around the house. It was chilly and humid outside, and still a couple of cars drove past, providing just enough light so that he wouldn't stray off the path. At this point, Hyunjin was so focused on reaching the sidewalk that he forgot how much his fresh bruises were hurting.

Each step was another motivation for him to keep going. They represented his mother's faults: left was her lack of independent abilities, right was her alcoholism that had apparently spread to Hyunjin as a child, left was Mrs. Hwang putting the blame for her husband's death on Hyunjin. Before he realized it, he was staggering a couple houses away from his own, and each of those steps was inspired by another reason to hate Mrs. Hwang. This brought a smile to Hyunjin's dry lips; the hatred really fueled his fire.

He paused for air at the corner of his block, leaning against an uneven stop sign. In front of him, the street was damp--perhaps it had rained without him noticing--and reflected lights from some streetlamps that could be seen some distance away. His eyes had been adjusted to the dark at least since he reached the sidewalk, but it hurt to squint through it anyway because of his bruised cheek. Hyunjin limped across the street without checking both ways and made it safely to the opposite block, at least until he twisted his ankle in a pothole and slammed down on the cement.

The old crutches snapped under his weight after he collapsed, breaking in two pieces each. He was too worn and achy to attempt to stand up on his own, so he lay still for what felt like seconds before suddenly it was daytime again: he had fallen asleep.

The sky was a grey canvas with hints of peach and lilac, not reaching full bloom as a blue flower yet. Hyunjin's ankle was throbbing; in fact, it was what woke him up. He would guess it was no later than six-thirty. He sat up with all his might, moved the trashed crutches out of his way, and jumped at the sound of a car approaching from behind him.

"Are you okay?" a woman's voice asked the same time the car stopped. Hyunjin turned his head and saw the voice's owner crouching about a foot behind him, wearing pink nurse scrubs and somehow making dark eye circles look friendly. She had a frown on her face and touched her hand to Hyunjin's left shoulder. "I was on my way home from work when I saw you laying here. Are you hurt?" His ears were ringing, so she sounded quiet.

"My ankle," Hyunjin murmured, rubbing his eyes tiredly and nearly falling backwards again, putting pressure on the nurse's hand. She stood up straight and helped the boy up as well, noticing his stance was uncomfortable.

"What's your address? I'll take you back home and tell you how to treat that," she said, nodding at the swollen joint and also at his discolored face. Hyunjin stood his ground, smart not to trust her at first but then acknowledging her legitimate hospital-brand name badge. He yawned out his address to the lady, only to be more confused by the look that fell over her face once he finished talking.

"What?"

"Are you Hwang Hyunjin?" she wondered, bringing her hands to her mouth in shock. He blushed--did the whole world know he was a coma survivor? "I thought you were dead! I haven't seen you or your mother in years!"

"I don't blame you," Hyunjin mumbled. He correctly assumed she was his neighbor.

"Hmm?"

"Nothing. Let's go."

The woman drove Hyunjin to his home, telling him her name and that he should put ice on everything. He wasn't sure if there was enough ice in the world to numb all his pains but he nodded and thanked the woman, frankly terrified to go back inside. The nightmare begins again.

Mrs. Hwang opened the front door when the nurse drove off, leaving Hyunjin a shaky mess but he put on his war face and didn't appear afraid when Mrs. Hwang stomped up to confront him.

"Where the hell were you!" she blasted, using the palm of her hand to slap his injured cheek, the sting a billion times worse than it should have been. Hyunjin just shut his eyes to keep his reaction to himself. "You and I are going to the ER. You got jumped, you hear me?"

"I didn't get jumped," Hyunjin defied, but Mrs. Hwang returned to the base of the driveway adamantly and opened the garage door so she could get in the car.

She yelled back, "I said you got jumped, you weak-ass! Get in!"

The drive to the hospital was filled with silence on Hyunjin's end and neverending insults on his mother's end, though he wasn't affected. He let her take him to the emergency room, but the only thing they could do was prescribe painkillers and issue him a new set of crutches; Hyunjin went home that day feeling defeated physically and psychologically. He didn't even get to see Changbin or Dr. Seo while he was there.

Congratulations, Mom. You win.