awaken | hyunjin. [🗸]

16. going down swingin'

Eunkyung climbed up the steps in pursuit of Hyunjin. Rubbing her hands together nervously, she knocked on Changbin's bedroom door, but there was no reply. Perhaps since right now was a Saturday morning, Hyunjin was sleeping in, but Eunkyung had no frame of reference as to his regular sleeping schedule. She allowed herself into the bedroom and peered inside, instantly seeing Hyunjin's discolored face on top of white pillows.

His bruises were prominent but healing, and the cuts where his bandages had been the day before were faded scabs at this point. Eunkyung didn't want to wake the poor boy up after having learned how hard his life was--he deserved a break, didn't he? But a police officer was at the front door waiting to see Hyunjin, who had been filed as missing by Mrs. Hwang.

The worried woman crept forward and bent over the edge of the bed, placing her hand on Hyunjin's shoulder and shaking it lightly. "Hyunjin, wake up."

He was clearly too submerged to have heard her, so she shook a bit harder and placed her palm on his cheek. She wasn't that focused on making sure he woke up, for her heart was telling her to tell the officer that Hyunjin was being abused. The proof was on his face.

"Hmm?" Hyunjin hummed suddenly, gently removing Eunkyung's hand from his face. He sat up straight as part of a morning habit.

"There's a police officer here asking about you," Eunkyung told him bashfully. "He told me your mother said you were missing. You should come downstairs."

"Sure," Hyunjin mumbled. He was so tired, it was hard forcing himself to stand up, so Eunkyung placed her hand supportively on his back and led him to his crutches.

"Poor kid, you're probably so sore..."

"I'm not a kid," Hyunjin said. Eunkyung just smiled and gestured into the hallway, anxious to have the officer leave her property as anyone would be. She and Hyunjin could see the man from the top of the stairs, and his presence became more true to Hyunjin the further downstairs he went. His heart pounded; he was awake now. It didn't occur to him earlier that he could be in trouble with the police for something.

As soon as Hyunjin and Eunkyung arrived at the door, Changbin sat up on the couch and observed the scene at the front door noiselessly.

"Good morning," said the officer. "Are you Hwang Hyunjin?"

"Yeah," said the sleepy teen, squinting at him because the sky was bright outside of the threshold.

"Where did you get all those bruises? And the crutches?" the officer queried, though it appeared that that wasn't the question he intended to ask in the first place. Hyunjin felt himself blushing.

"Uh, a wrestling accident."

"Anyway," the officer said skeptically, "are you aware that your mother reported you as missing last night?"

"No," Hyunjin said. He looked down at his feet, thankful that Eunkyung was still close by, and blurted to the officer, "I'm just spending the night at my friend's house. I'll call my mom as soon as possible--sorry for the inconvenience."

"Not so fast," the man insisted, holding his palm out before Hyunjin could try to leave. Both of them let out a frustrated sigh. "As required by law, I have to escort you back home. Come along."

Eunkyung and Hyunjin looked at each other, then Hyunjin backwards at Changbin: he would have to go home and face the monster once again. All of the people inside the house were suddenly overcome with distress but couldn't let the officer know this--despite Eunkyung's inner need to confess everything to him--so Hyunjin stepped forward, knowing that if he left any of his belongings here he would definitely come back to get it, and followed the police officer to his vehicle. It felt like he was being legally punished for finding an escape from Mrs. Hwang.

"How long have you been a wrestler?" the officer asked Hyunjin as a way to make the car ride less awkward. Changbin's was only a couple minutes from Hyunjin's, but it felt like an eternity.

"Not long," Hyunjin said, and as an attempt to cheer himself up, he added, "and probably for not much longer after this." It felt so dirty lying to a police officer.

"Sorry, kid."

Hyunjin and the officer arrived at Mrs. Hwang's front door at least three years later, and Hyunjin could swear the man recoiled as soon as he saw Mrs. Hwang's sagging face. "Good morning, Mrs. Hwang. Make sure this one quits wrestling from now on, okay?"

"Thanks," Mrs. Hwang said, plastering a closed-mouth smile on her face. Hyunjin lurched forward and into the house, automatically hating the split-level nature of it, and gulped hard as Mrs. Hwang shut the front door behind him. They were quiet for a minute.

"Wrestling? Anyone can see you're too flimsy for that," Mrs. Hwang suddenly commented, shaking her head as the anger oozed out. She nudged him on the shoulder to add to her point and watched as his whole upper body leaned backwards. "I can't believe you snuck out! You're getting into your old habits again, ain't you?"

"How should I know?" Hyunjin yelled in return. He was glaring hard.

"Don't get smart with me, you little bastard," she hissed, grabbing a fistful of his clean, bed-head hair and apparently pulling upwards to inflict pain. "You know what kind of worry this caused me? I had to go to the police!"

"Too bad they didn't throw you in jail," Hyunjin muttered. He grimaced as Mrs. Hwang's fingers pulled harder on his hair and her free hand scratched continuously at his scabs.

"What did you say to me?"

"I said you're a fucking hag!" Both of them were more than livid now, so much that the foyer could have been chock-full of the steam coming out of their ears.

As proud as he was for having released his feelings about his mother, Hyunjin instantly regretted every word and saw what was left of his life flash before his eyes: the Christmas photo, the day he woke up, his first beating, his first friend. Mrs. Hwang's bared her teeth and used all her might to shove Hyunjin backwards, and backwards happened to be downstairs. Hyunjin hit his head on multiple wooden steps on the way down; the highway to hell was indeed very painful and very real.

The metal crutches skated down the stairs after him and landed on either of his sides. His bedroom door was hardly visible despite now being morning; his vision was so clouded from the blow that he lay still for several moments. He was convinced Mrs. Hwang came downstairs to check his pulse, but there was no way to tell since she was long out of sight by the time he could see properly again. Hyunjin didn't sit up but instead extended his throbbing arms: one to the back of his head, the other to his doorknob.

He was going to pack his laptop and clothes, call Changbin for a ride, and get out of there. It's about time.