Taehyung woke up to a piercing headache from last night. He struggled to rise from his bed as his eyes laid on the broken ashtray lying on the floor. Suddenly the memories of last night started to float in his head. The betrayal. The warning. The fight. He yelped in pain.
Even though he was sober enough, he still felt dizzy.. Dizzy and awful.
-
Standing by the kitchen stove, jisoo looked at the purple bruise that had formed on her wrist. She could still feel his tight grip and dark eyes. It never left her memory.
Tears pricked her eyes. She felt anger. What she felt was plain anger. She wanted to escape from here and curl into her mother's lap. She wanted to be able to be free and live a fear free life.
Her chin trembled from the thought as she carefully put the steamer away and took out the dumplings one by one.
-
He watched her in silence as she set the table. She looked tired. He observed carefully. She was alert, more alert of her surroundings than she had ever been before when he was around. Every step coming closer, she could hear and her muscles tightened.
Taehyung walked quietly and settled on the table. He didn't say a word instead he lit a cigarette and the scent of tobacco stung the air.
He didn't ask her if she had eaten like he did everytime instead he watched her silently as she presented the food in front of him. His gaze gave her the same frozen jolt as she felt the first time he had laid his eyes on her.
"do you need anything else? " she asked lowly. Jaws clenched. A duty that she still had to fulfil despite how much she hated his presence.
"no." he replied short.
He made sure that he didn't feel any sympathy for her but he couldn't help feel contrite.
Jisoo, like usual stood beside him. Hands folded, head hung low. She hated this system, she hated these rules. Meanwhile all she could do was to stand there silently. If taehyung had looked at her just a little more carefully, he would've notice her own little protest going on within her..
He didn't utter a word neither did she but, the tension in the room was so thick that one could almost cut it with a knife. A sudden knock on the door eased some. A deep sigh escaped taehyung's mouth. He seemed to be more effected by it then her.
"come in. " spoke Taehyung and a man in khaki uniform entered in. " sir," he saluted him. Taehyung nodded in response. "lieutenant- Yung, is here to see you. "
"okay, bring him in. " he commanded and the man left. Meanwhile he wiped his hand with a napkin and sat more attentively than he did earlier.
Not after too long a man walked in, "Kim Taehyung. " a middle aged man with silver-gray hair spoke. A grin was spread on his face.
"Mr. Yung, it's a pleasure to see you. "Taehyung replied and offered him a seat next to him. While jisoo poured him a cup of tea on taehyung's command.
"what made you come here? "asked taehyung as he took a bite of his breakfast.
"well, some things needed to be discussed. " he grinned. Meanwhile he kept taking a look at jisoo every once in a while.
"is she your personal comfort woman?" he finally asked. He couldn't resist it anymore.
Taehyung's jaw instantly tightend as he put his cup down. "Yes." he replied short.
If he could hide her just like that. He would. A thought crossed Taehyung's mind.
"well, you have a good.. Taste. " he spoke as he scanned jisoo once again. She looked so tempting, so fragile. Taehyung's expressions remained steady as he ignored lieutenant's comment, trying not to add anything to his filth.
"we-" he stared at her again, intently and by this time her fist started to curl. She was resisting the urge to punch the old man in his face.
"we had to kill 40 comfort women last night. " he spoke and taehyung almost choked on his food. His eyes widened in disbelief as he stared at the man in front of him.
"what? Why? "
Meanwhile jisoo felt a tremor run down her spine. Chan-ri.. Was the only name that escaped her mouth almost like an inaudible whisper. She couldn't help but think if she was one of them. Her heart dropped instantly and she felt the urge to puke. She felt sick.
"we had to remove the evidence of comfort stations. The word has been getting out." he spoke as he stirred his tea with a spoon and watched its circular motion.
"that- that is.. " taehyung couldn't seem to form a logical sentence despite all his effort. He felt sick. He felt agony.
At his unexpected unrest, the lieutenant raised his brow in taehyung's direction. In suspicion.
"of course, it was necessary for the removal of evidence." Taehyung finally spoke. There were little drops of perspiration on his forhead.
Jisoo gave them both a scathed look, "necessary? " she muttered. This time louder than she did before. Her head was no longer looking down at the floor.
Both men looked in her direction. She looked furious. Small but furious.
"you make me sick! Were they not humans? Are we not human?!" tears pricked her eyes but she stood firmly on her ground. Her expressions were steady. Taehyung had seen this before. He had seen the fire in her eyes. She wasn't a woman to be held back from saying what she felt and he admired that about her.
"How dare you speak in front of me like that?! "the man rose from his chair and grabbed her by her neck. Jisoo gasped for air but she didn't feel guilty for what she said. Neither did she struggle to get out of his grip. At that moment she thought.. Death was better.
"I would choke you to death right here you snob! " he spat as his grip tightend around her neck.
"lieutenant stop! " Taehyung yelled, immediately he raised from his spot and his strong hands grabbed the lieutenant's, making him let go of her.
Jisoo instantly started to cough and leaned against the wall for keeping up her balance. Her eyes were almost shut as she gasped for breath. She was unconscious of her surroundings now.
"Major kim! How dare she raise her voice in front of us. Haven't you taught her well? Have you forgotten the rules?" his eyes were bloodshot with nothing but anger and brutality in his eyes.
"I need her. " were the words that made the old man look at him in shock. He spoke like he really meant those words. But didn't he?
"what did you say? "he asked, giving Taehyung an investigative look.
"I need her to do the chores. She's useful to me. She cooks and cleans well. I shall keep her until I find another one as good as her. " he explained.
The expressions on the man's face eased a bit. "but-"
Before he could question taehyung's logic any further. Taehyng grabbed jisoo by her hair. She hissed in pain as he dragged her into the bedroom.
"clean! Clean this mess! "he pushed her on the floor hard enough and closed the door shut without even looking back.
"I know how to take care of this. " whispered taehyung as he approached the lieutenant again who stood there watching everything in silence now. Finally a bit satisfied from his aggressive reaction.
"I think I should be going."
Taehyung only noded in response and followed him to the door. The old man stopped and turned around. His eyes looking right into taehyung's.
" Kill her if necessary. " he spat without any hint of guilt in his eyes.
Taehyung took a pause before he responded, "sure. " and closed the door shut.
