𝐋𝐚𝐰 𝐨𝐟 𝐇𝐮𝐦𝐚𝐧𝐢𝐭𝐲 (𝐀𝐓𝐄𝐄𝐙)

5

"WHAT ARE YOU DOING MPH-"

One prisoner clamps my mouth while the other clutches my neck, causing me to suffocate. Breathing became extensively difficult, my thoughts were a bunch of debris as my limbs flared around desperately to be emancipated. 

Du Ho shrugs it off while silently buttoning his pants. On the verge of collapsing, I saw a faint picture of Wooyoung crawling away from Du Ho. 

At this point all I can see is the ceiling decorated with black spots verging from my lack of breath. But I heard Wooyoung yelp. Seemed like Du Ho tried to take advantage. I growled and bite the hand that clasped my face. It was foolish of me because he yelped in pain then punched my face. 

"Listen faggot, if you tell the truth then your friend's gonna die." Du Ho growled. 

Then rushing footsteps were banging on the floor. The door slammed open and within a matter of seconds, four men burst through. One of them tasered the two inmates that were choking me, leaving them stone cold on the floor. The other inmates turned their heads around as an attempt to appear innocent. Finally emancipated from their grasp; I catch my breath and probe the room to see that Wooyoung is already dressed and Du Ho is on the opposite end of the cell. The apathetic faces, Wooyoung's tear stricken eyes, but most importantly, Du Ho's blank stare engendered a burning fire within me. No one, NO ONE, wanted to help a fellow inmate due to purile cowardness. How could people be so selfish?

The police officers scanned around the room with their ferocious glares. No one reciprocated their glances until one officer spoke up.

"Which one of you raped him?" He pointed at Wooyoung.

Silence. UTTER SILENCE. Every fucking whimp stiched their mouths closed. My left eye twitched as I saw the duplicity  behind their character.  I was on the verge of throwing a tantrum when a prisoner spoke up.

"He did it. That's why Dong Jung and In Seok tacked him down, "
He pointed his finger at me to be explicit. 

"Yes, he did it sir," another servant lifts his finger.

"I saw him, the newbie, raping Wooyoung."

Each and every finger jabbed towards me. It was like if everyone stabbed their swords towards in a massacre.

The heart skipped a beat. Eye brows raised, eyes wide, and the mouth forming an oval. I stood in shock towards the swine who wrongfully accused me. It was appalling on how far these bastards kissed Du Ho's ass and suddenly memories of the court case crawled to my thoughts.

I was riding a cycle of psychological warfare and the only key to conquer its obstacles was to win the battles with logic as my sword.

"I am innocent and there is credibility in my statement because we can ask the witness. The only sensible choice here is to question the victim, the sole person who saw the face of the offender." 

All eyes were on a distressed Wooyoung who only stared down towards the floor in shame. I shuffled towards his side and gently patted his back. 

"It's okay, you can tell them."

To my surprise he gave me a questionable gaze with hopeless eyes. However my naive nature failed to consider his opinions. Giving a resentful gaze towards Du Ho, I saw a small smile forming on his lips.

if you tell the truth then your friend's gonna die.

Wooyoung still stayed silent. All eyes fixated on what he would say next but I couldn't. It was all up to the witness to determine my future again. The witness either defended me or wrongfully accuse me but it wouldn't impact anything because the whole court seemed to be against me. 

The witness, my first and only friend in prison, took a deep breath and exchanged glances at me but I had no strength to reflect his gaze. 

"Hongjoong didn't rape me. Du Ho did."

My predictions were contradicted when I saw Du Ho's small grin. But should I be joyful or somber? Well, I was already his victim so my life wouldn't change. Besides, at least Wooyoung stood up for himself.

His still wore a grin when they dragged him out of the cell,

"Lee Du Ho. Three days solitary confinement."

And during that time he was gone the atmosphere remained solemn. The events were contagious as everyone spread the gossip. All boys who came within a 5 feet radius whispered with words full of negative connotations.  Without Wooyoung, who no longer accompanied me, it felt like I was the one sentenced to solitary confinement. He never told me why he self isolated himself but I can only presume he distanced himself due to guilt.

Those three days swept by with Du Ho's absence but when he returned his torture increased. It was ignorant of me to think I had become impregnable to his tyranny because God knows the things he did to me....it's pretty hard to explain and... I- I wish to keep these events private because no one should experience the pain that only I and especially Wooyoung had to endure. So, please don't ask any questions...

When being bullied, the torture is only the tip of the iceberg. The symptoms and impacts from these atrocious acts are the true killer. Brushing my teeth in the restrooms, I saw myself as an ugly whore and I...ah sorry I-I got sidetracked. But you get the memo. I lost my self confidence, self esteem, and self worth and that is the true scar, the trigger that throws you into a spiral of grief. It's like... a reoccurring flu with no vaccine.

Despite all the horrible events I have endured, there was always room for hope. Because humanity likes to give us gifts as a medicine for our suffering. My gift was given when one faithful day, probably about 1 month after I arrived,  Du Ho took me a desolated corner. I guess he was mad at another guy but decided to blast his anger out on me. 

He did the usual thing, punch me in the face, the gut, and when I tumbled over, proceeded to kick my diet frame. By the way, Du Ho does the same three attacks at any circumstance. Earlier I used to fight back but during that time I completely gave up and just protected my stomach. It's no use because he then lifted my collar then slammed me to the wall.

Using my arms as a shield, I anticipated the wave of pain. Seconds passed and I felt no jab. I hesitated at first but I slowly looked up to see an unfamiliar face blocking Du Ho's attack.

***

Mars was rapt to my story.
"Who is he?"

I glance at my watch, "That's for next week. Our therapy session is up."

His eager gaze transformed to a frown of disappointment.
"So we're just gonna end this with a cliffhanger?!"

Ignoring his complaints I walked out the door. Today's session was short as I lacked the energy and motivation to continue. The old scars started to hurt again. Soon enough I hear the guards escorting Mars out. 

Along the hallways I observe the lonely landscape caused by winter's tears. After a while I end up examining my own reflection by the window. 

Looking at my face the word ugly kept ringing through my thoughts.  I felt dizzy as negatively pounded my head; causing physical pain. Pretty peculiar since I've been called ugly by everyone, classmates, strangers, Du Ho, and sometimes from my own friends... Even as a comedic tease the word made me slouch my shoulders in shame. No matter how many times I'm infected with the virus of negativity,  I still can't reach immunity. 

We, as a humanity, are so fragile yet so brutal to our own kind.