ISTTIMI

PROLOGUE: STIGMA

tw / verbal abuse (?), death threat

STIGMA

An unwanted thunderstorm graced the city of Gwangju that night.

The Kim residence was almost filled with darkness with the sudden power cut off, the only sound being heard was the sound of the rain outside and a faint cry of a 6-year-old girl in their living room.

Two boys, a 9-year-old and an 8-year-old, stood in front of their youngest sibling. It was already evening; their mother was still in her firm, leaving the siblings with their father, a man whose hobby was to drink any time of the day ever since he lost his job as an accountant after being scammed by a con artist.

"Where's your mother?" The father asked his children, his voice raised for them to hear him over the rain.

"She said she'll be home in an hour. She still has business to attend to," the older one answered.

"Then why is your sister still crying?"

"She.. she's just afraid of the dark and the thunder."

On cue, thunder rumbled, the sound echoing outside. The young girl's cry got louder so the eldest brother placed his hands on each of her ears to cover them, while the second brother tried to calm his sister down.

"Jisoo, keep quiet!" the drunk man said, throwing the empty bottle of beer to the wall near his children.

"Just... Go inside your room, Dad. We'll calm Jisoo down in a bit."

"Are you telling me what to do?" the man asked. When his son didn't answer, he approached them, stopping when he was already two feet away. "Huh? Seokjin? Is that what I taught you to be?" He pushed Jin's forehead with his finger.

"Dad, stop it." It was the second boy, finally standing up to try to cover his siblings from their father.

"Stop what, Namjoon?" He pushed Namjoon aside and forcefully pulled Jisoo up.

"Let go of her!" Seokjin tried to push their father but to no avail.

Jisoo cried harder from how her father held her arm too tight.

It was always like that in their household.

Their mother goes to work until evening. The siblings go to school, with the brothers taking care of their little sister after classes. Their father goes home drunk and goes berserk to anyone of his family members just because he has no other thing to do.

Jin and Namjoon couldn't really do anything more to get their sister away from their father's grip. They were just about to lose hope when the door suddenly opened, revealing their mother who just got home. "Jong Soo! What are you doing?"

Ji Won immediately slapped her husband's hand to pull Jisoo away. She kneeled to meet her daughter's eyes and calm her down.

"She's been crying since I got here! It's already too loud because of the storm, make that girl shut up or I'll slit that neck of hers."

The threat left the children speechless; it was those words that made them cower in fear. Nonetheless, Seokjin and Namjoon still managed to stand beside their mother.

"Jin... Take your siblings inside your room," Ji Won told her son. "Go to sleep. I'll take care of your father."

It was after that that Ji Won finally filed a divorce. She wasn't having any of it after her husband threatened to kill her child.

Two years passed, and she met an old friend of hers, Seo Joon. He was once her suitor before Seo Joon had to leave for the military; it was his dream to be a soldier, and Ji Won couldn't do anything about it but let him go. However, when they were apart, Seo Joon had two sons, from his late wife, who died with cancer two years ago.

Now that they've found each other again, the couple started dating, and eventually, got married and moved to Seoul to stay away from Jong Soo, who was now behind bars. Ji Won couldn't be any happier, and so do her children.

With additional members in their family, Jisoo finally felt secure.

Not until another thunderstorm happens, that is.

song: Stigma by Kim Taehyung