Areum was laying there on the bed, her hands and legs still tied down. She was blankly staring at the ceiling. It felt as though she had lost herself in a puddle of emotions – hatred, sadness, regret, and anger. Deep inside, she was gone. Forever.

Nothing could undo what had happened to her. The pain. The screaming. The cries for help. The smirk on his face. Those glaring, dark eyes.

She lost hope.

Jungkook. You won't abandon me, right? You won't leave me alone, right? You're the only person who's ever cared about me this much. I'm so sorry. I'm so sorry for not being able to do something – for not saving myself. Nothing about me is beautiful anymore. Everything about me is disgusting. I'm scared. Please help me, Areum thought to herself.

Screeches rang through the room. In the corner of the room, the man was holding his glistening knife against a metal and he was slowly sharpening it. Areum was getting more anxious by the moments and she couldn't bear to look at the man's direction because she knew he was looking at her.

Looking at her as if she was a prize.

A prize that would soon lose significance. A prize that would become useless. A prize that would be thrown out or destroyed one day.

After a while, the man stood up and walked towards Areum. He held two weapons in his hands: a hammer and the knife he had just sharpened. He smiled at Areum and lifted them up to show her.

"Which one do you like better?" He grinned at the weapons he had.

Areum stopped. She knew what he was asking. He was asking which one she would rather die by. He was asking whether she preferred getting beaten dead by a hammer or stabbed to death.

He will most likely beat my body with the hammer instead to prolong my death to a painful and slow one. He won't hit my head so it's an easy blow. He would want me to pick that one so that he can see me tortured to death. The knife. It's sharp enough. If it plunges into my body deep enough, even by accident, it'll kill me quicker than the hammer would. A quicker kill means less pain, Areum thought.

She stared at him with uncertainty. She slowly lifted her shaking finger and pointed to the knife.

He chuckled for a moment before looking at her with an emotionless face. "Sorry, but wrong choice," he dropped the knife and practiced swinging with the hammer, "did you really think I'll let you get a short death?"

He pressed onto Areum's bleeding wounds and she screamed in pain. He lifted the hammer up high and was about to take a swing, but police sirens rung and got louder. "Sh*t," he threw the hammer across the room in anger, "you got lucky." Areum started screaming help loudly.

The police officers were breaking down into the house, holding up their guns cautiously.

The man gritted his teeth and quickly untied Areum. He grabbed her by her hair and dragged her into a hidden door. He threw her out and Areum could feel fresh grass with droplets of water. He tossed her dirty clothes and a ruined blanket onto the ground. "Don't think I won't come for you again next time. If I get caught because of you, you're dead," he slammed the door closed and locked it tight.

     Areum struggled to get up with her wounded body and slipped on her dirty, ripped up clothes to cover her body as much as she could. She wrapped the ruined blanket around her body to keep herself warm.

     Looking around, she could see numerous trees towering over her like a wall. An obstacle in her path. But she trudged forward as quickly as she could towards the bright light in front of her. The bright light formed the front of the house and the police cars and an ambulance were sitting there. The police were returning to their cars, apologizing to the man that raped her.

     "Wait!" Areum heard a familiar voice. Jungkook.

     "There she is!"

     Areum ran up to Jungkook and hugged him tightly, crying to herself. The man cursed under his breath and laughed to the police officers. He tried to slip back into his house, but the police officers halted him. "Wait, is this the man that caused this?" The police officers held onto the man tightly.

     The man glared at Areum, daring her to say yes. Areum hesitated for a moment, but nodded her head, "he raped me and tried to kill me."

"You b*tch!" He tried to run to Areum, but a police officer pushed him down, taking out a pair of handcuffs.

"You are arrested for rape and attempting murder," the policer officer said, "You have the right to remain silent. If you do say anything, what you say can be used against you in a court of law. You have the right to consult with a lawyer and have that lawyer present during any questioning. If you cannot afford a lawyer, one will be appointed for you if you so desire."

     The man tried to shake the policed officer off of him, but failed to do so. The handcuffs were secured onto his wrists. The police officers held him up and pushed him into the back of their car. One of the police officers came up to Areum and Jungkook.

     "We will contact you for any court trials in the future," the police officer said and walked off as the paramedics rushed up with a stretcher.

     Areum laid down slowly onto the stretcher, being careful to not bend her arm too much. Jungkook flinched at the cut on her arm, which was now covered in slightly dried up blood. The paramedics pushed the stretcher into the ambulance and Jungkook got on.

Areum reached her hand out and Jungkook held it, squeezing it lightly to reassure her.

"It's all over now."

~

The book is nearing to an end. It's probably going to end in two to four chapters. I still don't think I'm very proud of this book. There's many holes in it and I'm constantly forgetting to go back to certain, small details. Anyways, have a great day!

- flora lee.