"The trial of Kim Holdings ex-CEO came to an end yesterday. He was convicted with four charges of crime including kidnapping, faking one's death, homicide, and wrong use of illegal substances (drugs)."

"In late June, two months ago, the defendant was found guilty after a woman who announced dead was found, held captive inside his cash-bought apartment in Taipei, Taiwan. Taiwan Police also found the defendant in an abandoned harbour, twenty-seven kilometres away from Taipei City with a large amount of drugs and cash."

"The accusations were read by Judge Park Eunbin in front of the defendant, Kim Shihyang and the judge with majority voices, that the defendant will be life in prison without any possibilities of parole while waiting in the line for  his death penalty."

///

It was a sunny Saturday when Minjeong heard the news on the radio as she drove her car back home. Feeling all excited and extremely overwhelmed by the good news, Minjeong pushed the pedal harder, couldn't wait to celebrate their win with her wife that waiting for her arrival at home.

Since Minjeong couldn't bring Jimin to every court trial because of her PTSD, they mostly stayed at home all the time without knowing much about what the jurors and judges would say. Minjeong gave all her trust to her one and only lawyer who now was one of her closest seniors back in college, Taeyeon, Minjeong's cousin.

Her eyes suddenly became teary from the enormous joy. At last, what's right is right and what's wrong is wrong. She couldn't wait to come home and hug Jimin tightly, raining her kisses and telling Jimin that it was finally over. Their blood, sweat, and tears have come to an end. Jimin's suffering has come to a real end.

Minjeong's mind was too occupied with how should she celebrate it with her wife that she didn't realize that she drove the car a bit too fast (extremely fast). Not until when a bird suddenly flew across the girl's car, Minjeong didn't manage to push the brake pedal in time, creating that loud screeching sound on the road as her car lost control.

A loud bang was heard before Minjeong's head banged so hard on her steering wheel.

It all happened so fast that when Minjeong finally lifted up her head with a painful grunt, she realized that she hit her car with the lamp post at the side of the road.

Thankfully, her car wasn't damaged so badly.

"YOU MOTHERFUCKER FUCKING FILTHY BIRD! WHY IN THE HELL DID YOU FUCKING FLY ACROSS MY FUCKING CAR LIKE THAT?! I'M ALMOST DIE BECAUSE A FUCKING FILTHY DIRTY BIRD LIKE YOU! GOSH!" flows freely from Minjeong's mouth like a river.

Damn. Her bad habits need to be fixed sometimes. Her cursing habits.

Minjeong steps out of her car with a frown. The hood is perfectly bent in an upside-down 'V' shape, while her lights are all broken. She could see the glass pieces scattered into pieces on the road.

Minjeong sighed heavily as one hand massaged her temple. "Damn it. Jimin said that this is her favourite car. She's going to be hella mad at me."

Her deep sighs were interrupted when she could feel how a flow of sticky liquid slowly coming down from her head. It suddenly stings and her head becomes a bit hazy, but she is lucky enough to get a hold of herself as she touches the flowing liquid with her hand.

Another deep sigh was heard.

"I guess I got injured, huh?"

*****

Aeri and Ningning were at the Kim's mansion, together with Jimin who was currently sitting on the couch in the living room as the TV flashed on with variety shows that Jimin wasn't even focusing on to watch.

Her eyes keep shifting between the TV and her phone screen, currently showing it's almost six in the evening. Her face frowns a little but she tries so hard not to show it.

It all changed after Ningning approached Aeri in the kitchen. "Shouldn't Minjeong come home already? It's almost three hours since she said she's going home."

Aeri gulps down a glass of water before carefully placing it in the sink. "I was thinking the same. Her office wasn't even that far. I was confused as well. Did she tell you anything?"

"No," Ningning shakes her head, denying.

When the two clueless friends look into one another's eyes without getting any results, in the end, their only wonders lean on Jimin. "Hey, girl. Did your wife say anything about coming home late?"

Even after Aeri's question, Jimin flashed her phone screen to herself one more time, glancing at the time. Ten minutes to seven. Minjeong has never been this late without telling anything to Jimin.

"S-She... didn't. I realized... too. T-This is... too late," it took a while for Jimin to finish her words in full sentences, which her friends could cope by now.

"I know we should always stay positive, but I'm worried in case something might happen to her. Why don't you give her a call?" Aeri said as Ningning supported her with strong nods. Jimin eyes waver between her two friends before her hands start to call for that certain number on her phone.

One time. No one picks up.

Jimin's brows start to frown worriedly. Minjeong had never done this since their dreadful incident. Minjeong would never leave Jimin hanging, knowing how crucial their situation is at the moment, knowing how Jimin could need Minjeong all of sudden for dear life.

Minjeong would, never, ever, not pick up the phone call.

"Let me... t-try again..." Jimin touched the call button on her phone screen for the second time. After seconds of waiting, Minjeong still didn't pick up.

"She didn't pick it up?" Ningning asked worriedly as she eyed how Jimin gently put her phone down with a concerned expression, slowly nodding her head.

But then all of sudden Jimin tried so hard to get up from the couch, a bit stumbling that scrams the two friends towards her in panic and concern. "Jimin, what are you—" Aeri's words came to a pause as Jimin started to walk towards the front door with all her might despite the way she walked like a toddler who just learnt how to walk.

It leaves the two friends even more panicked. "Jimin! Where are you going?" Ningning chased right behind the older girl as she tried to hold her by the arm only to get swatted away. "W-We need... to go, Ningning!" Jimin shouted that it made it so obvious that her voice started to choke.

Aeri was as panic as Ningning. "What are you trying to do, Jimin—" Aeri managed to catch Jimin by the arm as the girl fell again. "Gosh, Jimin. Calm down—"

"I n-need— I need to find... Minjeong, A-Aeri!" Jimin's one hand managed to hold her body by the door frame as she turned her head towards the Japanese. That's when the two girls could see what was hitting Jimin at the moment.

It is obvious with those tears painting all over Jimin's cheeks. Red eyes and a choking voice. Jimin wasn't fine at all with this. "Jimin, hey. Relax. Your legs aren't fine yet!"

"N-No!" Jimin shakes her head heavily between wobbly steps. "I n-need to... find h-her, Ningning! I... c-can't live with— without her!"

"Hey-hey! Jimin, calm down. We're going to find your wife for you. She's going to be alright, Jimin—" Aeri's words cut again when she catches falling Jimin from the floor again. "You need to calm down, Jimin. I beg you!"

Jimin was too stubborn at this point. All her traumas hit her head in a messed up way that she couldn't think straight anymore. Minjeong was the only reason that kept her alive until this moment, and if Minjeong left her, Jimin knew she wouldn't be able to stay.

Choking sobs, wobbly legs, shaky hands. Jimin slowly get ahold of the main door knobs, but before she could twist it open by herself, the door twisted open from the outside. The door wides open and the first thing crying Jimin saw was the view of her wife in her t-shirt stained by a small amount of blood. Bandage dressed around her forehead.

That's when Jimin's legs finally gave in.

"Yu Jimin!"

She fell down as Minjeong managed to get hold of her wife's arms with wide-open eyes before Jimin started to bawl out loud. Minjeong was bewildered, confused, and flustered at the same time. Her wife is crying in her hands. Her two friends were looking at her in their deathly glare.

"What happened to her?" Minjeong asked, extremely confused with everything.

"That's what we wanted to ask you, Minjeong. What happened to you? What's with all those bloods, and your head?" Aeri frowns, the same as Ningning did just right beside the Japanese.

"Actually I—" Minjeong didn't manage to continue when Jimin suddenly circled her arms around Minjeong's neck, face planted in between so that Minjeong could feel how the wet tears hitting her skin. Jimin was sobbing, clinging to the younger girl as if she was her life support. If she let go, she might die.

"Gosh, Jimin. Don't cry. I'm sorry that I worried you," Jimin hugged her wife back as she stroked the back of Jimin's head between her soft hush. "I'm sorry, Jimin. I really am."

"Y-You didn't... answer m-my calls. I'm... worried," Jimin's voice hitched. "I thought— I t-thought I... lose y-you."

"No. No, Jimin. No. It's all my fault, I'm so sorry," Minjeong kept apologising. "I got into a car accident. It wasn't that serious, I promised you! But, my phone cracked so badly that I couldn't even lay a finger on them. They didn't react to any touch— Wait, does that sound like an excuse?" Minjeong eyes her two friends behind Jimin who still looks at her with deadly glare. Aeri rolled her eyes, half worried, half annoyed. "It did."

Minjeong huffed once before she brought her attention back to her crying wife. "I'm fine, Jimin. I would never leave you, I swear to god!" Minjeong keeps hushing her wife in between, but Jimin doesn't seem to let go of the hug despite her sobs slowly decreasing. "Sorry," Minjeong apologised once more towards her two friends. "Mind leaving us alone?"

*****

After Ningning and Aeri finally go home, Minjeong escorts her wife upstairs. Minjeong kept holding tight onto Jimin's hand, realized how the older girl's hand keep shaking from her fear just now. Despite everything, Minjeong assures her wife with a smile as she leads them towards their bedroom.

Minjeong gently sat her wife on their bed, instructed Jimin to have some rest while Minjeong moved around their bedroom to grab a clean towel for shower. But then, Jimin got up and held the younger girl by the arm with a slightly disturbed expression still flashing on her face.

"What's wrong, Jimin?" Minjeong asked softly, turning around so she could hold the other girl's hand. "What is the other thing that makes you worried?"

"Y-Your head," Jimin confessed. "How's your head?" she repeated.

"Oh, this?" Minjeong pointed to the small bandage on her head. "I've received three stitches on my forehead. You don't need to worry about it. I will be extra careful next time, okay?" Minjeong smiled playfully as she could feel how Jimin squeezed their hands together. "I'm fine, Jimin," she assures.

When Jimin finally nods her head slowly, relief washes over the younger girl. "Now, you can let me go because I won't go to bed with this bloody shirt—"

"I w-want to... go with you," Jimin's words took the younger girl by surprise. "E-Excuse me?"

"I want to... f-follow you. I am a-afraid, Minjeong," Jimin continued, still holding tight onto Minjeong's hand. When Minjeong saw how the disturbed expression on her wife's face wasn't going to go anytime soon, she finally decided to give in, flashing Jimin her assuring smile.

"Okay, let's go. I'll make sure to make yourself comfortable."

*****

Jimin didn't have any single food for three days. Her stomach is growling and in pain. She didn't care much about food, to be honest. But with her body exposed to the cold air without a single clothe gave her a great pain in her stomach.

Her body was beyond weak at this rate. She was too thin, staring blankly towards the tinted window. She could see the people outside, doing their daily activities, smiling happily. But no one sees her here. When another growl on her stomach fills up the empty room, Jimin clutches the skin on her belly with her hands, wincing when it starts to become more painful over time.

Her staring was interrupted when she heard the sound of rustling keys outside the room before the doors went wide open. The man once she thought was her lifesaver was back, with the usual smug on his face.

Jimin rushed towards him, crawling pathetically before she grabbed his legs with a pleading voice. "Mr. Kim, p-please! I need s-something to eat, my stomach is in g-great pain—"

"Get off me!" the older kicked the poor girl away instead, giving no interest towards how the girl ended up so thin and fragile, her legs kept stuck onto the floor for the whole month. "The next customer is on his way up here. Just serve some cunts, Jimin. Stop being a crybaby!"

"N-No! Mr. Kim, p-please, I beg you. I d-don't want to do this. Send me back to M-Minjeong, and I s-swear to god I w-won't say—"

The poor girl's attempts failed for the second time when the older man kicked her harder this time, sending Jimin one meter away from him. He ignores every plea and all the red flags, "Fuck off! He's coming! I said to you countless times already, Jimin. No more home, no more Minjeong! This is your life now!"

Jimin had no time to argue more when another man appeared behind the older man's back, smiling mischievously as she walked closer towards the weak girl. "Man, you told me right. You had the prettiest slut here!"

"No-no... P-Please, no!"

Jimin was too weak to give herself a fight. Despite all the shouts and pleas, it wasn't loud enough for anyone to hear her other than the animals who raped her. She got raped on a daily basis, sometimes weekly. Her womb was filled with too many things and Jimin thought she really couldn't take this any longer. If she needs to go through this her entire life, she rather die than be someone's pleasure or desire.

She just wants her Minjeong.

Every rape is rough. Most men would hit her. Some would tie her up. Some won't do it alone. She got three at once two times, two people at once three times. The other would be a sole mission, raping her for their desire.

The man comes for the first time inside her womb, but he doesn't get it enough. He pulled himself up before shoving them back into the different opening, making the poor girl scream in pain for help, crying messily. Her movements are totally limited by the way how the man always pins her hands above her head.

His thrust was fast, didn't mind even giving Jimin a break. She was breaking here, and all he could think was to please himself. "P-Please! S-Stop!"

Every plea she made would result in a slap on her cheeks. He won't stop moving, and Jimin keep crying for Minjeong's name in her mind—

Jimin got up from her sleep immediately, catching her breath as her hands clutched onto her chest, feeling the rapid beating of her heart. Suddenly, there's the urge for her to puke in disgust. She didn't like this. The memory never leaves her. It never did.

Jimin woke up from the bed after only twenty minutes of sleep. Despite Minjeong already deep into her sleep with drool at the corner of her lips and soft snores that usually soothe up the older girl, the older girl got off their bed almost immediately, running towards the bathroom inside the room before she started to puke out all her anxiety.

Somehow, the loud puking sound from the bathroom succeeded in waking up the younger girl. Stirring in bed, Minjeong began to rub her eyes but the sleepy eyes went wide open the moment she realised where is the sound coming from.

"Shit."

This wasn't the first time Jimin had her nightmares. Minjeong had learnt on most nights that her wife would wake up from her nightmares, puking from her anxiety. It didn't take long enough before the younger girl stepped her feet inside the bathroom, seeing her wife kneeling beside the toilet bowl, crying silently with heavy breathing.

"Hey-hey. I got you, Jimin," Minjeong kneeled almost immediately before she hugged her wife closer to her, hushing her sweet words. "I'm here, no one going to hurt you anymore, okay? I'm here, Jimin. Look at me," Minjeong slowly pulled out from their hug, cupping her wife's cheeks with her palms.

Minjeong hates this sight. "You are okay. We are okay. I love you, okay?" 

Jimin keeps on crying silently despite nodding her head, believing her wife's words. She knew that Minjeong would never leave her. She knew that Minjeong loved her. But seeing and feeling all those horrifying things in her sleep again sucks. Jimin wants it to go away.

Feeling helpless, Minjeong wiped the tears on Jimin's cheeks with her thumb. If only she could erase the bad memories away. "Let's go back to bed, okay? I'll pat you to sleep, I promise," she smiled apologetically, and thankfully her wife nodded her head between her sobs.

Minjeong keeps her promise by patting Jimin to sleep after that. As Jimin clutched into Minjeong's shirt so tight, planting her face so close into Minjeong's chest, depending on them like her life was on the line, Minjeong patiently pats the older girl between soft hushes and lullaby. Her other free hand caressed softly on Jimin's head, soothing them, trying to brush the bad things away.

She only wants her Jimin to be happy.

"I'll always be here, Jimin. I love you."