"Your best." he scoffed and sharply took a breath before leaving his seat. "Where is Dad going?" I asked. My mother's face suddenly lit up. Unhappily...
'I could tell that I was in for a hard scolding.'
A laugh escaped my older sister's mouth, and I was then left alone in the room with my mother.
"For crying out loud! Honey Lou! Why are you so cruel?"
Should I not be the one asking that?
The food on the table was trashed on the carpet floor, the lights had been turned off, and I still had to finish reading another one of the books I had been assigned to read by tonight.
"Go to your room when you're done."
My mother sat on the cold ground while I behaved as they told me to do.
It was dark and I could only depend on the light from the nearby rooms to lighten the load I had at the moment. I read the book as quickly as I can to help my mother.
"Are you done?" her head moved to the left, seeking to find me, but I had already left the room.
How old was I when such things happened at home? Need I even call it a home still? The mansion was quiet from then on.
"You'll be turning seven years old soon!!" the housemaids were preparing for the grand celebration for my party, the dresses, decorations, food for the guests, and the invitations as well.
"No outsider is allowed access here, you will make sure of that." Aunt Ivy nodded at the sight of my mother, her face was somewhat unclear as if an AI generating a face.
"Sweetheart, where are your manners?" my mother approached me and carried me off to the other room, telling me to study, study, and study the books I was newly given a week ago.
Books from abroad because I've read almost every other book here.
Almost everything... But not quite yet.
The next day, my party commenced with guests that I had not known or seen before. Their faces were almost a lot like my Aunt Ivy's who is the assistant and secretary of the family.
Gifts were brought to me, kisses placed on the back of my hand, and soon enough, I grew bored from the indistinctive chatters happening.
I successfully got off the chair I was sitting on, dragging the heavy and silky gown I wore, and snuck out in the garden.
"Mom?" I called and the lady took me by the hand before slowly carrying me in her arms, I snuggled upon feeling her warm embrace until suddenly...
"YOU! Stop right there!!" the lady ran with her might, tightly holding onto my body.
I felt clueless and disdained from what had happened. "Wehre arr thee, mom?" I spoke gibberishly without intending to.
We walked mercilessly in the dark alleyways from what I could remember.
"Shush, sweetheart." her voice I could recognize even under the dim lighting surrounding us.
"There, there they are!" the men from earlier found us.
"Come, child!" I caught a glimpse of another lady wearing the same outfit as the one who is now dragging me away.
I sensed danger from that moment on, I called for help and knew by the touch of a hand that this person was not my mother.
Sirens came across the street, blue and red filled the darkness, and I am now safely in the arms of my parents.
But I just couldn't make out that sight I had seen. Did my mother...
"That was a close call, Haejin." my father held onto her shoulder and she appeared to be in pain.
"Never again." he whispered.
It is just as I thought, I couldn't look into her eyes given the condition I wasn't aware that I had been born with.
After that night, I had a tighter security around me. No one was allowed to take off their eyes from me, especially when we're out on business trips with my father.
"Stay here." he locked the car door and went away for a bit, leaving me alone inside.
I waited for hours till the night came.
The parking lot was empty and the streets looked scary for someone like me at this age.
"Knock, knock!" a man appeared out of nowhere, frightening me out of my seat.
"Open the door, will you?" he tried to force his way in, however, the vehicle was locked safely for a child to be left alone inside.
"Careful with your head, I'm breaking this thing open." I held onto the seatbelt like my life depended on it.
For almost 30 minutes, the hostile man lost interest and slowly dropped his hands on his side, the fear subsided and I soon felt my eyelids grow heavier.
Then I fell into slumber...
"Get up." I recognized my father's voice from the exterior of the vehicle, he unlocked the doors and entered.
Fastened his seatbelt and drove out of the parking lot, I looked at the rearview mirror and couldn't tell what his expressions were trying to say.
"Your father has assigned me to sign you up for some extra lessons, Miss Honey. Follow me."
I rubbed my eyes upon entering the gate, the vehicle had left me on the roadside near the estate, and the sun had already rose.
Sunrise... I looked up to admire the pink sky covered with altostratus clouds. "Miss Honey." aunt Ivy called my name.
My schedule went from reading and writing to training martial arts, studying business marketing, memorizing mathematical formulas and scientific calculations, lastly, politics.
In addition to that, more reading and writing.
"See this? You must realize that everything we're teaching you is for the good of the family business which you will inherit." our mother declared, stating that I was bound to succeed as the CEO of MainTech when I grow older.
With this, I stole a glance at my left.
My older sister was nowhere to be found, she had snuck out of the house once again, leaving her younger sister, me, under the care of our stereotypical parents.
"It will all be yours." my mother held onto my chin and made me face her straight.
From that moment and on, I lost everything I was told that I would possess.
"Come here." my father summoned my mother, they talked about something serious, and I could tell that my mother had her heart beating so fast.
At any moment, her heart could fail to function.
"I told you not to let them out."
"Shut that door behind you." every word that came from his mouth, my mother did exactly.
I stayed inside the living room, right in front of his office, gazing around to see what appeared to have caught my attention.
"Concentrate, Miss Honey." aunt Ivy walked by, holding in her hands a pile of hard-bounded documents.
Eyes back on the reading materials I had been given, ignoring the distractions surrounding me, and finally...
"You're back." the couple from inside the office came back out to find my older sister arriving just now.
Without a doubt, she simply passed all three of them and didn't utter a word nor spared them a look.
She hadn't shown up since that day.
It was the last time I saw my only sibling, and our mother was devastated while her husband remained unfazed.
Our two friends had also disappeared from the neighborhood with their families.
One family hated us, the other one became indebted.
This family of ours, on the other hand, had no intention to talk about anything that has been going on around.
"You are paranoid, why would anyone be stalking you?" my mother practically begged her husband to protect her and me.
But the man had no compassion and left through the door after taking one look at me.
It was as if he never truly cared about any of us.
The stalking got worse overtime, leading to an abduction whereas a group of people took me, thinking that I was Haesu.
I hadn't heard from anyone or seen the outside world under the grasp of those people.
Months, was it?
I was inside a warehouse that no one else could enter nor leave.
I was fed only once a day, I survived with plenty of water that they provided, but unfortunately, the silence around me left a huge impact.
How does one go on a day without having to make any utterances?
They reallized soon that I wasn't who they thought I was, depending on the way I treated them despite all the horrors I went through in that warehouse, slowly but surely...
Faces now scared me more than anything in the world.
Is it possible to just not be able to see them?
They returned me to where I had been taken from, I was able to make my way home, only to find my mother missing.
The housemaids told me that there was a need for her to go somewhere for a while but I didn't believe them.
'His face, I recall.' but I cannot be as certain as I want to be...
Remember it clearly, try to be certain, and don't let your condition stop you!!
But it was useless...
By the time that I had turned ten years old, everyone I loved had been taken away from me.
My father soon married his secretary and a child was conceived.
A child I terribly feel sorry for...
My grandparents took me in after my mother allegedly died in an accidentat the airport, leaving me with no one to trust.
I stayed with them and still went on business trips with my father, however, the peace that I thought I had...
Gone as well.
Grandfather was angered at the sight of his beloved wife for 30 years, she was hanging on the ceiling with our family pet who was crying out for help.
Help? I don't know if such a thing exists.
He hated for something I don't even know if I was to blame.
I was driven away from their household, being sent abroad with the family pet and a necklace that my grandmother had given my mother to give to me.
But neither of them were able to hand it directly.
For two years, I had stayed in New York...
Quiet, well-behaved, and strictly forbidden to live my life.
Yes, I would go to different countries in the world.
Yes, I did have all the necessities for living.
Yes, I had everyone envying me for having a status in life.
Yes, I am intelligent. Skilled. Wealthy. Beautiful as they say.
But I feel as though I cannot be happy even when I truly am grateful for all of those things.
Happiness isn't guaranteed just because the world hands you such luxurious privileges.
If that is what they would call it.
What exactly do I call this life? A tragic one?
Sort of like a slice of life because you don't get to see the other side of something.
Unless you look closer.
Unless you try to read between the lines
To be honest... What am I doing with my life?
HOPE! I ask for a hope in this wretched life...
When my father brought me back to our native country, I had a chance to find the people I longed to be with.
"I would give everything up just to fix things before it is too late." but then, I got hit by a car.
NO CLUE. I had no idea what happened within the next four years of being in a deep coma.
Were my human rights finally granted to me? Freedom of expression, to live, and to be free!
FREE FROM SLAVERY... That is what this life has been entitled to since birth.
Enslaved by the expectations of society.
Enslaved by the social hierachy.
Worst of all, enslaved by the people you believe to be family.
Awakened from a long sleep, a sleep that felt like eternity to me.
How was I able to remain unbothered in bed for that long? Four years is a lot...
Wasn't there any way to wake me up from being unconscious?
The sound of the crowd roaring made my ears ring, they were all enjoying the show. A show where I played as the center of the storyline, a storyline that revolves around me.
It felt as if I was the main character in this world.
I looked up at the sky.
It appeared that words were seemingly flying in the clouds as if I was inside a book, a book being written presently.
I questioned how I felt.
My perception of reality became unclear. Because if this is my reality then...
I started observing the audience.
Not a single face looked familiar with my medical condition, however, I could tell who was out of place.
Am I hallucinating?
Is my health deteriorating?
The doctor did tell me to take my medications, but if I did, people would think of me ill. My parents, relatives, and schoolmates, and what would become of me then?
Whether or not I am nearing my last breath, I shan't show any more of my weaknesses.
I not only was born with face blindness...
But including a weak heart and a damaged brain from all the danger I have been in.
Let's say that I have one year left since I came here.
That would leave 6 months left...
With little time in my hands, I have to try getting better. 'Mentally, emotionally, and physically.' if my life was written to be the way it is then that gives me all the more reason to hold onto to it.
Make the most out of it.
"To create a better world before I go."
...