The saviour has come! For he who loves the world gives his only begotten daughter, who is sweating, to hold the door from crunching Sohee's arm.
"Nelly," says the woman, breathing heavily, "you're hurting her!"
An emerald eye peeks at the side of the door.
And when she sees who was holding their tear, she yelps.
This allows them to pull Sohee's arm away, putting an end to her suffering.
Nelly mutters something I couldn't quite hear… she steps back once… and then another… her eyes unfocused, then turns around and runs away. Her hurried footsteps are distancing away. Thuds and crashes follow soon after that.
She must be in her bed right now, burying herself in a blanket. Trembling. Guilt eating her whole.
Knowing her pain is nowhere close to the minute of what Sohee felt just now.
Talking about Sohee…
The pink, teary eyes watch the red spot on her arm and recognize that, as time goes by, it will eventually turn blue or purple, defiling her white, beautiful skin. Then into something yellow or green. Probably. I'm surprised I knew any of that, as if I were familiar with bruises.
Anyway, let's get back to the present.
The woman is sighing, holding her forehead. Her emerald eyes are watching Sohee. I can almost hear what she has in mind. It goes something like this: 'What am I to do with these girls?' or 'I'm not cut out for this.'
"I'll grab something to deal with that," she says after another bead of tears falls from Sohee's eyes onto her beaten arm.
"I'm okay," Sohee says, sniffing.
"No, this is not okay. What caused this to happen again?"
… Again? This is not the first time something like this happened. What was the cause last time? Because this time I sure know what it is.
The woman turns to me, the culprit behind this event.
I am being scanned.
Everybody loves to scan me as if trying to figure out what to make out of me.
But this time, from this woman, it's different. With the way she's studying me, I feel like she's trying to answer one big, deep question like: what made me.
And if I give her enough time, she'd eventually find out.
… she's still staring. Should I say something? Like a greeting?
'Hello, nice to meet you' won't cut it, I assume.
I put my hand over my head and slightly nod, saying "Yo."
Her whole face drops as if my way of greeting has offended her. She points at me, "Fuck are you?"
"A… tutor."
"The tutor?"
"The. Yes."
She crunches her face, "Why didn't you help?"
Hm?
"Why did you just stand there watching Sohee being hurt?"
I don't want to answer that. So I keep my silence, hoping she'd forget.
But looks like it only makes it worse. She grits her teeth, her nose wrinkles, picking up the smell of me. Her fist shakes, ready to fly at someone.
If she did do that, please hit me as hard as inhumane as possible. Make sure it's like a bullet piercing through my head. If I am still breathing, then beat me to death.
"The right thing…" Sohee says through her small sobs, "Sunbae was doing the right thing."
Almost like she's saying that to convince herself.
But there's merit to those words, as proven by the woman taking a deep breath and trying to calm herself.
She eventually tears her eyes off me with a snort (like Varrie did. Speaking of her, where is she now? Did she get electrocuted from her gaming consoles and die? Nah, can't be. I'm still here, not puking ten litres of blood, so I think she's okay.)
"No."
The woman's voice, which grounded me back in the present, continues, "he could've done something."
"Tammy eonni…"
So Tammy is her name. She refocuses on Sohee, gently grabbing her arm.
"Do you want to come inside. Sohee?"
She thinks… and thinks for a while.
The two adults are waiting for her response (yes, I am one of them.)
Then the girl in distress says, "I have to talk to Nelly."
Tammy nods, "All right. I'll talk to her first, okay?"
"Mn."
And with that, Tammy walks into the room… and closes the door, gently. Making sure no arm is doing any shenanigans.
Now it is only Sohee and I, back again, in a corridor.
Sohee takes this time to sob… still quietly. Respecting the fact this is still an apartment and not everybody has time to feel sympathy.
Maybe there's someplace she can cry.
I want to recommend my room, but maybe that's too much. She just got hurt. I don't want to hurt her further.
But I can't just let her be here. Maybe it's better if we start walking around until we find it.
"Let's go somewhere else, Sohee. It can help."
She nods, sniffing.
"I'm sorry."
Have I? I've thought about this before, especially when Sohee's arm was caught. Back then, I couldn't reach any conclusion. But now, I finally have one. Even if I don't genuinely feel sorry for her... I know I need to. I have to make myself do it.
I put Sohee's face on my chest.
She deserves my empathy.
—And by doing this, maybe she'd be so in love with you that she forgets your flaws.
—May Sohee love us forever.