It was in the dead of the night, a figure walked out of the abandoned warehouse. Hands bloody and cut up, a gash on his forehead and left cheek but a small smile still gracing his face.
A big wad of cash was tucked safely inside the pocket of this man who was now getting on a bike.
He drove away into the night, all while someone slowly watched him from the shadows.
No matter what we do, there's always someone watching. Waiting in the shadows with immense stealth.
As he reached the place he called home, his smile faded away and a sense of eerie silence washed over him.
Home.
This place had lost its rights to be called as home long ago, for this was the place he lost everything that ever mattered.
The place where he lost hope.
The house was a rundown hut in the lower class, coastal areas of Daegu, South Korea. The walls were chipped, water leakage marks everywhere, and the door was as good as non existent. The inside was just as bad, if not more. It looked more like the set of a horror movie than a habitable space.
As soon as he entered, a small flick of light was turned on at the far end of a hallway that led to the one room in the house. An old looking man then came from the said hallway, a deep frown etched on his face.
"Where were you all night? Do you even know what time it is?" He asked, irritation clearly flashing across his face.
"None of your business. Go back to sleep." The young man replied in a bored tone.
"This is my home. You are under my roof. It is my business."
"No it isn't. This roof is here because I pay for it. You are here because I pay for it, the food, the electricity, your alcohol. Everything I pay. So no, it isn't your business" he spat back at him, his tone seething and left right back out once again.
As he rode off, to an unknown destination all he could think about was how miserable his life was.
Forced to work at a very young age, losing his mother and sister in the most ruthless and tragic way possible, no friends. Why was he even alive?
Park Baek-Hyun had seen a lot in the short life span that he had lived. Drunk father physically abusing his mother, his grandfather always going on about how poor they were and how much of a disgrace he was. He was not even a teenager when he had to hear those harsh words....
'You should've been better.'
'What a pathetic child. Mine are better'
'You shouldn't have been born,'
And many such more horrific taunts. But it wasn't until he was eleven that he experienced the worst blow in his life. His mother got pregnant with a second child. A baby girl. The mother and son were ecstatic and had already fallen in love with the little angel who was blessed upon them.
Unfortunately the happiness didn't last very long. The father was against having a girl child and forced his mother into an abortion which led to her death. Little Baek was all alone in this huge world, with no love, no support.
He grew to hate his father and became a cold and distant person. By the time he reached high school, he was already termed as the 'bad boy' of his school. The cold guy. Always in a red leather jacket over his school uniform, he rode on a bike to school everyday.
Where did a poor boy with such a tragic past arrange for a bike, you might ask?
It was a golden opportunity presented to him one day. An older man, maybe in his early fifties, huge paunch and salt and pepper hair had seen the young boy in a marketplace one day. He was beating up a thief who allegedly stole an older woman's purse.
And then the opportunity presented itself to Baek. He was asked to come over and compete in what was called human cage fights. The most dangerous and ruthless form of street fights. But extremely lucrative as well. It paid Baek the kind of money no other job ever would. It didn't bring him happiness at all, but somehow a sense of peace washed over whenever he took out his frustrations on an opponent. It lasted for a short while but it was worth it.
Things went well for a while but the void in his heart was never fully healed. The depressive and self harming thoughts returned and Baek found himself in a very dark place during the final year of his high school.
This is when the hope to survive came along. The reason to live and to do better. To be himself again.
Hope entered in the form of a sweet little petite girl, a junior in his high school. Cute face, deep brown eyes and long black hair with bangs on the forehead. Plump pink lips shining with her favorite cherry lip gloss, her petite form covered by the form fitting school uniform, a white shirt and red and black pleated skirt with thigh high socks.
Kim Hae-Eun or more commonly known as Grace Kim.
One look at her and Baek knew he was a goner. He never had the time or interest in girls his age or from his school. His mind mostly occupied by the dark tendrils of his past but one morning changed all of it.
Grace had just joined the school after being homeschooled for most of her life. Class and subject credits were important to her for University admissions, and so the sudden decision for enrollment to public school came into action.
She had walked right upto the big burly guy in his red leather jacket and in the most sweet sounding voice asked, "Can you please walk me to my class? I'm new and I don't know anyone."
Baek was speechless. Totally mesmerized by the young beauty in front of him. Consumed by her and lost in the depths of her doe eyes.
She tried yet again, "Hello, I'm Grace. I'm new to this school, please take care of me. Now can you show me to the class oppa?"
And that did it. Her sweet honey voice calling him oppa was the final straw.
Baek was in deep. He was in love and for the first time in forever his dead heart started to beat again. There was a shine in his eyes, a new boost of confidence in him and a new skip to his steps.
He felt alive again all because of His Grace.