Baek dropped Grace a few minutes walking distance away from her house so as to avoid getting caught together. No one ever said it out loud, but what they had was a forbidden romance. Their overall culture in general is conservative but the rules and regulations at Grace's house were severe. She hadn't been allowed male friends other than one, Beom-Seok, and that too because he happened to be a close family friend and business relative of her father's.
As soon as she stepped up to the doors of the huge mansion that was her home, Grace felt empty inside. She didn't know what it was or why she felt the way she did. Her age was pretty confusing in itself, the insecurities, the hushed thoughts, the teenage drama and to top it off her closed upbringing. She had no answers as to why her Baek oppa managed to bring butterflies to her stomach everytime they were together or why she had this warm feeling in her bones everytime she thought about him or why, just why his mere name brought a chill down her spine. A good kind of chill.
She wanted, no craved for constant contact with him. For some unfathomable reason she felt closer to him than she had ever felt with anyone else. Not her friends, not her parents, all she ever wanted now was her Baek oppa.
"Eomma, I'm home!" She called out once she was inside the house. Unfortunately for her, as usual her mother never replied back. Mrs. Park was busy with her friends on a phone call deeply discussing about the newest Hermes bag in the market. She was planning on purchasing the same in order to have her head high amongst her peers and so-called friends and social circle.
Mrs. Park wasn't the ideal monther figure for someone as sweet and kind as Grace but she was never abusive. All she ever did do, was ignore her only child and go on with her life and it's pleasures. For her Grace had always been nothing more than a marital obligation. The need to produce a heir and nothing more. Grace was constantly reminded of the fact too, what with all the ignoring she received, it was plain and simple evidence of how unwanted she was at her home.
A sharp contrast to this was her relationship with Baek, for her Baek oppa also made her feel needed and wanted. He reminded her how he always would want her and her company. The years Grace spent alone and practically isolated, washed away when she met Baek. He took away all the pain and sorrow, filling her with love and joy.
But was the young man any better himself?
Not by a long shot, no. Baek's house situation was much like Grace's, except for the lack of exurbetant amounts of money her family had and his didn't. He was used to being ignored by his drunken father, only ever being remembered by him when the older man needed something from the younger. It didn't feel like a home, or a family at all. They didn't seem like a father-son duo, ever. More like tolerant roommate's.
Baek's reasonings for staying put in that house, despite the hatred and many challenges were simple. It was the last place that held any memories of his mother and sister, last place he ever felt loved and the last place he had a family. The memories he never wanted to let go off were stored in that tiny hut and he just couldn't gather the strength to let go.
As Grace sat alone in her massive mansion style home, Baek did the same at his small and modest place. The two couldn't have had any more likeness and similarities than this. A sad and lonely childhood with only each other as the sole comfort. The only difference maybe, were the activities the two indulged in, post school. While Grace diligently practiced the days lessons and completed her homework, Baek sat on an empty stool, a cigarette between his lips, immersed in wrapping and unwrapping the bandages on his plans and wrist.
He knew Grace wouldn't approve of the cigarette, or the loneliness and self-deprecation or the fighting… hell maybe she'd even be okay with cigarette once she found out about the fighting. The street fights had become more like an addiction for Baek, he didn't fight solely for the purpose of survival but for satisfaction. He knew for a fact that it was unhealthy and absolutely wrong, but he was past the stage of worrying about differentiating between what was right or wrong, just or unjust, legal or illegal. He needed it as much as he needed water or oxygen and as much as that thought was scary it was oddly comforting too.
A sudden ring of his cellphone brought him out of the spell of the constant reveling and unraveling of his bandages and he kept the lot aside to tend to the call. As soon as he saw the caller ID, a ghost of a smile appeared on his handsome face, lighting it up and he answered at once.
"Hyung, anneyong!" He greeted the person on the call and patiently waited for a reply.
"Baek, I'm back in Daegu. I'd like to meet you. Are you free now?" The person asked almost tentatively, waiting for Baek's answer.
Baek chuckled at the thought of his hyung being nervous and asking about his schedule. If there was one guy Baek would leave everything for in order to get to, it would be him and the person himself not knowing that fact was oddly funny to him.
"Hyung… please don't insult me by asking. You know I will meet you irrespective of my plans, right? I don't just call you hyung for the heck of it, you are my older brother and I mean it. Understood?"
"Understood. Now get your ass here to the water front. Same spot as last time, okay?"
"Okay?" He said, suddenly his mood and spirits lifted. He couldn't wait to meet the man on the other side of the phone, tell him about his life and about his Grace.
The thought of discussing her, brought an instant blush on the big brute, Baek's face and he chuckled at himself. Grabbing his keys and wallet he left the place he once called home, to meet the person who was now family.