Jin-woo was of average height with delicate-looking features due to his slightly chubby cheeks.
He wasn't ugly, but he wasn't idol-level handsome.
After letting out a sigh in front of the mirror, Jin-woo slowly took off his clothes to take a shower. However, he paused on his way toward the tub when he saw himself in the full-body mirror.
It was a body that showed signs that he was once exercising, but those muscles gained had faded away some time ago only leaving a few outlines here and there. But what was more eye-catching were the bruises and the small burn marks on his chest and forearms.
His finger lightly rubbed over a recent-looking bruise on his left abdomen. It didn't hurt anymore but his pale skin made it look worse than it was.
After staring for a few minutes, Jin-woo snapped out of his thoughts and then went to take his shower.
It was a couple of minutes later when he exited and wrapped a towel around his waist and hair before heading back to his room.
However, because of his now foggy glasses, he wasn't paying attention and ended up bumping into someone on his way out.
"Watch where you're going."
*Thud*
The person shoved him into the wall as they limply passed.
The towel on Jin-woo's head fell, and he looked at his father's slightly blurry back before he apologized.
"Sorry."
"Worthless fuck."
Jin-woo flinched upon hearing the immediate response but thought internally.
'But there's a bathroom downstairs…'
Jin-woo didn't wait around and picked up his towel before going back to his room.
….
…
..
In the full-body mirror in his room, Jin-woo struggled to tie his tie. He eventually did a slightly decent job he was satisfied with before he put on his black blazer that had his school's emblem ISH on it.
On his way out the door, he suddenly stopped and headed back to his dresser. There he picked up a small container and after taking off his glasses he wore his contacts. Squinting to make sure they were in place Jin-woo then paused to stare at a small box on his dresser that was wrapped like a gift.
After a momentary daze of him just staring at the box, Jin-woo reached out and picked up the simple black digital watch next to it before finally leaving his bedroom. On his way to the bathroom, the sound of someone entering the front door downstairs entered his ears.
"Jin!"
"Yes, mom?"
Jin-woo paused his steps.
"Are you ready yet? Don't forget to carry your medication and take it at lunch, I'm leaving in five minutes so hurry up!"
"I know, I was just about to get it."
Jin-woo entered the bathroom and opened the glass cabinet above the sink.
"Huh?"
Immediately, something weird caught his attention.
Two of his brown medicine bottles were opened, he only remembered ever opening one this past week.
Confused, Jin-woo took up the one he found at the back hidden away from sight. He knew it was open from the sealing tag having been broken.
"Is he still taking my pills?"
But Jin-woo should have known, or why else would he come up here?
Jin-woo frowned but still returned the bottle where he found it. He then took out a small clear bag from his brown pants and placed one of the white pills from the other bottle inside.
Putting away the bottle and then the small clear bag, Jin-woo left the bathroom and headed downstairs.
Walking to his front door he saw his mother fixing her clothes while waiting for him.
"Are you ready?" Myung-hee asked her son.
"Yes."
"Good, I'm late for work so let's hurry."
They were both about to leave but a hoarse voice suddenly came from the living room sofa.
"Hey, one of you get me a beer from the fridge would you."
*Cough*
*Cough*
The owner of the voice suddenly coughed violently.
Myung-hee showed a face that said she couldn't be bothered before she remembered something and headed upstairs.
Jin-woo wasn't sure why she went upstairs. His parents' room and bathroom were all downstairs. Though he didn't think about it much. He went to the fridge in the kitchen before he walked over to his father slouching on the couch and handed him his beer.
Lee Sung-ho grabbed the beer from his son's hand but not before squeezing the one he had been drinking and throwing it at his feet.
Jin-woo stared at his father who looked like a drunkard you might see outside next to those street bars. His face had unshaven stubbles, and his fat gut protruded from his undershirt that had old stains from two days prior.
With a VPN the TV in front of him was on an overseas weapon specialist channel that featured weapons used in various countries by their military.
Jin-woo recognized the gun they were showing to be a K5 semi-automatic pistol.
His mind involuntarily went over its unconventional specs while his father drank his beer.
"Remember when I was teaching you about those guns? Those were some good father-son times we had even though your mother was completely against it."
His father's words snap Jin-woo out of his thoughts, but he lowered his head instead of looking at his father.
He knew what was coming next, but like a soldier, he stood at attention.
Lee Sung-ho's expression suddenly went dark, and he threw the now empty beer can, hitting Jin-woo's forehead.
Jin-woo didn't flinch when the beer can made contact, despite the fact it had broken his skin and drew blood.
"I regretted those times. If I could go back, I would never have wasted so much time on you. It's because of you that I was discharged from the Marine Corps you piece of worthless fuck."
Jin-woo's eyes involuntarily landed on his father's knee where there was a large scar running down to his ankle.
"Get the hell away from me you psychopathic piece of shit!"
"Yes sir."
Jin-woo said respectfully before he turned around, not waiting for his mother. He picked up his backpack next to the door before leaving the house.
Outside, he walked to the garage and entered his mother's black Genesis; the garage door was already open, allowing him to see a few neighborhood kids walking by outside heading to school.
Myung-hee soon came and got into the car. Upon seeing the cut on Jin-woo's forehead, she simply ignored it and instead said.
"Buckle up."
Jin-woo did as his mother told him before they drove out of their garage to their destination.
A silent thirty-minute drive later Myung-hee stopped in front of a rather large and modern-looking high school with floor-to-ceiling glass windows. Kids around Jin-woo's age in the same uniform as him were seen entering through its similarly large gates.
Jin-woo unbuckled his seat belt and got out, but he heard his mother suddenly say.
"This is your first day in high school, I don't want to get a call while at work from the school nurse saying that you didn't take your medication on time again. It's bothersome and it needs to stop. You're turning sixteen soon so start acting like the adult you are. Do you understand?"