[3] Code: REBIRTH || KTH

Ch5: People Are Evil

"Taetae, do you want to go to the park?"

Little Taehyung's ears perk up at the warm voice of his caretaker, a smile forming on his face and his tail wagging in excitement upon hearing the question.

The old lady stands at the other side of the room with her mischievous grin that Taehyung loved so much. It made her look younger, contradicting her gray hair and wrinkled eyes.

"Go and get dressed, c'mon," She says, gesturing with her hand towards his room, "You need help?"

"No!" Taehyung yells as he sprints to his bedroom, "I'm all grown up now!"

She chuckles, shaking her head at the six-year-old's antics.

The weather is warm and the sun is shining with no trace of clouds in the sky when they leave the house, or at least that's how Taehyung remembers it.

Skipping his way towards the park, Taehyung keeps his hand firmly held in his grandma's, and today he skips a little slower to keep up with his grandma's pace, because she's a bit slower than the last time they walked together. He wonders if she'll be even slower the next time.

Taehyung runs towards the slides once they reach the park while his grandma sits down on a bench not too far from him to keep a close eye, keeping in mind that he's the only hybrid in the park, and praying silently that the other children are good to him.

But Taehyung doesn't seem to care or notice as he runs around, strking conversation with other kids his age.

"Can I play with you?" He asks, approaching a group of children playing hide-and-seek.

"Sure!" A little boy answers before taking a look at Taehyung's ears and tail, his face brightening with excitement, "Wow! Can I touch your ears?"

"Uhmm no, Iㅡ" Taehyung begins to answer, shifting uncomfortably in place but it's too late as the boy already reaches out to touch his ears.

Taehyung doesn't think, and immediately pushes the other boy to the ground. There are the audible gasps of the other children, the yelping of the boy who fell to the ground, and the voice of a mother calling onto her child as Taehyung takes a step back, fiddling with his hands nervously.

"What did I say about playing with hybrids?!" The mother yells as she picks up her child from the ground before looking at Taehyung with so much disgust that he feels like he shrinked in place.

"They're dangerous," She says, "Your owners shouldn't leave you around like that. They should put you on a leash if you're gonna go around pushing other kids around!"

Taehyung's eyes fill with tears before he feels his grandma's hand on his shoulder, so he quickly rushes to stand beside her, hiding his face in her skirt.

"I think your son should be on a leash if he's going to go around touching people without their permission," His grandma objects calmly, her trembling hand gently patting his head, "C'mon, Taetae, let's go somewhere where people have more respect."

The mother spits a curse that Taehyung didn't understand as he walks away with his grandma, ignoring the screaming woman.

"Sometimes, Taetae," His grandma says as she holds his hand, "Silence says a lot more than words."

"Now," She adds, smiling down at him, "Do you want to go drink some tea with me?"

Taehyung nods, sniffling and wiping at his tears. He remembers going home, his grandma standing in the kitchen, brewing some tea as he patiently waits at the table. It has only been an hour or two since the incident at the park, but the weather is cloudy and gloomy with the sky gray. That's how Taehyung remembers it.

He remembers the warm tea cup between his hands, and he remembers that this was the first time he realised he's so much different than other kids his age, and that people care a lot about these differences. Maybe that's why he doesn't go to school like other kids and instead learns at home with his grandma. But his grandma doesn't seem to care. He remembers looking up at her as she drinks her tea, and there are no big ears at the top of her head or a fluffy tail and he wonders why he wasn't born like her.

"Sometimes, Taetae," She says, "People will be mean to you only because you don't look like them. It's not your fault, and it doesn't mean that there's anything wrong with you. All it means is that these people are evil."

Right. People are evil. And there's nothing he can do about it. That's what Taehyung thought for a long time. Until he met a boy on a rainy night on the streets.