Fireworks | ATEEZ story

The Stories of His People

A child knelt on a floor in an unlit alleyway of somewhere murky. The child was holding something towards its mouth and started feasting on it despite it covered in flies. The smell was foul, and the colour was unappealing to the eye, yet the child couldn't care less and continued gobbling on it. The child's scrawny and frail figure knelt on the floor.

A man passed by, he seemed to be holding something.

But the child's senses focused on what they were feasting, so as soon as that the stranger had actually yelped, a clear thud could be heard against the concrete floor. Only then did the child give attention to the man, for her food was sprawled all over now. As the child's eyes widened from the sudden impact, she crawled over to where the food had fallen and continued feasting despite its unpalatability.

"AGH! Goddamnit! How the hell will this be used now?!" The man angrily got up and dusted himself. Turning to the one that accidentally tripped him, he clenched his fists. "Hey, kid! Shouldn't you apologise to me?! This is your fault!"

Yet the stranger noticed something odd, as soon as he turned around, it looked like he wanted to eat his words back. The child paid no mind to the vexed stranger scolding her and continued to mind her own business. She has not said a word to him despite the man attempting to converse to her about the current situation.

The strange man unclenched his fists and put a hand on the nape of his neck. "Uhm, I mean...I think it's partially my fault now that I think about it, it's dark here, so maybe I should be the one to apologise for ruining your meal too..."

"..."

The man shook his head vigorously. "Oh no! I ruined your meal! Forget about this broken telescope, maybe the Captain'll let this slide since it was an accident. Here, uhh..."

The strange man suddenly patted his figure, in the end, his hand fished out what seemed to be a half-bitten local biscuit that the other kids would sell in order to make a quick buck in the streets. It was a local delicacy, everywhere the child went, she would always witness other children eating them with a content look on their faces. The child wondered how that felt like, and right now, she was finally about to find out.

The man knelt down. "Oh-uh, this wasn't supposed to happen....I think my friend took a bite out of it while I wasn't looking...I literally told him that I was saving this for emergencies. That bastard-anyways, this' for you. You can grab it if you like."

The child stared at him.

"Oh uh...would you prefer if I just placed it on the floor right here, or...?"

She didn't respond but only approached slowly towards the man's outstretched hand. Sniffing it once, the child finally started eating from his hands.

"Oh! Haha..." the stranger's arm flinched by this sudden intimacy and only outstretched his hand more so that the child would eat comfortably. By the time there was only plastic left placed on his hands, the stranger folded it and placed it back in one of his pockets. "Do you have a name, kid?"

The child burped.

"Oh! Hahaha...you never responded to any of my words, so I assume you don't have one right? What a shame that no one can say it...a name's supposed to be spoken gently. How can I address you? How can I say your name? Would you mind if I just give you one right now?"

The child merely tilted his head. The noises that came out of his mouth were eccentric and unfamiliar.

Yet, for quite some time, the stranger tapped on his head as a light appeared above it. "How about Dae-Seong? 'Dae', meaning 'high', well, nothing to think deeply about it, you are tall for your age after all, haha. Or 'Seong', meaning 'succeeded', well because, you succeeded in making a friend today! Hahaha! Uh, anyways,"