𝙝𝙚𝙧 𝙘𝙖𝙣𝙫𝙖𝙨 • 𝙚𝙣𝙝𝙮𝙥𝙚𝙣 + 𝙨𝙚𝙫𝙚𝙣𝙩𝙚𝙚𝙣

𝘇𝗲𝗿𝗼

𝙄𝙛 𝙄 𝙖𝙢 𝙜𝙞𝙫𝙚𝙣 𝙖 𝙨𝙚𝙘𝙤𝙣𝙙 𝙡𝙞𝙛𝙚, 𝙄 𝙢𝙖𝙮 𝙡𝙞𝙫𝙚 𝙖𝙣𝙙 𝙗𝙧𝙚𝙖𝙩𝙝 𝙙𝙞𝙛𝙛𝙚𝙧𝙚𝙣𝙩𝙡𝙮 𝙘𝙤𝙢𝙥𝙖𝙧𝙚𝙙 𝙩𝙤 𝙣𝙤𝙬.

𝙨𝙚𝙫𝙚𝙣𝙩𝙚𝙚𝙣 - 𝙨𝙚𝙘𝙤𝙣𝙙 𝙡𝙞𝙛𝙚

Everything was supposed to be perfect. The warm sunlight seeped through their light blue curtains with few fishes decorated, and Heeseung woke up before the alarm clock blasted its sound across his shared room. And for once, he managed to finish bathing before his other sibling; showering was a problem since they would always be arguing over who goes first.

Heeseung wore his white polo shirt without his aunt's help, finished eating the scrumptious breakfast his mother cooked before going out to work another shift for his uncle, and woke up his younger siblings since his aunt was probably panicking about her due thesis this weekend. "Hyung," one of his siblings called out as a small hand tugged his shirt, and bending down, he met the sleepy eyes of Jay.

"Jake is hogging the bathroom again," the younger said as he only nodded and watched as the younger made his way to their bedroom, probably fixing his backpack before going to their daycare. "Again?" He huffed out, walking to the closed door of the bathroom, knocking it until there was a muffled shout from the constant stream of the opened shower. "You're making everyone late, Jake! Hurry up."

And his perfect day got better when his three younger siblings got down, eating without any childish fights at the dinner table with his aunt joining them a few minutes after. Come to think of it, his aunt even gave him money to spend on whatever he liked - not that he was going to spend it on anything, most preferably he'll buy his younger siblings the candies they wanted a few days ago.

But then again, his mother would probably get angry at them eating sweets again when she just bought them chocolate ice creams the other day. Not that it will stop a child's curiosity, Heeseung would probably hide it in his bag and give them out secretly. His mother won't be back again in another night or so, and Aunt Nara isn't that strict with them.

The bus arrived early today, too. They didn't wait in a long line with random strangers standing and waiting patiently and impatiently for it to go over their stop. His hands busily wiped away the sweat building from the children's forehead, as he smiled over to the annoyed faces of his siblings. "Auntie! Heeseung-hyung is laughing at us again," Jake shouted as he scrambled over to his aunt's side, but Heeseung knew that she would side for him - he was her favorite, after all.

"Stop it, Heeseung," was all his favorite and only aunt said and he felt like his heart was shattered to pieces, and not to mention, Aunt Nara only laughed at his look of betrayal painted across his face. "Come on now. Jake, your brother is only teasing you. And Heeseung, stop doing that to your sibling,"

If there was one thing that he knew from his mother, he would never back down and apologize that easily. He still has pride, and if he apologizes, it would be like giving away his favorite toy to him. And he did what he, an ordinary child would do, sulk and whisper an apology. "I'm sorry," he grumbled as he held the hand of Jake who only smiled widely at him, and somehow, the petty anger in his heart disappeared and left him wondering what caused their little fight in the first place.

Come to think of it, Heeseung arrived at his school earlier than he ever arrived in this establishment. His classmates invited him to sit beside him, laugh along, and they even sat at the same lunch table! He was glad that he could somehow answer the questions in recitations in every subject.

There was a time that he thought that this perfect day would be gone, when the old security guard called him over from the cafeteria, and the wide black gate opened to reveal his mother dressed with the lavender sweater that she always wore when she was feeling happy. She greeted him with the same warm hug and ruffled down his hair into a mess, but before he could complain, he saw the bright smile his mother wore.

And as always, his mother was apologizing again for a problem that she never did. He knew that, but he never bothered to correct her. But then, she gave him a small lunch box that he always saw from his classmates that they would bring out every lunch - one that he was always jealous of.

His eyes teared up, sniffles came out of his mouth as his name was called by the youthful voices of his friends, and he ran and ran away from her. He doesn't know what to say or do. He was just a child, and he could not comprehend the burst of emotions that he felt at that moment. Heeseung stopped for a while, breathless and tears fell down to his white polo shirt, staining them endlessly.

Sound of footsteps was nearby as his group of friends came over, worried as he only laughed out loud with a smile on his face. "Eomma gave me a lunchbox," he happily said to his confused friends. They'll never understand anyway, their parents always have them whatever they want, and to him, this small lunch box is special.

To make things even better, his walk home was bright and beautiful compared to before. The stray cats stopped by him, meowing with its tiny paws attached to his shirt when he bent down to pet them. The old lady near a bookshop gave him a free ballpoint pen, and luckily, he really needed it after his was borrowed by Jake. And when he got home, his siblings flocked to him, asking for candies that he bought along the way to which he handed them out evenly and watching them eat while he prepared their snack for the afternoon.

Soon the yellowish tint from the large curtain from the pillow disappeared and was replaced by the orange hue from the street light. The front door rang from the slight clanging of the wind chimes attached from it as a silhouette of his Aunt arrived bringing in boxes of chicken from a nearby restaurant. That must mean that mother and uncle were still working, and as expected, they'll eat without his mother again.

He understood why it had to be like that. Now that he was older, he knew that mother needed to take care of his new siblings. Working was inevitable, but he sometimes wished that she could spend more time with him. He wasn't jealous at all, he's now eight years old, and he could handle these immature feelings. And he watched as his brother, Jay, set the plates and utensils on the table while he kept an eye on his younger siblings that were playing with their toys on the carpet.

And then a loud sound occured, coming from his right was the small rectangular picture frame of his family shattered to the floor. He went to pick it up and winced as it cut through his skin, small droplets of blood dripped to the photo of his mother smiling widely with her arms around him and his siblings. He didn't know why, but fear consumed him as he turned back to see the shocked face of his Aunt. She then hurried to grab the medical kit from the cabinets and gently wiped the blood away from his finger, applying a spray of alcohol to the wound, and lastly, covering it with a cartoon band aid.

He didn't understand why, but he knew something bad had happened.