Malsun protecting Soonja (Yeonbin) / (말순, 순자를 지킬거야)

Chapter 01

The night was way too dark as there was no moon in the sky. Though the city was covered with the fake, electric light. In the very big city, it was too small an alley to be noticed. The street lamps were no longer spreading their lights because it's been a long time since they haven't been repaired. But suddenly, a lamp started blinking as if it was an electric spark. In the flimsy sparkling light, a boy was seen sitting on a side of the alley. He was sitting but drooped on himself and his face couldn't be seen. His legs were spread to the front side and his hands were kept on his lap as if he wasn't conscious. After a while, he got up slowly and started moving very slowly. He tried to walk but was staggering because of the pain he had all over his body.

He somehow managed to go into his tiny and messy apartment where he used to live alone. He turned on the light and closed the door. He took the bag off his shoulder. As he had no strength left on his body, he threw his body on the small bed without taking off his clothes. His face and all body was covered with bruises and cut marks as if he had fought with others and somehow he managed to win. But it wasn't the case. He was bullied by his schoolmates this cruelly. Though he needed some sleep, his insomnia didn't let him go to sleep already. He started thinking about his life. He thought about how his life was when his parents were alive.

"Mom! I want to eat juice, not soup!"
"Dad! I want the whole train station set!"
"Mom! I don't want to go to school today but to the park, please please!" 
He wasn't a troublemaker kid but sometimes, he insisted on various things. But all the time, his parents accepted whatever he insisted on and tried their best to give the things he wanted. They were such a nice family. Anyone would be jealous seeing how happy the family was! But an accident snatched everything from him. He used to smile cheerfully but after that accident, he forgot what smile or happiness is.

But why did he survive? He was in the car too with his parents. Why did his mom protect him with her own body? Wouldn't it be very nice if he was also dead too? Did they leave him willingly to make him suffer like that? He wondered. Because of his mom, he had to trouble his grandma. Because she couldn't leave Soobin alone in the city. Though she tried her best to fill up his parents' place, an old woman couldn't do much because she was already too poor to help herself. Moreover, his parents were the one supporting her financially before the accident. He remembered the night when he got up from the coma and overheard the conversation between his grandma and her neighbor who came to visit Soobin and took care of his parents' funeral.

"Are you sure you will take him with you? Can you support him? You have a weak body of your own to take care of. Moreover, where would you get the money to feed him? And he's just twelve! So, he needs to go to school too! Can you handle all of it on your own?" A ladies voice went through little Soobin's ear. He couldn't understand what was going on then.

But he understood everything after. He was in a coma for a week and he lost his parents in the accident. He couldn't cry back then. Because he was in a post traumatic situation. He stayed at the hospital for another two weeks and went with his grandmother to the town. He was a middle schooler at that time. So, he needed to transfer school too. The atmosphere of the school was quite nice. The teachers, staff and the students were friendly too. He quite started enjoying school at that time though he missed his parents a lot and secretly cried often.

His grandma started working at a restaurant near there. She worked two shifts and after coming back she needed to cook for themselves. It wasn't easy for her. So, seeing her suffering, little Soobin's heart ached though he couldn't help much. He tried his best to reduce her work pressure and started doing house chores bit by bit. Days went by and he started growing up as well as his grandma started to get older and weaker.

His thoughts started changing too. He wanted to support his grandma and because of it, he decided to come back to the city to find some suitable jobs who'd offer him enough money to support his grandmother. He found a job at a bakery which offered him a high salary. He admitted himself in a high school there because his grandmother's wish was to make him a higher educated person. He started going to school in the morning and when his school finished, he went straight to the bakery to work. He worked there till midnight and came to his home which he could rent at a cheap price. He thought his days would be spent like this. But he was wrong. Because of his looks. And as for his looks,

He started growing tall all of a sudden and stopped when he reached 185 cm. He has a face which can be compared with a cute bunny. His cheeks look cuter than any other girl. But he had sharp eyes as if the wolf king came to him and gave their own eyes in Soobin's eye case. He had a thin and beautiful nose right in the middle of his charming eyes. His thin and pink colored lips were way too attractive that anyone would want to steal a peck from it. Even though he used a cheap shampoo to wash his hair, his pitch black hair always shines. His skin was too fair for a man.

He had another charming point which was his waist. He was very thin and his waist was the cause of girls' jealousy. And because of this, he was popular among girls but the boys hated him as no girls were interested in talking with them. When he was a freshman, no boys would talk with him. But as time passed by, they understood Soobin was nothing but a beautiful figure. He was easy to get along with and was easy to pushover. They slowly started touting him and whenever they got a chance, they started to bully him. Soobin thought they were just having fun at first because their actions weren't cruel at first. He tried to avoid them as he didn't want to cause any trouble. But day by day, they became dangerous. They started doing very inhumane acts towards Soobin.

Sometimes, they poured dirty water on Soobin. Sometimes, they throw their things or dirt on Soobin. Or sometimes, they snatch his food or drinks away. Or they lock him up inside a room. Sometimes, they just pushed him so that he'd fall. But Soobin had to stay silent because if he said a word against them, they'd come back for him in front of his house at night and beat him into a pulp. They even named him "Soonja" which means obey. It was a girly name but they often call him by this name because they want him to obey them at any cost.

When Soobin was thinking back about his life and wondering why everything was happening with him as well as shading tears, his phone started ringing. It was from his grandmother's phone but when he received it, he heard another person's voice.

"Soobin! Can you hurry back? Your grandma is very sick and the doctor said she might not make it this time!"