|Weak Hero| Dianthe

Chapter 1

Their mother was dead. She had been dead for two whole days. For two whole days, she had stayed in the morgue. Her motherly warmth was completely gone, replaced by the freezing cold of the deceased.

Donald had wanted to remain strong for his younger sister's sake. He had tried to keep up a poker face and not cry, but he was only twelve years old. He, too, was just a child. He and his sister fell to their knees, sobbing and holding each other as their mother was cremated. They only had each other now.

At twelve years old and seven years old, Donald and Dianthe Na became orphans. Their stepfather had ran off with their mother's life insurance money. While they were glad that he was gone so he could no longer abuse them, they had no way of paying for the rent the next time it was due. Donald only got so much money from the work-study program and it would never be enough for them to survive off of.

Donald dropped out of school after beating up his bullies. There was no point in staying there since their mother was dead. Besides, he needed to find a way to make money so he and his sister could survive. He also pulled Dianthe out of school because he didn't want her to possibly become targeted by the school staff that hated him like the school director and Mr. Jeong.

Donald started stealing. He sold any items he stole to shops in the shadier part of town. Those people didn't ask any questions so long as it was something worth selling. He used the money to buy food for himself and his little sister. Once they could no longer stay at their apartment, they moved into an abandoned building.

Living on the streets was extremely dangerous. Children, especially ones that would have no one who would miss them if they were to disappear, were easy targets for human traffickers. Donald made sure to keep his little sister close at all times. He didn't even want Dianthe to stay at the abandoned building by herself.

After winning a couple of fights against other thieving kids, Donald began to gain followers and together they formed a gang. Donald was hesitant to allow them near his sister and feared that they may threaten her in order to usurp Donald's position as leader. He knew that it'd get more dangerous the more fights he and his gang got into, so she'd eventually need to stay back and Donald definitely wouldn't let her stay back alone.

To Donald's surprise, his gang members got along well with Dianthe. In fact, they adored her. They treated her as if she were their own younger sister. Donald's second-in-command, Myles Joo, even helped Dianthe braid her hair sometimes.

XXX

Dianthe was eight years old when Myles found her sitting by the Han River by herself one night. He was concerned since there was no way Donald would've let her out of his sight. As he walked over and sat down by her side, he watched as Dianthe punched her reflection in the water.

"Shouldn't you be sleeping at this time?" Myles asked.

"I snuck out," Dianthe told him. "I wanted to be alone,"

"You seem a bit angry," Myles noted. "What's wrong?"

Dianthe hesitated for a moment before speaking up. "I look exactly like Mom..."

"Is that supposed to be a bad thing?" 

"I can tell that Donald can't help but see the resemblances when he looks at me," Dianthe said. "He probably hates me for looking so much like Mom,"

"There's no way that Donald hates you," Myles told her. "If he hated you, he wouldn't have protected you and taken care of you. If he hated you, he would've abandoned you,"

"I can see the pain in his eyes whenever he looks at me," Dianthe whispered. "He'd be better off without me. I should just leave—"

"If you run away, he won't rest until he finds you and brings you home," Myles pointed out. "Even if you look like your guys' mother, he still loves you, Dianthe. You're his little sister and you will always be his little sister," He gently ruffled her hair. "You know, the rest of the gang also sees you as a little sister too. If Donald ever hates you, you'll always have us,"

After a few more silent minutes, the two returned to the abandoned building. Donald had finally noticed his sister's disappearance and was frantically searching around for her. When he saw Dianthe returning with Myles, he became furious.

"Where the fuck did you take my sister!?" Donald demanded.

"Donald, he didn't take me anywhere!" Dianthe intervened. "I wanted to be alone for a bit and he bumped into me at the Han River,"

"You should've woken me up," Donald told her. "I could've accompanied you outside,"

"I didn't want to bother you," Dianthe looked away.

"She thinks that you hate her because she looks like your guys' mom," Myles deadpanned.

"Myles!" Dianthe turned to glare at him.

"We are not going to go through the lack of communication and misunderstandings trope," Myles yawned. "You two should talk it out. I'm going to sleep," He left the biological siblings alone.

"Dianthe," Donald gently asked. "Is what Myles said true? Do you really think I hate you?"

"I know we both resemble Mom," Dianthe told him. "Since I have more feminine features, I resemble her more than you do. And...I can see pain in your eyes whenever you look at me,"

Donald immediately brought her into a hug. "I'm sorry, Dianthe. I never meant to make you feel bad. It's true that you do look like Mom, but I know you're not her. Dianthe, you are my sister. I could never hate you,"

"You know, Myles told me that you'd never hate me," Dianthe hugged him back. "But if you did hate me, he and the others would always have my back,"

"I'm kinda jealous that they're being like big brothers to you," Donald admitted. "But I'm also relieved that you guys are getting along well and that there will be people who'll protect you when I'm somewhere else,"

"I don't mind having a lot of big brothers," Dianthe giggled. "We'll all be one big happy family,"

Donald and Myles are co-parents.

The cover was made using Canva.