Lost Boys

2

Chapter One: Division of the Heart.

    Look at it like this; if you weren't from the capital, you weren't important.

   If you're not domesticated, then you are a deviant. All status are ascribed, never to be achieved. So, tarry on oh impoverish ones for you know not the riches that the capital holds.

   There are two major rings that encompasses the city of Seoul. The capital, Seoul which is at the very center off the upper ring. The city of lights and fruitful lives, always a party, never a dull moment. Then you have the lower ring, Daegu and beyond. The land of the low lives, beggars, thieves and the poor men.

You can now imagine the foul smells and poor conditions that rid the city. Children and adults alike roaming the debris ridden streets with large eyes and long arms. Sufficing the smallest of rations that they had left to their names. This was a clear contrast from the city of marble and gold.

    Did I forget to mention that this is where Kim Taehyung, a poor young boy with only the shelter of his mother's warm embrace lived. A home that was once filled with the sweet smells of constant baked goods were now long beyond flimsy memories. Though everything was distance and often blurred together, Taehyung had one memory. A memory so unforgettable that he often stayed up on hunger filled nights relishing this cognitive thought as if it was his last full meal.

    It was a boy, a small bright eyed boy with the widest of smiles that stood before him. His white shirt shining brighter than the sun on that faithful day. The child's fluffy brown hair slicked back to show the crowning prince of wealth. His skin silky smooth as if it was made of the finest fabrics in the world. That day, Taehyung swore he saw a god in his young form.

    Of course he then later found out that this particular child wasn't of his kind, poor and casted off to do the dirty work of the upper ring. He was indeed from the capital, a boy of many names with riches and women to garnish his right hand by the snap of his fingers. Little did Taehyung know that it was in fact the same little boy who was now a fully grown man. A man who would find it in his stone cold heart to care for a refugee like him.

*

      Jung HoSeok stood before the floor length mirror, admiring the crisp tailored suit that adorned his lanky frame.

   "Um, I suppose this one will do." The boy muttered, sizing up the way the trousers clung to his mile long legs and well toned calves.

   "Right then sir!" His butler cheered, quick to carry out the request of his young master even before they were spoken. HoSeok watched as the greying man dashed from the large dressing room, a sigh falling past his thin lips.

   He didn't particularly want to be in this position, but one would argue that he liked it. Maybe even loved the profundity he held over many. He wasn't a crown prince or a king, but from the eyes of the weak, he would soon be one.

HoSeok didn't really understand why he was seen as someone worth more diamond and gold than you could imagine. The thought was very much beyond him, though he didn't fail to accept the privileges of looking down against the taboos of living as a deviant.

    He despised both ways of living, desperately wanting to chance it. But what could he do with his soft hands so elegantly adorned in the finest of jewels and silver. This man was wealthy, he has never lifted a broom in all his life. How could he of all people fight for the rights of the dog poor.

"Young master, everything is set for us to leave." With a nod, the boy spun on his heels with one last glance in the mirror, satisfied with his decision. Today they would commence the preparation for the grand tour, he wasn't exactly excited to see the rest of the country, claiming that he didn't care much. But amongst all of that, the thing that excited him the most, were the parties. He just couldn't wait to waste himself away.

"Thank you Arnold." HoSeok replied, pushing passed the aged man as he walked out the store and towards the car waiting for him. "Is Soji ready for me?" He asked, HoSeok was a betrothed man but quite frankly couldn't care less to be in a monogamous relationship. He loved freedom, something he truly thought that he lacked living in his lavish condition.