Beautiful [Story ver.] || Ongniel

Part 2

Kang Daniel

The biting smell of sweat and leather filled the air. The steady punches of his best friend's fists against the heavy leather bag echoing through the room.

For Daniel this was home.

He admired Jihoon from afar, the boy was much smaller than Daniel but his fists could hurt like hell. He'd know.

The blond boy was cleaning the floor, his arms were resting on top of the cleaning tool, not really paying attention to his work. Instead he was smiling brightly at his other friends, who crowded around the boxing ring, watching and cheering for Jihoon.

They came here almost each afternoon after school or university, everyone dreaming of standing in the ring one day but no one had the potential that Jihoon had.

Daniel dreamed of it too, but he was considered too clumsy and unfocused to ever take a part in it.

He had become friends with Jihoon and the others immediately after meeting them at the orphanage when he was six years old.

Daniel didn't really remember much from his childhood. He had faint memories of a loving family and a brother, who he had adored very much, but nothing more. How Daniel could end up in an orphanage, he didn't know.

The helper from the church always told him that your brain locks away painful memories. Maybe Daniel was too hurt to think of what happened? He missed his family dearly, even if he didn't really know them anymore.

Since Daniel turned 17, he practically lived in the boxing gym. The owner knew him ever since he moved here and cherished him very much.

"Be quiet! Don't you kids have work to do?", the loud voice of the owner, everyone just called him Rick, hollowed through the gym.

The boys sprinted away from the ring, pretending to be busy with anything but watching Jihoon's training. Daniel laughed.

He was just dusting off some training equipment, looking at the leather ball that was attached to a stretchy looking string. Daniel had seen Jihoon use it once. Still with a big grin he threw a punch at the ball. Immediately the string snapped back, letting the heavy ball hit Daniel right in the stomach.

"Uff", the boy puffed out some air until he heard laughing.

"When will you ever learn not to touch anything?", Sungwoon, one of the older boys in their little group, approached him with a big grin. Daniel hit him on the shoulder playfully.

"You always manage to sound as if you know what you are talking about but I've never seen you actually join the practice for once", Daniel jumped away from the tackle Sungwoon was about to launch on him.

"Rick will ask me soon, I just know it!", the boy argued with a proud expression on his face, "he can't rely on Jihoon as his only champion for long. He'll have to ask someone to start training with him soon!"

"And that will be you for sure", Jisung, their oldest, said with a snort, sitting down against a pile of thick mats.

"Well not you grandpa"

"Yah! I'm only-"

"Shut up and do your work!", Rick's shout made them jump again, everyone going back to their work. Daniel was still smiling, this was his family.

He just wished the feeling of emptiness in his heart would finally go away.

-

It was dark outside and the boys were sitting together in the small back room of the gym. It was their hideout ever since they were kids.

Now they used it to drink alcohol and hide from Rick's temper.

"I've got something for you", Sungwoon suddenly said, opening his backpack and searching through it.

Daniel was surprised, Sungwoon usually wasn't the type for presents.

"Little Guanlin helped me with them since he's the only one with a laptop", he smiled widely, finally getting a pile of papers out of his bag.

Lai Guanlin was a kid from Taiwan who nobody knew how he ended up in a Korean orphanage. But he recently got a scholarship for one of the best universities in town, everyone was very proud of him.

Guanlin threw a close mouthed smile in Daniel's direction, blushing shyly.

"What is this?", Daniel asked, grabbing the pile from Sungwoon.

Everyone got closer together, all trying to take a look at it.

"What is it?", Jihoon asked, taking a sip from his coke.

Daniel turned the papers around, his smile faltering a bit but not disappearing.

He stared at the photo of him and his brother. It was the only one Daniel had, he usually hid it under his pillow.

Two boys were standing beside each other, smiling brightly. It must have been taken right before they were separated.

"How did you get this?", Daniel asked slowly, reading the information on the paper.

"It was easy to get you drunk enough to talk to me about it", Jisung said, patting his friend on the back.

"You are a lightweight hyung", Daehwi agreed with a sly grin.

Daniel still didn't know how to feel about this.

He wanted to find his brother, he really did, but would he want to find him?

-

His room was dark and rather empty. Only a few books laying around here and there.

Sungwoon and the others had agreed to go out tomorrow to tape the flyers to streetlights and bus stations. But only after they had persuaded Daehwi and Jinyoung, who feared it was illegal to plaster anything on streetlights.

Daniel placed the papers on his desk, not noticing how the little music box, that he had put there, almost dropped down. He took it in his hands, throwing himself on his bed.

The light from the streetlights was shining through the window, reflecting on the smooth metal box.

It was the only thing he kept from his old life. He knew that his brother got it for him, well probably their parents had brought it, but kids didn't care for that. Daniel had come into the orphanage, carrying it in his jacket, not willing to let anyone take it away from him.

The small object played a sad piano melody, one of those that stuck with you for days, replaying itself in your head.

Daniel had loved to play the piano once. He'd usually play it when the kids from the orphanage went to church.

They hadn't visited a church in forever now, and Daniel didn't get his hands on a piano either.

The melody was sad and Daniel often asked himself weather his brother was sad as well.