HYYH 1 Notes (ENG)

Prologue: Good Kid

SeokJin
10 October Year 9

"Let's go, we have to get out of here!" I grabbed my friend's hand and ran to the rear door of our classroom. As I looked back while running down the hall, I saw the men spilling out of the classroom chasing us. "Stop! Stop right there!" Their voices seems to seize us by the back of our necks.

We frantically thought of where to go as we darted down the stairs. The first destination that came to mind was the hill behind our school. We just needed to cross the playground and go out the school gate and we would hit the bottom of the hill. Although it wasn't that high, it was pretty rocky and rugged. After running through the gate and rounding the corner at full speed, we ignored the walking trail and jumped right into the bushes. We waded through the dense limbs and kept running. We ran for what felt like forever, finally stopping when the footsteps behind us were gone.

We collapsed on the ground covered with layers of dried leaves, sweat dripping from our faces. "They won't be able to follow us here, right?" My friend nodded, breathing heavily. We lifted our T-shirts to wipe our faces with the hem. My friend's face was wet with sweat and tears. His wrists were bluish black with bruises. The neck of his T-shirt was ripped.

"Dad hasn't come home in over a week. Mom just keeps crying. The cleaning lady and driver stopped coming. Aunt says that Dad's company shut down. Those men came to our house last night. They kept pressing the bell and yelling for Dad. We stayed inside with all the lights turned off, and they kept swearing in front of the door. We couldn't sleep at all." My friend cried through his whole story. I couldn't think of anything to say. All I could do was to tell him not to cry.

It was shortly after the class had started when the front door swung open and four or five men burst in. They were unruly and rash. "Which one of you is Mr. Choi's son? Come on out with us." Stunned, our teacher asked them to leave immediately, but they simply ignored her. "We know you're here. Come on out right now." Some of the kids leered at my friend sitting next to me and began whispering. The men noticed and came towards us. "Can't you see we're in the middle of class? Please leave." Our teacher tried to block them but one of the men pushed her hard to the whiteboard. She fell to the ground.

The man who had shoved our teacher walked towards us in a threatening manner. All the students' heads turned towards us. The man snatched my friend's arm. "We'll take you to your dad and get the money from him. Surely, he won't turn away his son". The men were menacing, and the atmosphere was intimidating.

I looked into my friend's face. He was trembling. Trembling hard with his head bent low. He was my friend. I reached under the desk and grabbed his hand. He looked up and I pulled his hand. "Let's run."

The sky was getting darker and darker. No one seemed to be chasing us. We pushed our way through the trees and bushes to the walking trail. An empty lot with exercise equipment appeared before us. I leaned against the chin-up bar and my friend perched on a bench. "I'm afraid you'll get in trouble because of me." My friend seemed uneasy when I told him I would be fine. All I could think of in the classroom was to get my friend out of there. I had to get him far away from those men. But, as we started running away, I realized we had nowhere to go.

"Let's go to my place." It must've been around 9 p.m. as quite some time had passed since the sun went down. I was starving. He must have been, too. "Aren't your parents home? Won't you get in trouble for taking me there?" "We can sneak in. If we get in trouble, then we get in trouble." My house was not that far from the foot of the hill. Soon, my house came into sight in the distance. "Go in right behind when the gate opens and hide behind a tree. I'll open the window for you later."

Mom was sitting on the couch in the living room. "Where have you been? Your teacher called." Instead of answering her question, I told her I was sorry. It was usually the quickest way to end a conversation. Mom said Dad would be home any minute and went into her room. My room was opposite their room with the living room in the middle. I quickly went into my room and opened the window.

We heard the front gate open while playing a computer game after a snack of bread and milk. My friend looked at me with frightened eyes. "It's OK. Dad never comes in my room." The door of my room burst open before I finished speaking. We both sprang up from our seats with fright.

"Are you Mr. Choi's son?" Dad continued without waiting for an answer. "Come on out. Someone is here to take you." There was a man standing by the door. I thought he was Mr. Choi at first but quickly realized he wasn't. He was one of those men who had marched into the classroom earlier. I looked up at Dad. He looked exhausted, with knitted brows and a subtly quivering eyelid. It was better not to bother him when he was in that mood. While I was trying to read his face, the man came into my room and grabbed my friend's shoulder. I got in front of my friend. "No, dad, don't let this man take him away. He is one of the bad people."

He just kept looking down at me and did not budge. "Please help him, Dad. He is my friend." The
man tried to pull my friend outside. I held onto my friend's arm, and Dad grasped my shoulder. He grasped it and pulled it hard. I had to let go of my friend's arm. He was being dragged out of the door. I squirmed and writhed to break free, but Dad strengthened his grip. "It hurts!" I screamed, but Dad didn't let go. He just grasped my shoulder even tighter. Tears ran down my face.

I looked up at Dad. He was like a massive grey wall. His face was expressionless, with even the exhausted look now gone. He slowly opened his mouth with his eyes fixed on me. "Seokjin, be a good kid." He still had that blank look.

But I knew what to do, what to do to stop the pain.

"Seokjin." I turned my head at my friend's cry. He escaped the man's grip and was running towards my door. He was in tears. Dad, with his one hand still gripping my shoulder, slammed the door shut with his other hand. I apologized to him. "I'm sorry, Dad. I won't make trouble again".

The next day, the seat next to mine was empty. My teacher said he transferred to another school.