Garden|Yeonbin

Due

The dirt underneath his feet wasn't helping.

The air inside his small home wasn't helping, either, emphasizing the fragility of the only condition he knows he could live in.

Yeonjun used to cope with the harsh nature surrounding him, not letting him escape. 

Being a part of his society's lowest class, he was used to being underestimated and undermined, as though he was a food scrap that came back to sleep on the earth. Of course he was frustrated with the eyes those conceited bastards had given his existence.

But what choice does he have, especially if that choice was embroidered as a means to tie his hands?

One couldn't diminish the ambitious dreams of a boy who was meant to be embraced below the grass. He wants to break the bitter thoughts of those who had hurled their feet, even though his father is an exception as a middle-class man. 

The classes above his status named them as 'filthy' or 'illiterate', which was just absurd to him. His hands were tied to this hellhole of a life, what can he do except for working and working until he perishes? It was not his fault water was almost inaccessible to people living like him, and he wasn't given the opportunity to be taught how to read nor go to school.

The perceptions shared among them annoyed Yeonjun to an extent, but he had to adhere in reaching another pushy, yet necessary dream: helping his mother instead of dwelling within his frustrations and soon kicking the bucket due to doing anything other than that.

He couldn't just show himself to the world and scream at those who had screamed first. Not yet, at least.

"Yeonjun, can you check if there are animals on top of the roof?" his mother asked him a favor, cooking raw vegetables inside a bronze pot that was hanging over the fire. The boy hummed in affirmation, getting out of the house that was doused in rainwater.

His clothes were instantly sticking against his pale skin, but he threw the uncomfortable feeling away and climbed with the ladder.

Reaching there, he saw two animals thriving, trying to find warmth among the thick straw serving as the roof of the house.

"Oh my goodness, it's raining cats and dogs again," he sighed to himself before getting his feet back to the ground, running back in the house.

His mother clicked her tongue in annoyance, slightly stunned due to her son's way with words. "There aren't any dogs falling from anyone's roof, you scoundrel. Put in the work instead of talking like a leaky pot!"

What can he do to stop this misery?

He also had some thoughts orbiting his mind, finding the missing puzzle pieces to solve such a seemingly permanent nightmare. 

Yeonjun knew that he needed to do something in order to help his family. He couldn't just stick to his mother all the time, it's not like he was weak.

...and he shouldn't be weak in this lifetime. No comfort could replace the privilege of having a weakness. He had to do something, he had to raise his sights higher. 

He started to feed the hearth with straw, adamant in his head to make a living. 

"No matter what it takes," he mouthed determinedly.