A Criminal Romance | Vkook

The ring

December, 2002

"Kim Taeyhung, stop skipping this instant!" 

"But daddy-"

"Not another word! Now you've made me lose count!"

Taehyung sulked, reaching for his father's hand. 

But his father pulled away with an annoyed grunt.

The boy trudged behind the man, doing his best to see through the snowflakes, pouting and grumbling to himself, making sure not to be too loud. 

He knew how his father got when he was angry, and he didn't like it. 

Not one bit. 

The street was busy, people rushing from here to there, carrying presents. Some were standing around hot chocolate carts, discussing what else they needed to buy. 

Taehyung could hardly hear his own footsteps over the noise of the chattering crowds. 

It was a rare experience for him to travel this far into town, on the main streets. 

But he couldn't have said he liked it any other way. He was always scared of losing his parents, scared of strangers. 

Taehyung decided to put his attention on the snowflakes falling from the sky, sticking his tongue out to catch them. 

One landed on him, and he quickly felt the chill of the ice melting on his tongue. 

He caught another. 

And another.

And then he was bored. 

Next he tried breathing through his mouth, but failed to see any air. 

He soon gave up, and decided to fixate on everyone's footprints for the rest of the way. 

After what felt like forever to Taehyung, they reached their destination. 

His father pushed the door open, causing the bell to chime. 

A woman sitting behind the counter looked up, smiling far too politely for Taehyung's liking.

"May I help you?", she asked, getting up from her seat. 

Taehyung's father bowed, pulling off the scarf around his neck.

"Are you mrs Park?", he asked, in the soft tone Taehyung almost never heard from him. 

The woman nodded. 

"Are you here to buy or sell?", she asked, eyeing the two. 

"Sell", replied the man, taking out the item he had been carrying. 

Taehyung looked up at his father in surprise. 

"Didn't mom get that for m-", he started when he saw the ring in his father's hand. 

But the man put a hand over the boy's mouth.

"Quiet, Tae!". 

He held out the ring for the woman to see. 

"Hmm...", she said, not looking away from the ring, "Looks like tanzanite".

"How much will that sell for?", asked the man.

"About ₩520,000", answered the woman, looking back up again. 

Tae's father looked satisfied with himself, as if he'd gotten something right.