LeMoSc

V1 C1 - BoDG

Just imagine a noble, elegant and picturesque life in poverty that you might find nowhere else but in a soap opera. No matter how poor you are, it does not discourage you from showing unconditional love for strangers, and even a piece of bread is there to be shared with a warm smile.

If anyone claimed that such an illusion existed in reality, Lee Hyun would beat him to a pulp, and strike once more to finish him off.

Life was too cruel for the poor. The Labor Welfare Law revised by Parliament made all jobs unavailable to minors. Illegal though it was, Lee Hyun had worked in every kind of trade imaginable.

From the age of 14 he took to sewing stitches in a factory. The salary could only be called meager, but he was able to eat for free.

However, underground with only 2 ventilation fans running, his health extremely deteriorated. Thanks to his damaged lungs, he gained heavy medical bills.

Then it was a job at a gas station and occasionally he even went around pulling a handcart collecting and selling recyclables.

But no matter how hard he had worked, the money left in his pocket was chump change.

As a minor, he was forced to get a job illegally. This fact was used by his employers to mercilessly work him to the bone.

He lived this life of exploitation until 20 years of age. Thanks to it, Lee Hyun knew very well the value of money. However, things would be different now. Finally an adult, and with it came an ID card that would allow him to legally work.

Inserting the ID card in his wallet Lee Hyun mumbled.

"I have to work until my body practically breaks down. I should be able to deal with 3 jobs a day."

When he was a kid, his parents died, his family now consisted of only his grandma and sister.

"Alright. From now on we'll be rich."

Lee Hyun pledged to do so and returned home.

"Did you come just now?"

His grandma was lying down snuggling in a blanket. After falling down the stairs a few days ago, she got a dislocated hip rendering her unable to go to work.

Although taking medicine, with the household struggling she could not go to the hospital to receive proper treatment and thus could only rest at home.

Not receiving treatment, every night she could only groaned painfully.

Whenever Lee Hyun entered the house, he felt his chest suffocating. It was a lifeless home with an aloof little sister and an old grandma. Even if he didn't know it, it was probably why he disliked coming home even more.

"Hye Yeon?"

"I have no idea. She went out and didn't return. She might be hanging around with the bad crowd again, not sure."

Lee Hye Yeon was his little sister. He had not seen her face very often recently.

"It's going to be okay. What could happen?"

"You are her one and only brother. A brother should protect his little sister."

"Yes."