Guardian Heart (NamJin)

.2.

Seokjin, Min Seokjin, a regular boy from a middle-class neighborhood of Seoul, near Gwangjang. Maybe he belongs to a middle-class neighborhood - but maintaining a hand-to-mouth lifestyle sometimes becomes tough for them. Things were not this miserable. His father, Min Yoongi used to work as an operation manager in an alcohol factory. It was one of the leading alcohol factories in South Korea, that's why it used to bring him a handsome salary and provide his family with all their necessities until his fate turned face from him.

Their company recruited some new workers, as some of the old workers would be shifted to another location - in a new factory. According to the policy, new workers had to complete their internship period for a month during the weekends, as the company never wanted to hamper production. The internship included some lessons about precautions, risks, and safety measures since they were going to handle some perilous and venomous chemicals and some practical knowledge about the production. Then they had to appear in an examination to finally join as a field worker. Yoongi-Min, being an operation manager, reached earlier to the factory - so that he and his fellows could prepare the teaching guidelines and the order of the lessons.

The lesson started timely, everything was going smoothly - as planned. Every time new workers arrived, they used to deliver the same lesson to them - so it was like they were "Master of Lesson Delivery" by then. When break time arrived, Yoongi-Min asked his fellows to carry on, as he went to freshen up. When he was heading back to their office room to join his fellow mates, he noticed from a distance that two of the interns were smoking cigarettes, standing near new production barrels. This batch of produced alcohol was still waiting to get sealed and preserved. Standing near all those barrels with fire was no less than death - so he hurried to warn them. "Hey, hey boys," he screamed. But seemed like they were captivated by some humorous gossip. So, he started walking towards them as soon as possible. Little did he know the timing was not in his favor that day! One of the interns threw the cigarette away which dropped on a barrel which was leaked. It just took a minute to cause the explosion. The three boys caught fire - they could not save them. Yoongi was standing at a bit of a distance - thus he ended up with 80% burn and paralysis for a lifetime. Some other workers were wounded, some of them lost their body parts - hands or legs - and others recovered from both injury and trauma for the time being.

Life is miserable for Seokjin and his family now - but life was more miserable for those two months - when Yoongi was admitted to the hospital. In his eighteen years of life - he hardly met any worries or sorrows. His parents were two angelic beings on this earth - all their lives they tried to fill their life with nothing but tons of happiness. But after this incident, things changed so rapidly that he could hardly manage some time to adjust. Seokjin was in his final year of high school, his exams were knocking on the door. At that period - he was in a situation where he had to choose between looking for a job and dropping the dream of graduation! However, his mother did not agree and advised him to complete the exams at first, assuring him that she would manage somehow. They had a little savings - which was spent on paying long long bills to hospitals and heavy doses of medicines the doctors prescribed. The factory compensated for their loss, but in the battle of the amount of treatment cost and amount of compensation, treatment cost won. That's why they brought Yoongi-Min back home - clueless about what to do with their empty pocket and how to live their life further.

Jieun, his mother - spent her whole life as a housewife. At this age, it was tough for her to find a job overnight. Their neighbors told them to leave Seoul city and get back to their village - but his mother was adamant. She wanted to offer his sons the best education, especially her younger son, Jungkook - who was just admitted to high school then. Seokjin already graduated from high school and he would soon find a way to admission to college - so she had to worry a little less about him. In all, she did not want to hamper their education at any cost. So, she chose to open a noodle stall at Gwangjang market. She sells bowls of noodles from early in the morning to midnight, in the middle she takes a break from the stall for one or two hours in the afternoon to take care of her family members - especially her husband. Excessive hard work degrading her physical condition - nowadays she often suffers from back pain. But every day she says to herself, "I know, I am a fighter," and gets back to work again.

Seokjin always dreamt of majoring in business - from his childhood, he desired to be an entrepreneur and own his start-up. Getting a degree is not tough for him - he has been a scholar since childhood. But their current situation has made it tough for him to be admitted to a college. It requires a handsome amount to get admitted to a college, which neither he nor his family can bear now. A huge amount of his mother's income is spent on his father's medicines - the rest of it is spent on buying their food. (His brother, Jungkook, has managed a scholarship from his school because of his excellent results and outstanding performance in sports and arts, which helps him to carry the expenses of his studies.) He has to collect the expenses for his admission on his own, that's why he looks for jobs each day, every day. With a high school graduation - it is tough for him to manage a high-paying job, he knew it from the beginning. So, he works as a dishwasher, car washer, pump attendant, waiter, cosplayer - whatever part-time job he gets for that day.

A sliver of good fortune has recently landed in Seokjin's lap – a full-time delivery job at an e-commerce company. It isn't much, but it is a steady paycheck, a step up from the precarious juggling act of his previous gigs.

He contributes some of his earnings to their household expenses - and the rest he saves for his admission. Every night he counts the pennies, to count the steps he is far from his dream. His dream is big - the pennies are small in front of his dream - he realizes it every day, yet saves it with little disappointment and strong determination and with a heavy sigh out of his lungs.