Three Years Prior

It was freezing out. He cursed himself over and over for missing the bus. He was exhausted, he was frozen solid, and the wind turned his cheeks and nose into a block of ice. It was literally disgusting how cold it was. Mind numbingly cold. The more you think about it the colder it gets, he thought to himself in effort to move his mind to another topic.

It worked for a little bit, thinking about taking a warm shower, a hot bowl of ramen, a nice cozy bed, if he were to be inclined maybe a candle or two.

                A door slams. Staggered footsteps hurriedly make their way down the front door steps. A sob. Junmyeon’s heart speeds up a little bit. He glanced behind him. Under the street lamp was a young kid, holding his arm, shaking violently. He’s sobbing. Something moved Junmyeon forward. Every step he took he forgets about the cold. The kid has no jacket. His steps pick up. The house he came from has every blind shut with only a faint glow of a back room illuminating them. He stopped just short of the boy. “Y-you okay?”

                The boy jumped, tears practically freezing on his face. Some kind of instinct caused the elder to remove his jacket and place it around the kid’s frighteningly skinny shoulders. The boy gasped, as if in pain. Only then does Junmyeon see it. He nearly gagged.

                His forearm was completely burnt. It’s black, raw red, bubbling, and he swears it burned through to bone. Pa