“Hoseok, Whee In, wake up,” their mother Eun Ha whispers hurriedly, softly shaking them. “We’re leaving.”

 

 

The two siblings open their eyes groggily and Hoseok checks the clock. “Mom, it’s 4:30 in the morning… What’s going on?”

 

 

“Your father hasn’t come back yet so I took the chance to pack everything that we needed,” she explains in distress. “We have to hurry before he comes back.”

 

 

“But where are we gonna go?” Whee In asks. “Do we have enough money to travel and survive?”

 

 

“I’ve been saving for all three of us to move to Seoul. I figured that your father would be persistent to lend him money so I gave him enough while I saved the rest somewhere hidden.”

 

 

Hoseok hastily gets out of his bed. “Well then, there’s no time to lose. Let’s get out of here.” All three of them quickly dressed up and gathered the rest of their belongings, leaving not a single important item behind.

 

 

As soon as they’re about to leave, the sound of keys jingling and a familiar, drunken voice was heard from the other side of the door, and the three of them quickly hid in their room. The main door swiftly opens and bangs on the wall, where their hopeless father walks in towards the living room, cursing and slurring.

 

 

Whee In’s heart accelerates and her stomach twists from anxiety. Cornered with her mother while Hoseok listens carefully against the door, she shakily speaks in a hushed voice, “What are we going to do? Father is going to catch us.”

 

 

He narrows his eyes and listens harder. “I think he’s going to the bathroom,” he informs, turning to them. “Let’s hurry while he’s at it.”

 

 

Quietly twisting the knob, Hoseok peeks his head out first and ensures everything is clear before notifying them to come out. While tiptoeing towards the main door, they heard their father screaming and cursing at his wife’s name from the bathroom.

 

 

‘Bastard,’ Hoseok thought angrily, reaching for the knob. He lets his sister and mother exit first as he heard the toilet flushing before stepping out of the house. They began to march away at a fast pace in the middle of the night, finally sensing the freedom within their grasp until something, or someone, made them stop on their tracks.

 

 

A man stood before them with an arched brow as if he discovered something interesting, and his hands are nonchalantly in his pockets. “What’s this?”

 

 

Realizing he’s their father’s friend’s son name Sung Min, the sound of his voice made Whee In and Eun Ha tremble in terror. He noticed the bags they were carrying and asks, “Where are you going?”

 

 

Neither of them bothered to answer. He asks again, only this time it was more aggressive, as he takes a step forward and the three instinctively jerked back. His eyes immediately darts towards Whee In, who is hiding behind her brother.

 

 

“You’re leaving me?” he raises his voice, clenching his fists. “Huh?! Just when you and I finally had something?!”

 

 

“We never had anything to begin with,” she chokes out, tears threatening to fall. “You’re a monster.”

 

 

“What did you say?! Get over here and say that again!”

 

 

In an instant, Hoseok grabs him by the collar. “Don’t you dare yell at my sister. You’ve been harassing her and even threatened to kill her if she ever says a word. I should go and report you to the police.”

 

 

“Do you have proof that I did it?” he chuckles. “She came on to me first-” He received a sharp blow to the face and fell to the ground.

 

 

“Go!” Hoseok cries out, and they began to run desperately when someone grabs him by the ankle and falls. Whee In turns back and was about to help him, but he refused and tells her to hide with their mother and call the police.

 

 

“You’re not going anywhere, damn it!” he shouted, climbing on top of him and lands a punch on the jaw. Hoseok struggles to get out of his grip and kicks him off, when his father comes out of the house enraged by the sudden noise.

 

 

“What the hell is going on here?!”

 

 

“Uncle Min Ho, your family is trying to run away from you,” Sung Min snitches, pointing at Hoseok clutching on his duffel bag. “See what he’s carrying right there?” Min Ho glanced at his son who is getting up on his feet.

 

 

“You’re running away?” he goes up to him and slaps him across the face. “Huh?! Where are your mother and sister?!” Hoseok receives another slap. “Tell them to get back here or else-”

 

 

“Or else what?” Hoseok retorts. “You’re gonna kill us? You can easily go to prison for that, along with those other times you’ve been hurting Mom and us. I’ll even make sure that kid over there,” he sharply points at him with a deadly glare. “joins you for harassing my sister and you’ve done nothing to stop it.”

 

 

“You can’t turn me in,” Min Ho taunts between his chuckles. “You can never do that to your own father. You’re a coward, Hoseok.”

 

 

“You’re right, I am.” he paused for a moment. “No, I was and I’ll do anything to protect my loved ones, even if I have to turn in my own flesh and blood.”

 

 

Min Ho bursts out into laughter. “Such bold words. Stop spouting nonsense already and go fetch Whee In and your mother. I’m going to have to teach you three a lesson for