If Lee Jinki was asked to describe his life in a word, he wouldn’t be hesitant and answer it as ‘grey’. Because it had been 14 years since his life turned grey.

Lee Jinki was only almost 3 when he lost the color in his life. And it was because of that one cruel accident.

Since he was born, Jinki had never met his father even once. He knew him only through photos and the stories from his mother. And he was still very young at that time.

But then, one day, just a few weeks before his 3^rd birthday, his mother happily told him that his father finally would go home. The toddler Jinki didn’t really understand, but he was just happy seeing his mother happy. Little Jinki sat excitedly on his baby car seat, pointing everywhere that was caught by his eyes. His mother just went along while driving.

After a long drive, they arrived at an unfamiliar place for Jinki. It was big, and almost all of people there wore this cool uniform. Jinki remembered asking his mother what place it was, but his mother just said this was the place they would pick up his father from.

Lee Jinki was a very smart and obedient kid, so he quietly sat on the chair while his mother talked with one uncle who wore the cool uniform. They talked for a quiet long time, before the uncle left. His mother then joined Jinki in his seat, she was smiling but she was also crying.

“Mommy, why are you crying? Are you sad? Is that uncle bad?” baby Jinki asked.

“No, sweetheart,” his mother quickly pulled him to her embrace. “Mommy is just so happy. This is happy tears.”

“You’re crying because you’re happy?” Jinki asked, confused.

“Yes, baby.”

“If you’re happy, why do you cry?” Jinki kept asking, still confused.

“Sometimes, you’re just too happy and the happiness is overflowing inside you, so your body help to let it out through tears,” his mother patiently explained.

Jinki honestly didn’t really understand, but he tried to understand it. And it seemed like he did a good job. When a man approached them, pulling his mother along with him into a big hug with tears on his face, Jinki asked him, “Ahjussi, are you crying because you’re happy?”

The man kept nodding while kept crying, “Yes. I am just too happy.”

“Baby, this is your father,” his mother told Jinki through her tears.

“You are my father?” Jinki asked excitedly, trying to take a good look of the man’s face.

“Yes, yes,” the man cried harder. “Yes, my son. I am your father.”

“Call him, baby,” his mother said.

“…Daddy?” Jinki called, a little bit hesitant, but it seemed that it was enough.

“Yes, yes, my baby. Oh my baby, I’m sorry Daddy just come now,” the man pulled Jinki tighter into his hug. Jinki didn’t really understand, but his mother taught him that he needed to comfort people who was crying. So Jinki patted the man’s back softly with his little hand.

And then, the cries broke even harder, throughout the room, through the door, between the corridors of that prison.

That was the first and last memory Jinki had of his father. He never got other chances to make another memory, because of the accident the three of them got on their way home from the prison. Jinki woke up to the fact that he lost both of his parents due to that accident.

He lived with his aunt’s family since then. She was his mother’s cousin. Jinki never liked her, because she was mean to him. Her family was also mean to him. They often said cruel things about his father.

It was only until Jinki was a little bit older, that he really understood the meaning of those cruel words.

A murderer.

It wasn’t hard to look for his father’s case, because it was everywhere.

Lee Jun Ki, a young doctor who did malpractice, causing a 7 years old boy died on the table.

Lee Jun Ki’s family, run over by a truck driven by the father of the dead boy, only Lee Jun Ki’s son survived.

Now Jinki understood, why his aunt despised his father so much. She kept saying he should die by himself, why would he bring his wife with him.

So, when Jinki was left at an orphanage at the age of 9, while his aunt’s family ran away with the insurance money his father left for Jinki, Jinki tried to understand it. Maybe, his aunt couldn’t bear to see the son of a man who caused her cousin’s death.

His life at the orphanage was still as grey as before. He didn’t have friends. Everyone called him names.

A murderer’s son.

It wasn’t any better at school. It seemed like the whole world knew about his father.

There was a group of bully at Jinki’s high school. The leader was Park Sung Soo, the pride of his school, the best sprinter athlete from his school, a candidate of national athlete.

Jinki didn’t know why he hated him so much. He always picked on Jinki secretly behind the teacher’s back although Jinki never really stood out, only studying by himself at the corner of the classroom. For the whole two grades Jinki held out, until he finally exploded.

They were rummaging through Jinki’s bag at the empty, abandoned construction site. They were looking for money. It was funny because Jinki barely had any money. Then, Park Sung Soo found a picture between the pages of Jinki’s text book. It was his parent’s wedding picture. It was the only picture of his parents that Jinki had. But, while his minions held Jinki down to the ground, Park Sung Soo burned it into ash.

Jinki never felt this angry all his life. So, when the bullies were walking away, Jinki took one of the nearest scattered blocks and attacked them. He didn’t stop even when he was kicked and punched, even when he felt the blood on his lips or head. He didn’t stop until he was took down by the police.

At the age of 16, Jinki was expelled from school and kicked out of the orphanage.

Jinki was forced to live at street. The young teenager who had no one was abandoned again.

Luckily, Jinki met Mr. Wook, a kind café owner who let Jinki worked at his place. He also allowed Jinki to live at his café storage room. His pay wasn’t much, but at least it was enough for him to eat. Mr. Wook was strict and a workaholic that Jinki often worked overtime, but Jinki was still very thankful.

Jinki was abandoned, but he managed to live through it.

Jinki was 18 when a weird old man with his young son visited him. It was late at night, the café was already empty as it was almost closed time.

Jinki remembered how this weird man kept staring at him with the expression that was hard to be guessed. He also remembered how this man’s young son also kept staring at him with so much curiosity on his face.

“One hot jasmine tea and two hot chocolate,” Jinki said as he put the orders in front of them.

Much to Jinki’s surprise, the old man stopped Jinki from going.

“Lee Jinki, right?”

Jinki blinked in confusion. How did this man know his name? Oh right, his name tag…

“What can I do to help you, Sir?” Jinki asked politely.

“May you spare me a little time to talk?” the man asked softly.

“I’m sorry?”

“There’s something I need to tell you. About your father,” those words were enough to make Jinki comply.

Actually, Jinki was scared. He never really talked about his father to anyone. Now, there was someone who wanted to talk about him, but Jinki was scared that this man would only talk bad about his father. Nevertheless, he still took a set in front of this man, while the young son—grumpily—moved to the seat at the farthest table from theirs.

“Hello, Jinki. I think I need to introduce myself first,” the man smiled very warmly. “My name is Lee Taehyun. My son over there,” he nudged to his son who kept looking at their direction curiously, “His name is Lee Taemin.”

Jinki could only nodded, and waited this Mr. Lee talked again.

“Honestly, I don’t know where to start,” Mr. Lee rubbed his neck in hesitation.

“What do you want to talk about my father?” Jinki finally spoke.

Mr. Lee sighed, “First of all, I just want you to know how my family owe you and your family so much, and no words can describe how we’re sorry.”

At first, Jinki couldn’t get where this conversation was going. Mr. Lee started by telling how his wife, Park So Min, was once a fiancée of the heir of Kim Family, Kim Ki Yong. One day, So Min accidentally heard the heated conversation between her fiancée and his cousin.

“His name is Shim Chang Sun. Have you ever heard about him?” Mr. Lee asked.

Jinki shook his head.

Mr. Lee just nodded in understanding, before continued his story.

“My wife heard they’re talking about a table death incident. My wife didn’t really understand it at that time, but she knew there was something going on. So, she snooped around.”

It seemed like Mrs. Lee was someone who was very bright and curious. She managed to get ahold of the surgery’s recording. From there, she found out that the doctor who did the surgery that day was actually Dr. Shim.

“That boy was your father’s patient. It was a unique surgery that was covered by a lot of media. Your father noticed that the boy’s condition wasn’t that great so he decided to push the surgery date. But, it seemed like Dr. Shim, as the head of the surgery department, wasn’t really fond of your father’s decision. So, he went ahead to do the surgery himself. Unfortunately, the surgery didn’t go well. Your father was called to the surgery room immediately. At that time, he was taking a day off because your mother was supposed to give birth to you that day.”

When Jinki’s father arrived, the boy had passed away. There was nothing he could do. All of them stayed at the hospital through the night. Jinki’s father even didn’t get a chance to meet with his wife and his newborn son. And then suddenly, on the next morning, Jinki’s father was arrested with the accusation of malpractice.

“All of a sudden, everyone pointed their fingers at your father. All of them said that your father was the one who did the surgery. Dr. Shim’s cousin, Kim Ki Yong, was the district’s head prosecutor at that time, so it was very easy to throw all the blame on your father who had no back up. But my wife knew the truth. She felt she needed to uncover it. She obtained the evidence of the surgery recording. But…” Mr. Lee sighed deeply, his face was very sad.

“Kim Family isn’t someone who was to be messed with. He could destroy everything just by the flick of his fingers. Especially with their family name was at stake. If this went out, if the fact that Dr. Shim was the culprit was found out, the name of Kim Family and Shim Family would be disgraced. So, when Kim Ki Yong found out my wife was digging around the case, he quickly threatened her. It was very hard for my wife. Her mental health was already not good at that time, and she also needed to protect her family. So at the end, she decided to run away with all of the evidences she had, and I decided to run with her.”

There was so many things and questions rages inside Jinki’s head, but he wasn’t able to utter any words. He just sat there, trying to understand the fact that his father was cruelly framed just because he was the easiest target. His father was cruelly framed, and it cost his father’s and his mother’s life.

“We escaped abroad and got married there. But, I swear I’m being honest, we, especially my wife, never forgot your family. She always felt guilty. Until one day, we heard about the accident,” Mr. Lee’s eyes started to glisten. “My wife took it so hard. Her depression got worse everyday. She was drowned by her guilt. So, we decided to come back to Seoul, to expose everything.”

“And then why…” Jinki’s voice was just above the whisper.

“We’re gathering all of the evidences, every bribes, every fake documents. It was hard but we managed through some help from the insiders who felt guilty as well. We’re only one step away, when Ki Yong found out everything.”

“So, you just give up like that?” Jinki asked, but there’s no accusation in his tone. He simply just asked, because he was curious.

“No,” Mr. Lee denied, “Trust me, we’re ready to sacrifice everything. But then, we found out that my wife was pregnant with Taemin. We just couldn’t…we need to protect our baby,” Mr. Lee’s tears started to fall, in regret and embarrassment.

“We’re being selfish. We gave in to Ki Yong and gave the evidence to him, in exchange his promise not to touch our son. It’s really a selfish decision and I hope you know that we always live in guilt because of that. I’m sorry. We’re really sorry.”

Jinki didn’t say anything. He didn’t know what to say. To suddenly have an unknown person begged for his forgiveness was something he never imagined.

Mr. Lee tried to calm himself down, before started to speak again, “My wife kept looking for you all of these times. She wanted to apologize, to make it up to you. Unfortunately, she passed away even before getting a chance to meet you. But I wish you know that she’s really, really sorry.”

Jinki was still silent, so Mr. Lee continued, “Please, Jinki. Let us make it up to you. I heard about your situation and…it really breaks my heart. If you let me, to do something for you. Anything. I will do anything.”

“I’m sorry, but…what are you trying to say?” Jinki looked at Mr. Lee confusedly.

“If you allow it, I really want to take you in, as my son. Please, Jinki, let me give all the love and things you deserve to have,” Mr. Lee hesitantly took Jinki’s hand in his, begging.

The words slowly sank in, and when Jinki finally fully understood it, he pulled his hands away from Mr. Lee’s grip.

“I…” Jinki paused to sigh. “I really appreciate it that you tell me the truth, Mr. Lee. Thank you. But, there’s nothing to be forgiven.”

Mr. Lee was about to argue, but Jinki spoke quickly, “Your wife just happened to know. She tried to expose everything is already more than enough. There’s no a choice at all. It’s only right that the two of you should protect your child. That’s why, your family don’t owe me or my family anything.”

“Even if so, still just let me—”

Jinki shook his head firmly, cutting Mr. Lee’s words. “I’m very thankful that I can finally know that my father isn’t a criminal. And it’s really enough for me.”

That night, Jinki had the soundest sleep he had ever had in his life.

A rejection seemed not sufficient for Mr. Lee. He always dropped by whenever he had a chance. Jinki was just glad Mr. Lee was a very busy person that he rarely had free times, because the care and attention Mr. Lee gave to him was overwhelming and burdening.

Sadly, Jinki’s luck wasn’t that good. Mr. Lee was a busy man so he could rarely come, but Mr. Lee Taemin was a very free middle-school student. That young boy kept coming. Everyday.

He often just sat at the table beside the window, working on his homework while sipping his hot chocolate. But whenever there was no customer, Taemin was quick by Jinki’s side. He talked about everything.

Literally, everything. Even his first day of high school.

Jinki was always alone in his life. The sudden presence of the cheerful Lee Taemin was very uncomfortable for him. But, the more he pushed him away, the more determined Taemin be.

“My father said you’re a very important person to my family. We owe you a lot,” was Taemin’s answer when Jinki asked why he kept coming.

“I already told your father that you don’t owe me anything!” Jinki said frustratedly.

But no matter Jinki explained, Taemin never budged.

At the end, Jinki gave up and just let him be.

It was already past 5 p.m. when Jinki finished his shift. He left the café with his backpack, heading to the library nearby. He had started studying again. He thought of taking a GED next year as soon as he saved enough money.

“Lee Jinki!”

Jinki never imagined he would passed by this person again.

“You remember me?”

Park Sung Soo was standing there, playing with a baseball bat, between a few of his friends Jinki never saw before. Sung Soo and his group cornered Jinki to an empty alleyway. Jinki took a peek behind him and cursed. It was a dead end.

“It seems you live well, huh?” Sung Soo said as he kept getting closer to Jinki dangerously.

“I can’t say the same to you,” Jinki talked back.

And then the first blow met Jinki’s stomach, made Jinki lost his balance.

“Whose fault is that?!” Sung Soo was about to hit Jinki again, but Jinki quickly avoided him. He tried to run, but Sung Soo’s friends were too many, blocking his way.

“You don’t remember what you did to my leg?! Do you?! Do you remember?!” Sung Soo kicked Jinki’s hard on his stomach.

Jinki wanted to fight back, but he was alone with no weapon. The pain on his stomach started to spread and he thought of giving up, when suddenly, a police siren was heard.

“Sir, quick! Here! There’s a fight here!” there was a shout from a far. Hearing this, Sung Soo and his friends scrambled off, running away.

Jinki stood up with a lot of effort, kept wincing due to the pain on his stomach. He dust off his pants and walked out of the alley to the deserted street, before he said calmly, “Lee Taemin, get out. I know it’s you.”

“Hyung,” Taemin appeared from beside one of the old building, waving his phone which show his collection of police sirens. Taemin had shown those to Jinki before.

Taemin quickly approached Jinki, and asking worriedly, “Oh my God, Hyung! Are you hurt a lot? We need to go to the hospital!”

Jinki shook his head and moved Taemin’s hands which were trying to check Jinki’s wound away from his body. “I’m fine. But listen…”

“Hmm…?”

“It’s very dangerous. You could—”

“I know it’s so strange the police suddenly come.”

Jinki felt the hairs on his neck stood up. He turned slowly and found Sung Soo with his friends came out of his hiding. They looked like they were ready to kill him and Taemin. There was only two of them, while there was at least 5 on the group, all equipped with baseball bats. Seeing this, Jinki only see one choice to survive.

“Run!” Jinki quickly grabbed Taemin.

The two guy ran as fast as they could. Thanks God Jinki was very familiar with the area. He led Taemin to the confusing alleys. He was grateful that Taemin was a very fast runner, that after more than 15 minutes running, they managed to lose the bullies.

“I think they’re gone,” Taemin whispered.

Jinki nodded. “Yes, but just in case they’re still looking for us…” Jinki looked around, and found the abandoned building he often came to. His escape place.

“Come here,” Jinki grabbed Taemin’s hand again. They entered the building, closed the door and Jinki locked it with the chains hanging on the door handle.

“What is this place?” Taemin looked around, worried because it was a little spooky.

“It’s okay. It’s safe,” Jinki reassured him. “It’s a little stuffy here, let’s go to the rooftop.”

Taemin obediently followed Jinki to the stairs. In no time, they were already on the rooftop.

“Wow, this is so cool!” Taemin exclaimed, as soon as he was welcomed by the soft breeze and the scenery of the city.

Jinki walked towards the edge of the rooftop. Half of the railing was already broken, leaving some empty spots. Jinki took a seat there.

“You can sit here. Let’s rest a bit,” Jinki pat the empty spot beside him.

Taemin sat beside Jinki hesitantly. “Wah, Hyung, this is dangerous!” Taemin said when he looked down, seeing his feet dangling too far from the ground.

“It’s safe as long as you just sit still,” Jinki said nonchalantly.

It was silent for a moment. Jinki took a deep breath, enjoying the breeze. He really loved it here. It made him felt light and free, just alone sitting there, face caressed by the breeze while watching the sunset.

“Hyung, we can see the sunset from here,” Taemin finally spoke.

“Hmm,” Jinki answered without looking at Taemin.

“Hyung, we need to go to the hospital later, okay?” Taemin spoke again.

This time, Jinki finally turned to the younger boy. “Listen, do you know that what you did earlier is very dangerous?”

“I know,” Taemin pouted, feeling like a child that was about to get some scolding.

“Next time, please just ignore and don’t get involve in my business again, okay?” Jinki warned strictly.

“But Hyung…” Taemin protested. “How can I just walk away when you’re in danger like that? Yes, yes I know they’re dangerous. They also bullied people at my school, Hyung. They’re very, very terrible people.”

“They go to your school?” Jinki’s mouth fell open.

Taemin nodded, “Yes. That guy, Sung Soo, just transferred to my school last week. I heard he’s held back because he’s involved in a fight, Hyung. He’s very dangerous.”

Jinki pinched his nose and breathed deeply, trying to calm himself down. “Taemin, this is really dangerous. You don’t know what he can do to you.”

“But Hyung…” Taemin pouted again.

“No!” Jinki said firmly. “Taemin, don’t get involved, can you understand me? If you do this because you think your family owe me or anything, I already told you—”

“It’s not that!” Taemin cut Jinki off. “Hyung, I care about you…”

For a moment, Jinki thought his heartbeat was getting weird.

“Why?” Jinki whispered.

Taemin shook his head, telling he didn’t know as well. “Hyung, why don’t you become my family? We don’t need any reason to care for our family.”

Jinki was ready to protest, but before he did, Taemin suggested with a big smile, “Or…how about friends? Friends always care about each other, right? Let’s be friends, Hyung!”

This time, Jinki was sure his heart behaved weirdly.

“If you want to be my friend, I promise I’ll protect you from those bullies,” Taemin held out his little finger. It was so childish that Jinki couldn’t help but break into a laugh.

Jinki couldn’t remember when the last time he laughed and smile sincerely like this.

He couldn’t remember, but it was sure an addictive feeling.

So, Jinki gave up and linked his little finger with Taemin, “Fine.”

Taemin’s smile grew wider and it was blinding Jinki’s eyes. The breathtaking smile and face was beautifully shined by the sunset light. The breeze swept the owner’s hair gracefully.

All of a sudden, everything became colorful.

All of a sudden, Jinki’s life wasn’t grey anymore.

A/N Okay, I will apologize in advance to Lee Jinki. I'm sorry, out of all 4 main characters, you had the toughest life and you suffered the most. I'm sorry, that you can't be happy that easily for the sake of the plot. I'm sorry Lee Jinki! You deserve all the happiness in the world! TT

*sigh* what makjang I'm writing right now... TT

Anyway, there will be a few side stories like this throughout the story. It's just about their past here and there and you will find out about the complicated relationships  between the chracters through them. It's not really a side story but let's just call it as side story.

And don't worry, 2min is coming in the next chapter ;)

But I have to warn you, their relationship is slow, slow, slow. Very slow TT

Comments are loved!

XOXO