The next morning, Seungkwan found himself collecting tea leaves from the hilly slopes, gathering them into the basket on his back. He forced himself not to think about the previous day’s event; it was scarring, traumatising; he couldn’t return to his grandmother that night, so he rested in his neighbours’ home. He had Mingyu check on her at midnight instead.

“Boo Seungkwan!”

He whipped his head towards the direction of where the echoing sound resonated from; he squinted his eyes and scanned the field below, searching for Mingyu as he recognised the voice immediately. In a few seconds, he saw his friend, jumping in place and waving his hands like a maniac.

“What?!?”, Seungkwan yelled back, feeling his throat ache at the immense force.

“Come down as soon as possible! You have a visitor!”

At Mingyu’s response, all eyes of the villagers that were collecting tea leaves on the hills, looked suspiciously at Seungkwan; the latter nervously laughed and excused himself, rushing down the hill with careful movements, trying not to drop any of the tea leaves. Racing down, he placed the basket of tea leaves next to the array of other similar baskets of crops and herbs.

“Who would visit me? No one knows me other than the people in my village. I swear, hyung, if this is some sort of joke, I’ll make sure you never have another sip of tea again!” Seungkwan’s playful attitude was his only escape from the terrors within him, and Mingyu noticed that.

“Oh, stop it… It’s the rich man’s kid… He’s here, unarmed and alone.” Mingyu had a sharp tone to his voice as he pointed towards the entrance of the village. “Keep your hands behind your back, and if he does something or tries to do something, just signal it to me and I’ll beat him to a pulp.”

“Stop.” Seungkwan whispered under his breath as he fiddled with his fingers, keeping his gaze fixed on his bare feet. “Uh… I’ll see what he wants.”

Mingyu sighed exaggeratedly and nodded, settling down under the shade of a large tree with a tray of corns in front of him as he set his hands to peel off the husks, keeping a close eye on his friend.

Meanwhile, Seungkwan walked towards the boy that stood by a small car, the roaring engine disturbing his ears. He noticed the nervous expression on the other’s face, the fidgeting fingers, the darting eyes – he could only wonder how the son of a ferocious man could be so timid.

“Why are you here? Again? If this is a threat from your father, we will not hesitate to hurt you!”, Seungkwan started off, aware of how mean he sounded but he couldn’t care about any impressions. He had his hands behind his back, just like Mingyu advised him to do so.

“N-No, wait, uh… My father does not know I am here. I… I’m Choi Hansol, but I told you that yesterday, and I just wanted to return this, umm, l-locket that you seemed to have dropped yesterday.”, the boy said as he presented the locket sitting on the palm of his hand.

Seungkwan widened his eyes and grabbed the locket from the other hastily, his rage suddenly being washed away with relief. He hastily opened up the locket and stared at the picture of his parents, sighing heavily.

Hansol continued explaining himself: “I was going to return it t-to you yesterday, but your f-friend had made a scene and… Yeah... I’m, once again, sorry for what my father did, and I know an apology will not revive the dead but... I mean, I’m on your side because you and I are more or less alike…”

“Wow.” Seungkwan rolled his eyes as he glared at the other. “Us? Alike? You have everything you need! Food, water, a good house, money, parents that are alive, a car, good clothes and everything that one may need in life! We are villagers, farmers, workers. We live in small huts and houses, harvest crops and such that end up feeding the hungry, foul mouths of you wealthy fools!”

“But you have a family, you have people who care…” Hansol was starting to get a bit frustrated at the other’s lack of patience.

“You have a living father, one that put a halt to his renovating plans for your sake, for your safety. How dare you try to empathise with me!” Seungkwan was just a little too annoyed and enraged.

Hansol forced a pitiful smile on his face, “Well, my mother’s living her life in America. My father only saved me because he needs me to take over his business. You’d think he would care about my whereabouts, but he has no clue where I am and what I’m doing. My parents are basically statues that only exist for the sake of identifying as a f-family. So, you’re right, I’m living a perfect life.”

Seungkwan tried to ignore the accent and was mildly guilty at pouring out at the other. He tightened his hold on the locket and cleared his throat, “Thank you for the locket. Now, please leave me and my people alone, Choi Hansol.”

He turned around to walk away, only to stop at the voice of the person he wished would instantly disappear.

“M-May I know your name?”

Seungkwan hesitated for a minute, wondering if revealing his name would lead to any disadvantage in the future. With considerate thought, he responded: “Seungkwan. Boo Seungkwan.”

“R-Right, uh… Thank you for… For listening to me? Uh… I’ll be leaving now. I-I’m sorry.”, Hansol stuttered with his words, waiting for a few seconds, watching the other walk away before he himself entered the car and boosted off.

Seungkwan didn’t waste a second; he stormed off towards Mingyu who was still sitting under the shade of the tree with a rigid expression. “Hyung, I lost my locket and I di