May 18^th, 1996 – Second Chance

Five years had come and gone and to Eunhyuk’s surprise he never saw a trace of Donghae again. He was kind of depressed that he had lost his pretty much only friend (if you don’t count his blankie), but then again, he was 10 and a big boy now.

Which was defined by the murder of his umma.

It had been a crisp spring morning when he was 8. Eunhyuk had planned his whole day out: shopping, maybe some sports and video games.

He had definitely not planned to slip an extra couple sleeping pills into him umma’s tea that day. It just so happened that his hand slipped a bit and the one suddenly had a zero attached to it.

His umma was rushed to the hospital in dead body condition while he and his appa were taken down to the station for questioning. No one suspected him though, since he was so “naïve”, so the doctors labeled her a “Jane Doe suicide” and shipped her off to the middle of nowhere. It was all they could do anyways, and they did have more pressing matters to attend to.

Such was the murder of Eunhyuk’s appa— but that story is irrelevant.

Anyhow, he was technically alone in the world now. But he was innocent and adorable, and who wouldn’t take in a lone little 10-year-old?

So he lived in a rather luxurious mansion with an old couple. Not that he wanted to take advantage of them or anything, but the old woman was infertile and they had always wanted children of their own. Of course, adoption agencies had quite a bit of trouble with their identification…

But that was not a problem. No one suspected anything of him, just like it had been 2 years ago. He had all the freedom in the world because he was “able to be trusted”, just like that.

He never went back to school after his appa died. There was simply no need for him to be crammed into that tiny compartment with other stupid, heartless children and then being forced to lay supine for however-many hours when the adults got tired of them. Since gaining all that time, he spent the majority of it at home on Omegle, though it was never able to find a suitable companion for him because of the lack of interests other people had. Either that, or Eunhyuk’s interests were too… different.

He kind of just gave up after a while and went out to scavenge for food and possibly any other goodies. He certainly did not expect these “goodies” to include his long-lost friend of 5 years.

“Eunhyuk?!”

Eunhyuk, startled at the familiar yet unfamiliar tone of voice, swiveled around quickly and nearly kneed a slender, fair-haired 10-year-old right in the… well, let’s not get into the mechanics of the male body right now.  

“Donghae? Wow, I certainly didn’t expect to see you in a place like this.” Eunhyuk was surprised, but he’d always been a little less than emotional.

Donghae gave his friend a punch on the shoulder. “Face it, you wouldn’t expect to see me anywhere.” They laughed, and it was almost like old times. Almost.

“So, how have you been in the last… 5 years?” Had it really been 5 years?

Eunhyuk sighed, remembering most everything. “I don’t even know where to start! So much has happened, but I think all you need to know is that my parents are dead and I ditched school. I’m living with an old couple who actually haven’t actually legally adopted me yet, but well, who cares?”

“Do you like it here?”

After a few seconds, Eunhyuk replied thoughtfully, “No, I can’t say I do. I have a lot of time and freedom but it gets boring because I’ve done everything…”

“Then come live with me! My parents like you, and they won’t mind having you around!”

“Are you sure…?” Eunhyuk had to admit, a thought similar to that had crossed his mind, but he had brushed it away because it had been so absurd 5 years ago.

“Of course! And wouldn’t it be fun? We can go everywhere together!” No one could miss the sheer excitement on Donghae’s face.

“Hmm… I’ll ask, okay? I think they’ll probably be unwilling to let me, but I’ll pull some strings. Who knows, this might actually turn out to be fun…” Eunhyuk muttered the last part to himself.

“Yay! Okay, you should go now! I’ll wait—” But Eunhyuk shook his head.

“I might need a while to get them to see both sides of the situation. How about you give me something I can reach you with, and I’ll try to get in touch once I figure it out, okay?”

Donghae was more than happy to oblige.

~~~~~

Just a few days later, a woman walking to the grocery store down the street accidentally stumbled upon an alleyway. She was about to dart out into the mass of people when she noticed that there was what seemed like a wrinkled and shriveled-up arm near the dumpster just ahead of her. Curiosity piqued, she walked closer and confirmed her suspicious.

The police were a tad late. And they never did find out who killed the old man and woman residing in the only opulent mansion near the city.