“Ji Ho, can you please help me?”, Bora asked, annoyed.

“I thought you only talked like that to Kyung.”, Ji Ho rolled his eyes, smirking.

“Well, I’ve decided to extend my bad mood to everyone. Isn’t that lovely?”, Bora asked, sarcasm dripping from her voice. She was trying to lift a heavy box full of junk and, despite seeing her struggle to do so, no one seemed slightly interested in helping.

“Lovely indeed.”, Ji Ho smiled as he helped Bora with the box.

“Ji Ho.”, a worried voice called. Looking up, he saw a worried Dasom panting.

“Dasom… What’s up?”, he furrowed his eyebrows.

“Soohyun…”, she stopped to catch her breath and then continued. “He’s in the Villa. He wants to see you.”

Ji Ho promptly dropped the box, making Bora scream, and left hastily. Dasom looked as he passed by and sighed.

“I’ll help you.”, she took the box

The Villa was a code name they had given an empty sewer canal that connected the decaying old Proletariat neighborhood where Ji Ho and the others lived to another Proletariat neighborhood, where other rebels lived, including Soohyun, the leader of the rebels.

As he got there, Ji Ho reduced his pace. He wasn’t sure if he wanted to hear what Soohyun had to say. Despite being good friends and meeting each other every week, Ji Ho always had to stop for awhile before meeting with Soohyun. He didn’t want to hear about who had died – that scared him the most.

As he inhaled deeply one last time before entering the Villa, Ji Ho promised himself he would be strong, not for him, but for the others. He always made the same promise, over and over again.

“Soohyun.”, he called as soon as he entered. It was dark and he could barely see his own hands.

“I’m here.”, a smooth voice called as Ji Ho felt a hand touch his arm. He turned to his left and a flashlight was , revealing a handsome man with strong, manly features and a leader aura. “How’s it going little trickster?”, Soohyun smiled and hugged Ji Ho, who smiled back.

“So, how’s it going?”, Soohyun asked. Ji Ho leaned on the wall.

“We’re good. Daehyun is going through a rough time, but he’ll be okay. Bora and Kyung still hate each other, but we’re good.”, Ji Ho smiled, thinking of his friends. “How about you?”

“Well, that’s why I came so soon.”, Soohyun looked down and Ji Ho’s heart immediately started beating faster. Someone died.

“What’s wrong?”, Ji Ho forced himself to asked. His mouth was suddenly dry.

“Joongki… He was caught.”, Soohyun informed. “He was killed.”, he finally said, after a moment of silence.

“Do you know who killed him?”, Ji Ho asked. He was silently crying. I’ll kill the bastard who did that.

“Yongguk.”, Soohyun sighed. “Yongguk killed Joongki.”

Silence filled the heavy atmosphere.

“Yongguk killed Joongki.”, Ji Ho repeated as an echo, in order to process the information. He cleaned his tears and sniffed soundly.

“We have to attack Ji Ho. It’s time. We can’t let it get worse.”, Soohyun said, rubbing his temples.

“When?”, Ji Ho asked, his right eye eerily shining. His face was dark and full of hatred.

“After tomorrow.”, Soohyun answered. “I know it’s soon, but…”

“It’s perfect.”, Ji Ho interrupted. He straightened himself and prepared to leave.

“Ji Ho.”, Soohyun grabbed Ji Ho’s wrist. “You know Yongguk didn’t have a choice right? He’s with us.”, he sighed. “Don’t think otherwise, please.”

“I have to go back.”, Ji Ho said.

“I’ll be here tomorrow, I’ll go with you guys.”, Soohyun released Ji Ho. The younger man didn’t even blink. He left without giving his leader another chance of speaking.

“Remain calm Ji Ho. See you tomorrow.”, he heard Soohyun saying as he was about to leave the Villa.

Ji Ho didn’t return home immediately. He just couldn’t. Rather, he wandered around, avoiding crowded areas (not that there were many) and paths that would lead him closer to the others. He wanted to be as far away as possible.

He walked for what it seemed like hours. His mind was full of different thoughts that he diligently tried to organize. Unfortunately for him, his efforts only created a massive headache, not contributing to a better understanding of what had and would happen.

“I should just stop.”, he said to himself as he rubbed his head.

Finding a wasteland full of junk – old clothes, rotten food, aged tires, among other smelly and not so pleasant things – Ji Ho decided to rest there for a while, next to a small, mistreated bush.

As a sat, a sudden wave of peace invaded his body: just having a place to rest quietly without any pressure, even is just for a short while, gave Ji Ho a needed relief.

“What will I do?”, he whispered, closing his eyes.

Again, a rush of thoughts flooded his head, but this time without harm. As he concentrated on them, a sequence of thoughts, almost like a story, formed.

**

“Joongki, this is Ji Ho. I found him beating a Legion member.”, the bulky man smiled, proudly.

“So, what’s your story?”, the other – Joongki – asked.

From then on Ji Ho found a place to live, people who loved him and accepted him. He found brothers and sisters, united against the same evil, ready to fight for the same believes as him. Ji Ho found home.

 **

A year had passed since Ji Ho had joined the rebels and new members were always coming: mostly illegal children, abandoned by their parents, beaten and mistreated; but there were also a handful of Proletariats, mostly victims of injustices and one or two simply unhappy about the government.

A new girl arrived in the hottest day of the year. Ji Ho would never forget her – he wouldn’t be able as from there on they would be together plenty of times. When she arrived, she looked like an angel, a sickly pale angel with brown hair and doe eyes.

“Do you like her? Should I go tell her?”, Bora, one of the girls Ji Ho had befriended with, asked mischievously.

“Should I go tell Joongki about your enormous infatuation for him? Should I tell him of all the times you sighed for him, you asked Soohyun to be put in the same searching group as him? Should I Bora?”, Ji Ho asked, his fake eye sparkling passionately; the sun was high on the sky, it was so hot they could barely breathe without feeling suffocated.

“Gosh, I was just kidding Zico. Shill out.”, Bora left. Ji Ho smirked.

 **

“This is Bang Yongguk. He’ll work as an undercover agent, in order to help our cause.”, Soohyun told Ji Ho, as he introduced both.

Ji Ho eyes the bulky boy with suspicious. Why would a perfectly strong, healthy (and rather wealthy) man want to help the rebels, the scum of society? Why would he put himself in danger? He was “legal” after all.

“Why do we trust that guy?”, Ji Ho voiced his concerns to Joongki, who looked at Yongguk and smiled.

“He actually believes our cause. Besides, he loves my sister. She trusts him and I trust her. We’ll just have to wait.”, the older man answered quietly.

**

 There was nothing Ji Ho could do. He would just have to gather all his strength and courage, go home and tell the others what had happened. It wouldn’t be the first loved one to die.

“The Song siblings are again reunited.”, Ji Ho whispered softly as he got up.

“Ji Ho, where were you? We were all freaking out!”, her doe eyes remained the same spark they had the first time he saw her. And, despite a painful headache, even worse than the first, Ji Ho smiled at her.

He went straight into the living room – if it could be called that – and called everyone. As they all gathered, Ji Ho observed them for a moment before speaking. How they were all different.

Despite being siblings, Daehyun and Ha Na weren’t alike: he had determined, but sad eyes and she carried a poker face most of time.

Kyung and Taeil were always bickering, as were Kyung and Bora. Kyung was a really trickster, enjoying picking up a fight with everyone, just to upset them. Taeil was rather rational, but also had a playful side. Bora was more of a protective side, always trying to take care of others. And then, there was Dasom, with her doe eyes and angelical features. How Ji Ho treasured her.

“I have something I need to tell you.”, Ji Ho gathered all his strength. He sighed and, after eyeing all of them, he continued. “First of all, we are going to attack the day after tomorrow. We should start preparing ourselves. Soohyun will meet us here and he’ll go with us.”, he informed in one breath. As he stopped talking, everyone started speaking, asking all kinds of questions.

“Why so suddenly?”, Ha Na asked above all the noise.

“Please, let me finish!”, Ji Ho raised his voice and all the others became silent. “Why this suddenly, you ask?”, he eyed Ha Na. “Well, that’s the second thing I have to tell you. I’m really sorry to say this”, Ji Ho’s throat was dry. He tried to swallow some saliva, but he wasn’t successful.

His friends’ eyes were practically eating his soul from the curiosity and nervousness. Ji Ho eyes Bora and finished his sentence.

“Joongki is dead. Yongguk killed him.”