Byunghee used to believe that he knew what love was.

He 'loved' his mother. She was a kind woman, who always kept him healthy and educated. She would smile at him warmly and encouragingly, prepared for nearly all situations.

He 'loved' his father. He was admirable, strong, and hard-working. When Byunghee saw his father, he saw the man he wanted to be. His father wasn't hard-headed, he was understanding and affectionate.

He 'loved' his sister. She was talented in areas he never imagined a woman would be able to succeed in. She helped mother with housework, but she still helped father with maths work. She was loyal and free.

But that was never love.

His mother decided that his father was never around enough, that he was out of the house too often and didn't love his family any more. And finally, on one night, all the tension exploded, dissipating in his mother's pure rage. Byunghee awoke from his slumber to the enraged yet sorrowful screams of his mother.

His sister decided to take his mother's side, against his father. Byunghee pleaded his sister to explain what happened, but the older girl just shook her head and patted his head before walking out of their home.

It had taken Byunghee but a simple, meaningless hour, to find the tainted petticoat, not belonging to his mother, laying on his father's bed, with neither his father nor the petticoat's owner in sight.

It had taken Byunghee but a simple, meaningless minute, to start crying on his cot after hearing the heavy front doors open another simple, meaningless hour later.

Byunghee didn't know what love was any more.

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-Does anyone know how to do foot notes on AFF? 'Cause I put some in for this fic, and I know how to add them in LJ... is it the same code for AFF, or is it slightly different? 

-Anyway, this fic is set in England, roughly around the Northern Renaissance period