Kai isn’t rich, nor poor he grew up in a middle class family along with his younger sister and his two happy parents.  Before, Kai lived in a good neighbourhood where all the middle class families lived. Life was great for Kai, he had the perfect grades, his dad was slowly making his way up the company, his sister was intelligent and his mother was a happy house wife. Together with his sister they attended a school for those who can afford and there they have a bright future ahead of them.

Life was great, it was happy, well that was until Kai’s father cheated on his mother. Kai’s mother knew about his affairs for so long but was too afraid to approach her husband. She loved her husband, she loved him to much to break apart. Even Kai knew, catching his father one time at his work place but with his mother’s request he kept it to himself. For many months the young teenager watched his mother cry when watching their father go off to work, or go out on business trips. They both knew that he wasn’t going to work or any trips, he was off to see other woman he has been playing around with. Kai would watch his mother’s face cringe, he hated seeing his own mother cry. He wants to do so much, but there’s nothing he can do. 

Kai’s father continued to invest the family’s money on woman, gambling and alcohol that they quickly loss a lot of money and fell in debt. With Kai’s father not attending his job, he was fired but he kept it a secret from his family. Somehow, his family knew but then again it was kept a secret. With Kai’s father jobless and attending clubs every day, Kai’s family wasn’t doing well with money. 

He hated living this same old life, where they would act like everything is fine when his father is home. He hated eating dinner with him and pretending like nothing is happening. It was awkward and Kai could feel himself becoming distance to his father he once use to be close with. 

Kai always wanted to be just like his father, but experiencing your hero lie to your face turned Kai off. He never wanted to a disgusting pig like his father, why would he hurt people? Lie to them? His father was selfish, and so was Kai. Kai was selfish for letting his mother suffer, let her know that her husband is cheating on her and not do anything about it. 

Still Kai’s father beat Kai when it came to selfishness. With zero balance in the bank, Kai’s father left all the debts on his family. He flew out of the country making his family believe it’s one of his business trips. Usually he would come back a few days later, however, this time he didn’t giving his family any warning. 

He left, Kai finally understood that his father is evil while his sister and mother believed he was coming back. It frustrated the boy that his mother and sister acted as if his father is some saint, that is he coming back. No calls, no letter, no message was left, that was when Kai knew his dad is never coming back. He was angry, not at his father but at his mother and sister for having faith on something that will never happen. He hated how the both left their hopes up for something that will never come around. His father is not coming back, not now, not ever. 

On most tenth year old birthday’s, they celebrate their coming of age, the fact they are a at a age of double digits now. However, that is not the case for all thirteen year olds. Kai spent his thirteenth birthday watching the repo man take all the belongings his mother and father work hard for. It was the most painful birthday’s of all, watching his mother have a mental breakdown, watching her run after the truck of their belongings. Their family was breaking apart, his mother is having frequent mental breakdowns, his sister cries non stop saying things about wishing she was never born and Kai was the only who tried to hold it together for the two.

Kai’s mother and sister still believed his father will be back even though months have gone. They believed that he is on a holiday and that he will back with all their furniture, they believed in a better day. Kai too believed in a better day, he believed that one day this will all mean nothing. Everyday he would wake up knowing that he is one step closer to that better day, the day when his mother is emotionally stabled and his sister isn’t talking of nonsense. When will that better day come? Kai doesn’t know but the more he lives through this tiring life of being the glue of the family, the more closer he is to the rainbow. 

Within a few months they were living in a happy neighbour hood to a run down apartment on the outskirts of Seoul where all the gangs hang. They wouldn’t be here if they have the money. Everything was down graded even the school Kai and his sitter attended to, now they were attending some scummy school. They once attended school with sons and daughters of successful and well educated individuals, now they were attending school with sons and daughters of drug dealers and unemployed individuals. How ironic life was?

Most thirteen year olds celebrate their birthday with with their closets friends or maybe the whole class. That was everyone but Kai, Kai watched his sister be buried in a coffin six feet to the ground on his thirteenth birthday. The sister he cared for, tried to protect killed herself because of how hard life was for them. She finally realised her dad was coming back, and their life is going to be like this forever. Apparently dying was much easier then living in this condition. Kai understood why she did what she did. 

Maybe dying would be less painful then trying to get through each day. Each day was leading him nowhere, school wasn’t going to get him anywhere if he couldn’t afford college anyways. Work, with the money he was earning in his 2 part time jobs wasn’t even enough to pay for a quarter of his tuition fee at school. His mother couldn’t work because of her condition, and they were surviving of the money they manage to save by Kai’s mother through the years. What exactly did Kai had to live for, his father was gone, his sister was gone, his mother is on the verge of totally loosing it. Somewhere in his big heart of hatred he believed that one day he is going to earn it all back, that living is actually stepping him one step closer to a happy life he deserves.

You can choose to be depress of your sad life, but Kai chose to continue to live positively.

The day he met Hyoyeon was the day Kai thought that was his better day. From the very second of watching her come into class and sit in front of him, he fell in love with her. She was beautiful in his eyes, the way how she didn’t care if she was late, disrupting the class or not giving a care. Somehow the confident girl made the sensitive boy fall in love with him. 

After that day, Kai monitored Hyoyeon’s presence in the classroom. After two weeks of watching that seat empty, she never came back worrying Kai. Is he ever going to see her again, she left even before Kai could catch her name. She was a very mysterious girl, luring Kai more and more to find out about her. Little did he know, it was all a trap. 

One day before class Kai went to his locker to fetch his books. His locker was locker at the end next to an blind edge. At the back of his eye he saw a familiar figure walk past him. It was the person he has been looking for for weeks. Kai followed the girl, surprisingly she went past their class room and continued walking down the halls confusing the young boy. Still willing to discover who this girl is, he took his chances and skipped class with the girl. 

He followed her until she was out of school, still Kai continued to follow her. He followed her past the main streets and watched her go into a little ally way. That’s where Kai stopped the stalking, he walked past it several times to catch a glimps of what the girl was doing. She was there by herself sitting by the bricked wall with her eyes shut. She seemed done with the world, at a young age she already looked stressed. 

Kai watched the girl close her eyes to sleep, he watched her until she made no other movement and with that he dropped off the little snack his mother made for him to her. Kai left the girl at that and quickly went back to class. 

For many more weeks Kai did the same routine following her to the ally, watching her sleep from the corner and giving her his lunch. He did it because he is Kai. Kai is so kind hearted, loving and generous and it’s because he’s been through so much in his life. No one was there for him when his father left his him, no one was there when his sister died, no one was there for him when his mother started to go crazy. Therefore he believes that he needs to be there for people who are suffering, simply because no one was there for him. 

Please Subscribe to read the full chapter