2045.

Everything is different.

The world is led by a dictator, who calls himself The Leader. The ruler before him was his father, The Dictator. Nobody knows who his true identity is. Maybe he's actually your younger brother. Maybe he's that teacher you always hated.

A lot of people change after 30 years. He could be anyone who's around you right now. In fact, he could be the person who's sitting next to you reading this.

You never know.

***

2033.

"Mother?" a sweet voice sounded, as the girl with long eyelashes walked down her mansion's staircase, clutching a novel to her chest. 

She treaded carefully. The house was uncomfortably silent.

She didn't like it.

And she hated what she saw in front of her eyes.

Her parents, bounded and gagged, in the middle of the kitchen. Two vicious looking men, both tattooed with the same tattoo, loomed over the two. The girl put her hand in front of to keep herself from screaming. Why was this happening?

She felt eyes on her, and she scanned the kitchen to see her father staring at her with urgent eyes. The eyes stared at her, then at someone --or something else. The girl followed the vision, to see the main door. She shook her head, not wanting to leave  her parents alone facing the two men.

But what could she do anyways? Her book would never help. Her father's eyes became even more urgent, and the girl's head shook even more frequently.

She wouldn't be much help, but she didn't want to leave. It was most probably selfish, but then what could she do if she was paralyzed with fear at the doorway?

"WHAT YOU LOOKING AT?" one of the men roared at her father. The girl flinched, she had never seen her father be so disrepected. Her father looked away immediately, but the man had already follwoed his gaze and he saw the girl huddled at the doorway.

"YOU . YOU TOLD ME THERE WASN'T ANYONE LEFT IN THE HOUSE!" the man continued roaring. He slapped the woman and wrenched her hair. The woman cried out in pain.

"LUCAS! Go get the girl!" the man muttered gruffly, as he pulled the woman to a corner of the house. The girl's father knew what the man was up to. Muffled sounds came out of his mouth as the man ripped off his wife's clothes. The girl stared at what was happening in front of her eyes.

Her mother was being...dirtied right in front of her eyes.

"BLITHPHUNNU!" she heard her father cry. She broke away from her mother, and saw the other man, Lucas charging at her with a knife in his hand.

The girl understood what her father shouted. Her name. A warning.

And she dropped everything and ran out the door. She ignored her mother's strangled cries and her father's muffled shouts. She ignored everything, blocked it all out, and ran.

The streets were dark, and she didn't know where to go. But she just ran. She felt the huge man behind her, and so she ran. Her legs were tired, her lungs were bursting, but fear made her continue.

And that was the first time in her life Hwang Miyoung had to sleep on the streets. And it sure wasn't the last.

***

2034.

"UNNIE? UNNIE!" wails sounded through the broad lawn as the fair-haried girl bent over a woman's body. Anybody would have thought that the woman was sleeping, but if you took a look around, at the other bodies, the wailing people, the smoke, and the gunshots firing from afar, you'd know that she was dead.

And dead she was. 

The girl cried, tears falling down her cheeks and onto her own sister's dirty cheeks. Her sister was the only relative she had left, and now she was gone, too. It was a heartbreaking sight; seeing a twelve-year-old girl wail over a dead body. The girl's hair, which had been chestnut, was now a dark brown. The war had made everybody lose their spark.

Lose their hope in life.

And right now, Choi Sooyoung wanted nothing but regain that spark for everyone.

"For my unnie, Choi Soojung," she whispered, closing her sister's eyes before treading off into the distance, ignoring the wails from behind.

She hated the War that had broken out a year ago. Absolutely hated it.

***

She was beautiful. Always was. People praised her everywhere she went. They said she would probably be a rich model when she grew up.

Why did their spectaculations seem so different from how she was like now? Sure, she wasn't grown up yet, but she doubted that her future would be like that.

The 12-yared-old girl stared at her surroundings. Trash cans. Plastic bags. Random food scraps.

Mice.

She winced and planted her head in her knees. The War started a year ago, her parents, her brother, they were all killed. She escaped by kicking her attacker in the groin, but now she just wished that she'd die with her family. But since she was alive now, she might as well continue her life.

She'd been living on the streets for ages now. Literally, down in the dumps. She's change her shelter every now and then, just in case The Dicatotor's men came for her. She lived on the food scraps that the surviving families (they most probably bribed people) threw out. And sometimes when they didn't. she'd knaw on leaves. Now The War had gone on for so long there weren't much trees left. 

She ate mice two days ago.

It was horrid, but at least she had some food in her stomach. She got up and blew her fringe out of her eyes. Peering around, she walked briskly, trying to find some food. Out of the corner of her eye, she saw a shadow flicker. The girl scoffed. The shadow definitely wasn't one of The Dictator's men. Unless The Dictator's men were even shorter than her, she was positive that the hiding person meant no harm, and probably couldn't do any either.

She marched straight towards the alley she saw the shadow rushing into. 

"Hello? Anybody?" she called out. Something rustled and a girl stepped out of her hiding place.

The other girl was wearing a ruffled, princess-ish dress, but it was dirty and holes were all over them.

"Who are you?" the girl barely managed to whisper.

"I'm Im Yoona,"  said Yoona. The other girl smiled.

"I'm Hwang Miyoung," she murmured.

***

2035.

"What the--" a bright voice rang through the silence of the empty land. Wind billowed through the road, and the girl pulled up her coat up to her neck. She had wandered to this place after the Orphanage was bombed.

And the hell, she was lost. She had never really known Land III. She was 10 when The War broke out, and her families, like all the others, died.

She was left alone, but The Dictator had arranged a small number of children to live in a place called  the Orphanage. But she called it the Jail. She was trapped there, with the Mentor whipping every child who misbehaved one tiny little bit. She herself had had her arm brokwn before, and she was limping right now.

She wondered why The Dictator would open up an orphanage, really. The Dictator was vain and cruel, why did he have to open up a place for children? People always said that it was because of his son, but she doubted it.

"A man as cruel as that could never love," she muttered, lowering her hand down to rub the place that still stung.

She made a face at the puddle she had stepped on, and raised up her head when she heard twigs snap.

"GODDAMN !" she screamed. She was 12, true, but was about as nasty as a 21-year-old man. Standing right in front of her was masses of...robotic animals The Dictator called. unoriginally, Bots. They were vicious, sinking their teeth deep into your skin before tearing them out agian.

The robots moved towards her. She ran. She bit down on her lips so she wouldn't cry out. Her legs slowed her down, the wound opening again and bleeding. The pain made tears roll down her cheeks, her hair billowed in the wind, covering her sight, but she continued running. She had nowhere to go. She had nobody to worry about, nobody to worry about her....So why was she escaping? Why was she hanging on to life?

She stopped. She turned around and braced herself for the pain that would come when the Bots bit down on her. 

But the pain never came. She opened her eyes and saw the troop dismissing. She raised a brow slightly and ran off to find a shelter.

Crouching next to a rubbish bin, tears rolled down again as she finally understood why The Dictator had saved them.

It was his cruel and twisted self. To save the children, give them hope of living, and destroy it. Derstroy everything to its roots, then let them fend for themselves.

Then die because of his robots.

"Damn him," the girl breathed. "Damn his cruel twisted ways. You're standing up again one day, Seo Joohyun." she murmuted grimly. 

Author's Note:

Yay! I'm quite satisfied with myself c;  

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xoxo, Youl