Chapter One

It was all over the news and among the topic of conversations between everyone in Jeguk High, Choi Dong Wook and Esther Lee marrying in less than a month’s time.

Eun Sang looked at the group surrounding Young Do and Rachel. They were congratulating them.

“How fake can they get?” Bo Na appeared beside her, a disapproving scowl on her face. “Just look at them, congratulating the two as if they really meant it. They’re all obviously talking about how broken their families are on the inside.”

She reached for a book in her locker. “They’re congratulating them as friends.”

“Ya.” Bo Na gave her a look. “There is no such thing as friends here, just a network of acquaintances.”

Eun Sang sighed, and turned her head when loud footsteps approached her. In the corner of her eyes she saw Rachel’s face, her expression contorted into a mix between sadness and helplessness beneath her usual apathetic façade. She walked pass them quickly, leaving the group of people and her soon to be step-brother behind. Young Do’s eyes met hers, he was standing still whilst the people around him continued their chatter.

She went upstairs, it wasn’t time for class so she thought she’d escape to the balcony away from other students. Her feet stopped moving at the sight of Kim Tan and Rachel from afar, they were alone. Rachel’s head was bowed and her shoulders hunched over, she was crying.

When Kim Tan reached up to place his hand on her back to comfort her, Eun Sang sighed. She pitied her, she saw how different their worlds were. Kim Tan understood her, yet she couldn’t entirely; Eun Sang has never and will never be caught up in family relations like that. She was going to walk away when a figure stepped in front of her, Eun Sang looked up to see Young Do standing less than three feet away from her.

He looked over the balcony where Kim Tan and Rachel stood then back at her. “If you’re jealous, shall I hug you in his place?” The corners of his lips twitched upwards.

“How about you?” Eun Sang asked. “Are you alright?”

“What?”

“The thing that’s all over the news.” She explained. “Aren’t you involved in it too?”

His smile fell and he just stood there and stared at her. His eyes unwavering and underneath the usual spark of danger in his eyes were emotions swimming in depths of black.

“I hope you’re alright, I really do. Come to think of it, you’re only eighteen years old.” She paused before adding. “About me not getting back at you for letting me fall into the pool, I’ve decided to postpone it for now.”

After saying that, she turned around and walked away, not sparing another glace at the boy behind her or the two people downstairs. She heard Young Do call after her when she pushed open the doors, but she ignored it.

When school ended she didn’t want to go back to Kim Tan’s house, what happened was another reminder of how unwelcomed she was in the Kim’s residence, and in their world. She hasn’t spoken to Kim Tan after the camp, after Young Do’s confession. He came to look for her afterwards in her tent and told her to come with her and she refused. Even when she fell into the pool thanks to Young Do and he came out, she hasn’t said a word to him. It was getting easier, she was able to keep him away and he didn’t push her, not anymore.

You do not belong here, not in this world. Your existence will only bring the people around you pain, Cha Eun Sang. You have crossed the boundaries and now the people you love are paying for it. How do you feel about that?

Eun Sang wondered if the Chairman told Kim Tan the same thing he told her before she went to the camp. And if that was the reason that Kim Tan kept his distance, but nevertheless she was relieved that he did.

She spent the night at Bo Na’s place.

The next day at school was a blur; she wasn’t able to sleep last night despite Bo Na letting her sleep on a bed in the guest room instead of a mattress on the floor. She could feel Kim Tan’s eyes on her during PE, their eyes met for a brief second before Bo Na came along and asked her why she left so early without even eating breakfast.

Eun Sang told her mother that she would look for a cheap place to rent, her mother had tried to convince her that it was alright. But she knew that if she won’t leave, then both of them would be kicked out. They will have little time to stay at the house before they move out. She managed to find a place that was affordable but was temporarily unavailable, the landlady told her that she would contact her if anything comes up. It wasn’t a fruitful search but still it was better than nothing. She texted her mother informing her of the house and what the landlady said to her, her mother replied.

That’s good. Eun Sang-ah, do you need a change of clothes?

She didn’t know where she was going, shoving her hand deeper into her pockets she continued walking, swinging the bag containing a few days’ worth of clean clothes in hand. Her mother had tried to persuade her to come home when they met up but she told her that she wanted some time to herself to think. Her mother reluctantly agreed.

Home. She sighed. What home? It’s not even hers. She doesn’t have a home.

Her phone vibrated in her pocket, signaling a text message. She pulled out her phone and read it. It was from her mother.

Eun Sang-ah, it’s late. Please eat dinner on time, and stay warm okay? You can come back if you need.

She stopped walking and stared at the screen for a while before typing a reply, unconsciously biting the insides of her cheeks.

I will, you take care of yourself too, mother. I’ll try again with the houses tomorrow morning.

Eun Sang stood there, and stared at the pavement. She didn’t bother to walk, not anymore. Everything was a mess and she can’t even do anything about it. A part of her told herself that it was her fault, even though she couldn’t have avoided any of it.

You do not belong here, not in this world. Your existence will only bring the people around you pain, Cha Eun Sang. You have crossed the boundaries and now the people you love are paying for it. How do you feel about that?

The Chairman’s words echoed in her head. She couldn’t have avoided meeting Kim Tan back in the States. Kim Tan was there. He saved her and gave her a place to stay when she had nowhere to go. She didn’t know of Rachel but there was nothing she could’ve done, she didn’t know who he was and she wasn’t going to snoop around.

But Eun Sang left, she was determined to move on and leave America– and the boy whom she gave her dream catcher to – behind. It made sense at that time, it seemed like nothing but a dream.

“Cha Eun Sang.” The voice was deep and all too familiar. She slowly looked up and there he was, helmet in hand and his face a mix of curiosity and mild surprise. “What are you doing here?”

She thought about it for a second. “I don’t know.”

“How strange.” The corner of his lips tugged upwards, it wasn’t a mean smile. In fact, his words, his voice and his expression seemed sincere without a hint of mockery or cockiness in them. He eyed the bag she was holding but didn’t say anything.

“How about you?” Eun Sang felt like returning the favor, and the silence was getting to her. “Why are you here?”

Young Do lifted his free hand and pointed to her left, she turned her head towards the direction. The convenience store.

“Have you eaten?” Eun Sang returned her gaze to him.

She shook her head.

“Let’s eat.” Without another word, Young Do approached her and grabbed her wrist. She stumbled helplessly and followed him into the convenience store.

They entered the store and Young Do removed his grasp on her wrist, leaving her to choose his meal. Eun Sang found herself walking toward the right, where the milk section was. She was reaching for one onigiri at the side when Young Do suddenly appeared behind her, his voice startling her.

“Did you not go home last night?”

She ignored him.

“There’s a big house you could sleep in and you chose to sleep somewhere else?”

Eun Sang looked at him and said. “It’s none of your business.” She took a dumpling from the shelf.

“Are you only eating that for dinner? What are you trying to do, starve yourself?” He asked, snatched the onigiri from her hand and placed it back on the shelf. His eyes flickered to the dumplings and back to hers. “Besides, you shouldn’t eat that flavor, the other one tastes better.”

She gave him a look.

“Trust me, I’ve tasted all the flavors here. I would know.” He said.

“How would you know, why do you always go to convenience stores? You’re rich enough not to resort to eating things like these.”

He didn’t answer for a moment. “Because.” He met her eyes. “It doesn’t seem weird eating alone here.”

“You al-” Eun Sang started. When Young Do’s hand circled her wrist for the second time that night, Eun Sang followed him.

He picked a cup of ramen from the shelf – the same one he was having – and paid for them. She had tried to get the ramen, saying that she would pay for her own but dropped it upon seeing the look he shot her at the counter.

They chose to sit inside this time, it was cold outside afterall. Young Do placed the cup in front of her and sat on the stool next to her. “Thank you.” She murmured, looking at him.

He didn’t say anything, he was already stirring his ramen and eating. Eun Sang took a moment to observe him, it wasn’t everyday she had a chance – or the guts – to look at Young Do from this distance without being caught by him. Not that she would ever consider looking at him, he was the person who made her life in Jeguk High hell from the first day.

But tonight he seemed different. His hair was styled up the same, his skin was still as pale as she had remembered; nothing seemed out of place. That’s when she realized, she has never been this near to him under such normal circumstances. Everytime he was near her, he would trip her, or make a remark or something that would make her feel bad. He has been different since he saw her outside a while ago, she wondered why.

Young Do looked up from his cup of ramen and raised an eyebrow at her. “Aren’t you going to eat?”

She blinked, once, twice before picking up her pair of chopsticks and hastily digging into the ramen. He’d obviously caught her staring at him, but he didn’t say anything about it or even acknowledge it. Eun Sang didn’t know what to feel about that.

“Are you going to tell me why you’re on the streets of Seoul alone at night?” He spoke.

Eun Sang didn’t look at him, she repeated her answer. “I don’t know.”

“Did Kim Tan do something to you?”

At the mention of Kim Tan she looked up. He has been staring at her all along, the same way she had been. “No.” She couldn’t help but notice her change of tone.

Young Do scoffed, his smile was bitter. “Do I have to bring up Kim Tan everytime for you to look into my eyes?”

“No it’s not that.” Eun Sang quickly said. “I just – I wasn’t – ”

“You don’t have to say anything, I don’t care.” He dismissed her and continued to eat.

“Where have you been?” Young Do asked when they have both finished their ramen.

Eun Sang gazed outside the window, at the blur of passing cars and pedestrians in the cold. “I was out, trying to find a place to rent.”

“Did something happen with Kim Tan?” He asked her in a softer tone this time, he sounded like he was truly curious. Even Kim Tan’s name sounded less acidic.

“No.” She shook her head. “With his father.”

“Chairman Kim?”

“Kim Tan and I, we’ve met before he came back to Jeguk.” She turned her head to look at him, his face was a mix of confusion and displeasure. “I went to America to look for my sister and I got into some trouble, he was there to offer me a place to stay while I sort things out.”

Young Do waited for her to go on, it has been some time since Eun Sang had someone so willing to listen to what she has to say.

So she continued. “Turned out Chairman Kim knew of this for a long time, and with my mother being…tied with their family. He said that his son should not be associated with someone like me, let alone develop any feelings for. He has locked Kim Tan inside the house once and no doubt he’s going to do it again. This time he is using my mother as another way to rid his son’s life of me.”

“And you’re letting him?” He asked.

“Is there any other way?” Eun Sang sighed. “I love my mother. I can’t let her suffer for what I did, even though her job is still in the hands of the chairman I still cannot be there.”

There was something in Young Do’s eyes, but she couldn’t tell what it was. He blinked and whatever was there immediately disappeared. “All these things you’re doing, is it really worth it? Do you like him?”

His straightforwardness caught her off guard; that and the question itself.

“Do you?”

“It doesn’t matter.” Eun Sang stood up, discarded the empty ramen cup and left the convenience store without another word to the boy. She felt guilty for leaving him after he had actually been nice and not made things about himself for once, but she’d deal with the remorse later.

But for now Young Do’s question repeated itself inside her head,
over and over like a broken record. 

A/N: Chapter one is finally up, it’s longer than I first expected it to be but it felt right to end it at that point. I hope that you enjoyed reading it and thank you for reading ^^  I’ve decided to title the fic ‘Untitled’ because I haven’t thought of a fitting title, perhaps later on into the story it’ll come to me. I’m open to suggestions too c:

Anyway, I will try to update as soon as I can so please look forward to Chapter 2. Thank you again for reading. Please feel free to message me if you want to know about this fic or just tell me what you thought of it, I’d love to know :)

(ﾉ ﾟ▽ﾟ)ﾉ♥~ Merry Christmas my fellow shippers!

I might be posting my chapters first on my Tumblr blog : brokenfeelsofahero (you see the relevant blog name) since thenamelesshero is my main blog and I didn't want to put my work with my other stuff so yes.