It has always been known that Yoochun has always been a very selfless individual and prioritized the needs and wants of others over his own, not because it has been his own nature, but because he had to and if no one was, he wouldn’t be able to live so quietly and peacefully for all he had been through in that case.

He had lived a so-called “happy, safe and wholesome childhood”, blind from all the lies and false facades that life provided him before all things went to hell on the same day he turned 15, and never looked back since then for this reason. 

Yoochun had grown up with his younger sister in a middle class, suburban neighborhood just a few kilometers away from Seoul. Green fields, fresh air and a spacious lot had played a large role in their development and experiences as they grew up during their childhoods and to them, in which the specific area is still a place they hold dear to their heart, even if previous memories of that area do still haunt them.

Their parents weren’t probably the one of the wealthiest around, but they did provide their children just enough for them to feed themselves thrice a day and occasionally get treats on their birthdays and on special milestones in their lives.

The two of them grew up with loving parents, who were there to support them both emotionally and physically and they had always made sure that they would be there with them through thick and thin. They would take a leave at work to see them perform at their school’s local production and nearly every weekend, they would go as an entire family for a picnic by the seashore.

All of that changed on his 15th birthday, where he had expected to come home with a simply decorated birthday cake, a pair of helium balloons floating on top of his chair and a box of presents filled with the game he had always wanted to get- but he was wrong.

The two came home from school blissfully, Yoochun was unable to hold his excitement for what he would get this year as he was now officially a teenager and Yoona couldn’t help but skip along as this was another occasion to have more cake and some sweets on her older brother’s special day of the year.

Their father had been lying down unconscious in a pool of blood, seemingly dripping from his insides and had splattered from the silverware on the table that would have been used to serve the food that would have been used for his birthday and stained the newly painted walls that their mother had personally painted just in time for their eldest child’s birthday. His skin was pale as snow, with his eyes closed shut tightly as his body had started to deteriorate and rot at an alarming rate.

Broken glass had dispersed all over the ground, with shards and remains of other valuable objects like the porcelain vase on the top counter and their father’s beloved plates from Indonesia collection were all gone and had covered their father like he was a mummy to be buried deep down in a pyramid.

A vile, repugnant scent was prominent around the entire house, the scent of decaying flesh that seemed to stick on their clothing like glue that could not be erased or washed off. It seemed as if he had been there for nearly 8 hours, seemingly shortly after the kids had walked their way to school for the day.

It confused them that their mother was nowhere to be found at the crime scene and it was just suspicious that in her absence their father was brutally murdered and his life was taken away from him forcefully and violently.

Yoochun’s first instinct was to cover his sister’s wandering eyes and shelter her from the truth that he hides from her for her own good. He knew it would be horrible for a 8 year old like her to find her father in this condition where it was supposed to be a celebrated day. Yoochun knew it would be cruel for her to go through all the pain that he had gone through as well and he wanted to change that.

He held his sister close to him in an embrace as he knelt down on his knees and wrapped a jacket around his sister’s tiny, frail body. “Yoona, don’t look… Just promise me, don’t look.” He muttered a few words and his sister surprisingly just nodded obediently at him and looked away.

“What’s wrong, Yoochun oppa? Do I get a surprise on your birthday too?” She curiously asked as she grasped lightly with her brother’s fingers with her smaller ones in an attempt to pull them down from covering her eyes and to see what was going on.

Yoochun could not help but stare in horror as he realized that their mother had abandoned them and that they had left the two of them behind with their father ruthlessly left behind dead and murdered with several stab wounds on his back alone.

His eyes could not divert away from the daunting sight he had just seen and how his life had flashed within a few seconds, now that both of their parents were definitely out of his lives. “No, mother must possibly still be alive. No, I must be dreaming – “Tears fell rapidly down from his red, swollen eyes as he shook his head to himself and ran towards their bedrooms that were faced in the opposite direction of where their father was currently located.

Yoona did not let go of her grasp of her older brother’s hand and held behind his silhouette, obediently following every step he made and hid behind him as she refused to look at where their father laid currently, only facing forward.

Yoochun ran over to their bedrooms and threw out as many bags as he can find and carry on his own, as he left his sister by the doorway but still far away enough from the horrifying sight he had experienced. He threw in any piece of clothing he could find, from t-shirts, sweaters, underwear, tees and polos to trunk pants, shorts, jeans, leggings and whatever he could currently fit in the bags he had quickly found.

After he had gathered all of his and his sister’s clothing that he could currently bring by himself, he slung them around his arms and grabbed her arms hurriedly as he tumbled towards the living room where their landline telephone was located.

He dialled and punched in 112 even if his fingers were turning numb and were shaking restlessly in anxiety of what to say and what to do without his parents. “Hello, emergency service landline. How may we help you?” A neutral, feminine voice answered the call and responded. Yoochun gulped nervously as more tears fell down his cheeks before he spoke up to the call.

“I’d like to report a murder here at XXX Avenue, Cherry Blossom Street and 13 kilometers south from Seoul of a man in his early 40’s and that his wife has gone missing as well. This is – his son, my name is Park Yoochun and they have also left behind my younger sister, Park Yoona. “He honestly reported to them every detail of the situation, even if he was at first hesitant to tell them everything.

“And how old are you and how about your sister?” A concerned tone replied quietly as if to keep the information confidential. “I am 15 years old, while my sister is 8.” Yoochun answered flatly and bluntly, as if he was drained emotionally completely after what he has seen and other hand still circled around his younger sister’s shoulder.

“Do you have any relatives nearby?” “None of which we are aware of.” “…We’ll be calling someone to look over the two of you.”

“What’s going on, oppa?” Yoona tugged on his navy cardigan’s sleeve meticulously as she looked up to him with wide, curious eyes and bit on her lip.

He deliberately ignored his sister’s question while he was still on the line, instead her hair softly as he listened to the emergency center’s agent and what she would say to the two of them.

“The police and the ambulance would be arriving in 10 minutes, so the two of you just wait there patiently, alright?” An uneasy sigh was heard on the line before she gave him slight advice in to wait until someone would arrive to take care of the two of them.

Yoochun responded with a timid “Yes” before he hung the phone after the emergency spokesperson had ceased to reply. He looked around and glanced at his father for the last time before shifting his attention and kneeling down to the height of his sister.

“Yoona-yah, we will have to postpone the birthday celebration first alright? We will just have to go somewhere, far, far away… Just trust oppa, okay?” He pulled over the plunging jacket that was sliding down her neck and secured it around her head tightly.

She nodded silently as she enclosed her arms around his neck and he lifted her up the ground as he carried her and place her on his back, in which he supported her from the front.

The two of them then walked out of the then treasured home of theirs of which was now defiled, ravished and broken from the happiness it emitted early in their childhood. Yoochun had no idea where he had to go, where to go or who to go to, but all he wanted was to be anywhere but here.

“Just keep walking, keep going and don’t look back-“He reminded himself over and over again as he kept walking up and down the hill and straight then diagonally up the path, not knowing where it leads up to.

After more than 2 hours of wandering through the suburbs and cities still unsure of where to go, Yoochun nearly felt like he could just collapse and die at that very moment. Even the little Yoona was fast asleep on her brother’s back, arms still tightly locked around his neck.

He stumbled down on the cold, concrete ground, completely exhausted as a result of travelling on foot non-stop without rest and for more than his body could even take. Resting his head against red brick walls, the world turned black as his eyes closed shut and fell asleep as he drifted off to dreamland.

The next moment he woke up, it was already bright with the sunlight shining brightly against him and the birds chirped gallantly around him. His younger sister was still tightly clinging onto his shirt on top of him, completely dozing out and was napping peacefully.

One thing that startled him the most, however, was a sympathetic and compassionate old woman right next to him with a bright smile, he recognized that she had curly and graying hair with a particular white streak from her left forehead. She was offering a hand of help pointing towards him, and behind her was a couple of more kind looking ahjummas and ahjusshis who seemed to work under this mysterious woman.

“Are you alright, dear? Some locals have reported to me that you and your sister have been sleeping in the streets overnight. I work with the government into adopting orphans and abused children, or would you like me to help you find your parents for a while?” She smiled as she bent down to his level on the ground and spoke very considerately not to startle him. To ease his concerns, she took out a leather covered case and opened its flap to show an official id with the seal of the government.

He stared at her in silence, still trying to comprehend what has been spoken to him, still contemplating to reply by accepting her offer of taking them in or find their parents. Yoochun thought that if he decided to move in with this old woman who took in children who had no one else but themselves, he and his sister would be able to eat well and sleep in warm beds at night.

In contrast, of trying to find where their mother was even located or to find out if she was still alive in her whereabouts would be a completely useless option, especially as a voice inside of him always tells him that their mother won’t even hesitate to find where her children are or even vow revenge for what happened to her now late husband.

“I am okay, ahjumma. Well, both of our parents are no longer with us- “ He nervously blurted out still with his sleeping sister in his arms and stood up with her still clinging tightly around his neck.

The old, kind woman laughed. “Sweetheart don’t worry, our children’s housing would not hesitate to take in you and your sister. All we need is to file specific papers and get you settled until you and your little sister will be able to live with the rest of the children.” She his shoulder just like how his mother usually did.

“You can call Mrs. Hwang or call me mother if you are more comfortable with that.” Mrs. Hwang grinned graciously as the children and caressed her fingers through the locks of the sleeping figure resting on his chest.

Yoona squirmed in his arms, twitched her hands around and opened her eyes widely with a yawn as she was disturbed by the noise she was hearing and her eyes went wide as she saw a complete stranger talking to her older brother. She got down on her feet and kept her palm firmly grasped in her brothers’, shyly hiding beneath his thighs as she looked away from the old woman.

“Dongsaeng-ah, we’re going to have a new family and a house now.” Yoochun managed to smile despite the tragedies they’ve experienced the previous day; Yoona responded with a contented grin as she no longer hid behind her brother, cheerfully excited for what the future holds for the both of them.

                Yoochun felt the rays of sunshine gleamingly upon him, as he sorrowfully drew a hand against the tinted windows, wondering how that life used to be so merry and jubilant had turned into this total nightmare in real life in which he had no one else but his little sister, only little Yoona by his side.

Even as he saw his father lying dead on the cold, marbled ground with scarlet fluids flowing non-stop from his insides, he still had this spark of hope that they would at least have their mother with them and that they would have their support even if their father’s gone.

He was proved wrong, then again, as their mother seemed to disappear as if she had never existed in their household and that her existence was completely washed off the scourges of their then loving home. He vowed to himself that he would protect Yoona, the poor little thing affected in this messy game their parents had decided to play.

Yoona has always been somewhat Yoochun’s “little princess”; He was extremely delighted and excited upon the birth of his little sister and had always been quite attached and close to his younger sibling. He knew that this would be the start of a new chapter in their lives, and that he would make sure she would live a better life than him.

He bent down and stretched his upper body to lightly kiss Yoona on the forehead, as she sat on his lap and giggled gallantly as she played around and intuitively investigated through the brand new toys Mrs. Hwang gifted her.

Yoochun made it as a goal for himself to avenge his father, find their mother and protect Yoona, especially protect Yoona.

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