I’m Bang Yongguk. I’m a man often classified as soft-spoken and gentle.  I’m also great at keeping secrets and promises. These days, I’m living my life as I’ve always wanted to. Some would define me as completely reborn as I am not like I used to be.

When I was in high school, I really couldn’t fit in at all. It may seem odd, as I am a very talkative and laid-back dude compared to then, but God. I was the epitome of a “social outcast.”

The school I went to was so run-down, it was almost- well, it was sad. The staff gave no about sanitation. Trash was everywhere and it was probably taken out once a month. Vandalism was the norm. Some es thought urinating on walls was “art” and I, for one, was not comfortable at all during my years there.

I lived in the city over, but due to my parents’ whole anti-marriage situation, I was in the custody of my grandmother for the time being. It was sort of a difficult commute,  but I didn’t want to add any more unnecessary problems to the situation that was at hand.

The school was an absolute mess. The students were all good-for-nothings and I cannot even begin to describe the teachers. They read a page or two from a chapter book they only had ONE copy of, and left without really caring for the problem children that filled the seats of each class in this school. I, myself, have never imagined a high school like this even with my level of thinking, so how I ended up going there (and managing to graduate) was beyond me.

Despite all the chaos that went on through the years, there was one specific place I often enjoyed, and that was the school garden. It was in a segregated area where students don’t often visit because the flowerbeds took up a majority of the space, and I thought it was the best place to escape the harsh reality I went through every time I entered the campus. I’m an aestheticist--meaning, I find beauty and value in even the smallest things. The first time I found out about