Cold nights, dark streets, freezing wind, the sound of cars' engines and people's chatters. I guess this is what it's like when you're adjusting to a new life. You can say I made it... through school. As usual I had no problems in my terms of academics and I graduated with honors. But I wasn't in school anymore wasn't I? I was in the middle of the cold dark streets, looking for my very first job. I guess some people might think graduating with honors meant a guaranteed job right? Well that's not exactly the case as I found myself roaming the dark streets at 10:00 in the evening with still no job in my hands. But how exactly did I get here? It was like a fairytale gone wrong.

A few months ago...

I sat eagerly in my chair in the middle of the school’s auditorium, the principal was calling our names one by one to go up on stage and receive our certificates. For once in my life, I was feeling quite nervous, my palms were sweating as I clutched my hands together and my legs were jumping up and down. Most of the students were over and it was now time to announce the awardees.

"Seo Joo Hyeon, Salutatorian" The principal called, followed by an applause from the audience. I turned around to face my parents who looked really proud of me, I gave them an "I did it" smile and turned back to face the stage. Finally, my time here is done and I was about to graduate from this school and make a living for myself.

"Now it's time to announce the Valedictorian" The principal announced. The whole room fell silent as everyone anxiously waited for the name to be called, including me. Gosh I don't know how to feel, there were a bunch of other good students I have competition with but hopefully I can win this one. The principal was handed the envelope and everyone watched as he opened it and read from the piece of paper.

"And this year's valedictorian is..." I heard an invisible drum roll inside of my head as it was dead silent, I could hear my own thoughts. Who's it gonna be, who's it gonna be? Is it me?

"Im Nayoung" the principal called. Un-ing-believable. That girl still managed to win valedictorian for the 3rd time in a row. I watched Nayoung's friends cheer her on, congratulating her as she got up and headed for the stage. She was crying for some reason I don't get since she should be used to it by now. You know what, maybe she deserved it, I'll give her this one. Nayoung got up on stage to accept her certificate and medal and stepped up to the podium to speak.

"I would have never done this without the support of all my family and friends. This last year of ours has been a real challenge and there were many times where I felt like giving up. But, receiving this award, I realized how it was all worth it. The sense of achievement is a bigger reward that no money can ever buy and I thank you again everyone for supporting me and I wish you all good luck in your new lives. Oh and also for my ex, thank you very much"

"ohhhhhhhhhhh..." all the students were in unison as some of them looked over to me after Nayoung walked off the stage. I just sat there with a poker face trying to focus on the stage and not anyone else, today is my day and not about any past relastionships.

"Now it's time for the first honor award" The principal announced. Everyone once again fell silent upon the announcement as everyone eagerly waited. I looked over to the other students, they were very anxious already. I looked over at Nayoung who seemed pretty satisfied with herself, I looked over to my parents who were looking at me intentively.

"Lee SangJoon" Oh my god, finally! Everyone cheered me on as I got up on stage, feeling very proud of myself. My heart was racing like formula 8 from the excitement and satisfaction I was receiving. I got on the stage and made my way towards the principal. She handed me my hard earned certificate, which I took a few seconds to look at realizing that this is where my hard wok went to before bowing to her and shaking her hand. Unfortunately, only the valedictorian gets to do a speech so i just bowed in front of everyone and walked off the stage. I ran towards my family who were sitting in the back and landed in the arms of my mom.

"I'm so proud of you!" My mom said. I smiled in her arms and looked at my dad who was smiling and rubbing my shoulders while Felix was clapping. I held my certificate in my hands as I went on to hug my dad next.

"We should get dinner" Dad said in my ear as he patted my back. This is the happiest day of my life. I don't think I've ever felt more proud in my life before and the fact that it wasn't that hard made me even happier.

Later that Day...

"Here's to our son's graduation! Jun, we are so proud of you!" My dad said as we toasted our wine glasses together before taking a sip. The restaurant was luxurious, it was a buffet and I feel like it was just the perfect place for a celebration. The food was displayed in transparent glass cases right in the middle of the restaurant and the walls were lined with glass beads. It was amazing. They even had a bar for drinks.

"Hey Felix, ever thought of putting wine in your desserts?" Dad asked. Felix now has his own ice cream shop that is situated near his house. It has been the hit of the neighborhood as it is a favorite spot for teens to hang out and everyday, the place is always packed. Except late nights and Saturdays. Pretty soon he'll be expanding his business to the city where many more people will be able to buy his desserts, and to think he did all of this without finishing college. Success really runs in the family.

"I thought about it before but I haven't had good access to much wine recently" Felix said and placed a piece of steak in his mouth.

"How come?" My dad asked.

"No money" Felix replied.

"Haha, if you need any money Felix you can always ask us. Plus, wine isn't a problem and we'd be glad to share if it helps your business" my dad replied. He's always been so generous with everyone around him and that's why he has so many admirers. Including me.

"Thank you, Uncle" Felix replied. But it was more of a 'no thanks' thank you rather than a 'thank you' thank you. Felix has always been so independent growing up which is why he decided to set up his own business to pursue his love for making desserts rather than take law school like his parents wanted him to.

"So when are you going to look for a job, Jun?" Mom asked me.

"After our vacation" I replied.

"Good, good. You want me to help you out?" Dad, being his usually general self, asked.

"It's ok dad. I think I got this" I replied.

"You sure?"

"Yeah, how hard can it be?" I said and ate a handful of chicken curry.

Present day...

Well it turns out, looking for a job is the hardest thing to do in the world. First of all, the offices were far away from each other that I remember taking at least 5 buses today just to get from one to another. Second, applications are always packed and you really need to be early if you wanted to get a good start and lastly, no matter how good you are, that still doesn't guarantee that you'll get the job. Every company has different needs and criteria for their employees. You just can't tell what they are looking for. So far I have applied for 3 different hospitals as a nurse because I haven't pursued my masters yet which I will do maybe after a year or so. I just want to get some experience first before studying again.

My applications haven't gone well so far. I was late for my first application interview since I woke up late AND there was an incredible amount of traffic plus it didn't help that there was a car crash just nearby the hospital. It felt like fate was conspiring against me on this one. As soon as I got there, they refused to go through with the interview and I had no choice but to get to the other.

The second one had a boss. He was clearly a ert eyeing the nurses and even the male applicants. He wanted me to work for 20 hours a day, night shift and the pay was not enough to compensate for that. When I told him that I wanted to tweak the terms a little bit he asserted his authority on me saying that he was in total control and that I had no right to question his authority. Plus, he made fun of my skills. I could tell that this was a result of his sadism and that he was getting by this. I'm not taking my chances with this one. The last thing I want is my boss molesting me in his office.

The last one wasn't too bad. It was the most decent one so far. I walked in, got interviewed. Boss had good manners plus it looked like I was around decent people. Only problem is, there were TOO much people so that meant there were more to choose from. I just wish I could narrow it down somehow.

Now here I was, wandering the streets looking for a ride to get home or something to eat, maybe both would be nice. Even though my family is very wealthy, I do not have my own car as my dad said he will buy me one once I land my first job. Although, I think it would've made more sense for him to buy me one as a graduation gift instead but I got the vacation for that. I felt my stomach growl and I clutched it with my only free hand in an attempt to stop the pain. My other hand held my bag full of my resumes and all the paperwork I needed for my applications. It didn't help at all as it was just heavy and wore me out as time went by. I let go of my stomach and loosened up my black necktie and loosened one button off my neck as my suit was suffocating me. I exhaled in relief as soon as I removed the top most button on my white polo shirt, a small cloud of smoke forming in front of my face due to the cold temperature. It was that time of the night when all the public transportations were probably heading home or taking a break from their night shift, how lucky am I indeed.

As I was walking, looking around the streets for somewhere to go, I heard something crumble under my foot. I looked down and lifted up my foot to find a piece of plastic on the ground. I observed it to find that it was a wrapper, a popsicle wrapper.

"Dirty bastards" I said and shrugged it off. I ignored the piece of trash on the ground and looked back up to continue walking. As I took 2 more steps forward I once again felt something under my foot. 'What the hell' I thought to myself and found yet another piece of plastic flattened on the ground. 'More trash?' I thought. I tried searching for the source of the trash as it wasn't there a few minutes ago. It was then that a car passed by, briefly shining its headlights over the pavement. It was there that I found a long trail of trash across the pavement. There was a long line of plastic wrappers leading up to certain part of the pavement. 'How long have these been here' I thought to myself. I must've not noticed as the area was dark.

'Who would leave this much trash on the pavement?' I thought and got curious so I decided to follow the trail. The wrappers were all popsicle wrappers varying in brand and color. There was red, green, pink, even white, someone's been on a food spree. As I got closer, I heard a voice weeping. It sounded like a girl. I turned my head to see if anyone was around but I couldn't see where the voice was coming from. As I followed the trash trail, the crying got louder and this time it was coupled with some coughing. She sounded sick. My heart raced as I searched for the source of the voice. I'll admit it creeped me out. It felt like I was in a suspense flick. I was scared but worried at the same time as the voice sounded like it was in so much pain.

I stopped at where the voice was right next to my ear. I turned towards the voice's direction and that's where I found it. Underneath the streetlight, right in the middle, a broken, young woman lying on the cold hard pavement. She was weeping and wincing in pain. She wore a tattered black shirt that was torn in several places paired with matching black shorts that wasn't in any better condition either. She didn't have any shoes or slippers on, she was barefoot. Her feet were black looking like it was charred and her entire body had filth covering her brown skin.

She was weak. I could tell because she could barely move her own arms. She just lied there on her right side, arms spread in front of her. I looked into her eyes through the hair that was covering her face. They were full of pain and they were begging, begging for someone to save her. I felt my heart being hit by a non-existent pointed object. I felt something familiar, I know I felt this pain before. But how come I couldn't tell what it was?

I felt so attached to her already. I could feel her pain like it was my own. It was as if I've known her for a long time, it was as if I know her very well and that I knew every single thing that was hurting her. But I couldn't tell what this feeling was and I couldn't explain why I felt this way. It frustrated me. But I wanted to help her, I want to help her so much. I know what it was like to be abandoned in the streets due to a very traumatic childhood experience of mine. I couldn't remember much of what happened, but I remembered a good deal of it.

15 years ago...

From what I remembered is that I was roaming the streets with my parents. We were on the way home from the carnival to celebrate my 6th birthday. I remembered that me and mom waited for dad to get the car. I couldn't remember a good detail of what happened after. The next thing I remembered was my parents disappearing all of a sudden. I searched the streets but I could 't find them. I never felt so afraid before. The next thing I knew was a man approaching me and asked me what was wrong. I told him everything and he offered to help me. Having no other choice, I accepted his offer. He introduced himself but I had trouble remembering his name, so he told me to call him 'Mr. Yoo'

Mr. Yoo took care of me for a few days. He let me live in his house, he fed me, played games with me and told me stories before I went to bed. My favorite story was the one where he told me about his daughter that died a long time ago. He told me that he and his wife lost her in a boat accident and that they never found her again. But despite knowing that she's dead, Mr. Yoo and his wife believed that one day, they would meet her again. They would find a way back to each other because that's what happens if you love someone, you would be able to find them no matter what.

Mr. Yoo's kindness replayed in my head. All the things he did for me, said to me. How he, a stranger, helped a poor kid like me despite the fact that he didn't even know who I was. He was such a big influence on me, I wanted to help this girl like he did for me.

I stepped forward to hold her hand to assist her in standing up but she couldn't even stand. She was to weak to do so. I placed my hand on her forehead and felt her temperature. She was burning, her fever was so bad. I hooked my right arm underneath her legs and used the other to hold her back. I picked her off the ground, she wasn't heavy despite being tall. I waited for a cab but there was none. I observed the girl's face. The poor girl wasn't holding up too well. She was breathing in hard inhales and exhales and her face showed it all. The amount of pain she was in. My arms were getting tired from the waiting but I didn't care. I needed to help her, I can't let go no matter what.

Finally, I saw a cab arriving and I yelled to get the driver's attention. I brought her inside and told the driver my address so he can take me home. I placed the girl on my side and she lied there with her head rested on my shoulder. I didn't care if she was filthy, I needed to help her.

"Hungry..." I heard her mumble. I turned around to see her sleeping on my shoulder. She was mumbling in her sleep.

Just a little more... just a little more...