Warning : Bullying. 

Kyungsoo stir in his sleep to something cold surrounding his body , when he opened his eye , he saw his grandmother , she was still sleeping. He reach his two tiny hands and put them on her cheeks “ grandma , you are so cold” kyungsoo thought to himself. He covered her with his blanket and went to prepare breakfast. He came back to their room to wake her up, he reached  her and tried to shake her “ grandma, woke up , breakfast is ready”. Kyungsoo grandmother didn’t respond and kept her eyes closed. Kyungsoo panicked, his grandmother isn’t responding , so he ran to his neighbor and knocked their door “ Jae young Hyung , please open the door” kyungsoo start to shiver and shaking from cold . When the door was opened he tugged Jae Young hand and his mom and brought them to his home “ I tried woking up grandma but she’s not responding , please help her please” kyungsoo said crying silently. He sat next to his grandma and his neighbor tried shaking her and checking her pulse. Suddenly, Jae young’s mother start crying loudly and kyungsoo froze , as if he knew what happened. The past is repeating itself, “ kyungsoo-yah , I’m sorry , grandma is dead”. Kyungsoo looked at them and dark dots invade his vision and he fainted. 

Kyungsoo was left alone at the age of eight. He was lonely but always kept smiling like his grandmother said. Due to the trauma of the death of his grandmother, his brain blocked his memories of his parents and the Kim family. He only remembered his grandmother. Jae young’s mother took care of kyungsoo after he was left alone, She would check on him since they were neighbors, bring him left over food. They were poor too , so they helped with whatever they can. Kyungsoo were thankful to them and helped around in their small family restaurant. He would wash the dishes and clean the tables when all customers left. He never asked for money from them , just a meal. 

Kyungsoo stayed at his grandmother home, he went to school and excelled in his studies. He took a liking in reading , so in lunch break he will go to the school library and read. Kyungsoo was kind and shy boy , he always smile and helped his classmate and teacher around. However , when he was ten , his eye sight began to get bad , he didn’t have the money to buy glasses , so he used to glare in order to see better and that gave him a reputation among his classmates. His friends stopped talking to him and bullied him. 

“ Yah what are you looking at ugly” Kim heechul said while pushing kyungsoo to the floor. Kyungsoo stood up and fixed his uniform and said “ I’m sorry heechul , it’s just that my sight …” 

Heechul pushed him again to the floor and said “ Don’t you dare say my name again you ugly thing and don’t smile , you have the worst smile in this entire world, it makes you uglier than you already are” and kicked him on his legs and walked away. Kyungsoo stood up and fixed his uniform again and sighed and walked to the library to read and isolate himself from this cruel world. 

After school finish , Kyungsoo went to the street and set his tools to polish people shoes.He needed the money to buy the basic things to survive. He will keep polishing people shoes till 7pm and then go to the Jae young restaurant to help around with cleaning the tables and doing the dishes. He will finish working at 11 pm and then go to home and study till 1 am after midnight and then sleep. That how kyungsoo lived his life after his grandmother passed away. He was happy even though he was alone , he was content and never got mad or angry. People around him used him for being kind and he couldn’t say anything , he needed to survive so he let people used him.

- 

His twelfth birthday came by and he woke up and found miyeok guk dish “Birthday soup dish in Korea” with plain rice in the small living room. He smiled and told himself to thank Jae young’s mother when he goes to the restaurant later. He eat his breakfast and went to school with a smile that send warmth to everyone. He greeted people in the street and hummed a song while walking to school. kids at school kept avoiding him , he didn’t mind them if that kept him safe. after school finished , he went to the restaurant to help them around and being thankful because someone remembered his birthday. 

“ Auntie , thank you for the food , it taste so good” Kyungsoo said to Jae young’s mother. She looked at him and said “ that’s all I can do Kyungsoo , I’m sorry”, Kyungsoo gave her a hug and kept thanking her all night while working. 

Jae young’s mother told him to go to home today since it was snowing heavily. After he finished cleaning , Jae young’s mother gave him a paper bag and smiled “ Open it kyungsoo , it’s a present”. It was the first time someone gifted him something, he opened the paper bag and found a new jacket. He touch the material and it was soft and warm and he felt the happiest he ever been in a while, he really needed a jacket , the weather was freezing outside and the jacket he owned wasn’t doing it job to keep him warm. “ Thank you auntie , I really like it , but you didn’t have to spend money on me” Kyungsoo whispered softly. Jae young mother’s looked at him and he noticed her glossy eye and said “ Is there is something wrong ?” Kyungsoo felt his chest tighten , Jae young mother shook her head and hugged kyungsoo and said “ I’m sorry Kyungsoo-yah , I’m really sorry, promise me that you grow up to be a fine , kind man. Promise me you will always smile no matter what and never give up”. 

At that moment , kyungsoo understood what was going, he nodded his head while hugging her , he said “ I promise and auntie please promise that you will take care of yourself” , Jae young’s mother cried silently and hugged him tight and he let her because it felt that they both needed it. He wear his new jacket and thanked her again and went to his home.