She was really, really hungry.

Really cold, too.

Lonely.

Really, really lonely.

Jo Yuri struggled to find some comfort on the thin blanket she was lying on, curled up on the cold floor of her tiny house (if one could really call it that).

Two years ago, her parents were arrested for attempting to rob a bank. They were caught while running away; they had stopped on the side of the road after hitting someone with their car. They were arrested and taken to jail immediately.

Yeah, perhaps it wasn’t the best idea. Maybe they could have done something else, like rob a convenience store or steal some snacks. Perhaps they could have begged on the streets for hours, trying to make something, anything, out of the nothing that they had.

Except they could think of nothing besides the desire to put food on the table for their children.

That was it. It was the only wish they had.

Their two kids were starving. They were starving, their parents knew, but they insisted that, no, they were fine, and they didn’t need to worry. They didn’t need to worry about how underweight the two were, or how they got sick often, or how their stomachs were always growling. Everything was fine.

Except, of course, nothing was fine.

So they did what they did.

Yuri was able to send her younger brother to family a few cities away. He would be safe there, she was sure. She would have gone too, but she knew she couldn’t.

It was kind of funny, really, because with all the debt they have piled up, you’d think that they’d have something to show for it. Every month the loan sharks would come, the same ones that had hunted her grandfather before he abandoned his family and left his daughter, Yuri’s mother, to deal with it. And now, it was Yuri’s problem.

And she wanted to keep it that way.

There was no way she’d let them get any closer to her family. They were safer over there, with her over here.

Alone.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

            Yuri knew today wouldn’t be her day. She backed up a little and wrung her hands as three girls stood before her, sneering.

            Sure, she was always the subject of bullying; she was the perfect target anyways. But after news broke out about her parents, they became merciless. Little shoves turned into full-blown punches and kicks. The snide comments and laughter became aggressive verbal abuse. Yuri had never done anything. Ever. In fact, she doesn’t think she’s ever even spoken to anyone except for out of necessity.

Yet here she is, surrounded, and very, very scared.

She swallowed and glanced around, looking for ways to escape. She thought she could run past them, get the heck out of there. So she tried.

Except one of the girls saw her trick and grabbed Yuri by the collar, throwing her onto the ground like a discarded candy wrapper.

“Wait, please- ,” Yuri started quietly, holding her trembling hands in front of her lowered head as she curled up on the pavement.

The girl on her left laughed and kicked her leg out, striking Yuri from behind and causing her to fall forward in pain.

The others laughed.

And then, the others followed.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

“See you!” Yena waved to Yujin as they went opposite directions towards their own houses.

Yena was sweet and well-liked, having a close group of friends that always made her days brighter. She had a loving family, and she was glad that she still got to see them often despite her living about half an hour away, closer to her school, in her own apartment.

The girl knew who she was (or at least, Yena felt that she did) and was positive about where her life was headed. She thought she had a rough idea: school, graduate, be happy, etc.

She did not, however, have Jo Yuri anywhere in this equation.

Yena had never really seen any bullying happening. It was probably because she was mostly with her friends or people that she found to be very pleasant. She never encountered the dark side of the school, surprisingly.

Yena knew that Jo Yuri (she struggles to remember her name) was always alone.

Yena did not know that she would find her being beaten to a pulp behind the school.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

As Yena walks towards her apartment, she realizes she forgot her notebook in her desk. If she decides to start her homework early (she laughs a little but entertains the possibility) over the weekend, she’d need it. She turns around and heads back towards school as the sun begins to set (she and Yujin had cleanup duty today and left school late).

She rounds the corner and finds herself facing the side of the school. She’s about to turn right and make her way towards, the entrance, but she sees a group of students crowded in the back.

It was a little stupid to go and check it out, but stupid was her middle name.

She hides behind one of the sheds and sneaks a peak.

There are three fairly tall girls, all of them laughing, one of them shouting out profanities and threats. It confuses Yena a little bit.

What the heck are they doing? This looks a little crazy. I mean I knew we had crackheads around here but still--

And then she notices the body underneath their kicking feet.

Yena’s face contorts to one of shock; she really doesn’t know what to do. She really just stands there with her eyes opened wide, watching on as the girls finish up with one last kick, walking away laughing.

It takes Yena a few seconds, but she regains some semblance of brain power and rushes over to the person on the floor.

They’re still conscious, but just barely.

Yena makes out long brown hair and a small frame, a girl that was a little smaller than she was.

As Yena got closer, she saw how the girl was trying to get up only to fall back down on the pavement in a daze.

As she kneels in front of her and takes in the sight of her dirty, torn uniform (she notes that some parts of it are haphazardly sewn together), she glances at the girl’s face and instantly recognizes her.

“Oh, geez, hi, Yuri, right? Are you okay?” Yena asks a little stupidly (once again, her middle name).

Yena mentally berates herself for not knowing what to do.

Yuri blinks hard as struggles to steady herself. She sees Yena in front of her, staring right into her eyes.

Truthfully, she’s scared. She flinches away from the girl, not really understanding what was happening.

Yena’s eyebrows furrow, watching Yuri back away from her despite barely being able to keep herself from falling back onto the pavement.

“Okay, you don’t look like you’re in the position to take care of yourself - no offense. Come on,” Yena says as she turns around and gestures for Yuri to hop onto her back.

Yuri is confused and dazed; she just blinks at Yena’s back, not knowing what to do.

Yena waits a second before gesturing again.

“I’m not leaving until you get on.”

Yuri hesitates once more, but, for some reason, she complies, carefully crawling onto Yena’s back.

Yena smiles and clasps her arms underneath Yuri as she feels the girl shyly wrap her arms around her neck. She slowly stands up and begins to walk towards her house.

Yena thought she must be crazy. She couldn’t explain to herself why she had Jo Yuri on her back, but, well, she was glad she had her safe.

“I’m Yena, by the way.”

Yena waits for some sort of response, but nothing comes.

She smiles slightly as she realizes the girl must’ve fallen asleep.

Or passed out from exhaustion.

Yena frowns at the thought.

She also frowns at the fact that the girl on her back seemed to weigh no more than a seven year old child.

That’s not good.