Dongho handed the customer his change, smiling sweetly like he was supposed to, the customer gave a thankful nod and went on his way. Dongho turned back to the register, hiding his actions carefully from the security camera, which he wasn't sure worked, but he didn't want to take any chances. He couldn't be seen shoving the money greedily into his pocket. They wouldn't understand why he did this, he needed to help his mother. He couldn't have her suffer like that anymore.

Dongho checked the clock again, he only had thirty more minutes of his shift and he hadn't even taken enough money to buy groceries. It was too slow today and he had to at least look like he made some profit on his register. Not to mention many more people were just paying with credit cards. Dongho ran his hands through his hair, trying to think of what to do. He could get another job, maybe drop out of high school. Even if he had just started his education there, taking care of his mother was more important than that. He didn't need a diploma, he needed shelter and food.

Winter was on its way, and their heater was still broken. In that drafty place, they would both surely develop pneumonia. At least, if it was too cold, his mother's activities wouldn't be strictly house calls anymore... she'd have to go to the man's place... or somewhere different. He almost smiled to know that maybe for a short time he could feel like he could go home.

Dongho's boss approached his spot from behind the register with a smile, “Good news!” She cheered happily, fitting herself behind him to close off his shift on the register, “you can go home early today. It's been slow and we don't need as many people here.” Except, this wasn't good news at all! Dongho wanted to protest because less hours meant less money. He held his tongue, only nodding as he turned away from the register and made his way to the break room to grab his old worn out coat from the lockers.

Stuffing his baseball cap over his short, unruly hair, he began leaving without a word. His boss, Jaehwa, approached once more, “you know, you don't say much...try to talk more next time, okay?” He hardly even acknowledge her existence as he exited the store. He could feel the burning tears of frustration build behind his eyes as he began the lonesome walk home. He didn't want to return, especially not early, because his mother would still be 'working'.

He didn't want to exist in a place and situation like this, he didn't want to be alive anymore. He just wanted his mother free from what she had to do because he had caused so many troubles for her. If he hadn't been born, his father wouldn't have run off with another woman, and his mom would be living happily in a rich estate somewhere. Probably with a book club and a membership to the most elite club in town.

He sat on the bench in an empty park, all the little kids had gone home for dinner, so it was just Dongho and the sound of leaves rustling in the wind. He tilted his head back to the sky, hoping it would suppress the tears. It worked, unlike most everything else he tried, to his surprise, the cold breeze froze them in his eyes. He was thankful, he didn't want to cry, he needed to be tough. Tough for himself, because if he wasn't, he had no idea how he was supposed to make it through this.

Even if there was no end in sight, Dongho wasn't willing to give up. He couldn't, in fact, because it wasn't just him who would suffer from that. His mother would, too, and he thought she had been through enough. Once they were living in luxury, then he could disappear from her life forever.

A couple of years ago, Dongho would have prayed at this moment. For support, relief, anything to take even the tiniest portion of the pressure away. But he had long since lost the desire to speak to the absent being. Why? Because the 'Father' was just that, absent. Like his biological father. No one was up there. Dongho doubted he existed. If he did, Dongho had decided, he just didn't care about him and his mother. And, if God didn't care, what was the point in saying a prayer?

Instead, Dongho closed his eyes and let out a long pitiful sigh. He tried to clear his mind, like those meditation tapes he had to listen to once in health class had instructed him to do. “It's not working.” He whispered to himself, straightening his now stiff neck. He must have been sitting on the bench for a good twenty minutes. Dongho stood, figuring it was time to move on to something different, more constructive.

He took the crumpled cash from his pockets and counted it. As he had thought, he didn't even manage to collect enough for groceries. Meaning, he would either have to work another day stealing cash or wait until his paycheck arrived next week. Even then, the pay would be bad and he'd have to cut back on food to eat. He had bills to pay, a heater to fix, and groceries to buy. His mother's money only went so far. Even with her night job, they barely made it by.

Dongho angrily stuffed his pockets with the stolen cash, walking the streets once again. He could recognize a few of his classmates either shopping or working at the shops as he passed by. Some waved or smiled, but Dongho gave no notice as always. He didn't have many friends, just because they always wanted to hang out and waste money. Money he didn't have and didn't want to explain that he didn't have. So, in all, he tended to avoid social contact. There wasn't much to him, anyway. He was a first year, had average grades, and his only hobbies were stealing from his work and taking care of his mother. Neither of which he was any good at.

Dongho finally went back home once he was sure his mother had gone off to her job at the night club. He dug in the small pantry for rice, or noodles, but he only managed to find half a loaf of bread. He checked the fridge, only a bottom full of a jar of jam and a block of yellow cheese, on which he could see mold sprouting. He sighed, sitting down at the small table with the bread and jelly, spreading the meager spoonful on the hardening bread.

He bit into the food with a dissatisfied grunt. There was nothing he could do, of course, but he wished he could. Tomorrow, he would have to use what little bit of money he had left from his last paycheck and the money he achieved today for groceries. “I can at least get noodles, rice, and juice.” Dongho listed to himself. He would have to go right after school if he wanted to make it to his shift at work.

It was one of those rare weeks when they bothered to schedule him twice. He hardly got any shifts because they had so many workers. He didn't think it was that fair, but he couldn't change it. And, he couldn't wish for them to fire some people, because he'd probably be the first to go. What he needed to do was look for another job. One with stable hours and more of a wage. When Dongho was finished with his makeshift dinner, he took a short shower, the water being too cold to stand in for too long, and crawled into bed without even touching his homework. He would do it in the morning... maybe.

Dongho didn't dream of anything pleasant, he rarely did these days. Instead of a warm spring day with birds singing and the sun shining, he dreamt his mother had run off with another guy to take care of her. Not that he could blame her, per say, because anything would be better than the filth they had been living in, and that's what he wanted for his mother.

It still hurt his heart a little bit, even to dream it, because he cared so much about her... it would be strange to not have her around. When Dongho woke up the next morning, his mother was on the matt beside him, cuddled inside her blankets for warmth. Her small body couldn't handle the cold. He took the blankets he had from over his body and spread them over his mother, shivering in the cold air even though he was wearing a coat and long thermal pants. Slowly, his mother uncurled from the tight ball she was in and sunk into the extra warmth Dongho's blankets gave her.

He got up and got ready for school, leaving the house in under ten minutes. That's all he had if he was going to make it for class. He tried not to be late everyday, but some days, he just couldn't help it. Dongho caught his breath as he made it into the classroom just before the bell rung and barely made it to his seat before they all stood as the teacher came in.

“Good morning!” His English teacher smiled, waving her arms out wide. Even though Dongho frequently missed this class, he enjoyed learning English. Not only was it helpful in his job when he had foreigners come to ask directions, he thought it was fun to learn. The teacher called roll, glancing up in surprise as Dongho responded to his name, but gave him a small smile.

Okay, so maybe Dongho was late to his classes more than normal or that he would like to admit. But, most nights he stayed away from his house until after ten at night and didn't get done with chores and homework until at least one. Last night was one of those rare nights when he skipped homework, and slept instead.

He decided he liked school. It was a place where he could get away and not have to hear his mother on the phone, making plans with other men and setting up more 'appointments'. School was something he could never leave, not by a long shot. Not even for another job.

Dongho's head slowly began falling against his chest as class neared the end. He hadn't slept well, not with the unsettling dreams he had. “Dongho!” The teacher called again, forcing Dongho awake. As soon as his eyes opened, the teacher huffed and asked him to repeat a certain verse in their textbook. He looked down at his closed book, quickly flipped to the page and stood. He read the line quickly, making no mistakes. And, to make sure he, and the class understood, the teacher asked him to translate it into Korean. Dongho sighed, as much as he loved this class, he hated the work he had to do. Dongho translated the line almost perfectly, surprising everyone in the class.

“Now, Dongho, there was one small error in your speech, did anyone catch it?” She pointed out, looking around now. He could tell that the teacher was pleasantly surprised with his skills as well, but had tried to hide it. He smirked to himself, at least he was good at something. When nobody raised their hand, she went on to instruct the class on the difference between the 'L' and the 'R' in English. Dongho still had trouble with that, apparently. As did the rest of the class.

At lunch, Dongho almost cringed as he had to use some of his precious money on the overpriced sweet buns in the machines by the cafeteria. He looked around, seeing Kevin Woo rush into the bathroom, hand over his mouth. Dongho raised his eyebrows, maybe he had gotten a bad slice of the school's infamous 'mystery loaf'. Dongho wouldn't touch that stuff if someone paid him. He shrugged and unwrapped his bread, taking a large bite.

“You know, there is more healthy food in the cafeteria...” A girl, Dongho thought he recognized her from his English class, said to him as he pulled the bun from the bottom of the machine.

“But I like this better.” He covered, even though for as much as he spent on the bun, actual lunch in the cafeteria was more expensive than even that. “What does it matter to you, anyway?” He sneered.

“I-I-I don't know...” The girl stuttered, a blush creeping on her cheeks. She was pretty cute, Dongho had to admit to himself. She had pigtails fastened to the side of her neck with pink ribbons and a cute Hello Kitty bag slung over her shoulder. “I was... I only wanted to talk to you...” She twiddled her thumbs together, looking down at her feet shyly, “because you're so good at E-English, I wanted to know if you could may-maybe tutor me.”

Dongho couldn't hide his scowl, and the girl's eyes widened when she saw this. “No, I don't help anyone with their work. Do it yourself or find someone else.”

“No one else is as good as you, Dongho-ssi... please?” She called to Dongho as he began walking away. Dongho didn't like the fact that people only talked to him when they needed help. There was no way everyone thought he was unapproachable, that was that guy Lee Kiseop's job. He was the tough and scary one, not Dongho. Dongho was cute, but yet they only talked to him when he was needed for something.

How come nobody ever asked Dongho if he needed anything from them? Dongho threw away his trash and walked up to the roof for the rest of his lunch period. He laid on the cold concrete of the roof and rested his head on his hands, staring up at the cloudless sky. Coming up to the roof was always his escape from the day, a chance to just rest. This was his favorite section of the roof simply because no one bothered him on this section. It was small, and right above the horticulture club classroom. And hardly anybody was in that club. It was kind of pointless to have it, really.

He debated momentarily on whether or not he actually wanted to go back to class once the bell had run, and eventually hoisted himself up and went back down from the roof. On his way down the stairs, he saw Xander, one of the biggest playboys in the whole school, flirting with one of the flower girls, twirling her curled black hair around and around his finger. Dongho rolled his eyes, didn't they know that stuff was to be left at home?

Just as he was about to enter his classroom, He saw on of the most popular guys in school, Shin Soohyun, exit the utility closet, looking around frantically, his eyes red. Dongho dismissed it, though the sight sure was strange. He seemed to be seeing a lot of weird things today, or maybe the school has always been strange, he just never cared enough to pay attention to it.

He lounged in his seat, thankful that day was almost half over already, it seemed to have passed by so quickly. Even though he was chewed out by his math teacher for not doing his homework, the day had been good.

As he exited the school and started walking, he wasn't really paying attention, not that he needed to for as many times as he has walked this route before. His middle school had been right beside it, so he had been walking this path since before he went through puberty. Dongho collided with something unexpectedly, and almost kept walking until he heard a shout, “Yah! Babo! Say sorry!” A high pitched voice shouted at him.

Dongho looked down at the rude high schooler who was rubbing her backside as she sat there, “It's you!” The same girl who had asked for his help in English. He offered her his hand, helping her up.

“Yeah...are you sure about helping me with English? I really need help. My father says if I don't get my grade up in that class, he'll take away my phone and ground me. I can't have that!” She pleaded.

“I really can't, I have a lot to do...” Dongho began walking away again. The girl grabbed his arm, pulling him back.

“I'll pay you, please! Just help me!” She implored desperately, stomping her foot. The offer interested Dongho. If he was going to get paid for it... “I'll pay you 10,000 Won a session. I only need an hour a day, please?!”

Dongho gave a little sigh, “Fine.” He growled, though he wasn't happy about it. If he was going to get all that money, why not? This chick must be loaded and desperate if she was willing to pay that much just for English. The girl squealed happily and embraced Dongho tightly, thanking him over and over.

Let me start off by saying that this is NOT a romance story. There will be no pairings. or straight. None. At All.

Unless I change my mind....but that's not likely to happen.

Also, this story is going to make me sad at times...and I have big plans, I just hope I can pull them all off... O.O

One more warning, I didn't proof read this chapter because I just wanted it up, soooo....I hope my English isn't too bad. I mean, I'm American but I'm not perfect at English. I'm not even that GOOD. hahah. >.<

Anyway, I hope you like it. And next is Kevin's part \(^o^)/...which I'm kind of anticipating because...well, it just seems like it would be the easiest to write out of all of these points of views. Also, I apologize in advance if the story gets a little confusing at times, but if it ever does, comment and I'll TRY to clear it up....?

Anyway, enjoy. \(^o^)/