Taehyung woke up again bathed in sweat. He was awakened by the same dream. Over and over a person approached him and claimed to be his father, but by no means he looked like Yoochun. He whispered strange words to the little boy, but they made no sense for Taehyung. The man told him that his very mother was waiting for him. And that also an older brother would like to see him again. Taehyung tried to make an understanding out of it, but he could not put together a meaningful explanation. He did not know better. The more he brooded over it, the more he became confused about the dream.

Everything still hurt him. Every single pain could still be felt strongly, but the nausea was finally over. He sat up with slow movements and pushed the sweaty blanket off. He thought continuously about the dream. Who was this man, who had appeared again and again and woke him up repeatedly? It was not quite a nightmare, but it was simply scary for the little boy, as he could not recall the face of this man at all. He did not even know he had a mother. Who was she? He had never seen her before. And neither did he have a brother, at least he never came across one. Should he dare to go ask Yoochun about it? No, it was too dangerous. Taehyung was afraid of him. He did not want to suffer such a punishment again. The boy was now aware that Yoochun was using him for his evil deeds. He was a bad person and dangerous at the same time. Very dangerous. Which father would beat his child to near death anyway? Well, sadly Taehyung did not know, that Yoochun was not his real father.

He got up, changed into some other ripped clothes, noticed the golden necklace, and looked at it in confusion. Why would he have this on? Did Yoochun put the necklace on him? Maybe he liked the little boy after all. Oh boy if Taehyung only knew… He the pendant with his thumb, but he did not notice that it could be opened.

Yoochun had unlocked the door a few minutes ago as a sign for the little boy to leave. Today he was allowed to leave later. It was not in the earliest morning; the sun was up already at the zenith. After he had beaten the little boy with the iron chain, he let him rest longer. Well, he needed strength to go out steal again.
Taehyung crept anxiously by the sofa that was in the center of the living room. Yoochun lay on it and read a letter. Strangely, the man was wearing pitch-black clothes. He even looked more threatening now.

“I wish you more success today. And do not forget, you will not escape me!”, he warned the already scared little boy.

Taehyung nodded with a shivering statue and hurried out the door. He nearly tripped over his own feet because of the nervousness and anxiety he felt. Of course, he would not dare anymore. He did not thirst for death yet.

He went back to the bazaar, on the muddy pathway that he had memorized the day before. At least there was potential customers and salesmen, which would automatically lead him to get to valuable properties. He wandered from booth to booth, walked slowly and carefully watched the people around him. He was nervous and scared a little bit, but he had to do it. He did not want to get punished again. Even if it felt wrong, he had no other choice.
This time there were a lot more people. A crowd had gathered and admired a talented little girl around the same age as him. She danced very well with a fan in her right hand. Her movements were soft and strong at the same time. She was like a bird gliding above a flowing river. People were amazed by her performance. This was the chance Taehyung could deliver the best pickpocket, if only the pain on his body did not prevent him from moving faster. His conscience also plagued him. Stealing from others just was not right. But the fear of repeating yesterday’s scenario was just way too big. The boy did not want to go through all the beating once again.

Before he got to work, Taehyung also marveled at the talented girl. Her dark brown hair shimmered in the sunlight and her eyes flashed in ice-blue colors. Her pupils were circled with a golden star-like shape. She was not an ordinary girl. She had to be at his age, yet she was way more talented than he could ever imagine. Well, he had no intention of getting distracted by her. He had to hurry if he wanted to sleep safe tonight.

Taehyung crept up to a young petite woman and took a wallet out of her bag. She seemed like a traveler and was very excited by the dancing girl. Immediately the little boy rushed into a corner. His heart pounded strongly, and he felt adrenalin taking over his whole body. Taehyung did not open the wallet because he was ashamed for his act. It was wrong. What was he doing? The poor woman... Anyway, he could not escape his misery by standing by. He only did what Yoochun had ordered him to do. After recovering from the adrenaline rush, he silently went for the wallet of a young man. As soon as he grabbed the pocket, the young man noticed his little hand and immediately snapped Taehyung’s wrist without even turning around. The little boy could not move an inch. He did not try to escape as the shock of being caught was too dominant.

“You little thief. Do you want me to spank you? Do you want me to cut off your hands?”, the man warned him with a calm voice.

He did not turn around to look at the little boy, he just stood there watching the little girl with the little boy’s wrist in his firm grip. Taehyung's heart pounded so fast, hard, and loud against his chest, that he believed that the young man could hear or feel it.

“Please…! Let me go! Please ...!”, Taehyung begged, “I will never do it again, I promise!”

The latter, of course, was a blatant lie. He had to steal. His eyes filled with tears of fear. The young man loosened his grip and pulled Taehyung aside. They left the cheering crowd behind.

“What is your name? Where are your supervisors? Or are you a street-boy?”, the young man asked him, still with a calm voice.

He had not shouted at all yet. Would it not be accurate for him to scold the little boy? This was not normal, was it? Taehyung was still cautious, but he relaxed a little. After a while he noticed that the man was an officer guarding the bazaar. He had to be around twenty-five years old. He carried the badge of the phoenix on the chest, which was the official crest for the guards of the kingdom. Taehyung knew about it, even though he never heard of it or saw it anywhere before. Yoochun made sure to put everything important into Taehyung’s rewritten memories.

The boy had tried to steal from an officer. How stupid of him.

“I do not have...”, he was about to lie, but then he suddenly told the guard the whole truth, “My name is V and I live with my father. His name is Yoochun. Park Yoochun.”

The young officer did not intend to hear more talking of the boy, but when he heard Yoochun’s name he let go of Taehyung and stepped back. He eyed the boy from top to bottom. Thoroughly. He seemed to be a little frightened or worried about Taehyung’s introduction. The little boy could not believe it, even the guards of the kingdom seemed to be afraid of his horrible father.

“Park Yoochun?”, he asked incredulously and fake-laughed.

Taehyung looked at him questioningly. What was the funny part?

“And who are you, sir?”, the little boy asked curiously.

“Can you take me to him? He is an old friend of mine. We have not seen each other for a long time.”, the young officer asked instead of answering his questions.

Taehyung lost all hope. He had given the officer exact data so that by any chance he could tell him about the beating and would be helped. But instead, he ran right into Yoochun’s friend. What were the odds? Now he could never tell on his father. Taehyung would never be rescued. How could he lead the officer home? He had not stolen anything yet. He could not retur