It was an unusually loud day that winter. Christmas was approaching, and all the parents were out on the streets, buying Christmas presents for the spoiled kids. I couldn’t help but laugh as the rich people were slipping in the snow and fell on their butts. It was especially the ladies who fell, walking in their high heels… They should just stay home.

On the other hand, if they weren’t in town, with their stuffed wallets, what were we supposed to do?

               “Ready, Taemin?” Key said, my umma, and smiled at me. I smiled back with a slight smile and gave my umma a nod.

               “I’ll see you at home,” my umma whispered and began to run for cover.

               I was eighteen years old, but because of my innocent, young face, I nearly looked like a kid, and my umma and appa taught me how to use my cute, innocent face.

               “A-pa~!” I cried with a loud voice when I sat by the roadside with some “blood” running down my leg. The fake tears began to run down my cheeks, and an elderly couple came walking by, and stopped by my side.

               “Little boy! What happened?” the elderly lady asked, sounding a bit concerned. It worked every time. I was a perfect actor.

               “I felt in the snow!” I lied with a sad look and the fake tears. The lady and her husband stood in a while and tried to help me to stand up again. I pretended that my leg was hurt, and limped a little, though the fake blood didn’t make me feel anything at all.

               “Thank you, ahjumma!” I said and smiled sweetly. The elderly lady’s heart melted at my smile.

               “Take care now, right?” she said. Her husband was completely passive in this conversation. It mostly was just the women who fell for my cute and innocent act.

               “Yes ahjumma,” I said and immediately went into the crowd of people, with a smirk on my lips. I kept limping my way to an alley, where I stopped to look at the wallet I stole from the old lady.

               “Omo… That’s a lot of money,” I mumbled, a little surprised by the many won that was in the wallet. I never really felt guilty from stealing from other people. They had more money than they needed, and we were poor. So it should be fair, right?

               “It’s gonna be a great Christmas this year,” I hummed happily and put the wallet in my pocket.

               “Appa and umma are gonna be so proud of me,” I kept humming all the way home.

               A home was a home, but our home was so ruined. There was no one who owned the house, and it was supposed to be demolished in the spring, so we were forced to find a new house where we could settle down. There was no heat in winter either, so we had to sit with hundreds of blankets, which had a lot of holes. I didn’t have a winter jacket either, so I was wearing the same clothing every day.

               “Umma! Appa!” I yelled as I got home. My umma immediately came running and hugged me tightly in his arms.

               “It’s good that you came home safely, Minnie! What did you get today?” he asked. I stuck my hands in my pockets and pulled all the stuff out. I got wallets, jewelry, watches, cell phones, everything.

               “Something tells me it’s gonna be a good Christmas this year!” Key hummed happily. I smiled and nodded. I hoped that it would be Christmas this year. I had never celebrated Christmas, not since I was a little kid.

               Those days, when the Christmas tree was bigger than it actually was. Back when my parents loved me, before it all went wrong, and my father did those things to me. Before my whole life turned upside down.

               However. I did not know, that very soon, my life would take yet another twist. Because fate had me in its claws…