“Make sure you eat a full lunch, all right?”

Im Jae Bum rolled his eyes, “Mum, I’m eighteen years old. I know what to do, it’s not like it’s my first day of preschool!”

Mrs Im ruffled her son’s hair, “All right then, hurry to school, don’t be late!”

Jae Bum swung onto his bike and began to cycle. He breathed out, enjoying the feel of the air against his face.

All of a sudden, a shape darted out in front of him. Jae Bum gave a yell of shock; he twisted his bike to the side and fell, hitting his leg hard. He looked up, alarmed, at what he had nearly hit.

It was a tall girl, with lustrous locks of long hair and an angelic face. She glared at him, “Watch where you’re going, !” and shot off like a bullet.

Jae Bum stared after the girl and muttered, “What a rude person…” Getting to his feet, he balanced his bike and began to ride again.

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

Krystal Jung threw the door open, announcing, “I’m home!”

Her older sister Jessica glanced up at her, “Where did you go so early in the morning?”

Krystal tossed a fat wallet onto the table. It was stuffed full of notes, looking like a wallet’s version of a pregnant woman. Jessica’s brows drew together sharply, “I thought I told you not to do this anymore.”

Krystal ignored her sister.

“Stealing is too dangerous for us now, Krystal! You know that, just last week that any thief found will be sentenced to twenty of the cane! No matter how good you are, you can’t expect yourself to be able to escape every time!”

“What other choice do we have?” Krystal snapped, “This is the way we live, sis, the only way we can survive, and you know that!”

Jessica looked away. After a moment, Krystal spoke again, her tone softer, “We only have each other now. And I won’t let us starve. Not again.”

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

“Young Lady, you know your father is doing this for your own good.”

Jiyeon glared at her nurse, “Why? Why does he have to decide for me who’s going to marry me? I want to marry someone I love, someone I want to spend the rest of my life with. I’m not going to marry someone I don’t even know!”

The nurse made a noise in , “Then, Lady, you had better hope you father engages you to Mr Kim.”

Jiyeon sighed in exasperation, “No, for god’s sake! Just because Myungsoo’s my friend doesn’t mean I love him! I don’t want to marry him, he’s not the man I love!”

“He’s a good match! Mr Kim is handsome, rich and intelligent. Not to mention he’s your best friend, he knows you well and he dotes on you! You can’t do much better than that.” The nurse protested, trying to convince Jiyeon. But the girl just rolled her eyes, throwing herself back into her chair.

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

Mr Kim signed his papers quickly, only glancing briefly through them as he did so. There was a sharp rap on the door, and his assistant entered, “Mr Kim? The man you requested for is here.”

Mr Kim stopped abruptly. He set the pen down and twined his fingers together, waiting.

The man took his seat before Mr Kim. He was unusually tall, with dark, cropped hair and odd, amber eyes.

Mr Kim took a file out from his cabinet and put it in front of him, “You know what to do.”

The man took the file, “Are you sure about this, Mr Kim?”

“I will not let anyone ruin things for me at this point. I have already transferred half the money to your account. The other half – after you’ve completed the job.” Mr Kim answered.

The man gave a nod, “That’s good enough for me.” He rose, “Good day, Mr Kim.”

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

Jae Bum was surprised to see his father’s car in the garage. His father almost never came home so early from work. As he headed up the steps to the front door he paused, almost instinctively. He listened.

Voices from within the house. He didn’t recognise either of them.

Jae Bum hesitated for a moment. Then he opened the door.

An arm wrapped around his head, dragging him into the house. He struggled, his arms flailing wildly. His arm hit something; the man gave a muffled curse and let go of Jae Bum. The teenager slid to the ground and kicked out furiously, nailing his assailant in the leg and causing him to fall.

Another man burst into the living room, launching himself at Jae Bum. But he was a beat too late as Jae Bum roared, “Burglar! There’s a burglar!”

Before he could continue, the assailant socked him in the jaw, throwing him back. He hit the wall with a heavy thump. His head spun, but he still managed to find the strength to straighten and throw himself into his opponent. With what sounded like a war cry, Jae Bum punched the opponent twice in the stomach.

“Freeze.”

Jae Bum stiffened. Slowly, he looked up.

A man stood before him, his eyes hidden behind dark sunglasses. A gun was pointed at Jae Bum’s face. Jae Bum wiped the blood dripping from the corner of his mouth, “Who are you and where are my parents.”

There was a pause. Then the man’s head turned to the right slightly. Jae Bum followed his gaze, and his eyes widened in shock.

Two bodies, limp on the carpet, their eyes staring sightlessly upwards.

A whimper escaped Jae Bum’s lips as he stared at the bodies of his parents.

The gun pressed against his head. Jae Bum looked at the murderer defiantly and he hissed, “You bastard. I’m going to kill you.”

The corner of the man’s mouth turned upwards into a smirk, and he replied, “You can haunt me when you’re dead.”

With a yell Jae Bum threw himself into the man, pushing his arm away. The bullet fired harmlessly into the wall, and that was more than enough for Jae Bum. Mustering all the strength he had left in him, he punched the murderer so hard that his sunglasses fell off. The man looked up at Jae Bum, hatred burning in his amber eyes.

There was the sound of a wailing siren, and the other two assailants looked up in shock, “The police!”

The two assailants dragged Jae Bum off roughly. As the amber-eyed man reached for his gun, his accomplices grabbed him, “There’s no time, let’s go!”

The man hesitated, his amber eyes narrowing as he stared at Jae Bum. Then he turned and fled.

Jae Bum lay motionless on the ground for moments. He began to crawl towards the bodies of his parents, and buried his face into the bloody shoulder of his father.

As the police burst into the house, Jae Bum began to cry.

------------------------------------------------

Hi there! Here's the prologue, where we get a short snatch of all the main characters. For the record, Mr Kim is not Kim Myungsoo. Yes, I know Myungsoo hasn't appeared yet, but he'll also be appearing soon. Poor JB's parents have been murdered, and soon he'll start a life on the streets and his search for revenge...

I also decided to make a poll with the characters, beause it became a little too confusing in the comments; the poll should be up in about half an hour. Please vote, and remember to coment and subscribe!

All right people, here's the poll! For the comments, the votes stand at: 4 votes for myungyeon, 1 vote for JJ couple, 1 vote for Myungstal and 1 vote for Jstal. Here's the poll for you guys: