"Hi."

The friendly voice startled the crying boy in the shade. He looked up, the tears in his eyes running down his face. His black hair was a tangled mess, a mop atop his head. Dirt and dust covered every inch of him, streaks of mud across his face and grass stains decorating his limbs. Even underneath this all, the flat red mark on the side of his cheek could not be hidden. The purple and green bruises still peaked through.

The little boy saw a little girl staring back at him. His sobs paused, the surprise of seeing her preventing him from breathing properly. For a second, he thought he was seeing an angel.

The pretty girl had shoulder length black hair, her blunt bangs reaching her eyebrows. She wore a simple lace dress that went to her knees, the fabric a brilliant white in the sun where the shadows didn't reach her. Her pale, milky skin only added to her innocence. She looked like she was glowing. Her curious round eyes stared back at the boy.

"Hi," the girl greeted again, her small lips curving up into a smile.

While the girl was completely at ease, the boy's eyes searched around anxiously to find the culprits responsible for this deceit. Was this a test they put against him? There was no other explanation.

"Can you talk?"

The boy wiped at his tears furiously with the heel of his hands. He should answer the girl, if this was indeed a test, but words escaped him.

"Did the other kids bully you again?"

The girl pouted and perhaps she should have looked sadder. But she was still in the sun and the glow only made her prettier.

"W-Why are you t-talking to me?" the boy asked, his voice barely a whisper. He shrunk more into himself, hidden under the shadows.

"Why not?"

The girl's eyes curved into a semi circle, a crescent moon, as she giggled. The sound was foreign to the boy.

"Because m-my d-dad's-"

"-part of the gang?"

She finished his sentence for him so nonchalantly the boy lost his words again. She brought her small hands behind her, giving him another giggle.

"I don't know why everyone's being so uptight. He couldn't be that bad."

The boy felt the stinging of his cheek where the red mark was located; later on, it would become a bruise. It wasn't the only bruise he would have thus far. And his classmates weren't the only ones who beat him day to day.

"He's a monster," the boy growled with hate, his stutter disappearing for a moment.

"But that doesn't mean you are," the girl said, walking closer to him. The boy flinched visibly as she knelt in front of him. She was no longer in the sun and her beautifully white dress was stained with the same dirt and mud that covered the boy. The girl wrapped her soft, delicate hands around his face. The boy felt strange at the contact, the first time he remembered being dealt with such kindness. "Besides, I think you're cute."

A switched in the boy as he heard her crystal giggle again, a bright smile on her face.

Later, the boy would learn that the girl's name was Song Ji Eun, and would come to love the way she said his: Bang Yong Guk.