1999

The boy’s eyes scanned the streets eagerly; the bright lights flashing and shining like stars, the ruckus and noise of the passers-by and shopowners, the bustling crowd pushing and shoving through the streets.

His father led him through the streets, the boy’s arm tightly grasped in his father’s wide hand. The boy noticed something, a collection of old coins on display, the coins gleaming in the dull, artificial light of the shop. He tugged on his father’s arm, pointing at the coins.

His father followed the boy’s gaze; a small smile spread across his lips. Kneeling down, his father lifted the boy into the air with his strong arms as he carried the boy to the display, “Do you like it? Father can buy it for you.”

The boy nodded, reaching out to touch the coins. His father set him down gently, taking out his wallet as he called for the shopowner.

The boy glanced about, glad at having been released by his father for the first time. He peered around, standing on tiptoes. Slowly he began to walk on, his eyes lighting up now and then as he saw all the interesting sights and shops. As he walked by, he could hear the murmurs, sense the gazes on him and the fingers pointing towards him. He heard a soft, distinct whisper.

“…those rich folks should scram back to their own places…”

"...snobbish people turning their noses up at us..."

His brows furrowed, not quite understanding what the whisper meant, or why all these people were staring at him.

All of a sudden, he caught sight of something surprising and new, something that he’d never seen before.

It was a traditional-looking house, lit with red lamps and with red cloths hanging all over. There were woman hanging on men’s arms, men escorting women around, most of them heading into the house. A couple of men and women staggered out, clearly drunk, barely able to keep on their feet.

“…the…Sakura…brothel…?” The boy tilted his head as he read the huge signboard hanging outside the house, frowning.

A hand landed heavily on his shoulder; the boy spun around, his expression frightened. Then he relaxed, “Daddy!”

His father knelt down beside him, his expression stern, “I thought I told you not to run around on your own, Myungsoo! What if someone had tried to kidnap you! Our family is a prominent one, you must be very careful!”

Myungsoo frowned. He pointed at the house behind him, “What is a brothel?”

His father glanced up at the signboard, and his face darkened, his brows drawing together. Wordlessly he stood up, roughly grabbing his son’s arm and pulling him away. The boy was confused, his eyes flickering back to the red-lit house that had sudden begun to look ominous thanks to his father’s odd behavior.

When they were a distance away from the “brothel”, his father knelt down beside Myungsoo again, his expression grave, “That place is a very, very bad place, full of sinful people, and you must never go near there. Understood?”

He waited until the young boy had given him a nod. Then he smiled, holding out the collection of coins for the boy, “Here you go.” 

Myungsoo’s toothy smile widened, and he grabbed the coins, “Thank you, daddy!”

“Now let’s go home.” He took his son by the arm again, pulling him along.

But even his father’s stern words could not stop the boy’s fascination with that “forbidden place”. In spite of himself, the young Myungsoo turned back continuously, his eyes fixed upon that looming “brothel” until it was out of sight.

2000

She wandered the streets aimlessly, bored, the penny in her pocket growing heavier by the minute.

Half an hour. Mother had given her half an hour. If she wasn’t back by then, the penny would be taken away. She had to find something worth buying, a bun, maybe, or biscuits.

As she browsed through the shops, her attention was suddenly grabbed by a traditional-looking house looming ahead of her. It was a large estate, lit with bright red lights, with women and men lurking around. Many of them were skimpily dressed, but there were others too, rich men and women from the looks of their clothings, more than a handful of them drunk.

She snorted, used to the sight. From the moment she had been allowed out into the streets, she had known that place, a brothel, a place of sin and filth which no decent person would go near. No matter how poor she was, she wouldn’t go within a five-mile radius of that place.

“Yah, Park Jiyeon!”

Jiyeon turned around, raising an eyebrow at the familiar voice. It was the baker, holding out two buns for the girl. He pushed them towards her, “Here, for you and your mother.”

Jiyeon’s smile widened; she took the buns gratefully, holding her penny out for the baker. The baker patted her on the head, “No need, kiddo. Save the money for something else. The buns are for free.”

Jiyeon nodded, “Thank you, sir.”

The baker clapped her on the shoulder, “Go on, then!”

Jiyeon scampered off, heading back home. She completely ignored the brothel – it was nothing new, after all. Just another part of life.

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

2012

There was a collective shout as the bell rang, and like a huge flood the students charged out of the classrooms, heading straight for the canteen. There were shrieks and calls, yells and giggles, the students shoving and pushing their way to the canteen.

Myungsoo eyed them coldly, his face unchanging. A bunch of brutes, he thought, but of course he was not foolish enough to say it out loud. Quietly he made his way past them, keeping his head down as he made his way to the general office.

The general office was quiet, a change from the bustling school outside, and one that Myungsoo was grateful for.

The woman at the counter was elderly, but her face was kind and welcoming as she stood up, “New student?”

Myungsoo handed her his papers silently. She studied them for a moment, then looked up at him, “Quite the smart kid, aren’t you, with all the A’s.” She smiled, friendly, but the smile dissipated as she read the cold detachment in Myungsoo’s eyes. Instead she nodded, “Very well. Hold on while I get your timetable.”

Myungsoo sat down on the white sofa opposite the counter, locking his fingers together as he waited. His eyes scanned the quiet, empty general office. It was a plain, boring room, painted completely in white, with only the staff area, the counter, the sofa and a whole shelf full of medals and prizes.

The elderly woman emerged from a room, holding his timetable. Myungsoo stood up, walking forward to the table again as the elderly lady pushed the timetable toward him.

A door further in the staff area swung with unnecessary force, hitting the wall with a loud thud. A pretty, brown haired girl carrying a sling bag stormed out, her expression grumpy. Myungsoo read the name on the door, "The principal's office?" 

“So you have Calculus third period, and oh! Jiyeon-sshi, can you bring this new boy to his locker? It’s next to yours.” The elderly lady called out to the grumpy girl.

The girl stopped abruptly, rolling her eyes at being interrupted. She turned around, her eyes falling on Myungsoo. Then she paused, startled by the sight of him. Myungsoo raised an eyebrow, but said nothing.

Jiyeon regained her composure, beckoning to Myungsoo, “Come on, then. Hurry up, I don’t want to miss lunch.”

Wordlessly Myungsoo took his timetable, following Jiyeon as she led the way.

“Anyway, that’s the canteen, where everyone’s yelling like a bunch of barbarians, and this here is your locker. Your third period is Calculus, same as mine, and the classroom is down there.” She pointed further down, “You should hurry up, if you don’t want to miss lunch. Oh, and I’m Park Jiyeon.” She held her hand out.

“…Kim Myungsoo.” He turned to the locker to open it, ignoring her hand. She coughed, shifting uncomfortably, “Well then, I’ll see you during class later on.”

Myungsoo did not say a word, but as she left, he turned slightly, staring after her. Then he turned back to his locker, quickly pushing his books in, arranging them in an orderly fashion.

It took him nearly ten minutes to finish arranging his books and putting in the necessary items in his bag. By the time he was done, the bell was already ringing, signaling the end of lunch.

Myungsoo slung his bag over his shoulder, ready to head to class. He kept his head down as the students made their way to their respective classes, a sea of people and noise.

Unfortunately, visibility is poor when one walks with his head down, and within five steps Myungsoo had crashed into someone. He staggered back, his head jerking up automatically.

The other person was tall and buff, clearly one of those athletic jocks. He had shoulder-length black hair, dark but intelligent eyes and a huge but unfriendly grin. He bounded forward, grabbing Myungsoo by the collar, “Don’t you have eyes?!” Then he paused, tilting his head to one side as he studied Myungsoo.

Myungsoo pulled back roughly, “Leave me alone.”

A howl of laughter erupted from the jock, “You’re Myungsoo! Kim Myungsoo! You’re from that school Infinite High! You’re one of those snobbish rich kids who think you’re better than everyone else, aren’t you?” His voice lowered to a menacing growl, “We don’t like your kind here, Kim Myungsoo. So you jolly well get out of our way. You hear me?”

Myungsoo tried to push past the boy, but he was shoved, hard, nearly landing on the ground. His bag hit the ground with a thud, the contents spilling out.

“Lee Joon! Leave the guy alone!” A familiar voice shouted. Jiyeon rushed up, putting a hand against Joon’s chest as she held him back, “Leave him alone before I report this to the principal.”

Joon sneered, “Always the protective mother hen.” He beckoned to his fellow jocks, leading the way to their class.

Myungsoo was picking up his things, stuffing them back into his bag. Jiyeon knelt down beside him to help, “Are you all right?”

“Fine.” Myungsoo’s voice was controlled, but his face was just as cold as before. He shoved everything into his bag and stood up to leave.

“I’m sorry about what happened to your family. Your father…” Jiyeon’s voice trailed off as sympathy filled her eyes. Myungsoo looked up, and she noted the controlled fury in his ice-cold eyes. She bit her lip, not daring to say a word.

Wordlessly, Myungsoo turned away from Jiyeon, leaving for class.

"Yah, Jiyeon!" 

Jiyeon spun around, "Hey, Hyomin, Eunjung!" 

Hyomin folded her arms, jerking her head in Myungsoo's direction, "Who's the hottie?" 

"Kim Myungsoo. A new kid." Jiyeon replied, her eyes flickering to where Myungsoo had disappeared, "I should go, or I'll be late for class." 

"Huh, since when did you even care about class? Anyway, there's a party at the bar tonight, so you jolly well get your there by eight. The whole gang will be there." Eunjung clapped Jiyeon on the shoulder, "And remember to bring the booze." 

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

As Jiyeon entered the classroom, she noticed that Myungsoo had taken a seat right at the back of class, his head down and his eyes fixed on his table.

“Miss Park, I’m so glad you’ve deigned to join us for this class. Now, if you would please take a seat instead of distracting the whole class…” The teacher pointed at Jiyeon’s seat, and the brown-haired girl meekly headed to her seat, which, conveniently, was right in front of Myungsoo’s.

They finished Calculus, then Language Arts, then Chemistry. Throughout all three lessons, Jiyeon did not hear Myungsoo say a single word. All she heard from behind was the scratching of his pen and the occasional flip of paper.

As Chemistry ended, however, she heard the sound of books being thrown into a bag. She turned around, only to see Myungsoo standing up. She raised an eye, “Playing truant on the first day of school?”

Myungsoo paused, his gaze moving towards her, “Why are you such a busybody?” He asked brusquely.

“…I’m just worried about you.”

Myungsoo’s face hardened, “Don’t bother.” He slung his bag over his shoulder, “And don’t try to follow me, either. You’ll just regret it.”

He strode right out of the classroom, without a backward glance.

Jiyeon hesitated. Unlike what Myungsoo had said, she was not a busybody, and she didn’t have any reason to follow him. Except…

There was something about him, something about the remoteness in his eyes, the icy coldness of his manner that attracted and fascinated her. She wanted to figure him out, understand him and the strange distance of his character.

But before she could decide whether or not to follow him, the next teacher had entered the classroom, and she had no choice but to sit down again for the next lesson.

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

Myungsoo trudged through the streets, ignoring the murmurs and gazes of all the passers-by. He was used to being stared at, even more so after his family’s bankruptcy. His face did not change, as he walked to his destination.

As he stood before his destination, his stoic face showed, for the first time, a vague bitterness, even guilt. He gazed upwards, at that signboard he had first seen so many years ago.

“very bad place…sinful people…never go near…”

Myungsoo closed his eyes. And he entered. 

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And here's the first chapter!

This chapter is more of a setting up, to give the readers a bit of background and show the characters' personalities. 

Jiyeon is the "poor girl" - she's more like a street kid and is quite rebellious, which can be seen from how she often plays truant (this is reflected from her being in the principal's office, and the teacher's words - she played truant and was getting scolded by the principal). Myungsoo on the other hand, is a smart kid with good grades, and as most of us know, these kids are usually the good kids too - so why is he playing truant? Can anyone guess where he went after playing truant? It should be quite obvious. Myungsoo is also quiet, to the point of seeming meek - when he gets shoved around by Joon he doesn't say a word, but the truth is that he's not as meek as he appears, he's just putting on a front to get out of trouble and stay under the radar. 

The difference between Jiyeon and Myungsoo is also quite distinct. It's first high-lighted in their childhood portions - both are seven, and yet Myungsoo is completely unfamiliar with the outside world, whereas Jiyeon thrives on it. This leads to their teenage/adult characters, in which Jiyeon has become a socialite - she's got a lot of friends, even a gang, while Myungsoo is quieter, less friendly, less confident of himself. 

(Infinite appears in the next chapter, in case any of you are wondering.)

And yeah, Joon is quite a jerk. That's why he's the antagonist. 

Please remember to comment and subscribe! Next chapter should be up within a week.