“I’m no Cinderella, I’m just an ordinary boy, neither sweet nor generous.

 

I’m no Cinderella, there’s no fairy godmother to turn my life around and I don’t run at the final of midnight.

 

I’m no Cinderella, I don’t wear slippers, not to mention glass slippers. I don’t want to linger on something that just might lead me to better times.

 

But…

 

Just like Cinderella

 

I want to live well and be able to forgive everyone who ever did me wrong…

 

to have my very own happy ending.”

 

 

-   Jung Daehyun

 

~*~

 

If you asked the 20 year old Jung Daehyun what he thought of his life so far, you wouldn’t get a straight answer out of him. Not because he was rude enough to ignore you, but it was simply because he had no idea what he thought of his life...

 

Twenty, the age of adulthood was an intricate period. Some people would call you old at the age of 20, but at the same time there were also people who envied you for being just 20. When you have grown this big, saying things like ‘I don’t know’ was simply not enough anymore. You are supposed to be wise and experienced enough, to be able to utter speeches that sufficed to answer the questions of life.

 

Daehyun could not claim that he hated his life, not even if things too often seemed to go astray; because he knew that life rarely turned out as you wanted it to be. Who didn’t want to be rich and who didn’t want to live well? Who didn’t dream of becoming the president or a doctor or maybe an astronaut? Who didn’t start to plan their whole life at the mere age of ten, only to find themselves ten years later walking on a completely different path? ‘Why?’ that’s all that one can ask, and keep on asking until the day they die.

 

Therefore, Daehyun never once thought that he hated his life, but he did not particularly like it either.

 

Jung Daehyun would like to start his tale with ’Once upon a time...’ just like any other story, real or unreal. After all, the words had a certain pretty clang to it, a ringing sound filled with mystery and the phrase would surely fulfill its purpose of catching willing listeners. But he was afraid that his life would then sound too…’beautified’. He was afraid that it would turn into a rosy fairytale associated with princes and princesses living in castles between mighty forests, when in truth his life held nothing of those.

 

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So where should he start?

 

Maybe he should start with a Monday, it is the start of the week after all. However, not just any Monday but Monday the 28^th of June 1993, the day he was born or at least that was what the papers said. Daehyun thought of himself as an ordinary boy; however, there was that one time in elementary school when they were all supposed to talk about their parents…

 

Well, he felt different then…because he didn’t have anyone to talk about…

 

The face of the person who gave birth to him was only a blurry picture in his mind, a barely adequate image he had created inspired by his own features. All he knew or all he was told was that his mother had been 17 when she gave birth to him. His father was a musician who travelled from place to place, desperately searching for his ‘it’ moment. Then there was that typical; ‘they met and they fell in love’ story, like a scene of two people staring at each other under a cherry blossom tree, shot with a 360° camera. Pretty isn’t it? But a moment will always be just a moment, something not meant to last forever. Maybe they had been too young and naïve or maybe his father never really loved his mother because he soon after left whatever they shared to resume to his ‘exciting’ lifestyle. Consequently, a girl was left wiping away her tears in between the splinters of her broken heart.

 

And Daehyun?

 

Daehyun was not too long after he was born left in his aunt’s care. His aunt and her family lived in a small cozy house nothing alike a white castle, and it was surrounded by great blocks of concrete that made out Busan instead of mighty trees that had lived for centuries.

 

Three weeks before he turned 6 was the day his cousin was born. It was a boy, an oddly looking and flaming red boy; Daehyun thought the first day he saw the tiny creature in the hospital. He had heard countless of times that babies were cute and pretty, therefore, he was dumbfounded at why his cousin looked so…well, ugly. However, what surprised him the most was what he saw from where he stood by the door; in that particular moment he learnt that his aunt and uncle were capable of having such a mild look in their eyes. A look filled with adoration.

 

He couldn’t help but wonder why no one ever looked at him like that…

 

Daehyun often asked about his parents, always had the desire to know more about the people that helped him to life. But the reply was almost always the same: ‘They abandoned you, so stop asking.’

 

‘I know…I know they did.’

 

But he couldn’t help it.

 

When Daehyun turned 8, he was starting to grasp the concept of reading people’s expressions and could figure out that his aunt never really liked his mother…nor him, for that matter. His aunt and uncle provided him with everything he needed, but they were also keen on reminding him that he was not one of theirs. That if they wanted to, they could have him out of the door in a matter of seconds. “We don’t owe you anything,” his aunt often said. Always with the right intonation for him to catch on and see the real message she was trying to convey: ‘it is you who owe us’.

 

His cousin grew bigger and cuter for each day and as a result Daehyun was shoved even further to the side. To make place for the perfect family of three, Daehyun was more or less forced to live in the basement. It was cold and dark. Sometimes, he would sit on his mattress and hug his knees to his chest for long hours; he would just sit there and try to shield himself from the cold humid air while he stared into nothingness. Though, the part he hated most was that there was no way he could deny it any longer…it became too apparent that he had no one but himself…

 

That he was lonely.

 

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There is a saying that goes: ‘the one that waits for something good, never waits for too long…’

 

So Daehyun waited, he obediently waited for the better times to come, for the day people would stop pushing him away. From time to time, he had to remind himself that these people were his family, his only family, sure they were cold towards him…but at least they hadn’t abandoned him yet. However, after about 19 years of waiting he gradually grew tired of it.

 

Some things where just not meant to happen.

 

So the phrase that told people that they would someday be rewarded for their patience, Daehyun concluded was nothing but a line of utter nonsense.

 

The 19 year old Daehyun had stood alone at his graduation ceremony. It was a small school with barely enough students to exist, but it had been the only school his aunt had agreed to send him to. Daehyun was never known to be the social kid, though he did get on fairly well with his fellow classmates, but since the school was so unfavorable in comparison to others students have no choice but to work twice as hard as students from other high schools. So to get along with everyone pretty much meant the same thing as not knowing anyone. He smiled to himself and his chest swelled with pride over the thought that he had managed to pull through 12 years behind a school desk. The certificate in his hand might not show any excellent marks and it certainly did not reflect what he was truly capable of. But it was fine; at least he had made it through.

 

After graduation, things just seem to get worse. His home, yes, Daehyun was determined to call it his home, grew colder as the days went by. If his aunt was ‘displeased’ with having to take care of him before, then he wouldn’t know what to call it now…

 

Hate, maybe?

 

His aunt was leaning against the doorframe with arms crossed over her chest, inspecting him as he scrubbed the kitchen floor.

 

“When you are done here, make sure that you clean the living room,” her tone was cold, as chilly as the Scandinavian winters. Not that Daehyun had experienced one, but he was sure the difference would be marginal. “And do it properly this time. The laundry has to be done before 6 pm, last time you did it later didn’t you? If the bill for electricity is higher this month, I will have you pay it.” The young boy tried to ignore his guardian and scrubbed the floor in a more frantic pace. “Do I have to tell you to do everything? Don’t you learn anything in school?”

 

Daehyun stopped scrubbing for a millisecond to throw a quick glance at his aunt. “School is about academics, not housework,” he muttered.

 

Her eyes instantly flared up, “Don’t you dare talk back to me. You should be grateful that we took you into our home. You could be starving on the street for all I care.”

 

‘Of course…of course you wouldn’t care.’

 

Daehyun swallowed the words he wanted to say thickly down his throat and went back to work.

 

“Why are you still here?” she asked as her eyes narrowed at him.

 

His looked up at the question. What did she mean by ‘why’? Wasn’t it obvious? He was still there because he had nowhere else to go.

 

“You are of legal age now, you can leave and do whatever you want,” she continued and scoffed, “or are you perhaps hoping that she will come back?”

 

Daehyun bit down on his bottom lip. Hard. Until he could taste blood in his mouth.

 

The woman by the door smirked and carried on in a merciless manner: “Your mother won’t come back. She left you here because she never wanted you. The only reason she had you was because she thought it would keep your father by her side. But he left anyway.”

 

Sometimes, he wondered why his aunt had taken him in. Why she even bothered when it was clear that she didn’t want to have him there, none of them did.

 

He did ask her that once and she had simply said: “Because I could.”

 

The reply confused Daehyun immensely, but then he figured that humans were complex beings. Maybe she had a ‘thing’, that meant she couldn’t just leave something unfinished. In this case, Daehyun would be ‘something’, well that would be logical; because now that he was legal she would see her task as done and thought that it was time for him to leave.

 

And maybe…maybe he should…

 

Daehyun wasn’t a fool; he knew full well that his mother would never come back. He could even bet his life on that she had by now formed a small family and lived in some friendly area, completely forgotten about him. Jung Daehyun was sure that he was just one mistake of many in the part of her life where things hit rock bottom. She would eventually become a wise woman and long for a family of her own. Which she probably had. And unfortunately, he was and never will be included in that. After all, no one wants to be reminded of their mistakes.

 

He stayed not because of his mother, nor because of his father. But because he thought that even though his aunt didn’t take the greatest care of him, somewhere in a shallow and dark corner of her heart and for some twisted reason she must have wanted him there. He did the chores, he did the laundry, the dishes, the cooking and everything they told him to because…well…it was silly but it made him feel like he was actually needed.

 

He allowed himself luxury to imagine that…

 

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

 

‘The one that waits for something good, never waits for too long…’

 

Sometimes, maybe you are not meant to wait. Maybe the idea of waiting was the first sign for you to actually do something about it…

 

So Jung Daehyun packed his life in a small backpack, took all of his modest savings and booked a train ticket that would take him from Busan to the heart of South Korea, Seoul.

 

The 20 year old boy bowed to his uncle and aunt and muttered a simple ‘Goodbye’, and then he was out of their door forever.

 

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

 

 The exhausted boy dumped himself on the hard bed and sighed heavily. The shirt he was wearing clung to his body, but he didn’t care. Instead he just closed his eyes and wanted desperately to drift off in sleep. Then if the world felt like being generous maybe it would give him a nice dream, something that took him away from the sunken room.

 

Oh, how he wished he had a room at a nicer hostel, one that had air conditioning. But he knew that he could not afford such luxury.

 

In fact, he could barely afford the room he was living in now…

 

He had survived on instant noodles and bread for almost ten days, of course that was nowhere enough for such a big eater like Daehyun and as a result he had to walk around constantly hungry every day.

 

But what could he do?

 

Daehyun tried to be as economical as possible, but there were a few things he could not avoid to buy. For instance, he had gone and brought a phone just the other day. After a few days in the big city hunting for a job, he realized that one could not get a job without having a phone. One has to be reachable before getting a job, he concluded. So he had gone to an electronic store that sold used devices and picked the cheapest yet functional phone they had. But when his phone never rang and remained as silent as the dead thus, he had suspected that maybe he had been fooled. But then he called it from the phone by the reception and it rang perfectly fine. Daehyun could then feel how his heart literally dropped to the floor.

 

No one wanted to call him back, to hire him, people either found him too young or too suspicious for his Busan accent. But an accent was not something one could fix in a matter of days.

 

Daehyun eyes fluttered open and took in the sight of the moldy ceiling above him. He groaned as his stomach grumbled. Slowly he shifted to lie on his sides, and curled up in a fatal position.

 

‘Tomorrow… tomorrow will be a better day.’

 

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

 

The manager, a man in his mid thirties eyed him from head to toe, which made Daehyun wonder if it was a good sign. Daehyun swallowed thickly as he tried to ignore the manager’s scanning gaze by warily turning his attention to the different corners of the café. The place seemed busy as every table seemed to be occupied by customers. It was obviously a meeting point for friends meetings or dates, since young boy and girls were everywhere. The interior design was chic and the furniture helped to give off a young and fresh impression. No wonder it is popular, Daehyun thought.

 

“20 years old,” the middle aged man said more to himself with a hand on his chin. “Where are you from? You do have quite a thick accent.”

 

His limbs immediately tensed since this was usually the moment things started to go downhill. One wrong thing to say and he would be out the door, and Daehyun could not allow that to happen.

 

 He needed this.

 

“Busan, sir,” he said and smiled, hoping that it was charming enough. “If the accent is a problem, I’ll work hard to change it, please sir I really need this job.”

 

The manager bore a thoughtful look, “No, it’s not really a problem, it might even bring in a few more customers plus you are quite a good looking guy,” he said and started to inspect Daehyun again. “But we have only one free spot, and there’s already a girl working as a trainee now.”

 

The knot in Daehyun’s stomach tightened when he foresaw yet another rejection, “Oh, I understand,” he bowed and thanked the manager for his time as politely as he could manage at his state.

 

“I’m not done, Daehyun-shi. I’m thinking of having you work as a trainee as well, I’ll observe both you and Joomi and then hire one of you at the end of the day. How does that sound?”

 

“Thank you sir, I’ll work hard and not disappoint you!” Daehyun bowed repeatedly and smiled genuinely for the first time in a very long time.

 

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

 

Daehyun thought he had this in the bag; the job would no doubt be his if Joomi kept on looking at her nails instead of actually using her hands for something. Daehyun ran as if he had ants inside his pants, he ran from one table to the other, greeted guest after guest and diligently took neat orders. After years of doing chores at his aunt’s house, cleaning was practically nothing and he efficiently tidied up after messy customers. He felt hopeful and relieved at the same time whenever he noticed the manager nod at him in approval. Maybe, just maybe he wouldn’t need to become homeless.

 

“Excuse me,” Daehyun snapped his head around and caught the sight of a young customer raising his hand in the air. He quickly wiped his wet hands on the black apron round his waist and made his way across the café.

 

“How may I help you sir?” he asked as politely as he could managed.

 

The customer suddenly smiled broadly, “Busan?” he said looked at Daehyun curiously.

 

Daehyun cringed inwardly and forced himself to smile, a rather fake one, but a smile nonetheless. “Yes sir, I’m from Busan.”

 

They must be about the same age, Daehyun thought as he stood there looking down at the customer. He must have caught on Daehyun’s defensive tone because the expression on the other’s face instantly turned softer, “I wasn’t trying to make fun of you,” the customer said and smiled which made Daehyun uneasily shift his weight from one foot to the other.

 

Daehyun cleared his throat and repeated his previous question, “Sir, how may I help you?”

 

“Oh, right…uhm…well I ordered plain green tea but got lemon so—“

 

Daehyun instantly took a bow and said in a hurried manner, “We are deeply sorry, sir. I’ll change it for you immediately.”

 

He bent forward and collected the cup, “Thank you,” the other said gently. Daehyun just nodded and turned to make his way to the kitchen, however he didn’t fail to miss the dimple on the customer’s cheek when he was offered a final sweet smile. Though why he even registered that was beyond him…

 

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

 

When he came back with a steamy cup of tea the boy was no longer smiling, but instead wore a pensive look on his face.

 

Daehyun stopped a few feet away and cleared his throat. When the boy looked up to acknowledge his presence, Daehyun swiftly placed the cup before the absentminded boy. He was just about to turn when the other brown-haired boy suddenly spoke up: “If the person doesn’t show up, does that mean that I got rejected?”

 

The question startled Daehyun. Did customers usually talk to waiters like this? Daehyun pressed the empty tray to his body and looked at the other, “Why are you asking me?”

 

The boy shrugged, “Because you probably don’t care.” He then gave Daehyun a brittle smile, “Or maybe because I just want someone else to confirm what I already have the answer to.”

 

He could barely handle his own problems, what right did he have then to meddle in a stranger’s issues, not to mention relationship issues.

 

“What do you think?” the boy asked, directing the question straight to Daehyun again, “why didn’t she show up?”

 

What was he supposed to say?

 

Was he supposed o comfort the young boy? Say random things he had absolutely no experience of just to make the other feel a tiny bit better, even if it was only temporarily?

 

But what good will that bore in the end?

 

Why did he even bother, this wasn’t even his problem in first place…

 

And for that reason, Daehyun decided to answer the boy as truthfully as he could before he hurriedly turned back to his job: “You were probably not good enough.”

 

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

 

The third time he went back to the table the soft looking boy had sat at was to clean it off. His hand held a damp cloth and with a few quick over the smooth surface, it instantly returned to its original state. He had just lifted up the empty cup when he noticed something shiny on the leather seat. Daehyun stared at it for a moment before he bent forward and picked it up with careful fingers. He held it up by the end of the chain and let it straighten out to its full length before his eyes. He raised an eyebrow once he realized that it was a long silver necklace with a matching silver-coated whistle hanging on it. Then something on the whistle caught his eye, so he leaned forward for a closer look.

 

‘YYJ’ was neatly engraved onto the metal surface.

 

Daehyun’s head turned and looked around the café, searching for its potential owner. His eyes fell on the silver whistle again; maybe it belonged to the boy before? But then again, it could have been dropped earlier today or maybe even yesterday. In other words, it could belong to anybody.

 

 ‘Well…’ Daehyun shrugged and grinned, ‘finders, keepers.’

 

He crumpled it up and shoved it into his pocket.

 

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

 

Jung Daehyun was sitting on a bench underground, his legs stretched to their full length before him as he leaned back against the wall. He closed his eyes and tried to breathe as evenly as possible as listened to the sound of trains leaving one after another.

 

To say that he was mad would be an understatement. The manager had called both him and Joomi into the staffroom after 5 hours of working as trainees and Daehyun had been confident, he was so sure that he would get the job. But then when he noticed how the manager and Joomi fluttered their eyeslashes at each other, he instantly knew that he was fighting a lost battle.

 

Exhaustion washed over him like a heavy wave, as if meaning to drown him.

 

Tons of questions ran through his head and about 90 % of them could have been answered if he had more than the crumpled 10 000 won bill in his wallet.

 

There was no way he could afford another night at the hostel or at any other sunken hostel, which meant that he presumably had to sleep on the street. To comfort himself, Daehyun contemplated on buying soju will all his money and just get drunk for the night. Then he wouldn’t care where he ended up, be it on a park bench or in a dark alley.

 

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

 

“Busan boy?” Daehyun’s eyes fluttered open as it sounded like someone was speaking to him. He didn’t even bother to hide his surprise when he found the young smiley customer he had served looking down at him. “You okay? You don’t look too well.” He couldn’t help but give the boy a calculating look. Why care, when they barely know each other?

 

“Says the one who just got his heart broken.”

 

Oh, just great…

 

Daehyun did not mean to seem defensive, but the words had just slipped out of him and there was no way he could take them back.

 

But the boy only chuckled then went to take the seat next to Daehyun. “I was about to move on from that, but you just had to remind me, don’t you?”

 

“Do you really move on that easily?” Daehyun couldn’t help but ask when he looked at the boy beside him. “You didn’t really like her, did you?”

 

The other boy shrugged, not even the slightest shaken by the accusation. “I liked her enough to be willing to always be there if she ever needed me.”

 

He wanted to snort at the statement but thought of it better not to, after all, he had been the one to ask.

 

“She doesn’t like me and rejected me. Aside from moving on, what more can I do?” the boy continued as he looked at some point across the station.

 

If Daehyun was to be honest, he thought that love issues where the kind of lowest priority. There was so much more one could worry about and devote oneself to, that made relationships between two people seem like a waste of time and energy.

 

But Daehyun decided to carry on with the conversation nonetheless. He had to admit that it made him feel slightly better, knowing that he wasn’t the only one having problems he couldn’t solve.

 

“If I were you, I would never give up,” Daehyun said. “I would do anything I could for her to realize that I’m good enough.”

 

The other boy kept his eyes on Daehyun for a long moment before he eventually smiled and showed off his prominent cheekbones. “Maybe you’re right,” he said and then held out his hand. “I’m Youngjae, by the way, Yoo Youngjae.”

 

‘Yoo Youngjae’

 

Daehyun’s eyes fell on the hand between them, waiting to be shaken.

 

‘Yoo Youngjae…

 

…YYJ’

 

He thought of the silver chain resting in his pocket and shook his head lightly. He couldn’t help but smirk to himself.

 

‘So it’s yours.’

 

He looked up and took Youngjae’s hand for a quick shake, “Jung Daehyun.”

 

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

 

Daehyun turned to have a more proper look at Yoo Youngjae. He thought that the other looked like any other boy on the streets of Seoul. But the corner of his mouth did twitch in annoyance when he noticed the Louis Vuitton belt the other was wearing. Obviously some people had that type of money to spare…

 

It was then; right in that particular moment when a somewhat crazy idea suddenly hit him.

 

If he did this right, if things turned out as he was sure they would…this could be the first part of his life-changing event.

 

Daehyun straightened his posture and looked at the other expectantly.

 

‘Yoo Youngjae, show me just how good you can be.’

 

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

 

Without moving all too much, he carefully slipped his hand into his pocket and fumbled for his phone. His thumb searched over the cool surface and eventually found the button he was looking for. Daehyun pressed on it and waited for his expected ringtone to carry through the layer of fabric.

 

When it rang, he pretended to be surprised as he pulled out the device and pressed it to this ear.

 

“Hello?” he said feeling somewhat idiotic for speaking to no one. But he swiftly shoved those feelings away…either he act this out well, or he will be out on the streets. “Ah, yes…yes I know…” he paused for a few seconds, to make his only audience believe that he was listening to someone on the other line. “Yes, I know and I’m really sorry.” Daehyun bit down on his bottom lip and looked down at his feet. “But you see, the café didn’t want to hire me and I have been struggling for past few days. If you kick me out…I’ll…” he raised a hand to run it dejectedly through his hair, “I won’t have anywhere else to stay.” Even Daehyunwas impressed with himself when his voice trembled. He threw a quick glance at Youngjae, feigning a troubled look; as if he just remembered that the other was sitting there next to him. He scooted away to sit on the edge of the bench and then turned his back slightly at the other boy. To anyone walking by, it would seem like he was trying to shield off his conversation, and that might have been the truth if it wasn’t for the fact that Daehyun was talking loudly to an endless tone in the receiver. “Please, just let me stay for a couple of more days...I’ll…hello…hello?”  he stared dumfounded at his phone for a few seconds then muttered a line of various curses under his breath.

 

“Are you okay?” Youngjae asked and judging by his tone Daehyun almost thought that he was sincerely worried. “You are getting kicked out from your place?”

 

The asked boy did not trust his skills enough to look the other into the eyes, so his gaze remained on the ground as he shifted uncomfortably on his seat.

 

“I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to eavesdrop but…well, hm are you going to be okay?” Youngjae continued, unknowingly reacting in the way Daehyun wanted him to.

 

Daehyun nibbled on his lip pensively then suddenly stood up. “I’ve got some things to sort out so I’ll be going now.” Their eyes locked for a moment and Daehyun prayed that he looked dejected, hopeless enough to have the stranger where he wanted him.

 

He then smiled faintly and turned his back at the other, approaching the metro that had just arrived with small steps.

 

‘Show me, show me, show me’

 

“Daehyun-shi, wait!” Daehyun stopped in his track and remained still for a moment. A broad triumphant smirk was forming on his lips, but he made sure to wipe it off completely before he turned to face Youngjae.

 

Youngjae awkwardly scratched on a spot behind his ear as he smiled unsurely. “This is going to sound weird since we just met but…if it is just for a few days…” Daehyun had to strictly gather all of self-control to contain himself from grinning broadly. “You can stay at my place.”

 

Maybe it was out of pity or maybe Youngjae was simply a good-natured person, well, Daehyun didn’t want to dwell on whatever the reason might have been. Frankly, he couldn’t care less…

 

‘I’m just going to accept it all unhesitantly.’

 

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First chapter done!

Thank you, all of you who subscribed to the story! *gives cookies*

Thank you for reading and I hope you enjoyed the story so far

<3

Ivy