"My mother...."

I turned my full attention to Yongguk. He looked down to his hands that rested in his lap, staring at his palms. It took a while for him to speak again but when he did, it was like there was a completely different Yongguk sitting beside me.

"She died when I was just a little kid. I was three when she left me alone with my dad. My dad never said exactly what happened to her but I think that she died in a car crash. When she didn't come home that night, I still remember my father crying while he held me and he won't tell me where she was. Even though I was really small, I still remember her," he said, shifting his gaze to the sky and leaning back on his hands.

I watched him from the corners of my eyes, waiting for him to go on with the story but he didn't. "Then..."

"She was a kind person, always taking care of others. She had more concern for other people then for herself," he cracked a small smile. The smile was so sad, so unlike the Yongguk that showed up to the public. He was opening up to me.

"Sounds like you loved her a lot."

He nodded as he laid back on the roof, me following his lead. The sky was clearing and there was a small amount of stars that were poking through the clouds. The moon was bright and full tonight.

"When I was ten, my father met another woman. She seemed so nice and caring when I met her that I thought that my real mother had come back. I was a hopeful child," he scoffed with a small laugh, shaking his head.

"So that's your step-mother?"

"Yeah, they got married a few months after I turned eleven. At first I really liked her. Then as I got older, she was less caring and began yelling at me for hardly anything at all. When I was fifteen, she started hitting me. I let her becasue I knew my own strength and I didn't want to hurt her. Men should never hit women, ever."

The last sentence stung. It felt like someone had driven a rod right through my heart. I bit my lip, remembering all those times that my own father had beaten me until I was bloody and bruised. Yongguk's eyes were on me now, I looked away from him. Breathing in a sigh, I looked back at him, motioning for him to keep going.

"One time, I yelled back at her and my anger got the best of me. I pushed her back into the sink and left a huge bruise on her back. I didn't mean to hurt her and I don't even remember what we were yelling at each other for. That night, when my father came home she told him of what I had done and showed him the bruise. Then he just came into my room and hit me. That was the spark to our fist fights now. I don't even feel like his son anymore. He isn't the man that he was when my mom and him were together."

I nodded to him, making eye contact. We held it before he asked me a question that shocked me.

"So I told you my story, what happened to your mother?"

I hesitated before telling him. "She left my brother and I with my father when I was little. She just left without a word to us, not even a goodbye. She just left and never came back."

"What about your dad?"

"After my mom left, he was depressed and started going out and drinking almost ever night with his friends. After that, he became an alcoholic and lost his job. We have enough money saved up to keep us going and my brother sends money evey month so we can keep the house. Since then, he was always drunk and he doesn't know what he does to me. But I can't leave him because he is my father and he needs someone to take care of him. Leaving isn't an option for me so I just take the abuse."

He nods and sits up. "Sounds like we both have a tough life."

"Yeah," I said while pushing myself up on one elbow to face him.

"I had better get going."

I nod to him as he stands up. "How are you going to get down?"

He smirked as he turned to me. "How do you think?"

My eyes widened. "You crazy person!"

He just jumped from the roof, grabbing onto the tree limb and swinging down to land safely on the ground. I was leaning over the edge of the roof, staring down at him. I knew that he was crazy.

"Don't you dare tell anyone of this, Eunae!" He yelled up.

"Only if you don't!"

He smirked and began walking home. I climbed into my room with a heavy sigh. What just happened and why did I tell him everything? I didn't know the answer to my own question so I changed clothes and climbed into bed, my mind going back to Yongguk.