"Get up loser! What are you, a girl?"

Hyun Jin eased himself of the ground slowly, his white school uniform already covered in dirt. Before he could do anything he found himself painfully on the ground once more.

"Haha! You're so weak. No wonder everyone likes to pick on you." Taeyang laugh out loud, sending the ashes from his cigarette all over the ground.

"Enough already, babe. I think he got you message." The girl calmed down her overly excited boyfriend. Honestly, Hyun Jin could never understand how Dara could fall for a man like Taeyang. He believed that she deserved better, but who was he to judge. After all, he had never gotten a single girlfriend for the past 2 years in high school.

Unless he would count Hara, who was just a friend.

"Remember next time, loser. Two packs, premium. Next Monday." Taeyang wrapped his arms around Dara's waist and left. Groaning, Hyun Jin got up again, dusting the dirt of his arms, legs and clothes. He considered himself luckily that it didn't rain. If not, he might have to go home with muddy clothes. He sighed as he bend down to find his round rimmed spectacles.  Today wasn't a good day for him. Not only did he fail history, the school bully also managed to find him before he could sneak quietly out of school to go home.As he placed his spectacles back on, he looked towards the direction in which Taeyang had went and stick his tongue out. As much as he would love to swear, he had never done so for his entire life, simply because his mum didn't want him to.

Omma. He felt his heart ache. Why did you have to leave so soon?

Hyung Jin slung his bag over his shoulders and slowly walked home, careful not to agitate the bruises all over him. He found it quite funny how nobody, and literally NOBODY, would stand up from him in school. Even the teachers, and Hara, wouldn't dare go near him when Taeyang's around. It pretty understandable, actually. That guy had been more often to juvenile detention centres than school.

Upon reaching home, Hyun Jin was greeted with the sight of shattered soju bootle all over the wooden floor. Sighing, he reached out to his thickly padded slippers which he had prepare for this situations and slipped them on. He quickly entered the living room to check if his father was home. Sure enough, the middle aged, beer-bellied  was snoring away on the couch. The living room reeked of alcohol, making Hyun Jin  feel like vomiting so badly. He still couldn't get used to the smell even though he has been exposed to it for years. It just reminded him of failure and despair. He quickly hold his breath and ran up the stairs to his bedroom. Since it's Friday, he decided to clean the living room tomorrow when he had the time. Most likely his father would be out drinking again.

He set his bag on his unmade bed. Filling the electronic kettle with water, he took out some cup noodles for dinner.  He couldn't remember the last time he had a proper dinner, probably when his mother was still around. Hyun Jin felt his eyes blurred. Wipping the tears if furiously, he unconsciously turned to look at the picture on the wall, the portrait of a complete, happy family with a smiling boy in the centre...

"Omma?" The young boy called as he got out of his bed. He got a really bad nightmare that got him sweating all over. Hoping to find comfort in his mother's embrace, he realised that his mom wasn't by his side, where she ought to be. Frightened, the young boy went out of his room to search for her.

He grew pale as he began to heard the sound of running water. Hugging his teddy bear, he softly walked towards the bathroom, the sound growing larger with each step. The light was still glowing in the bathroom though it was 2am in the morning. Standing in front if the door, his heart was racing. He was beyond frightened, but childish curiosity got the better of him. He opened the door to find water.

Lots and lots of water all over the bathroom.

With his mum not moving in the already overflowing bathtub.

Hyun Jin screamed, as loudly and as high-pitched as a 9 year old could ever mastered. His father came running to find a drowned women and a crying boy near the door. His faced grew paled at the sight of his dead wife. He ran into the bathroom and hauled the woman out of the tub, ignoring the water still gushing out of the tub. Holding on to his wife, Hyun Jin's father made a dash towards the family car, in hopes of reviving the dead woman at the hospital. Hyun Jin was left at home, all alone in the middle of the night, with his eyes red and swollen from crying. 

The water continued to gush out of the opened tap.

The sound of the whistling kettle pulling him out of his painful past. He stared at it, feeling his emotions threatening to blow out of his broken heart. With one swift flick, he sent the kettle flying in his anger. The poor kettle smashed against the wall, sending scaling water spattering onto the floor. He screamed, breaking out into a passionate sob right after. Ever since that day, his family had never been the same. His father had severe depression, so bad to the point that he tried to kill himself. Hyun Jin could have been an orphan. Thankfully, it failed and his father turned to drinking instead, spending hours a day filling his insides with beer and soju. Hyun Jin, at the age of nine, had to take up the responsibilities of an adult. He had to be independent, learning how to do simple house chores, and finding food to keep them alive. His relatives were sympathetic enough to give some money each month, and the rest earn through hard work that a young boy could managed, along with school work.

Not much had changed in 9 years.

"Looks like I'll skip dinner today." He mumbled to himself, taking out his nightwear. After a cold shower (he couldn't afford having the water heated), he looked out if the window as he wait for his hair to dry. It was a clear moonlit night, the stars hanging like jewels in the sky. Just at that moment, a bright streak flew across the sky. A falling star.

Hyun Jin smiled. His mom had always tell him the power of a shooting star when he was young, leaving him in awe each time. "When a star falls, it means that somebody has left the earth." His mother used to tell him.

"But then don't people wish on shooting stars?" He, in his naive little self, would ask.

"You see. When a star falls, it brings along it a divine power." She hold her young boy in her arms and continued. "This power comes in contact with the dead person, turning him or her into an angel."

"An angel?"

"Yes, an angel. People wish on falling stars in hopes that these angels would grant their hopes and desires."

"So, if you ever become an angel, will you grant my wish?"

"Of course I will," she hugged Hyun Jin tightly. "Just wish on the star, and I'll answer the call."

It wouldn't hurt to try, right? Hyun Jin hid his embrassment and slowly wished, "Omma, if you will still answer my call, please change my life for the better. Please, omma." He brushed away the sadness still lingering in his heart. "Please?"

A soft wind blew into the window, making Hyun Jin feel refreshed. He smiled, believing that maybe his mom did answer his wish. He switched off the lights to his room and placed his bag, which was still on the bed, onto the ground. Taking his specs off, he climbed onto his bed and placed his specs on the table top by his bed. He slowly drifted off to sleep, hoping that the night would past slowly, to leave him in dreamland longer.

Somewhere high in the sky, a young woman had been watching Hyun Jin. She heard his call and grew very excited.

Is he the one I'm looking for?