Chanhee watched as a small boy ran from the intimidating black gates that stood tall and proud in the middle of the street. A woman stood behind them, her arms crossed against her chest as she looked at the retreating figure scornfully. The boy looked around his age, five or six years old. His thin limbs flailed helplessly as he ran, glancing fearfully over his shoulder at the large grey mansion, decorated with sinister black gates, evoking both fear and awe.

Chanhee stepped aside as the boy ran past him hastily, almost unaware of his surroundings. He looked around casually, making sure that the scary woman was not watching as he followed the escaping boy into a small alleyway.

It was dark and scary, but Chanhee clenched his teeth and searched for the boy in the darkness. He found the small figure sitting against the wall, knees pulled up to his chin and shaking visibly. He could not tell whether the other shook for fear or for cold, but he decided to sit down and share the enormous jacket he was wearing.

The boy flinched as a warm jacket wrapped around his shoulders, but the instinct to flee disappeared when he saw that the owner was only someone his age. His whispered thanks were almost inaudible as fear gripped his throat, but the other boy nodded in acknowledgement. He leaned against the wall, breathing heavily as he closed his eyes, the image of a woman burning behind his eyelids. He felt the lash of a belt on his wrist, the sharp dig of nails gripping his cheek. Words cut at his skin and left invisible scars as he began to believe them, disregarding all self-worth.

It’s okay now. He told himself. You’ll never go back there. The woman made his skin crawl and his teeth chatter. If he went back there, she would kill him. Fear abruptly gripped him once more, and his breathing turned rapid, as the thought of her seemed to suffocate him.

“Do you want some?” His head snapped up at the unexpectedly soft voice, his eyes meeting a tempting piece of bread offered to him. The smell of food made its way to his nostrils and he held out his hands involuntarily, unable to resist the growling of his stomach. He gazed at the other boy gratefully and wolfed the small piece down, sighing in satisfaction. The woman had refused to feed him proper food for days.

The remaining morsel of bread was offered to him with kind eyes and an even kinder smile. “You must be hungry.” Tears unknowingly made their way to his eyes as he accepted once again, this time eating slowly as he tried to blink the disobedient drops away. Gentle fingers traced his cheek as they wiped his wet eyes dry and ruffled his hair as he looked up.

“Stay here,” the owner of those hands told him. “I’ll bring you more. You must stay here!” The small boy nodded and shook his crumb-covered hands clean, instinctively wrapping them around the taller boy.

When they separated, Chanhee leaned down and planted a quick kiss on the lips of the younger. It was an innocent kiss, one that embodied his will to protect the other and heal the pain that seemed to have buried itself deeply within the small boy.

When Chanhee ran off hastily, promising to come back, the younger gazed after the other with a wistful smile playing on his lips until a pair of hands covered his lips roughly and pulled him into the dark.