Park JinYoung, or as he liked to be called JR, had spent most of his childhood alone living with his single mother. They had lived in a small village in North Korea, close to the border with China. His father had been a good man, able to provide for his family but was killed in a public execution after he was found hoarding food. Ever since then, JR’s mother vowed to leave North Korea with her son the only way possible, escaping over the Border and defecting.

JR remembers little of when they defected, he just remembers being told to be quiet and staying hidden in various bushes. They made it over with just their lives and the clothes on their back and with a few of their neighbours, they made their way to Thailand where they defected to South Korea.

Although glamorous at first, the seedy underworld of the country soon swallowed up JR and his desperate mother. Job prospects in Korea weren’t good, and were even worse for unskilled North Koreans who would normally take up cleaning jobs. JR’s mother resorted to a life of ion to provide for her son of ten years old. Whilst she would be off with clients, she would leave JR and a book in a 24-hour café, giving him a few dollars for a drink. It was here where JR discovered his passions for writing, learning to read and write in a few months, and his passion for art as well.

His already strained relationship with his mother continued well into his teenage years but his big break came when he was accepted for a scholarship to a prestigious school in Seoul. His mother bought him the expensive uniform and proudly displayed it on the only hanger they had in the house. She turned to him, brushing the hair out of his face, “Get up early for school tomorrow, I probably won’t be home until the afternoon” she muttered before leaving the small apartment in her glittery cocktail dress, ready for work. Her night would consist of sleeping with various men, taking class-A drugs and drinking until she was sick. It caused JR great pain and anxiety and he had great trouble sleeping.

He woke up at seven am in his small futon on the floor and got up to have a shower. Washing in cold water had become a habitual thing and he had become immune to the harsh cold water on his back. He pulled on his fresh new uniform and his newly polished shoes before grabbing his rucksack and looking at himself in the mirror, “Wow” he mouthed. He thought he could even pass as one of those rich students, if he wasn’t standing in a dirty tiny apartment. He shrugged and left the house, running for the bus and making his way to the school.

“Here’s your timetable and your diary, be sure to keep account of your homework on it! Also here is your locker code, your locker is located on the second floor”. A chirpy receptionist with long dyed blonde hair had greeted him when he walked into the office. He smiled curtly and at once made his way to his locker, awkwardly keeping his head down. He had never seen so many people at once, all wearing the same outfit and going the same way. He reached his locker and began to turn the lock, trying to unlock it to no avail. He shook his head and looked down at the piece of paper, “It definitely says seven right?” he asked himself before noticing a shadow appear over him. He looked up feebly, meeting the gaze of a taller older looking boy who was staring at him.

The taller one had a darker colour than his pale skin, a distinct jaw line and short dyed silver hair that was long on the top and shaved at the sides. He cocked his head to the side before raising his eyebrow at JR, “What are you doing at my locker you punk” the taller one asked aggressively. JR immediately stepped back, dropping his paper and fumbling with his words, “I-I-I-I thought that that…” Jaebum raised his other eyebrow and narrowed his eyes; “Cat got your tongue newbie?” the older one laughed and threw back his head before pushing JR up against the locker.

The taller one’s friends stood around laughing and egging him on. One said, “Go on Jaebum, show him how we treat fresh meat” whilst another one was a bit less merciless, “Pound his face in Jaebum”. JR squirmed under his grip before pleading with him, “Ah…p-please don’t”. Jaebum made a face and smirked slightly, “What the is that accent? Are you from the North?” he asked. People began to gather around, asking questions such as, “Is he a spy?” and “Why did they let a Northerner in this school”.

JR nodded nervously, still squirming under Jaebum’s tight grip, “I am…” Jaebum smiled and then burst out laughing, turning around to his friends, “Look what we have here! A little poor migrant! A little communist boy” he poked at his slim stomach, “You look a bit peckish, are you sure you have enough to eat?” The others around laughed before Jaebum opened up his locker, “If you like my locker so much, you can have it,” he said before pushing JR into it, closing the door behind it. As the laughs outside the locker intensified JR began to panic. He hated small spaces; it reminded him of the voyage to South Korea, hiding in bushes and being cramped in tight spaces. He began to bang on the metal before the door opened, causing him to crash out and fall on the ground. The kids around him dispersed, as did Jaebum and his friends, whilst a teacher walked by, taking one look at the boy on the floor before walking on.

JR stood up, brushing off the bruise on his cheek and picked up his bag and piece of paper. He noticed he was just one locker off, meaning he would always be beside Jaebum’s locker. He slowly banged his head off the locker before taking out his schedule, noticing he was late for his Literature class.

Jaebum and his friends had walked away from pushing the kid into the locker with their heads held high, casually laughing about the event. They arrived at their literature class when Jaebum’s phone went off. He excused himself and went to take the call noticing it was his father, “What do you want?” he asked. His father was going on about the mess Jaebum had left in the living room last night, “I’ll sort it out when I get home old man” he said before ending the call. Jaebum didn’t get on with his father; ever since his mother had died things had been a little more than strained. The women he brought home, the drinks he drank and the lifestyle he lived was enough to piss Jaebum off even on a good day. He shrugged and made his way into class, taking a seat at the back and putting his feet on the table.

JR made his way down to PE (GYM) late after getting lost twice. He entered the empty changing rooms and hung up his uniform before changing into his shorts, t-shirt and sneakers. He left the changing rooms and made his way out to the pitch where the teacher put him into a football team. He noticed Jaebum was on the other team and he immediately felt uneasy. Jaebum grinned at him, raising his eyebrows. JR looked away as the game began, staying as far away from the football as he could.

It was near the end of the game when a boy he got to know as Mark passed the ball to JR. JR panicked and stopped, looking around himself, not sure of where to kick to the ball to. Before he knew it he was being side tackled by Jaebum’s brutish legs and fell flat on his face, twisting his ankle in the process.

“Are you okay man?” a voice called over him. He stirred, his eyes fluttering open to find the boy that had passed the ball to him sitting opposite him in what appeared to be the nurse’s office. JR sat up and immediately reached down to his ankle in pain, “Oh no what happened?” The nurse walked in at that point, “You were hurt in PE but luckily for you nothing is broken, it’s just sprained” she smiled before making her way out. Mark smiled at JR, “I’m Mark by the way, I’m sorry I passed the ball to you…I didn’t know that would happen”. JR smiled back, happy to see someone who didn’t look like he would push him into a locker, “I’m JinYoung but you can call be JR, everybody does”.

Making his way out of the school, JR lied to Mark and said that his mother was coming to pick him up. He didn’t want to let his newly acquired friend know where he lived; it wasn’t a particularly clean neighbourhood after all. They said their goodbyes and once he was out of sight JR made his way down the street, catching a bus home. He hoped off the bus, his ankle still hurting him, and made his way up the seven flights of stairs to his small apartment. He could smell the usual smells of alcohol smoke and sweat as he made his way to the seventh floor and was surprised to see the apartment door open a notch. He slowly pushed the door open and peered around, hoping to see his mother. He did catch a glimpse of his mother, and then he saw the empty bottles, the syringes… and the blood. He simply stood there, staring at the lifeless body of his mother, unable to move, unable to form a sentence, unable to muster up a single thought at all.