Yes, I am back. Check the end of the chapter for the A/N and info about updates. Also, not that edited chapter.

“Will you stand there all night?”

Chaerin grabbed the opportunity and hesitatingly started walking, her eyes locked on his form as she cautiously approached him. “Sorry if I bother you.”

“You don’t bother me.”

Chaerin figured it was a subtle invitation and she crossed the distance that was left, coming to a halt only a meter or so away from him. She leaned against the railing much like the tall male, and gazed at the city. The view was fascinating, and only then did it occur to her that she’d never been up on the roof before. For the five years she remembered living in this building, she’d never climbed up the stairs. It had probably never passed her mind. But considering how the lit city during night was so breath-taking, she regretted for never actually going on the roof before.

Stealing a quick glance at Kai, she took in his barely lit face, suddenly longing for him. She wasn’t sure why but she named it interest and curiosity.

“Why do you hate me?” she whispered, fully knowing he would hear her despite the weak wind.

The male didn’t hesitate in responding; “I don’t hate you.”

“Then why do you treat me like you do?” the girl questioned, expecting yet another vague answer, much like the ones Suho gave. And she was right.

“It’s complicated.”

She wasn’t sure what was scaring her anymore; the fact that she was given such answers or because of the fact that she knew what kind of an answer she’d get. However, something triggered her; her mind was yelling at her so much to say, yet was struggling to voice them.

“You know, I can’t really understand life much yet,” she said honestly. “Before you and Suho appeared, I lived a life that was so simple and convenient that I would most likely end up living like that for the rest of my life without complaint. I still can’t believe things like magic exist.”

“It’s not magic,” Kai cut in and Chaerin showed a smirk of disbelief. Sure it wasn’t for him. But for someone like her, someone human like her, it was some kind of secrecy. The smile eventually dropped from her face, her expression becoming grim.

“When I lost my grandmother, I thought everything stopped working. I had literally no-one except my boss, mr. Byung. There was no one to help me out apart from him and on the day of her funeral, it was only the two of us. I wasn’t even sure if she had friends of her own. But whether she had or not, I didn’t know any to invite and neither did they show up on that day. Without parents and no other figure apart mr. Byung, I gave up and for a month, I worked most of the day to forget. It’s the worst thing; to be alone.”

Chaerin heard a sound akin to agreement come from Kai, and she looked at him in hopes. The male wore an unreadable expression. His eyes, however, carried so much pain that Chaerin gulped.

“Are you… alone, too?” Chaerin tried, cautiously talking in fear of scaring Kai away. The man stood his place, though. He only nodded and the blond girl waited for him to crack—and he finally did.

“The first memory I have is of flashing lights and tire screeches. So much panic, screams of terror and blinding grey smoke. There had been something that had thrown the car to a stop but I can’t recall the scene exactly—it is far too fogy. The next thing I can remember is a big house. The garden in front of it is huge, green with thick bushes and tall trees. There are yells of young children and a woman waiting for me at the entrance as I’m guided towards her. All kinds of games are played around in the garden but I can’t see any of them through my tears. You see, my parents didn’t survive the accident, as I had been told.”

Kai looked torn. Chaerin guessed he double-thought it whether he should keep talking or stop. He continued.

“The children in the orphanage were nice to me and I actually made few friends in there. But then, almost as if the bad luck was following me, a fire broke out. I remember the news saying something about a person who went about burning buildings down. After a public elementary school, the orphanage was his target.”

Chaerin bit on her lip, something in that feeling too familiar. She couldn’t quite put a finger on it, though. Thus, she was left to listen to Kai, fully aware that such times were too rare.

“I had run off by myself, scared. I was lost. Suddenly I had no one to go to and no one was looking for me either. I had become much more of a forgotten child, probably even labeled dead by to the fire. By the time I found my way back, there was nothing left of the building but toasted walls. Of course, no one was there anymore. Thus, I became homeless. I would spend my days begging for food on the streets and rummaging through the garbage for any pieces of clothing or leftovers. That was until a woman approached me, promising a warm house and a plate of food. Being the child I was, I followed her and somehow I was boarded on a plane closely after. Upon arrival, I was told I was in China and that the woman who took me was nothing but scam. The last time I saw her was when she was getting paid while I and two girls were pulled by force in a factory.”

I fought the grip on my forearm but it was far too strong for my weak, small hand. The man was too tall for me and I couldn’t but yell after the woman who had promised me a family. The two girls in front of me were probably promised the same, seeing how they were crying streams of tears and calling the woman ‘mother’. The woman didn’t as much as raise her eyes at them; she kept counting the pack of money handed to her. I joined the girls by yelling for her but I was just yanked into silence by the man who held onto me.

I looked up, wondering just how he could be so cruel but his face was so hard that I wondered if his heart had any warmth instead. His dark eyes were shadowed by thick black eyebrows and his clothing was dirty and worn. His skin looked sickly and his black hair was cut short. He was beyond intimidating with his strong glare that I whimpered at my fate. I noticed how the men holding the girls turned a corner and we were left alone with the girls’ cries becoming so distant with the seconds. The lack of their sobs made me feel more weak and alone, much more scared when the silence was so heavy over us.

We reached a metallic door which he pushed open and revealed a huge packed room. Numerous young children my age and slightly older filled the room. Rows of long metallic, rusty tables stretched across and the children were sat on just as rusty metallic chairs. All of them held small toys in their hands as fingers glued and put parts together. None of them looked up. They were too immersed in what they were doing; making thousands of toys.

The man pulled me ahead and I managed to look up-close at what exactly they were doing as we walked in-between the tables. Sounds of machines echoed across the dirty old walls and the further we went, the louder they became. We were found in front of another metallic door and the man pushed it open, leading me further down the building. Now there was more noise than in the previous room and I struggled with the loud sounds with a hand over one of my ears. I looked back, wanting to ask where I was but the man didn’t look kind enough to give me an answer. So, I kept my mouth shut, swallowing the questions and trying to tie everything together on my own.

Another door and we were met with a darkened small room that contained two bunk-beds and a small wardrobe in between them. The man easily threw me on one of the beds and I whimpered when my head hit the wall it was connected with. I watched him open the small wardrobe and pull some clothes out, and he turned to look back at me with a glare. I gulped and I tried to talk but my voice came only in a stutter before it became a surprised yelp. The man’s hands grabbed on my worn clothes and tried to pull them off my body. I tried to fight him off only to earn a harsh slap on my cheek.

“Stay in one place!”

I swallowed the pain but tears made their way out anyway. Silently, I cried as I hugged my torso whilst the man pulled on my pants. Now, left with only my underwear, he forced the clothes he got from the wardrobe on me. He grabbed my old clothes and threw them out through the bars of the small window. Then, he grabbed me by the collar of my new jacket and pulled me out of the room. He led me down the hall some more before he opened a door on our left. In that room, a lot of boys my age stood with shovels in hands and black cheeks. The warmth in it was suffocating and the sounds of machines struggling over-head made me cringe. The floor was black and numerous piles of charcoal littered it till the far end of it. There were about a dozen of big stove-like ovens that vomited fire tongues every time one of the boys threw a shovel of charcoal in it. It was then that I was shoved a shovel in my hand and pushed ahead by the man. I fell on my knees from the force.

“You will work here. Don’t get out of this room until you hear the alarm.”

Then, the man turned around, walked out and shut the door behind him. With him gone, the tears fell freely and my sobs slowly became louder. The other boys didn’t bother me and I got some time to think everything over and how fast it had changed. I didn’t know how long I had stayed there but after a while, I felt a tap on my shoulder. Looking up, I met up with a childish round face with black fingertips across his cheeks staring down at me.

“You should work,” the boy said apologetically. Something in his voice made me sure that I wasn’t the one to break down when brought here. “If you don’t, you’ll get in troubles. Come on, I’ll show you what you have to do.”

That boy became my first ever friend. His name was Shao.

“After a couple years, when the factory got in an investigation, there were lots of cut-downs so the owner could pay for a couple lawyers and fake evidence that would hide the fact he hired children.” Kai came to a sto