Ailee was hungry. Really hungry.

The hunger that she had was almost indescribable. It was like a tiger gnawing away at her stomach, day and night. There were days when her blood sugar was so low that she fainted in the middle of the street. She laughed every time she saw herself in the mirror, counting every single one of her ribs with her long fingers, staring at her high cheekbones that protruded sharply out of her skin.

This is not the life a 16 year old should have.

Ailee's life started of as an unplanned pregnancy. Her young mother clutched her newborn tightly in her hands, still covered in blood, and wondered what she should do. As if by heaven's grace, Ailee wasn't even crying. She snuggled close to her mom's chest, her lips curling upwards into a smile, if newborns can even smile. The young mother wished she could keep her child.

But she was only 19.

She knew that the child's father didn't know about this yet, nor does anyone else who knew her, having ran away from her home 2 years ago. She did part time jobs to fed herself, and as the bump grew bigger, she secretly went back to her parent's house, stealing money out of their wallets to feed both her and the growing child.

Ailee was born when she least expected it. The woman was going home from work late at night when she felt the contractions. The water broke, sending warm liquid flowing down her tights. In sheer panic she had just a few seconds to prop herself against a wall as the contractions made it too painful to stand. Believe it or not, she gave birth there and then, using only her willpower and a jacket between her teeth to keep her from screaming. The first thing Ailee experienced was the hard, dirty street floor, as her mother cut the umbilical cord with a pocket knife before lifting the kid into her arms. Wrapped in only the jacket that her mom used before, since it was the only available piece of cloth at that time, Ailee cried for only a few seconds, enough to clear her lungs and let her breathe, before dozing off into a nap.

Still weak from the delivery, Ailee's mom staggered along the path in her bloodstained clothes when her eyes fell onto a sign for an orphanage just opposite the street. She thought of it as a sign, a hope that she could have a normal life. Laying the newborn at its doorstep, she sang her lullaby her mother used to sing to her, the last gift her mother could give to her child:

The light is gone, the dark has come,

With stars that shine so bright.

So sleep, my child, and let your dreams

Carry you through the night.

Ailee finally cried once her mother left.

Ailee hadn't always been called Ailee at first. Before her mother left, she scribbled the name 'Angel' onto a piece of paper and left it in one of the pockets in the jacket. She wanted to call the child that since she was such a good daughter to her for the couple of hours that they had spent together. Ailee was special to the orphanage as she was the first child who has been abandoned by her parents. Every other kid was there because of accidents that claimed their parents' lives or have parents that are unable to care for their kids due to medical or mental issues. As she grow up, the children began making fun of her, calling her an alien for being different and for being so unlikable to be abandoned. She hated her parents for doing this to her, and when she was ten, changed her name to 'Ailee', both as revenge to a horrible nickname and a mean to get rid of every trace of her parents existence.

When Ailee was 14, that was when a financial crisis hit the small orphanage. They didn't have enough to fed all the children, so priority was given to the younger ones. Ailee made up as part of the older group and was forced to forgo one meal a day. What made it worse was having the older ones robbing her of her share with violence. Each day became harder for her as the lack of food take a toil on her body. She started to feel tired and giddy all day, and was driven to the point to eat the bread crumbs that fell onto the table during breakfast.

On the same night that Hyorin was abused, Ailee was lying on her bed, humming a lullaby that she always knew to herself. Her stomach grumbled for food, and she nursed it by rubbing it with the gentle touch of her hand. Under the light of the stars, she fell asleep, dreaming of a place full of warm and delicious food, of warm and comfort, where dreams can come true. 

If dreams really do come true, she wished for her life to change.