CHAOS IN YOU || RYEJI

45.

Ryujin POV

Ryujin's family was once normal.

Her parents were happily married and their life was only getting better with the passage of time.

Her mother worked at a music store, which is where her parents first met when her father moved into town. Since then they had been inseparable.

Soon enough her mother had got pregnant and they were happy to welcome Ryujin into their life.

They married after she was born, neither having family to attend the ceremony but both too happy regardless.

Her father owned a construction company and was finding success on his own. Getting a few contracts that kept the money coming in and could provide them with more than enough to live with.

One of his construction projects was the building where her clubhouse is located.

Unfortunately, Ryujin discovered at a young age that happiness is only temporary.

It was unexpected, but suddenly her father started to come home later. Smelling of alcohol and cigarettes. At first it was only an hour or two, which in no time turned into nights away from home. Occasionally, he would make it to the front door but not his bed.

Her mother suspected of the existence of another woman but that wasn't the case.

Ryujin thinks it would have been better if her father had been cheating instead.

Her father had gotten involved with the wrong people.

One poker game turned into an addiction that in turn turned into a considerable debt.

At first he managed to pay easily. They'd just have to spend less that month. But soon enough he was selling their personal items to pay it off. Reaching the point where they had to move out of their house and into her current apartment. A downgrade they had never expected.

Her mother gave her father an ultimatum once that happened. Either he fixed his act, or she would walk away.

Ryujin remembers the image of her father on his knees begging for a chance to fix things. She also remembers how he never followed through with his promise to do so.

His business suffered from his bad management. Stealing from clients, refusing to pay his employees and using unsafe material that was far cheaper.

All these bad decisions eventually lead to the closing of his company. Bankruptcy declared and now out of a job, her mother was less than happy with her husband.

Ryujin can vividly remember the day they fought about it.

Shouting matches that lasted hours, objects thrown around and many tears shed by both of them.

She was six then.

And that was when she lost her mother.

It's a funny thing, when parents have children just because it will look good. Just because society tells them that's what families should do. Or perhaps because a pregnancy was discovered and they didn't want to put an end to it.

Either way, Ryujin doesn't recall her mother having any trouble leaving her behind with her unemployed gambling addict alcoholic of a father.

That day, was the last time she had seen her mother.

Were anyone to ask, she always claimed her mother was gone. Which most would presume meant she had died.

Truthfully, Ryujin sometimes wished that were the case.

But no. Her mother had simply chosen to leave her and never come back.

And that hurt so much more than had she died.

She was only six but she will remember how that felt forever.

Since that day things only got worse for her.

Her father started to drink more, smoke more, go out more. He would gamble all day and night. Sometimes he would win, most times he would lose.

More often than not, there would be nothing to eat at home.

That's how she met Heejin, one of her two best friends.

Heejin was her neighbor back then. Not that her family was messed up like most that lived in that building. They were just poor.

One day Ryujin was sitting outside, her father drunk and in a mood inside and she was so hungry that she attempted to steal from the groceries of her neighbors as they carried the bags inside.

She got caught but much to her surprise, they invited her to have lunch with them.

Heejin wasn't the biggest fan of her but eventually they became friends with each other. Ryujin going over for a meal almost every day.

At a young age, Ryujin had to learn a lot of things by herself. How to go to and from school. How to protect herself. And even how to steal.

This one was crucial because unless she stole from her father or others, she would be unable to buy anything she needed.

As she grew older, the problems continued to grow bigger with her.

Her father had eventually got violent when he drank. He didn't do it often but sometimes anything she said or did would cause him to get angry and that would result in physical abuse.

Luckily, Ryujin was an excellent liar and honestly, it didn't seem like teachers wanted to find out the truth behind the bruises anyway.

Of course, it didn't stop there.

One day Ryujin was just walking home from school when she arrived to find some strange men at her home. Some of them standing on the outside and some inside with her father.

She saw how they threatened him, after already having beat him up badly.

Those men had given him a last chance to pay off his debt.

It wasn't until a month later that they showed up again. By coincidence it was also the time when Ryujin had beat up a kid from her building for calling her names. Which seemed to please these men.

Ryujin didn't know what she was getting into. She could take care of herself but she was still a kid. Too naive for the world she found herself in.

When the men asked her if she would save her father, she agreed. Despite all he had done. All the pain he had caused her.

And that was the worst decision she had ever made.