Heartless People |Book 3|

Prologue

"I was born lost and take no pleasure in being found."

—John Steinbeck

DONG-SUK

FOURTEEN YEARS AGO

His fist collided with her face, sending her to the ground so quickly that her hair whipped around her face before she hit the mat. She stayed there for a moment, frozen on the boxing ring's floor, almost dead, before she tried to push herself up. Her arms wobbled, and her chest rose and fell as she desperately tried to get the air back into her lungs. She managed to get to one knee before crumbling back onto the mat.

Pitiful.

"Get up, Jennie," I said to her, as I leaned back against the wall of the old boxing gym outside of the city. It was just as run down as the town itself. No one but our people came over here anymore—sweat of sweat, hot blood of hot blood, we were Koreans; one people. And she was disgracing herself in front of the very people who needed to respect her the most.

She didn't move, she just lay there like a dead thing. Neither a human nor an animal.

"I said get up, Jennie!"

With a small, frustrated cry, she pushed herself to her feet, and threw herself onto the ropes of the ring in order to stand, as Gino held on to her.

"Miss? Miss Kim? Are you alright?" Gino asked her, glancing at me, wide-eyed when she did not answer.

"Let her go. And I swear to God Almighty, Jennie, if you fall again..."

"I'm fine." She pushed the loose strands of her dark hair behind her ear and stood straighter as she raised her wrapped fists. She shook her head a few times, and tried to maintain her composure.

"See? She's fine. Now start again," I said to him.

"Sir, it's been two hours—"

"I don't care if it's been two days!" I snapped, and it was then that I saw it. All the eyes in the gym looked upon my daughter with pity, and at me with disdain as if I were some kind of monster.

"EVERYONE OUT!" I called suddenly, causing them all to jump and run towards the door.

Gino looked between Jennie and me before he exited the ring.

"You and I will be having words later," I said to him, and he nodded before walking out.

The gym was dim. The only source of light came from the center of the ring where she waited without a word. Stepping inside as well, I grabbed the padded mats, circling her as I placed them.

"You are a disappointment, Jennie," I whispered. "And not just that but you're embarrassing me and your goddamn self. How old are you now, twelve or four? Do you still need someone to save you? To baby you? Is that what you want?"

"No, sir." She held her head up. "I'm fine, I can keep going."

"Fine? A minute ago you looked like a newborn deer. Is it because we're alone now that you don't want to put on a show?"

She glared at me. "I've been doing this for two hours, Dad. Any normal person—"

"You are not normal! You are Jennie Ruby Jane Kim, daughter of Iron Hands—my daughter! Normal is never the adjective used to describe you! Exceptional. Notorious. Unstoppable. That is what you should aim for. You're in pain? Your body aches? Guess what? That's your life. You think those idiots outside helped you because they cared? Because you're so precious? They stepped in to make you weak, to drag you down to their limitations, their weaknesses. A helping hand is a selfish one. If you can't save yourself, you have no right to be saved." I met the glower of her dark brown eyes. "Do you understand?"