This is home - SungHyuck

- twenty

flashback

"Boom!" I crashed the toy car on my superhero figurine. I dropped both of the objects to the floor and continued to play with other toys.

The television in mom's room was switched on but she wasn't in her room to watch it. The noises from it helped overcome the silence from within the room. I don't like to be alone with her downstairs because of the awkward tension that frequently build up between us.

When I heard the front door being opened, my face lights up right away. The light coming from the bulb above me reflects on all of my toys. I arranged them in a more proper way so it wouldn't look to messy. My frown turns upside down when the voices downstairs rose up.

Random items being thrown here and there and like any other day, my parents argued with each other. I don't really understand why they fight for no reason at all. Its like there is something that they try to find to argue with each other about. I heard them mentioning my name in between the argument which made me feel like I wasn't suppose to be here in the first place.

The door to my mom's room swung open, and there I see a tall man in his working clothes. His tie was lose and his shirt was untucked. He didn't look mad, he looks frustrated and extremely tired. Ever since he got promoted, he worked from 5am to 12am everyday nonstop. His company took advantage of his ability but never raised his pay.

He could've gotten 50,000,000 won per month for the next six months since that is what his company told him once he gets promoted but they lied to him and still paid him 9,000,000 per month. They used him to increase their profits because of his intelligence. I'm happy that his way of thinking and dealing with things got noticed.

But that is where I developed the strong feeling of hatred towards people who takes advantage of other people. He kneels down to match my height and smiled at me weakly. He puts his arms out and told me to come to him. I ran towards him and engulfed myself in his warm hug. I pulled away from him and stare at his almond eyes in hopes that he would say something to me.

I might not be able to comfort him but I tried my best everyday to not make him feel like I'm a burden. "Sungchan," he glances at me and ran his fingers through my hair. "Can you stay downstairs for a minute?" I smiled at him and nodded without hesitation. I cleaned up the mess I've made and before I got out of the room, he turns me around and kissed my forehead.

"You know I love you, right?" My eyes twinkle upon hearing those words coming out of his mouth. I shot him a wide smile and hugged him once again. "I love you too daddy!" I said as loud as I could because of how delighted I was.

I picked up my toys and ran down happily. I realized that mom wasn't around so I'm guessing that she went out as always whenever she was done arguing with dad. I could hear lots of noises coming from the second floor, specifically mom's room. I believe dad wanted to do something, that is why he told me to leave.

But as minutes passed by, the noises disappeared. Curiosity got the best of me so I decided to check what dad was up to. I strode up the stairs and peeked the door to mom's room from the stairs. I waited for another minute and yet, there were still no noises.

I shuffled my way to the room, placing my hand on the door knob and turned it around slowly. The door unlocks which made me flinch. I opened the door slowly and when it was wide open, I watched as the lifeless body of my father was hanged from the ceiling. His face was purple and his fingers were wrapped around the rope around his neck. He was struggling to get down but the ropes tied up around his neck got the best of him. His legs moved so desperately, trying to step on the stool that soon fell to the ground. I look at him in the eyes that was still staring at me. "I'm sorry," he mumbles before he stopped breathing. I walked towards him slowly, grabbing his pants in my fist and shake his leg.