everyone around him dies

Part 5

Kim Roksu didn't much care for the orphanage. It definitely wasn't bad, or at least from the standards he'd been living in up until now it was quite generous.

There was food, shelter, and no immediate risk of violence.

After a week of living peacefully there though, Roksu took notice of a rather alarming trend. While living on the streets had been difficult and there were many days where he almost found himself missing the meager and nonexistent comfort offered by the shelter of his uncles horrible apartment, when they were living on the streets it had calmed down.

Roksu didn't have a word for it, he didn't want to label it. He didn't even want to think about it.

It was always nearby and it always had its eyes on Kwangsu.

There wasn't a physical form or a real entity, there were just... accidents. Dangerous little nothing events that struck at the most inconvenient of times. Roksu might not have noticed it if he didn't have Kwangsu or if Kwangsu had fallen to its machinations early on.

But there was an unmistakable pattern of danger.

Roksu theorized that it didn't attack when they were homeless because it thought that Kwangsu's death was now inevitable.

It had a way of constantly underestimating how resourceful Roksu's older twin was. Truthfully, Roksu didn't even have a full understanding of Kwangsu's strength.

But he knew that when he saw Kwangsu stand tall with a twisted smile and a chin uplifted to mock its latest attempt, Roksu felt something like hope stir inside of him.

To him, his brother was hope. Pure and absolute. As bright as the sun and as strong as a rock.

His brother was also despair.

Kwangsu wasn't immortal.

He could bleed, he felt pain, he was just as pitifully weak as Roksu was in so many ways, he was vulnerable.

It only had to be lucky once, Kwangsu had to be lucky all the time.

The orphanage was peaceful but it wasn't without conflict or issues. The larger boy with anger problems would get just a bit too violent around Kwangsu and nearly bash his head in or a shelf that hadn't been properly attached to the wall would drop its load of comically deadly glass figures.

In comparison to the relative peace of the street, the orphanage was a war zone. Every single day there was a danger lingering around a corner for Kwangsu. Every single night, there was a dread tragedy waiting to happen.

It was getting impatient.

In Roksu's nightmares, it succeeded. In a thousand brutal ways, it found a way to steal Roksu's only family from him.

When he suggested they leave the orphanage, Kwangsu refused. He knew just as well as Roksu that this place was dangerous for him but he wouldn't budge.

And as the little accidents grew in frequency, Kwangsu became known as a 'jinx'. An unlucky child who was sure to bring bad luck to anyone who came near to him. Roksu had even experienced having another kid good-naturedly warn him to avoid Kwangsu.

Roksu hated it.

He'd put his foot down. He'd find a way to make Kwangsu leave with him because this couldn't last. He couldn't watch as every day Kwangsu grew closer and closer to death.

He would make him see.

On November 11th, Kwangsu presented him with a winter coat. Lord only knew how he got the money or the means, but it was warm and it fit Roksu perfectly.