The Street Child (Min Yoongi)

Chapter 1: The Origins

"Helping someone might not change the whole world, but it could  change the whole world for one person."
. . .

"One Zinger burger, please," I said to the boy behind the counter.

He flashed me a smile.

"Please wait for ten minutes."

I nodded and took my seat at the corner of the restaurant. I glanced out of the window and winced. The dense, ash-grey clouds outside were wretching a colossal amount of rain. Thunder was cackling above and people were sprinting to find shelter before they got soaked to the bone. My lips tugged down into a frown when I realized that I didn't have an umbrella.

"One Zinger burger for Ms Yuna!"

The counter boy's voice snapped me out of my thoughts. Getting up, I made my way towards the counter to take my order.

"Thanks for eating here! We were glad to serve you!" he said in a cheerful tone with a bright smile on his chubby face.

I smiled at him, paid for my burger and went towards the door, heaving a sigh before stepping outside into the deluge of rain.

Immediately, my clothes soaked and clung to my body as a second skin, my hair sticking to the back of my neck. I hastily ran towards my hostel, until I saw an alley with a roof as a shelter. I turned towards it, but saw a small figure already curled up on the firm and frigid floor. Eyebrows furrowed, I trudged inside the unwelcoming and sinister place. Unfortunately, the squishy noises my shoes made alerted him of my presence. In mid snore, he sprang up from the floor, snapping his head towards me and instantly narrowing his murky eyes in suspicion. I shrunk back a little, feeling as an intruder with his unnerving gaze.

He was a short, white-faced young boy with several patches of dust littering his skin, which was stretched tight over his limbs. His bony hands were wound around his torn jeans which hung off his delicate frame. Despite being extremely malnourished, there was a glow and unparalleled wisdom in the depths of his coal black eyes. A soft lock of pitch black hair on the longish side fell over his high nose and milk-white forhead, giving him the look of an angel straight from Heaven.

Pushing down the lump that had lodged itself in my parched throat, I mustered up the courage to respond.

"Can I sit here until the rain stops?"

It took him some time to contemplate whether or not he could trust me, and to my surprise, he shrugged. Sighing in relief, I slumped down tiredly, flinching as a piercing pang shot through my hip bone. I glanced at him to find him peering at me eccentrically. Fidgeting under he speculation, I offered him a timid smile, but he only narrowed his eyes further. I could tell he was not letting his guard down for a stranger. I cleared my throat, deciding to end the eloquent and deafening silence.

"So...what's your name?" I asked, hoping to strike up a conversation with the boy. He didn't answer for some time, and I almost shrivelled in embarrassment, until he finally replied.

"Min Yoongi."

"I'm Yuna."

He gave a shrug of his head.

Queerly, my stomach twisted in a foreign way as I drank in his scruffy state. My heart clenched as I realized that he had to sleep on this adamantine floor everyday. Suddenly, he cleared his throat, and I was brought back from my deep, but painfully obvious thoughts. I blushed realizing that I had been staring at him all this time. He looked away, but I saw what he was trying to hide; the tiniest smile had formed on his chapped lips for just a second.

Abruptly, he faced away from me. It took a moment for me to figure out that he was searching for something. His hand was inside a dumpster and he was delving through it.

"What are you looking for?" I asked out of curiosity.

"Food," he mumbled distractedly.

I felt nauseous. He was looking for food in the dumpster?

"Why are you looking there?" I whispered.

"Because some rich fucktards throw food in here without a second thought".

I cringed thinking that just yesterday, I had thrown a cup of milkshake because I had felt like puking.

Seeing him search for food in a trash cart, made me think of how cruel this world was. What did he do to deserve such an awful life?

Something in me snapped and my hand reached towards the box which had my burger. I pushed it towards him. He glanced at it and his hands stopped rummaging. He stared at me questioningly. I smiled at him, encouraging him to take the box, but he made no move to accept it.

"Are you going to take it or not?"

I pushed it again towards him.

"Go on, take it." I kept urging him, but his eyes were glued to it with doubt, thinking that I was pulling his leg. I understand that I had put spiders in my friend's underwear, but I wasn't this sadistic to play such a disgusting joke. Then gradually, very slowly, his hand crawled out to take the box from my hand. His eyes turned even wider as he weighed it, his mouth dropping into an 'o.'

"What? Did you think I was going to give you an empty box?" I teased.

My heart swelled at how he was staring at it in awe. I came to the conclusion that no one had offered him food before. When he was sure I wasn't pranking him, he tore open the box with surprising strength and stuffed almost half of the burger in his mouth at once, chewing loudly and moaning at the taste of ketchup, cheese and mayonnaise on his tongue. A smile made its way onto my lips as I saw him lick his fingers with hunger, not missing even a single ounce of sauce. I was staring at him the whole time, but he didn't seem to care as he was too busy devouring lavishly. I looked up to the sky and realized that it had stopped raining.

Sighing, I straightened up and looked at him. I laughed at seeing the corners of his mouth covered in sauce, and handed him a tissue. As I leaned in, I was met with endless pools of void blackness that had suffered continuous affliction.

My heart missed a beat.

I quickly stood straight and gave him a wide smile.

"Well, I guess I should get going now that the rain has stopped. It was a pleasure meeting you, Yoongi. I hope we see each other again."

And with that, I left and made my way back to my hostel where I could finally rest from the long day.

As I was making my way back, I could see him resuming his place on the floor, curling into a frail ball inside the gloomy alley.

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A/N:
All credits to G_maknae_kookie for the beautiful banner at the side!