Between Footsteps| p.jm

THIRTY| -- .. .-. .-. --- .-.

Even the way he carried himself felt more mature, and that in itself made you naturally get up to follow him.

You weren't sure what you expected as the child managed to pull back the flap, but it certainly wasn't whatever it would have been if you had managed to imagine anything to begin with.

What you saw in front of you was a mirror maze. 

A common attraction at any fair, the twisting paths of reflected surfaces were known for entrapping and confusing those who wandered into them. Usually however, there was a lightness to them.

They were fun. A game. 

But this mirror maze was broken down completely, and if not for the candle light may have been pitch black. You felt as if wandering too far into the mirrors may cause you to be lost forever, and you stiffened as Hun reached down to pick up one of the candles in order to better illuminate the entrance area.

The mirror to your direct left was  half shattered; as if an amount of force had been thrust upon it but had only managed to break it half way. 

"W-What is this," Your trembling voice made out and echoed in the space, you freezing even further upon facing what should have been a mirror without seeing your own reflection.

"Step back," Hun instructed, "Just a little bit."

You obeyed, and stepped closer to the entrance so just the kid was standing between all the mirrors in sight. His face was grim as he held the candle in a way that better evenly distributed the light. Then, you saw it.

Before the mirrors had seemed to only reflect darkness, but now, different images began to appear in the glass. And they all, in some way, included Hun.

Some were blurry, some were more defined, and some pictured him at a younger age, but all the images involved the boy in front of you.

"My mom and dad worked a lot," He spoke, looking towards one of the reflections. It showcased a young boy that was definitely Hun playing with a toy car in an office. It seemed as if you were looking through a reflective window to see him, and you watched as the young boy shrunk when the office door burst open.

An upset man stomped in and sat at the desk, seemingly barking orders at the kid who obeyed and stopped playing to get off the floor and sit in a chair. 

"I don't think they wanted me, really," Hun admitted, fist tightening around the candle. "And I was stupid for thinking they did. After all, they only married because they knew they were going to have me." 

You swallowed hard as you looked around to see more images of a young Hun sitting in cars and offices. He was silent, obedient, and... content. 

"I thought all parents were supposed to love their kids if they behaved, so I did. I thought for sure I was doing it right, but one day, they told me we were going on another business trip. I was used to those, but this one was apparently in Korea. I was excited, and at first it felt just like any other business trip, but..."

It was hard for him to speak then, and you knew it was because of the mirror with the shattered glass. You slowly turned to face it, and in the top half that remained clear, you saw maybe the most heartbreaking sight you had ever seen. 

His hands.

The glass must have bore a memory so painful for him that he had clearly punched at the surface in a willingness for it to go away. The glass had embedded itself into his skin, but he hadn't cared. You could see it so clearly, this kid screaming and crying as he tried to break the glass that continuously showed his own abandonment.