Present time:
Seoul City, South Korea.
It was the 1st Friday night of October in Seoul. Autumn was already over. The night was cold. Clouds were covering the sky. It was probably going to rain, soon. The weather was gradually changing which the indication of the arrival of winter.
People were trying to reach their destinations before the storm hits. The party people, not caring about the world, going wild in the clubs. Everyone was immersed in their world that they could barely pay attention to their surrounding. Well, we are talking about Seoul, one of the busiest city in the world.
In the middle of these busy street, around the corner of the residential area, in a dark alley, there was a small figure sitting beside the dumpster. The fragile pale boy was freezing as the constant gusts of the cold air kept hitting his body. He had his knees close to his chest and his arms hugging his small frame.
The clothes that he was wearing were not helping in giving any warmth as well. He was wearing an extra large grey t-shirt that was hanging low from his side revealing his bony shoulder and collarbone. At bottom, it were big black basketball shorts.
Not to mention, he found these clothes in another dumpster. His original attire were just his boxers. He had spent whole last week in running away and sleeping on streets.
Soon, it started to rain. The boy was soaked now. He was trembling and his heart began to pound inside his chest. He needed a shelter right now.
Just as he was about to leave, he heard some dogs barking. He moved forward and peeked his head, only to see some street dogs running into the alley.
"D-doggie....I..d-don't l-like...doggie....." He mumbled as crawled to the back of the dumpster. He leaned back against the wall breathing heavily. Soon, the sound of the dogs slowly disappeared.
He sighed. His vision started to get blurry. He hadn't ate something since last 2 days. Before that, he was able to find some fruits or half eaten food from the dumpsters.
Hunger, fear, cold managed to exhaust him. The rain just added to his misery. His eyelids began to grew heavy. Maybe, he is dying. Well, this shouldn't have happened like this.
What if he dies and the dogs come back and ate his body? But who will care if the dog bite him or not, the thing that matters is that he is getting free from this hell which people describe as world.
A grin tried to form on his face as he saw the whole world spin in front of him. He was happy he is going to be free. He felt the darkness surrounding him before he passed out. His head fell on his lap and his body fell limp. His bare foot sticking out from behind of the dumpster.
+++++++++++++++++++
"Thanks for coming sir." The waitress greeted. The male smiled and made his way out of the restaurant to join his brother.
"Thanks for the dinner, hyung. It's been so long since we've eat together." The taller male stated as they were walking to the parking lot. He ran his hand through his wavy black hair.
"Well, thanks to you for joining me, Mr. Kim Taehyung. Me, mom and Joon always call you for dinner but you never join us." The older complained and rolled his eyes.
He scratched the back of his head. "Hyung, you know that I want to give you two privacy. You guys just got married. Plus, for how long I'm gonna rely on you? I thinks it's for the best."
The elder stopped in the tracks. "You and your excuse. That is your home too. You'll never be a bother to me and Namjoon. Mom lives with us as well. You don't even visit her."
"I know, hyung, I'll try to catch up." He answered with a sincere smile.
"Good. And I'm looking forward to you joining us in the company. You could've continued your college. It wasn't necessary."
"No, hyung. I wanted to help you. I know how much struggle you and Joon hyung has done to make the company successful. Especially after Dad's unfortunate death. I've been doing my best to learn about the office work. Just don't make me reconsider my decision." The older nodded.
"As you wish. Just know that you're always welcome whenever you want to join." He smiled.
Taehyung looked at his wrist watch to note time. 10:30 pm. "I should be leaving now, hyung." He said.
"Yeah. Let me drop you. Weather is not so great. It looks like it's going to rain."
"No. It's ok, hyung. I'll just walk. My place is near. Just 15 minutes of walk. I'll be fine." He reassured.
The elder nodded. "Okay. Just be safe." They hugged and pulled away after few seconds. "Text me when you're home."
"Will do." He showed his boxy smile. The elder made his way to his car and got in the driver's seat. "Bye Tae." He waved. "Bye Seokjin-hyung. See you on Monday." He waved back.
Once the car was out of sight, he sighed. He started to walk toward his house. The walk was nice as the latter was humming a song. His hands in his pockets and he walks on the path.
He wasn't even a meter away from the restaurant and it started to rain. "Shit! I should've brought my umbrella." He cursed under his breath as he began to walk faster.
He eventually stopped as he saw a pack of street dogs barking and running out of an alley. He hid behind the nearest wall. He was just a block away from his house and there are like 7 to 8 dogs on his way.
It's not like he doesn't like dogs. He loves dogs but who would want to go near some random dog wandering in the streets. What is the guarantee that they are not mad dogs? What if they bite him?
Caught up in his thoughts, he didn't realize he was soaked. He cursed once again and popped his head out to see no more dogs. 'This is the chance, let's go Tae.' He thought as he began to walk.
As he went near the alley, he stopped. Curiosity rose in his head. 'Should I look? Why did the dogs came out of here? If the dogs came out, then I shouldn't enter? Plus, it's cold and raining, I should be heading home. But, I want to go and see. Nah, what if I got sick because of being out in rain. But, 2 minutes won't hurt.' His mental debate ended as he heard a creak from inside the alley.
'Fuck it, I'm going.' He reached the inside of his coat and pulled out his phone (which is waterproof, just in case). He turned on the flashlight as there was no light or bulb there.
He gasped as he saw a rat. He clutched his heart and sighed in relief. The rat ran to the back of the dumpster. "Fucking rat. You scared me. Stupid." He muttered. He was about to turn when something caught his eyes.
From the corner of his eyes, what he assumed that it was a foot. He stopped and turned his phone to the dumpster. He moved forward to take a clear look behind of the dumpster.
It was really a foot. His eyes widened in horror. 'Fucking hell. Is it a dead body? What if it's only a foot that someone has chopped off and threw here?' Thousand of thoughts and question wandered his mind.
He shook his head violently. "It's ok, Tae. Breath. Just one look. One look and you're out." He breathed out to calm down. Hesitantly, he walked over to the back of the dumpster.
His phone held tightly in his hand, he took little steps. His eyes widened once again as he saw a leg under the dumpster. Without any second thought, he pushed the dumpster away revealing a small pale body in sitting position with head in lap.
"Oh god..." He muttered before rushing over to the boy. He held the boy's wrist and gasped as he felt how cold it was. He checked his heartbeat which was decreasing. His breathing was very slow.
Without wasting another second, Taehyung shoved his phone back in his pocket. "Hang on buddy. I'll save you. Just hang on." He muttered gently picking up the unconscious boy and carefully carried him on his back. Giving him piggybank, he walked faster to his home.
His guard spotted him from a distance. He took an umbrella as he quickly walked to open the gate and greeted him as soon as he rushed in the gate.
The taller nodded and rushed to the front door. Punching in the password, he walked in the house closing the door behind him with his foot. He sighed in relief as he was met with the warmth instantly.
He was grateful that he lit up the fireplace before leaving. Taking off his shoes, he walked into the living room, Switching on few lights, he walked to the fireplace and placed the small boy on the rug near the fire.
He saw the boy's clothes were drenched with rainwater and mud. He caressed his cheek softly. It's when he realise that his own clothes were wet as well. He panicked. "Stay right here, okay? I'll be back." He told the boy and ran upstairs.
He rushed in his room straight to the bathroom. He turned on the shower instead of waiting for the warm water comes out, he ran back to his room. Opening the closet, he picked out a comfy pajamas for himself. He opened the other side if the closet.
"Where is it? Where is it? Where....Aha! Here it is." He exclaimed as he pulled out a pair of smaller pajamas for the smaller male which actually belonged to his nephew. His cousin sister had visited them in summer 2 years ago and her son left these when they had to stay in Taehyung's house. He thought that they are useless but now, there are gonna work.
He hopped into the shower and finished it as fast as he can. Slipping into his pajamas, he grabbed the other pair and rushed downstairs straight to the kitchen.
He took some warm water in a huge bowl and took some cloth wipes from the cabinet. Making his way into the living room, he placed the things on the rug and sat beside the boy.
He saw the boy's hair dried up. He smiled to himself as he checked that his body temperature was going back to normal.
He soaked a cloth wipe in the luke warm water and squeezed it to remove the extra water. "First, I'll clean you up. Then, I'll dress you in something warm." He muttered to the unconscious boy.
He gently cleaned the boy's face. He frowned as he saw the amount of mud and dirt covering his soft and beautiful pale skin. He took the other wipe for cleaning his body.
He threw the dirty cloth in the bin. Gently, he removed the boy's large shirt and tossed it to the corner of the living room. He was surprised by seeing how skinny the smaller boy was. He can literally count his ribs.
As he began to clean the boy's upper body, his expressions changed from calm to confused to worried to pure horror. The boy's small frame was covered with red and purple mark. They covered his chest, belly and even his back.
"A-are those h-hickeys?" He mumbled as he traced his hands on the marks. Those were in fact hickeys. On his back, there were long red marks in different pattern which he assumed as were made by belt. Some of them were old but few were new.
One thing was now clear to Taehyung. The boy had been abused and he needed help. His horror turned into anger. 'How can someone be so cruel to a kid like him? Poor boy. He didn't deserved this.' He thought as he continued to clean him up. As expected, his legs were also bruised and covered with belt marks. He felt sick to his stomach. He just wanted to kill that person at the spot. Only if he knew. But, for now, he subsided his anger and focused on the boy.
Once he was finished dressing him, he took a good look at the boy's face. His sharp cat-like eyes with long lashes. His buttoned nose and doll-like lips that were currently chapped. His beautiful silky black hair that were spread on the rug.
'He looks so cute in these pajamas with bears on it.' He thought. He shook his head a little as he stood up and picked up the boy. "You're so light and skinny. I wonder have you even eaten properly in weeks or maybe....months?" He mumbled as he walked upstairs to his room.
He tucked in the boy in his bed and put the sheets over him. A smile creeped on his face as he saw the boy snuggling up in the sheets, embracing the warmth as his small hands turned into fists. "Cute." He giggled.
The thought of someone hurting this pure soul was burning him up from the inside. But, he had to wait until the boy wakes up or more like when he was willing to tell him.
"Don't worry, dear. I will protect you at any cost. I'll help you as much as I can. I promise. And for tonight, just sleep well." He walked over to him and caressed his hair softly before giving a small smile and leaving the room.
(2300 words)
Finally, Taehyung is here.