The twelve year old cried profusely laying his head on his mother's lifeless stomach, his father's body just lifelessly few meters away. The house was messy, tables and chairs overturned, evidence of his parents fighting for their lives. He had been asleep when his father was shot in the head but awake when his mother was shot in the stomach killing both her and the unborn baby. He could see the murders from where he hid behind the passage door trying hard to stifle his cries.
The two men looked emotionless as they stared at the corpses of his parents.
"It was a clean job. The Parks will be satisfied" one of them said.
"What about the kid?" the other said.
"Forget about him. He'll probably only think robbers attacked and killed his parents. But we weren't able to find the document and they wouldn't tell us where it is" Said the first man and they both frowned.
"Come on, let's get the hell out of here" the second finally said and they took off immediately.
Taehyung crawled to his parents lightly hitting his father but the dead look in his open eyes was enough for him to know he was never waking up. He buried his head on his mother's slightly swollen stomach grieving for his unborn sister. He had been so happy when they told him the baby was a girl. He had planned to be the best big brother in the world but now, every thing was gone all because he had found gold in the back yard three months ago.
Thinking about it, it had all been his fault. If he had known things would end this way, he would have left it right where he found it. Taehyung was playing at the back of the house making a toy from scraps he found on the ground. He had little or no friends since he was home schooled so he was used to playing by himself. That day, he was picking up an iron rod from the ground when he found this one to be particularly hard. It was stuck deep inside the ground so he pulled and pulled until the rod plunged out forcefully but not without causing him to fall backwards dirtying his clothes more with mud.
He regained his balance and reached for the rod when something else caught his eyes. It was yellowish and shiny. He stared at it long and hard before grabbing it. He had never seen something like this and Taehyung knew he just had to tell his parents so he held it tight and ran back to the house shouting at the top of his voice.
His mother was making their afternoon meal. She stopped what she was doing as Taehyung ran inside the kitchen.
"Tae Tae, what are you doing?" she whispered but then screwed up her face when she noticed his soiled clothes.
"Kim Taehyung, how many times have I warned you not to enter the kitchen looking dirty" she shook her head looking cross "Go clean your hands first"
Taehyung shook his head and opened his palm to show her the yellow stone. "See, what I found Eomma"
His mother gasped as soon as she saw it, her eyes wide open in shock as she took the yellow stone from him
"Where did you get this?"
"At the yard"
She looked really worried but excited at the same time.
"Yeobo! Yeobo!" She shouted loudly. In a matter of seconds, her husband arrived at the kitchen. He was a writer and his eyes were quite swollen from being at his computer typing away. He looked at her
"What's happening?"
"Take a look at this"
She showed him the stone and the blood drained from his face.
"Yeobo, that's gold right? Isn't it? Tae found it in the yard. Your father was right Yeobo. Your ancestors buried gold in the land! Gold!"
A big smile spread across her husband's face as he gripped the gold in his hand. "Do you know what this means?"
Mother and son looked at him intently before he jerked Taehyung into his arms.
"It means we are rich!"
His wife laughed, tears falling down her eyes.
"We are rich! Rich!" Mr Kim kept shouting peppering kisses on their faces to which Taehyung found disgusting. He couldn't understand why his parents where so happy. They weren't even this happy when they told him he was going to have another sibling.
They told him not to tell another soul about it but for a small town like theirs, rumors spread quickly like wild fire reaching the ears of the illustrious Park family, one of the founders of Big hit town and one of the most powerful and wealthy families in the country.
The news had spread because the Kims needed help in digging out the gold. The miner had quickly informed Park Han soo who instantly became worried. He couldn't live with the fact that nobodies like the Kims who couldn't even afford to send their only son to school would become richer than his family just because they found gold at their back yard. Ultimate conclusion was that he needed that land.
Jeong Hana his wife from his second remarriage noticed his foul mood one night and asked him about it. He told her and she just crossed her arms and stared at him.
"You are Park Han soo, whatever you desire, you get. I can't believe you are sitting here worrying about such a simple issue"
He looked at her. "What do you suggest?"
She grinned "Offer them a huge amount of money to buy off their land but if they insist on not selling then we take matters into our hands and after all is done, we fake some documents and claim ownership of the land"
A big smile spread across her husband's face.
"Now, I remember why I married you!" he said cheekily.
Taehyung was in his room when he heard arguments downstairs. He wasn't supposed to come down until he was finished with his math work but he still tiptoed and hid behind the passage way door to see what was going on.
"We aren't selling you our land for all the money in the world!" his father was yelling at a huge man dressed in expensive clothes and wearing a strange smile on his lips.
"Listen to me Mr Kim, if you don't sell, you are not going to do yourself any good. This is a good deal, take it!" The man said.
His father frowned. "Are you threatening me?"
"It's not a threat, it's only a warning. I always get whatever I want and this land, I must have it!"
Mr Kim scoffed "You are one greedy man. You want to take away the blessings we just received and make yourself richer."
He shook his head firmly. "That isn't going to happen. This is my land, my birthrate and you won't take it away from me"
The man smiled cockily and turned to his mother.
"You better advise your husband. He's digging his own grave!"
She rolled her eyes "We aren't scared of you. We aren't selling you our land"
The man smiled smugly. "Then prepare yourselves for what comes next" he said and walked out leaving the smell of his perfume lingering around the air for long.
They both heaved deeply and his mother saw him behind the door.
"Tae! Tae! What are you doing here?" She said softly as she spread open her arms for him to come to her. He ran and hugged her tightly. He could feel her fear as he held her tight, her hands running through his soft hair.
"Yeobo, what are we going to do? I'm scared. Park Han Soo is an evil man. He's very dangerous" she whispered.
His father kissed his mother's head. "Nothing's going to happen. I think we should leave here for a while until after the mining is completed"
His mother nodded in agreement.
That night, his parents came to his room waking him up from sleep. When he looked at their faces, he could see how worried they were. His mother held him tight while his father patted his back.
"Eomma, Appa, what's wrong? What's with your faces?"
His mother smiled sadly at him. " Tae, do you know you are different and very special?"
He nodded slowly and she continued "And because you're different, people will expect you to be weak, They will try to bring you down, humiliate you but you should never even let them. You should be strong and never back down"
She looked at her husband and they shared mutual looks before turning back to him. His father began to speak.
"A lot has been going on lately and we fear something bad might happen soon... "
"What..."
His father spread his palm and put a small key there.
"In case something happens to us, a man will come for you in two days at the bus station. He will give you a box and you will use this key to open that box...The contents inside must be kept with the utmost care. It's our only gift to you"
He stared at his parents "I don't understand"
His father wore the key over his neck and kissed the top of his head. "One day, you'll understand..."
His mother hugged him peppering his head with kisses.
"We love you so much!" she whispered.
Three days after that burst of emotion, his parents where murdered, killed in the middle of their living room by hired assassins sent by the Parks.
In the midst of his sorrow, he remembered what his parents had told him and ran out of that house the following morning leaving his parents corpses behind. He was filled with confusion and anger. He didn't know how long he walked until he collapsed in the middle of the road.
A few seconds later, his eyes slightly opened and he saw a small face with a small button nose and pouty red lips staring at him with eyes full of wonderment and something resembling pity. He looked back for only a few seconds before he closed his eyes and saw nothing. Nothing but darkness.
To be continued