February 17, 20xx
Winter vacation season, a time when students either go out and play or stay at home.
But for me, who had been an orphan since birth, I was in an orphanage, not a home or a place to go.
It should have been so.
“We’re thinking of going to a karaoke bar, but we don’t have any money.”
I noticed during the Christmas season that other people spend Christmas Day with someone, not alone.
After realizing that, I was overcome with a profound sense of loss. Walking down the street, brightly lit even at night, I felt hopeless, knowing I was the only one unhappy.
And then I decided. Even if I was alone now, I would find someone to share my hardships and happiness with in the future.
“So you’re asking if I have some money?”
So, this is what I looked like after escaping from the orphanage during the summer vacation without any plan. This is what I looked like as of February 17th, caught by these thugs.
“I don’t have money.”
The thugs laughed at my statement that I had no money. It was a familiar thug cliche: "If you get even 1,000 won, you get hit." I never imagined I'd hear something like that in my lifetime.
But an orphan who escaped from an orphanage would never have money.
“Hey, this kid is rich?”
there is.
“100, 200, 300 thousand won”
Are you kidding me? I worked hard and consistently for 18 years, and this is the money I earned as a scholarship. These guys, who just play, eat, and poop, are getting it so easily?
Is there really no God?
“It used to be 1,000 won, but now it’s 300,000 won, so I’m giving it a special treatment.”
If you look at something like a romance comic, a prince on a white horse would appear around this time, but why doesn't he appear for me? Why can't he even say a word, let alone hit me?
“Don’t worry, I won’t repay your kindness~”
The thugs took my money and left. There were quite a few passersby, but they were all too busy pretending not to notice. Perhaps it was thanks to those people and the thugs that I became an orphan, a child who left the orphanage without any plan.
My best plan was money.
I made a mistake. I shouldn't have left the daycare today. I came here just because I wanted to, so I just took any subway, and of course, any bus. This park was also the result of me walking to it, just because I wanted to.
“I’m done...”
A perfect example of "X done" might be this situation right now: no money, no place to sleep, no food. In an instant, I've become homeless.
"hungry......"
I'm hungry. I haven't eaten anything all day. The 300,000 won in my wallet was emptied, and aside from the two 50,000 won bills I put in my pocket when I left the orphanage, I have no money left.
...?
Wait a minute, I've never said out loud that I was hungry...?
The Crazy Boarders—Kim Tae-hyung
“I’m hungry, I’m hungry, I’m hungry~!”
I turned my head and saw a man sitting on the same bench as me. He seemed to be well over ten centimeters taller than me, and his face looked young. At most, he was a third-year high school student.
“I wish someone would buy me a meal...”
Who am I imitating when I ask for food while eating ice cream? I haven't eaten anything all day.
“I’m hungry and full~~~”
No matter how much you tell me, I'll pretend not to know. If you pretend to listen to music as if you're wearing earphones that aren't there, I'll ignore you and walk away. Even if you're handsome, I'll never buy you a meal with the 100,000 won in my pocket.
“Wow~ I survived!”
This is ridiculous, this is ridiculous. I swore I wouldn't buy it, and yet... I can't believe he resorted to such ridiculous beauty tricks. This guy was a hidden gem.
“I ate and paid for it, so what else do you want?”
I ate until I was full and left the restaurant. Of course, it wasn't me who ate so much, it was him. I ordered three servings, but I don't think I even ate one. Not realizing this, I patted my protruding belly, which only made me even angrier.
“Um, I have to eat dessert...”
I think it would be a good idea to really hit him.
“Thank you so much!”
“I think I can live thanks to you~”
Yes. You've finally been crowned the person I never want to meet again. Congratulations, really.
I don't know what he did well, but he was a strange person who looked at me and smiled, saying 'Hehe.'
“Come to think of it, I got some food, but I didn’t tell you my name.”
"I'm Kim Taehyung. I'm a second-year student at Yeonhwa High School."
Yeonhwa High School... Yeonhwa High School. My school is also Yeonhwa High School, so why don't I remember seeing this guy? With someone this good-looking, even a fleeting glimpse of him in the cafeteria would be enough to keep me thinking about him all day.
“Never seen you before. Are you a transfer student?”
As I walked forward, I stopped at the word "Yeonhwa High School" and looked at Kim Taehyung. As I stopped, Kim Taehyung followed suit.
“Oh, I haven’t gone yet, I’m transferring this time.”
It was you. Of course, I couldn't have overlooked that face. "I see," I said, and started moving again.
“Did you leave home?”
The question of whether I left home made me briefly ponder. Could a daycare center be considered a home? What defines a home in the first place?
“Yeah, how did you know?”
Kim Taehyung gestured to my bag, saying, "Do I look like an idiot?" He said it with his mouth, but I could clearly see his delight in his eyes.
“I’m just going out for a bit, so don’t bring such a big backpack.”
Well, that's true. I was sitting on that bench with that bag. People might have mistaken me for a runaway.
“You have nowhere to go now?”
I thought for a moment and then answered in a small voice, “Yeah.” Then he said:
“Then why don’t you come to the boarding house?”
“It’s going to be a pretty nice place to live.”
The moment he said those words, a gentle breeze blew. His short hair swayed in the wind's direction and then quickly returned to its original position.
I don't have parents and I don't have a home.
Now, as the sun was almost setting, the twilight of my life, a prince on a white horse finally appeared to save me from this twilight.
Twilight means ‘the time when the sun sets and it gets dark,’ but it also means ‘the time when things have declined and reached their end.’