TW: Abuse, blood

Yeonjun entered his house later than his usual time. As he wasted his time in the garden, playing with his pet dog, a husky. He didn't want to enter his house. It only held agony.

He was welcomed by his father sitting on one of the plush sofas in the open living room, a baseball bat placed on the coffee table, bringing his steps to hault. Mr. Choi had his gaze fixed on him. Yeonjun took nervous steps towards his father and stopped a little away from the carpet on which the sofa was placed.

"Goodnight, Dad!" He said, bowing his head in front of his father before walking away.

Before Yeonjun could let out a sigh of relief, Mr. Choi yelled, "Come back here."

Mr. Choi stood up from the sofa, and Yeonjun retreated back to the spot he was standing on, his mouth going dry.

"Is the report done?"

Yeonjun was getting trained for the company. He had been attending some important meetings regarding important decisions, made reports, and presentations on the topics given by his father.

"It's halfway done."

A sharp punch landed on his cheek. He staggered backwards, not letting out a voice despite the stinging pain. None of the servants in their house were allowed to intervene, so they avoided such situations.

"You're applying for dance lessons when you can't even complete a report," Mr. Choi said, picking up the baseball bat and swinging it, hitting Yeonjun's arm.

He found out.

He secretly applied for dance lessons in a dance studio. He thought he could hide it from his father.

"You thought I wouldn't know?"

"Dad, it will end in just 3 weeks. I will not -"

Mr. Choi hit him again on his arm with more force. Yeonjun winced and grabbed the hurt arm in pain.

"You've been fooling around with that girl, and I ignored it, but you're worthless. You deserve getting thrashed. Other kids are so competent, but you're nothing."

•  •  •

"Get your act together. You know up to what extent I can go if things don't work my way," Mr. Choi warned and stood straight, letting go of Yeonjun's jaw he had grabbed.

Mr. Choi walked away towards his room, and Yeonjun lied down flat on the floor. He could hear his rapid heartbeat and every single breath he was taking. All the bruises, newer as well as older ones from three days ago, were aching.

He hated that his eyes were watering.

He felt weak.

He covered his eyes with his forearm, but instead of stopping, the tears started coming out of his eyes. He wiped his tears with his other hand immediately, but then his trembling fingers felt the blood on his cheek. He got it when he hit his face on the coffee table. More tears trailed down from the side of his eyes. Not because of the pain but because of the helplessness he was feeling.

He can't heal himself.

And for some reason, his wounds took a longer time to heal than other people's wounds. He started noticing this problem a year ago.

Why is the world against me? When will this end?

"Yeonjun-ah!" His mom called, walking towards him, holding a first aid kit. He didn't even notice when she entered the living room. She sat down beside him on the floor

"I'm sorry, my son. I'm so sorry. I was working upstairs in my office. I should've come earlier." She caressed his face. He didn't answer. He didn't want to answer.

His mom can only apologize to him because, in the end, he was not the first priority for his mom. She tried to hide it, but he knew that she wasn't leaving his dad because of money. His dad spent a huge amount of money on her family's company. From the very beginning, she was tolerating everything just for her family. Family that included her parents and her siblings but not her son.

Every time his father hit him, he thought maybe his mom would feel bad for him or even for herself and divorce her husband.

Yeonjun loved his mom, but in moments like these, he felt resentful.

"I want to sleep." He sat up. He took the kit from her hand and went to his room.

• • • • • • • • •

Min Si and her dad sat together in her dad's favourite restaurant. Her dad was still in his formal clothes.

"What would you like to eat?" her asked, passing her the menu.

"The usual," she replied, not taking the menu.

"We're having our late Christmas dinner. You should order something new," he advised.

"I like the usual one better."

"It's what you're choosing. Don't complain afterwards," he said, and she hmm-ed. He ordered the food while she went through her messages.

"You haven't posted any pictures with Bitna recently. Did you two fight?" he inquired curiously.

"She's not a nice person. She called me words because I made a guy friends and didn't just follow her around like her minion."

"Kids your age do such things. You shouldn't let her words affect you."

"I apologized to Chae Rin after that. But she still doesn't want to be close with me," she shared, "I only have one friend now."

Mr. Jang smiled with profound happiness. "This friend of yours will always stay with you and support you," he grinned, pointing to himself and then letting out a hearty laugh.

"It's not you. You're my dad," she corrected him.

"Ya! Keep your phone down," he scolded, acting like he was angry. She kept her phone on the table, and he complained, crossing his arms, "I keep all of your secrets only to hear that I'm not your friend? This is unacceptable."

"You're the best dad, but you can't be my friend," she retorted.

"Then who is it?"

"You don't know him."

"It's a 'him'. You shouldn't talk about other guys in front of a guy."

She rolled her eyes chuckling and commented, "Dad, you're so over dramatic!" After a pause, she went on, "His name is Choi Yeonjun, and he's nice and funny. He has a friend, and I try to get along with him as well."

Mr. Jang nodded, letting that information sink in. That name sounded familiar. He heard it somewhere. Somewhere in his office, but he couldn't pinpoint where.

Min Si contemplated whether to ask him about superpowers or not. She wanted to know if her father ever came across something like that.

"Dad, do you think superpowers exist?"

"Those only exist in fairy tales."

She faked a smile.

The fact that something like that existed and there was no one else who had some superpower made her anxious for some reason.