I'll be your light

She is running, away from him, but he doesn’t know why. Her face is drenched in sweat and fear because she can see him approaching. What’s happening? A dense fog suddenly clouds around them and she trips and falls. She can’t get up, is her ankle sprain? She tries to crawl away but he catches up to her. He reaches out to help her ankle but she screams.

Yukwon sits up in his bed. His forehead and neck is drenched in cold sweat. He sighs in frustration and runs his fingers through his hair. This has been happening ever since he saw her. He dreams of exactly what happens that night, with a few things added. He remembers Minhyuk talking to her, but not in Hangul…It sounded like English? He doesn’t know why he dreams of her. Ever since he helped her with her ankle he hasn’t been able to get her off his mind. Why? He gets out of bed to grab a glass of water. The cold tiles cool his feet as he makes his way to the kitchen. It’s been four years since Yukwon moved out of his parent’s house, or rather, four years since they kicked him out. They were never the loving type of parents, especially his dad. His dad is the CEO of a big and rich company, while his mum is an actress. They never had time for U-kwon and they never realized him slipping from their grasp. He became out of control; getting involved with gangs, coming home with cuts and bruises, binge drinking at a young age and not going to school. His parents couldn’t take it. They didn’t know how to raise a child let alone an out of control child, so they did what they thought was best for them. They cut him loose.
Yukwon spent a month on the street, begging for money, stealing tiny rations of food, trying to find shelter. One day his good friend Minhyuk found him lying on the street, on the verge of pneumonia. He cleaned him up and told him he could help him. Minhyuk was in a gang and the boss was very generous and sympathetic. When Minhyuk introduced Yukwon to the boss, he fabricated his hand-to-hand combat skills. Hearing that Yukwon was an excellent fighter, the boss agreed to let him into the gang known as BLOCK B, the boss offered him an apartment to live in and $50 a month so he can support himself. Yukwon would have cried in front of Zico if he didn’t want to look like a fool. He was so grateful that Zico was so charitable.

Yukwon soon met the rest of the members; Kyung, a master with the knife who also has an obsession with whips, Taeil, a computer hacker and the smartest of the gang, Jihoon, the youngest of them but one of the strongest, Jaehyo is the Casanova yet the most cunning and deceitful, Minhyuk is also a member, the weapons master who provides the gang with all the expensive weapons and Zico who’s real name is unknown to anyone in the group is the leader. It didn’t need to be said; Zico was the one will all the cash and too much time on his hands. Every month, Zico would give each member $50. No one knows why he does, and no one knows how he gets all this money. Ever since Yukwon had become a member of BLOCK B, life has been better. He quickly enrolled in a martial arts class with the money Zico provided and the $1,000 his mum slips into his mailbox. Somehow she found out where he was staying, Minhyuk probably told her, and every month she sends him $1,000 with a letter asking him how he is doing or telling him how she is. He never replies to her letters.

Yukwon sets down the cup in the sink and sighs heavily. “Maybe I can get some sleep now.” He mutters to himself while looking at the clock that reads 3:45am. He lies on the bed, staring at the ceiling. He feels his eyes become heavy as he goes into slumber, but the girl’s face appears.

Notes