Chapter Text
There was only one word to describe your life as of right now: hell.
But it was strange. You never thought of hell as being so cold and numb. And you figured that after you died, you would have to suffer eternal pain. After all, the poor didn't deserve to be anywhere else, you thought bitterly to yourself even though you were just barely conscious. And I have nothing... not even a warm place to sleep.
It was indeed cold outside, as it was just beginning to start the cold months of winter. It was a terrible time to have your home raided and get thrown out for not being able to pay the fees in order to stay. Just one night ago you would have at least been able to use a blanket to fend off the nipping air. But the soldiers had seen to it that you would be left with nothing.
Anger swelled in your chest as you think about what those awful men have done with your once peaceful village. They have raided through not even a month beforehand, separating the poor from the rich and creating despotism. Innocent families were thrown into the streets. Orphaned children like yourself who had been living alone in the homes they grew up in were forced to leave. A majority of those people and kids died from their lack of protection against harsh weather, leaving only a few left who were able to fend for themselves in the streets. How you managed to stay as long as you did in your original home was a miracle, but it was inevitable that you would be thrown out as well.
Your body continuously shivered despite the blood boiling from the fury inside you. You let out a weak cough before pulling your numb legs to your chest in a feeble attempt to generate heat. Before long, snow began slowly falling around you.
You felt as if you wanted to cry. Usually at this time of year, you would have welcomed the snow, watching it fall and examining its beauty. Never had you once thought of the dangers that it could bring with it. Never had you once thought of the people who couldn't afford a shelter to stay in, to keep warm. And never had you even once thought that maybe you could someday be one of them. Until now.
You raised your trembling hands to your mouth and attempted to breathe a tiny bit of warmth onto your fingers, which were now turning white. The heat lasted for not even a second, disappearing as your skin met again with the icy atmosphere. All that you managed to accomplish was nothing except a puff of steam rising into the air. You knew for a fact that you would never be able to survive the night. You knew you would be dead by morning.
Silently, you hugged your legs tighter against your stomach and rested your forehead on your knees. Tears began to swell in your eyes, stinging as they slid down your cheeks, raw and red due to the cold.
Your body losing heat by the second and your mind slipping in and out of consciousness, you hadn't noticed yourself falling hard onto your side. You hadn't noticed the scrape on your face, now dripping with fresh blood that was freezing onto the gravel of the street. You hadn't even felt the pain.
You had given up.
Now you just waited. Waited for death to take you as far away from this horrible place as possible. If any luck, the soldiers will find your frozen corpse by the next morning and get rid of it before anyone else sees it. One more won't matter to them.
"Whoa. Is she dead?"
Your eyes cracked open just enough to see someone crouched down in front of you, but your brain was still too hazy to identify who it was. You moved your fingers just enough to let whomever was there know that you were, in fact, alive. Your could hear the person let out a small gasp before you felt yourself being pulled carefully upright so that you were sitting on your knees. If you weren't so weak, you would have probably been surprised at the person's reaction: staying instead of leaving in disgust.
"Why are you out here all by yourself?" The kind voice softly returned, obviously male. You assumed that he was mainly talking to himself since you were unable to answer his question in your condition. You stirred, lifting your head slightly to get a good look at the stranger. But no matter how much you concentrated, your vision kept blurring in and out of focus, causing his image to remain fuzzy.
"Cold..." you managed to cough out between your swollen lips.
And you toppled forward losing consciousness, the last thing that you remembered were the arms that caught you before your face connected with the cement for the second time.
***
"Hey just hold on... you'll be okay. All you need to do is wake up and you'll be okay." The voice you recognized from earlier cut through the darkness in your head, waking you up little by little. "Come on... come on..."
The words started registering in your brain and you attempted to open your eyes. The light hit your vision right away and immediately blinded you. You groaned, feeling your voice vibrating within your sore throat.
The person gasped at your unexpected response. "You're awake! Can you move?"
You concentrated on forcing your fingers to move, painfully flexing them until the numbness faded away. Then you tried shifting your throbbing arms, stretching until all the aching subsided. When you tried to get up, the person carefully helped until you were able to sit firmly without falling over.
By the time you were awake completely, your vision had already adjusted to the light that first blinded you. You looked around with tired eyes until they found the mysterious person who had helped you. He was a boy around your age of 16, maybe a few years older, with messy light blonde hair and dark brown eyes. When he saw you looking at him, he smiled wide. "Glad you're up. When I found you, you were almost dead."
You could tell that he had a friendly personality. That much was obvious from the way he cared for you, even though you were a complete stranger. But after everything that had happened to you in the past few days, you couldn't help except eye him warily.
That didn't stop him from trying to strike up a conversation to keep the mood light. "I know you're still feeling kind of sick, but I just wanted to let you know that you're safe. It must feel a little freaky to wake up in a random place like you did. I'm sorry. I couldn't let you freeze to death." His fast chatter was quickly replaced by confusion. "It's strange that you were outside like that. I usually see lots of adults out on the streets because they aren't able to get jobs to pay for shelter. But I've never seen a teenage girl on the streets before."
He studied you thoughtfully. "Why were you alone out there? Did you get lost on your way home or something?" Then he stopped talking, leaving the room in an uncomfortable silence as he continued to watch you while you stared straight ahead.
After a few moments, the boy let out a sigh and rose from his spot across from you. "Listen, I'm just going to go grab you a blanket. It'll only take a moment-"
You cleared your throat and rasped out, "Or something."
His movements froze and he turned, blinking at you with his brows knit together in confusion. "What do you mean? Don't you live with your parents?" You lowered your head in a poor attempt to hide the pain that flashed across your face. The boy noticed and remained silent, racking his brain to find the right words to say next. "Well... if you don't have anywhere else to go... you could stay here?"
Your head shot up and you looked at him in surprise. "I hardly even know you."
He let out an awkward laugh as he rubbed the back of his neck. "Yeah, I guess I'd better tell you a little more about me." Then he sat down across from you once more. "My name is Minhyuk." He held out his hand and you hesitantly took it before giving it a small shake. "I've been living here for some time, but my father is away for his job so he's not here. He sends me money so I can keep up with rent and buy food and stuff. Now tell me a little about you."
You looked down, trying to think of what to say. "My name is (Y/N). I used to live with my parents, but they're both gone now. I was living in my home afterwards, but I had to leave. That's why I was on the street."
You glanced over at Minhyuk to see his reaction. His welcoming smile was replaced with a small frown as he nodded his head to show he understood. Then he stood up. "Like I said: you can stay here if you want. It's not much, but it's better than suffering out in the cold. Speaking of which, I'm going to go and grab you that blanket. We don't want another near-death experience on our hands."
He made his way across the room, your eyes following as he did so. When he got to the door however, he stopped suddenly and spun around. "Why did you have to leave your home?" His voice sounded somber, unlike before, and his brown eyes bored straight into your own.
Silence immediately followed the question, proving that he had just asked about something serious. Images of the armed men flashed in your head, causing you to visibly flinch.
"I was... forced to leave," came your vague reply.
For a moment, his expression hardened into something that you couldn't quite read, but as fast as it came, it almost immediately changed back into his normal happy smile. "I see. Well, I'm glad to have met you (Y/N)." And he left, his footsteps echoing throughout the small house.