It's not an act - he really is well-mannered and polite! It's in the little things...the guy didn't even call for the bill - he went straight to the counter without her even knowing and settled it there! He pulled the chair when she was about to stand, and held her jacket up for her to put it on. He opened the door and she caught him bowing slightly to the hostess at the corner of her eyes earlier. Put him in a suit and he'd look like a charming prince - which is too good to be true and she knows it's far from the truth!

There's the question of his background lingering around but she sensed that he's not comfortable talking about it. It was horrific to hear but what shocked the hell out of her was the way he said it. She might be slow when picking up lies, but she wasn't oblivious when someone puts up an act. It was as if he's trying to appear nonchalant - like he wasn't affected by it - but there's a hidden emotion in his eyes and she was sure of it!

It's intriguing and Lisa wanted to know more - was he there when it happened? How did he survived then? How and why his adopted mother committed to such a crime? Was she abusive to him? Is that why he's the way he is now? There are so many things she wanted to peel off from the guy but she can't...not until he's comfortable enough with her!

"What do you wanna do next?" He asked as they reached his bike.

"Mm...you wanna go play some games?" It's probably a childish and cliché thing to do on a date but Lisa has a purpose. She's determined to make him laugh and smile so much today, so that he'd feel safe with her!

...

He remembered being in this kind of place when he was little. The place was much smaller, but some of the machines looked familiar. It was on one od those days when he walked with Mrs Kim to help her carry groceries and on the way back, she stopped by a tiny stall to get a newspaper while he waited in front of a shop lot that happened to be a small arcade. There were a lot of kids his age and older inside, and Mrs Kim caught him staring. He could still recall how fast his excited heart was beating when she encouraged him to go inside and play something.

He watched as Lisa went to exchange the tokens at the counter, then to the surroundings. It's definitely bigger and livelier. There aren't that many small kids around, most of the space being occupied by late teens. They're probably around the same age as him but he can't help but feel old. It's colourful too, with neon lights from the machines. An upbeat pop music is playing - not too loud but enough to get people excited.

"Here," Lisa placed the bunched tokens on his palm. "I've exchanged for 20 tokens each. We can probably play 5 or six games with it. What do you feel like doing first?"

Jungkook took a quick glance at the active view of the arcade. He's actually really excited that he's not sure if he could even choose - he wanted to try playing so many things! But what caught his eyes most are the racing machine. That was the one he played when he was little.

"Can um...can we do that one?"

Lisa tiptoed slightly to where he pointed. "You sure? Cus I'm so used to driving and um...I can go pretty fast,"

"Oh...are we competing?"

"Not exactly but I mean...you can get really competitive when you start playing right?" She smirked.

You can? Oh...maybe cus I never played next to anyone...

"Okay...I'll do my best then!"

...

This is probably the most fun Jungkook has had in years! He just can't seem to stop laughing at the comical and loud girl as she became more and more frustrated at the result of each game - not to mention, her confident comeback everytime they started on a new one! He did feel bad though, so he lets her win on the shooting games - and because he got nervous that she'd catch up on his skills...

She really is a joy to be around with. Her smile is contagious, and her genuine laugh - as loud as it is - brings warmth in his chest. Her big eyes would be squished into a curved line and her soft cheeks would look like two mini-buns - all pink and delightful to look at. She would cover her mouth and sometimes fan her face with her hands. He's already used to it that at one point, he actually found himself mimicking her! 

Damn...this girl is doing things to me!

There's a park across the street and she clutched on his arm as they crossed. Jungkook gripped it close to his torso so she wouldn't let go and she didn't. Up until now, she's still walking beside him...with her hand clinging around his arm...and it felt blissful. 

"I used to go to the arcade when I was in Bangkok. Right after school, me and my friends would go there and play. The place we always went to, it was small - nothing like the arcades in Seoul. I've been to a lot here and they're all bigger and better. I wrote to one of my old friends about it,"

"When did you move here?"

"When I was 15. My dad was a Deputy Commissioner back in Thailand, and he was involved in a big case - something that had to do with an underground drug scene. Some of those guys they caught were Koreans, so they got in touch with the enforcement here. I guess they were impressed with his work that they offered him a post so..."

"Do you like it better here or in Thailand?"

"It's hard to choose...cus it's different. I grew up there and I'm used to it. My relatives and my old friends are there, and the city's always bright and busy that I never felt lonely. But I feel Seoul is much calmer - like even if it's busy, it still has that balance. I feel a lot safer at night especially. When I first moved here, it was a little hard cus I didn't understand much and I found it hard to fit in. I felt like my classmates, it's hard for them to talk to me cus I couldn't speak Korean that well. I remember pushing myself to learn as quick as I can, just so I'd have friends at school," She laughed and he can't help but smile. 

Wow...we're so different...she needs people...interactions...while I've been trying to avoid them...

"Can I ask you something?" She stopped and turned to him. "And promise you won't be all weird with me -"

"Weird?"

"Yeah, I mean - I noticed that. You'd get all serious and change the topic easily. I might seem oblivious but I do notice things, you know,"

Jungkook can't help his sighing laugh and nods. She's just so cute when she squints her eyes accusingly at him like this!

"Can you tell me more...about how you grew up - only the things you're comfortable with sharing, of course! I just..." She looks down to her fidgeting fingers. "We've been spending a lot of time together in a short period of time and I - I'm an open book really! But I feel like...you're probably not as comfortable with me as how I'm comfortable with you -"

"No, I'm sorry! I'm just -" He sighed. "I am comfortable with you. I just...I'm not used to talking a lot. I'm sorry but it's not you at all! I don't know how to do this and I -"

Her smile stopped him and he realized how both of his hands are now in clutching on his hair - looking like a flustered, awkward male around here! Jungkook lets his hands fall to his sides, taking a deep breath before saying, "I'll try my best at this, I promise,"

...

"I've been in the orphanage ever since I could remember," Lisa listens attentively as they started walking again, thankful that he's willing to share more. "I think I'm so used to having so many kids my age around me at the time, that I never thought about where I came from...who my parents were. I remember thinking 'this is where all of us came from'...which was stupid,"

He laughed and she giggled with. Briefly, she wondered how little Jungkook looked like. Looking at his profile now, she knew he'd be a super cute boy. And he'd look so adorable to stand in front of all the kids, shouting 'this is where all of us came from!' as if he's leading a movement!

"Slowly, one started leaving. Some older than me, some younger. There are no specific rules for it - like a queuing system or something. We'd see couples visiting, then you'd get called. A few that slept near my bed would say 'they liked me' before they packed their bags and left. And I thought, 'right, I have to make them like me, then they'd bring me out with them'. I've always wondered what's behind those gates and I really wanted to see,"

Her heart fell upon hearing it. It must've been so lonely for them...

"The couple who came for me...they seemed really nice. I stayed with them for 6 months - I didn't realize it, and I thought 'yeah, this is my family now'. They were nice...I called them Mr and Mrs Kim before but after a while, they said I can call them eomma and appa. Eomma Kim...she's always smiling. She had the nicest smile. She'd read to me all the time too! She's not working so I spent most of my days with her. Appa Kim - her husband - worked as a guard. He's more quiet, but he was nice too,"

"So you're closer with your eomma Kim?"

"Yeah...she um...she's always hugging me, she takes care of me. She'd bring me anywhere she goes, and she'd bring me to play at the playgrounds near our house,"

They stopped by an empty bench and sat down. The evening wind settled in the space, blowing soft on his hair as he stares out to the river up front. He placed his hands in the pocket of his jacket and she could easily see the nerves displaying on his tensed jaw.

"Everything was fine and every time the social service came, I get to tell them on all the nice things eomma Kim made for me. She was an art teacher before, so she taught me how to do a lot of crafty things. I really liked it...so when they finally asked if I wanted to stay with them forever, I said yes. I couldn't ask for a better eomma than her,"

"This is when you were 5?" 

"Yeah. Appa Kim said to the social worker that he already scouted for the school they planned to enroll me in. I overheard it from my room, and I got so excited! I already made a few friends around the neighborhood, and I couldn't wait to make more! It's embarrassingly funny," He laughed as if it's an absurd thing to be thinking of - which got her confused, but she stayed silent anyway.

"Anyway, once all the paperwork was done and I became their 'official' son, things started changing. Appa Kim had quit his job. He started working with his friend at a construction site and he started spending more time with me. He would bring me out for camping - what he called 'manly things', rather than spending my time doing crafty things with eomma Kim. He'd bring his tools for hunting...taught me how to use it -"

Wait - "Hunting? Hunting what?"

"Animals...in the forest,"

"Living ones??" Lisa gaped. 

"Well, yeah...you don't hunt non-living things in the forest," He laughed. How - I mean, of course! - but how cruel!!

"He killed them? What kind of animals?"

"Birds...hogs...anything small enough that moved,"

"What did you kill them with?"

"Depends...he taught me how to throw pocket knives first. Then the bigger ones. He taught me how to use guns when I was 7,"

"What?! Like an actual gun??"

"Yeah...he has some at home -"

"That can't be legal -"

"I didn't know if it's legal or not, I was a kid,"

"Yeah, of course you won't - does anyone know? Your neighbors...teacher or -"

"He never put me in school. I think it was just something he had to say to show that they'd give me a promising future. There's a lot of things that I realized as I grow older...but not then. Legal or not, there's a lot of things you can get if you're desperate enough to get it. There's always someone who know someone who knows a person who can sell it to you - you just gotta find your ways," 

"That's...scary,"

"It's only scary cus you didn't know of it. I'm sure your dad had seen more scarier things than I have," He smirked.

Lisa didn't know how to feel about it. Of course, she knew a lot of criminal activities that could be going on around her, but only in a nutshell. Her father never talked to her about how scary it could actually be - what goes on with the cases he's handling and how brutal it is, and she only read or saw about it on the news. She doesn't know anyone that had actually lived or grew up about it!

"Appa Kim...he's a very direct man. He's big and strong, and he always reminded me to be a man. A man doesn't cry. A man doesn't flinch or back down. A man would tell it as it is and he should always win at things if he wants people to respect him. It translated at home especially. I noticed how a lot of our neighbors...they rarely spoke to him. They're nice to eomma Kim, but they'd stay away when appa Kim walked out. He has that vibe, you know? It makes people scared of him - I was scared of him,"

A thought came across her mind. "Did he do anything to you?" Jungkook turned to face her and she can't tell the emotion that's reflected in his eyes. 

"I told you...he taught me how to be a man," There's this stern tone and grim smile on him that makes it hard for her to look away. What really happened to you? 

After a few seconds, he turned back to the river - as if he could hear her question but refusing to answer. "Like I said...he'd always tell it as it is. So when eomma Kim didn't do as he asked, he'd get really angry. And that's like...all the time! Eomma Kim...she's much smaller than him. Makes it easy for him to push her around...she couldn't fight back,"

Her heart started beating loudly.

"There were days when she tried, but she'd always get it worse. It was hard for me to watch...cus most of the time, it was about me. She got beaten so bad that her back was starting to hurt everytime she bends or stretch...and she'd ask for my help. Carrying things, cleaning the house with her, hanging the clothes out - if he noticed me doing her work, he'd beat her up too. He'd tell her that it's her job to do it and to do it well - that it's not a man's work. I didn't know what it was...it became so normal for him to throw her around in the house, in front of me. When I cried, he'd lose it even more. It was kind of a lesson...for both me and eomma Kim. It's not until I turned 13 that I realized that he's a bully...and he's turning me into one too,"

How...how did it take a 360 turn like this? He started with such positive and good remarks about the two and now - 

"He liked to taunt her...threatened us. He'd ask me to hold a gun and point it towards her while he cursed at her...he'd tell her how easy it was for me to accidentally pull the trigger, and he wouldn't be blamed for it. He called her weak...all the time. I found out that she had a miscarriage before they adopted me - she said how it always seemed like her fault. But up until now...I still couldn't justify it. I told her once, that we should run away together. I'd follow her wherever she goes. I'll find a job...a way to support us...just me and her. But she was too scared. She said he'd find us, and it'll be worse if he does. She said it's okay...that she's used to it and - and that she's glad it's her and not me. She protected me all the way until the end,"

Lisa wiped the tears that had fallen on her cheeks unnoticed. She asked...but she didn't think it would be this heavy to take in!

"She asked me to run. As far as I can. She asked me to not talk to anyone - to just keep running until I'm out of town. And so I did,"

"Where did you go?"

"Nowhere far at first. He's dead, so I didn't have to worry about him finding me. But I was worried about the police...so I stayed hidden. I remember...I slept under a bridge for the first 3 days. I only had a backpack with me...a jacket and sneakers on. Her hands trembled hard when she hands me whatever money she kept in the house. She was the one who packed the bag for me - and she had 2 plastics of breads in them. I knew I had to survive until I get to a place where I didn't have to worry anymore. I lived on the bread - lasted me around 2 weeks. I walked...all the way...cus I didn't wanna waste the money on buses and I didn't want people to notice me. I walked until I reached Ulsan...then I walked until I reached Daegu. I walked through the forest along the highways so I'd know where I ended up at. When I reached a town, I went into a small bakery to get some bread, and right opposite the street I saw a group of kids coming out from a shop. The window's all tinted and I couldn't see what's in it, so I went...just to look. It's an internet cafe - that's where it all started,"

"My God...how long did it take you?" The horror's not lost in her voice.

"About 4 months," She gasped and he smiled. How can he even smile right now?? "It could've been quicker...but I stopped a lot...to think,"

...