Minhyuk Park

This day literally couldn't get worse. It started out pretty normal. I woke up, silently ate breakfast with my family as a cloud of their disappointment hung above my head before hiding in my bedroom and pretending that I didn't exist. To think a month ago I was jumping out of school windows to get out of class early. I rested my head on the paperwork that had piled up on my desk. Who gives a flying fuck about stocks?

This summer is going to be shit. Albeit it was my rash decisions that put me in this predicament, I was still annoyed about it.

Knock Knock

I got up from my desk, opening the door to see my brother, Minseok.

"Father wants to clear all of the trophies out." I sighed, knowing that this moment was coming, but still trying to avoid it. One simple mistake and my parents decided all my trophies were getting packed away and probably sold. I followed my older brother to what was affectionately called "The Golden Hall", mostly because anything that was less than 1st place had been hidden away from skeptical eyes. Quietly, I pulled the first trophy off the shelf as Minseok placed an empty box at my feet.

20XX State Championships Youth 14 Winner (Foil)

It was from a few years ago, but I still felt the rush of excitement and adrenaline as I held it. Carefully, I placed in the box, followed by the next one. By the time I had gotten through half a dozen, nostalgia had transformed into anger. How could they turn on me just like this? Gripping the trophies so hard my knuckles turned white, I could only gaze angrily at the opposing wall with my brother's trophies where he calmly inspected each of them. Oh, get off your high fucking horse.

I began throwing the trophies, no longer caring about their condition or importance. Anger was overwhelming me. Fuck all of you. Minseok, of course, watched it all happen just like he had a week ago.

"FUCK YOU!" I aimed the object in my hand at his head as I threw it. It fell short, shattering against the floor. The glass on the floor instantly told me what had fallen. A family picture from last year overseas, I'm not sure why it was there. It had nothing to do with winning.

"Minhyuk, I'm not tolerating this behavior. Or your language, for that matter." I tensed up at the voice as it carried down the hall. Mother. With her blonde hair and pale skin, no one would have ever guessed she was half Korean.

"Yes ma'am." Hanging my head, I tried to avoid her piercing gaze.

"Your father wants you." What does he want? As I walked towards his office, I could hear my mother muttering in Russian. Can't say it to my face, huh?

As I approached the glass door, I made a halfhearted attempt at judging his mood. Why do I bother? I can feel his dissatisfaction all the way over here. I pushed open the door, pausing at the entrance.

"Come in." Quietly, I sat down in the chair across from his massive desk. My stomach grumbled as I patiently waited for my father. After what must've been half an hour, the man finally looked up.

"Pack your bags." I opened my mouth as if to retort but quickly shut it upon seeing his freezing glare. This was A) the most he had said to me in months besides talking about how much of a failure I was and B) confusing as fuck. We don't go on vacations together anymore unless, of course, father was finally going through with his threat to kick me out into the streets. One look at his stern expression, dark eyes matching his slow to gray hair, informed me that I should leave right now or face consequences. I bowed my head, hastily making my exit.

As it turned out, I was being sent to a camp for junior delinquents of families who didn't want to deal with scandals, so it could've been worse. If only Nick had kept his mouth shut about our 'adventures', then I wouldn't have to deal with this shitty trip. My father flat out refused to take me, I reckon that he couldn't stand being in the same space as me for hours on end. Instead, I had the honor of driving, hands gripping the wheel tightly as my brother muttered out directions. Obviously, I was grounded from driving, but I suppose my brother felt bad enough about me having to leave. Oh my god, I missed my car so much. Usually, father would have someone drive us around, but my recent successes overseas had warranted him buying me a car. Nevermind the fact that Minseok had gotten his own car as soon as he turned sixteen.

"You're going 12 miles over the speed limit." Minseok's mouth was in a firm line, but that wasn't hiding the hunch in his shoulders and sadness in his eyes.

"I'll miss you, too." The rest of the ride was silent, and upon arrival, we exchanged an awkward hug before he drove off. Please don't crash my car. An inconsequential hope, of course, given that I would probably never see it again.

The camp itself was enclosed in a large gate, with a single entrance, explaining the long ass line of kids. I stood in line, rather impatient. The heat of the sun made me thankful that I had no need for my school uniform. That shit would have made me melt.

"So this is what this is about? You're pissed that my dad's white? NEWS FLASH, race doesn't matter!" I massaged my forehead. A pair behind me couldn't keep goddamn their mouths shut, arguing nonstop. The girl's voice sounded like your stereotypical white girl, progressively getting more shrill, while the boy's seemed to contain a slight accent. I pushed their voices out of my head, trying to focus on the guard in front of me, but they persisted. Fucking hell.

"Why don't both of you shut the hell up?" Before I could cool myself down, the words slipped out in a rather cold voice. Whatever, I didn't come here to make friends. The guard smirked at my comment before requesting that I hand over my phone, which I didn't have anyways. My mother had thrown it off the balcony into our pool three stories below. After raising an eyebrow, the guard slapped a bracelet on my arm, causing me to wince in pain.

"Can you loosen it a bit? I broke my wrist last week," I hadn't actually broken it, it was merely sprained but I was going to milk that injury for all I got. Furthermore, I sure as hell did not want to be stuck here against my will because of some random hunk of metal. The guard's eyes swept over his surroundings before messing with the computer.

"Don't tell anyone shit." His voice was low and a single nod from me was all he needed as the bracelet around my wrist loosened. I glanced at the numbers on the side, 257. "Head to the dining hall."

Following his instructions, I walked towards what I figured was the dining hall. I noticed some people hanging around the front with tattoo marks on their upper right arms. For whatever reason, they made me nervous, but there wasn't much I could do. It was most certainly not in my favor to start a fight right now. Upon entering, my eyes scanned the room, settling on the table in the far back corner. It seemed to be a relatively standard camp, ugly white floors, plastic chairs, and huge windows letting in an absurd amount of light. I looked around the room, noticing what people were doing and taking mental notes. I resisted the urge to snicker as I watch several entitled kids look at the seats in disgust. It was almost comedic, seeing all these elite kids out of their comfort zone. Unfortunately, my amusement was rudely interrupted by the obnoxious guy that was arguing with the girl earlier.

"Can I sit here?" he asked, shoulders uncharacteristically slumped. He looked slightly uncomfortable as if he never had to ask this question before. Oh shit, he's hot. His eyes were dark and his smile was definitely swoon-worthy.

"Sure," I grumbled, looking away. "As long as you don't start arguing with me, too." The last thing I needed was a shouting match attracting unwanted attention.

"Oh, that was just my stepsister," he grimaced at the word, "She's is a complete....." I didn't quite catch the Spanish phrase he used, but I was pretty sure it was not a compliment.

"Santiago Guzman." He winked, which I'll admit, was cringey but cute.

"Park Minhyuk," I replied. Placing my last name first out of habit. All those stupid meetings overseas really got to me. He grinned before raising his hand to inspect his own bracelet. Subconsciously I began messing with my various earrings. I had about five piercings on each ear and was strongly considering a lip ring. Or a tattoo.

A short while later, a girl who, given Santiago's grimace, was his stepsister followed by a short girl came and sat at the table.

"No more open seats," she muttered, not even bothering to introduce herself. The statement was clearly a lie since there couldn't have been more than sixty of us but there were enough seats for well over a hundred. Not that it mattered, with a little luck, I would probably never see them again.

Thank you for reading!