8 Makes 1 Family

Chapter 1

Yeosang's POV

A rare genetic mutation, that's what they call it. One in every thousand babies born develops one. The mutation can present at any age, depending on what it is and what you do. Some people see it as a gift, as something to cherish and flaunt. I don't, I see it as a curse.

Ever since I was a child, I've always been rather shy and not liked to talk to people. Due to that I was always a bit of an outcast and I didn't really have any friends. I would go to the sandpit and just play alone, or I would sit under a tree and just watch the other kids play games like tag or hopscotch. My parents would always worry about my future, wonder what would happen as I get older if I was too shy to talk to anyone. My dad said it was fine and I'd grow out of it, but my mum always pushed me to make friends and eventually, I met someone who didn't care about how shy I was. I was 10 years old when I met Kyungsoo. He had joined our school, halfway through the first term as he had moved from a different town due to his parents' job. I was, as usual, sitting under a tree during break, eating my lunch when he approached me. I was confused, not used to people coming up to me as I was the outcast, but he just started talking. In fact, he talked so much that I didn't really have to talk at all. From that day forward, Kyungsoo sat with me and became my one and only friend, not leaving my side even when people offered for him to join in their games. It was nice to finally have a friend and we grew to care a lot about each other. I was shy but I was able to talk to Kyungsoo, I even went to his house sometimes. All that happiness and excitement went down the drain however, on that fateful day. It was just over a year after we met when it happened. We were hanging out at recess together as usual, when Kyungsoo grabbed my hand, wanting to pull me over to look at this flower that he found. The minute his hand touched mine though, he started screaming and writhing in pain. I clutched his hand tighter at the time, trying to help him but he continued to scream. I eventually let him go but he was sobbing and screaming on the ground. A teacher heard and ran over, going to pull me away but the minute they touched my wrist, they screamed and pulled away from me. It scared me, I was just an 11-year-old and it seemed like I was causing people pain. I started to cry, and people were yelling at me to stay back and not to touch anyone. I can't remember everything that happened, but I know an ambulance came and Kyungsoo was taken to the hospital. I wanted to go, to make sure he was alright, but everyone was yelling at me to stay away from me. My parents arrived about an hour later and I had gloves put on immediately before they dragged me into the car and back home. I was crying and confused but whenever I said anything, they would tell me to be quiet. We moved 4 days later and that was the last I ever saw of Kyungsoo, I don't even know what happened to him.

After that day, my life was never the same. Once my parents found out I was some freak that was able to cause people immense pain by merely making skin to skin contact with them, they never treated me the same. I was 11 years old when I lost my best friend, my parents, and my happiness. They didn't want any of the new friends in their new town to know that they had a freak son, so they stopped me from seeing anyone. I wasn't allowed to leave the house and if everyone was to come to the house, I would have to hide up in my room and not make a sound. I wasn't allowed to touch my parents, no hugs, no kisses, no nothing, and I had to wear gloves all the time. If I was caught not wearing the gloves, I would be punished. I couldn't understand at first why they shunned me so much but as I got older, I begun to understand that I was dangerous and all they were doing was protecting themselves and others. Because I couldn't leave the house, I had to do other things. I was forced to do all the chores, cook, clean and whatever other chores they had for me to do. I loved my parents, I did, but it was hard to tell if my parents loved me. I half felt like I was just a mistake and, in the way, and the only reason why they still allowed me under the same roof as them, was because I was still a minor and had to be there.