BURN; taegyu

The Beginning

Kang Taehyun was born to die.

From the moment his mother gave birth to him, his future had already been set in stone.

The way her flesh seared and melted as she screeched in agony, pushing out the boy so hot that he burnt through the doctors sanitary gloves.

The world would've been a better place if he had never been alive, and therefore, he was born to die.
At least, that's what his father told him.

One month old Taehyun, in the arms of his precious older sister, screaming and crying because he knew that she wasn't his mother.
And nobody would ever seem to let him forget that fact; that his mother wasn't there anymore and it was all his fault.

If she had known she was giving birth to a monster like him, she'd had never gone through with it.

But now, here he was, alive and young.
A five year old boy with a bitter father and a sister too pure for this earth.
His mother, dead before he even took his first breath.

Taehyun's world was meant to be painted red, since the day he was conceived.
It really did seem like everything he touched would turn red, literally and metaphorically.

It was at that young age where he discovered why he wasn't allowed to leave the house, let alone his room.

His only friend being his older sister, Kura, was normal to him.
Because it was all he'd ever known.

His bedroom was made up of very minimal things, partially because they were fire resistant, and partially because he was the neglected child.

The concrete floors and brick walls, leaving only one glass window to let air and light in.
The bed was specially made out of rubber, the pillow simply an extra slab sticking on-top of the table-like structure.

His room was more of a prison then a sanctuary, but once again, it was all he'd ever known. He was more than grateful just for that.

And even in those conditions, Kura would always sneak into his room whenever their father left for work, knocking thrice on the big metal door so that he would know she's coming in.
And even though they had to stay a few feet apart, she'd still always play with him.

Kura would tell him about her day, about how crazy sixth grade had been so far, her best friends, and the projects she was working on.
She'd talk about playing tag at recess, and winning almost every round, (although he never really did believe that part).

And she'd always remind him how excited she was for him to get to experience all of it too.
Going to school, making friends, playing games and seeing the world. It was like she wanted to keep his hopes up.

But, in the end, she never got to see him experience life. Or anything, for that matter.

Because on her graduation day of sixth year, she passed away.

So excited to tell her brother the good news, she ran home as soon as she got out of class.
She skipped and laughed at the thought of her baby brother seeing her now, a newly-made seventh grader.

She had been so excited that she didn't even noticed the car coming.

Her death was sudden, and for Taehyun, it was even more of a loss than their mother.
Kura was his sister, his best friend, but also, she took the place of the mother figure he never got to have. She had never blamed him for that, always reminding him that she loved him, and that she would never be scared of her baby brother.

And when their father found out that she had passed away, he was devastated, depressed, and mostly,
Enraged.

That was how Taehyun's childhood started and quickly ended.
His days consisted of being locked away in his fire-proof bedroom, sneaking his education via classes on his sister's old laptop whenever his father was at work.
And when his father was home, Taehyun become his personal punching bag.