Tomorrow turned into next week, next week turned into next month, til eventually the days became a blur for the young boy and he stopped asking.
He sat on the dirty kitchen floor, playing with action figures a friend of his mother's had given to him before the two disappeared into the back room. He was squinting his eyes, shabby bangs hanging low in his line of eyesight as he was making his Captain America figure destroy the land of his beloved Iron Man. He sighed, dropping both figures as he stood to his feet.
"It's not fun playing by myself." He muttered, looking towards the back room. He considered going back there to ask his mother to play with him, but quickly decided against it as he vividly remembered what happend to him the last time. Instead, he made his way to the living room. He looked around, the room seemingly humongous. He grabbed his step stool with little to no effort, smiling to himself.
"See? I'm a big boy mommy." He whispered, even though he knew she wouldn't be able to hear him. He sat the stool in front of the entertainment center, standing on it to reach for the remote that was teetering on the edge. Once he successfully got the remote, he hopped down and sat on the worn down love seat. He pressed the big red button he had seen his mother press a million times, and smiled as the screeen in front of him came to life.
He frowned when it didn't show his usual favorite furry characters, but instead women who barely had clothes on, obscene words flowing from the speakers. While it was foreign he couldn't tear his eyes, subconsciously moving his head to the beat. This went on for some time, scenes switching from half naked woman to very elegant houses to expensive people in expensive cars; he was amazed. His eyes was tore off the screen by the sound of a door being slammed shut, heavy footsteps following. He quickly put his eyes back on the screen, a ball of which he would later identify as anxiety settling at the bottom of his stomach. He hated this part, hated smelling the very strong scent of marijuana and men's cologne as a different face face passed him everytime his mother brought a friend over. The men usually just walked right past him, but this once stopped and looked at him.
"Hey lil' man." Said the stranger, giving namjoon a small smile.
Namjoon stared, unsure if he could speak.
"Hi." Namjoon said quietly, looking away.
"Did you like the toys?" The man asked, and namjoon noddded. "Good. They used to be mines but I can't play with them anymore so you can have them."
"Why?"
The boy just looked at him sadly, leaving the questioned unanswered.
"Who are you?" Namjoon asked, and the man opened his mouth to speak but a loud thump cut him off.
"Nobody."
And with that the man turned on his heels, walking away to leave. After namjoon heard the door shut, he felt relief flow through him. He jumped off the love seat, practically running to the back room. He stopped when he reached the door, which was partially cracked. He pushed it open, to find his mother as he usually found her; on the floor in only her undergarments, eyes shut and a string tied tightly around her forearm. He walked towards the bed, one of his feet lightly kicked her as he walked past.
"Sorry mommy." He mummbled, reaching for his soft iron man blanket. He turned back to his mother, laying next to her. She was cold to the touch and he frowned. He took the blanket and spread it across both off them, laying his head on her chest. Her heartbeat was faint, but there nonetheless.
"Goodnight mommy." He whispered, closing his eyes.
" 'night Joonie." She slurred, limply wrapping her arm around her son.
