Sullivan does not speak of his family often and he does not speak of them easily.
He was raised solely by his mother, who had every reason to re-experience the heartache associated with his father’s abandonment every time she looked at him, but she didn’t. Her heart ached for a different reason; it ached with love for the sensitive, intelligent boy she’d brought into the world. Every day was a life or death battle in the household they served. She promised herself that, if it came down to it...when it came down to it, she would give her life for her child.
Sullivan has never met his father and his mother stubbornly remained silent about his identity for most of his youth. In fact, she didn’t speak about any family; not even her own. Sullivan has always been an inquisitive boy, but no amount of questioning resulted in any direct information about his mother’s side of the family and very, very little about his father. Little by little, her equally stubborn child collected clues and slips of the tongue until he had a few solid leads to check into. He knew that his father was a Heart. He knew that he was high ranking. And he knew that he had two families; one that was secret and unacknowledged and one that was celebrated. His real family.
That amount of information in itself still left a daunting pool of possibilities for Sullivan to sort through, but it wasn’t going to keep him from trying. However, if it hadn’t been for a chance encounter, he might never have figured things out for sure. At the ripe old age of twelve, the sourpussed boy headed boldly into Heart territory in order to find his father. Who he found instead, were two identical sourpussed young girls. The resemblance between them (of course) and himself was enough to halt him in his tracks.
The pair stood outside a storefront, arms linked. They wore identical crimson dresses with black beading and sevens on their wrists. He approached them in a stupor, clearly stunned, but the twins regarded him with a chilling sort of amusement. Long, jet black pigtail braids, sharp cold eyes, and persed, scowling pouts slowly began to twist into something similar to a smile the more he stared at them, clearly dumbfounded.
A shrill voice from the doorway behind them stole Sullivan’s attention. A stunning, beautifully dressed woman with short black hair and bright red lips practically hissed at the girls to get away from ‘that filthy vagrant’ or something of the like. Sullivan was the one to jump back and avert his gaze, at least momentarily. He did know his place despite his ambition.
The trio entered an awaiting carriage and Sullivan leaned back against the brick building, mind still reeling from the encounter. Several clerks from the store loaded packages onto the back of the vehicle as the shop owner and another man exited the store. “As always, it’s an honor to serve your family, Mr. Jeon,” the owner said cordially, but Mr. Jeon didn’t respond. He was too busy staring at the young imposter who now stared at him; eyes bored into his, searching his face imploringly, searching for something he unknowingly revealed in the way he was the first to cast his eyes away.
Before he realized what was happening, Sullivan felt a sharp pain in his chest and the resulting blow knocked him to the ground. Henry took the chance to escape, white as a sheet as he entered the carriage. The driver shut the door but it didn’t keep him from grimacing as he witnessed the shop owner repeatedly kick the boy until he crawled away and then fled into a nearby alley.
Minah dressed his wounds when Sullivan came limping home. It wasn’t the first time something like this had happened to her boy, but usually he would tell her what happened. No matter how furious he was, no matter how hurt he was, no matter how hard he was bawling, he would tell her. His silence now, was frightening. She could see him shaking with fury, hot anguished tears brimming in his eyes, but no amount of prodding could get him to reveal what had happened.
As his mother comforted him, Sullivan did his best to reconcile what had happened. In the end, he decided that he and his father were the same. They both had two families; one that was and would continue to be unacknowledged...and one that was real.
