➢ file:unknown :: ravdeme
Whenever he came to think of his infancy, Donghae had a hard time suppressing the sour smile that tugged at the corner of his lips. The most prominent memory was that of his mother passing away, shortly followed by the years that were spent in different orphanages. The first he was living at for three months soon closed down due to lack of funds and thus, Donghae was transferred from Seoul to Daegu at the tender age of fifteen, shortly before turning sixteen. But with his mother’s loss being still a fresh wound, he’d often find himself staying awake at night and struggling to fall asleep for more than two to three hours.
He used to be a terrible child, so much Donghae could recall. He threw the food away he didn’t like, destroyed gifts given to other children and purposefully spit out the worst of all insults whenever someone dared to face the little devil.
Back then, there used to be nearly nobody he could truly rely on. And for reasons he couldn’t quite remember, he felt good that way as well. Perhaps it was because it slimmed down chances of someone else leaving him unexpectedly once more, thus sparing him the possible heartbreak and questions that would probably haunt his young mind for another while. Only with time and more painful experiences would he later on come to understand that sometimes, people didn’t want to leave but had to, regardless of what they wished for.
Luckily, he hardly ever thought of the past and very seldom was he, through circumstances or something of the like, reminded of it either. This time however, he wasn’t quite as lucky for a face, though definitely not as sweet and innocent as it used to be, triggered a lot of memories and emotions that he’d much rather forget.
He only spent four years in the orphanage in Daegu but it had been enough to get to know her who had been such a young girl back then. Now, she was a grown woman but her facial features remained the same overall; just a little more refined. It left Donghae with an unsettling feeling in the pit of his stomach when he came to face her and even though part of his brain argued that she could by no means possibly remember someone who was a couple of years older than her back when they first met, he still couldn’t help but deep down wish that maybe… she could remember.
❝It’s a small world, isn’t it?❞
He felt odd, like someone had taken his world and painted it a new color and he also wasn’t used to this feeling of nervousness. How long had it been since he last encounter someone from his past? Only a handful of people knew of Donghae and the way he had grown up, amidst other parentless children that nobody truly cared for and the struggling desire to prove himself to a world that ignored his existence entirely. It was pathetic, come to think of it.
Something told him, he should have known better.
Her years in the orphanages weren’t as smooth as she would have liked them to be. She depended on herself, and it was even hard to open up to other kids which might have suffered the same fate as her, or perhaps, worse. She had learned to mask away all of her feelings at a very young age, however, a few years passed and after taking some ‘getting used’ to living with other parentless kids, there was a new addition. Someone from Seoul, a woman in the house announced.
Seoul? Such a big city. All she could think of at that time when the city was mentioned was how big cities promised big dreams - not bothering to take a glance at the newcomer, she remembered writing down random words in her notebook, no meaning whatsoever, it was her way of avoiding human interactions. Day after day, days turned into weeks, somehow, the male had become someone who grew to be important to her. The two of them would be seen hanging around each other, and despite the fact that she might not have too many words to utter to him, she enjoyed his mere presence - a sibling that had long abandoned her.
But those days were over, he left and she was left by herself yet again. There was no point in holding grudges against him - Donghae needed to move on and Soojin was completely aware of that fact. Years passed, she turned into a refined woman with stories behind her dark eyes. It wasn’t often that she’d run into someone from her past as she had cut all interactions, never wanting anyone to remind her of the person that she used to be, yet, fate decided to play a game with her.
All she could do was stare. Her empty eyes fixed onto the male’s features. It could be, but he... looked a whole lot more proper than he was back then when they were merely two teenagers who tried to cling onto each other for hope. Then again, she changed. She was no longer the girl in jeans and overalls with dirty cap. A sense of warmth radiated in her heart, she almost felt alive for once. Sinking down her bottom lip, she stopped in her tracks for a short minute, unsure of how she was supposed to react. Part of her wanted to hug him, but she couldn’t. She had been far too damaged to be dealing with any sort of physical contact. Her lips curled up into a genuine smile.
