The long and crowded streets of the massive city were filled with a cacophonous sound that went on all hours of the day. The abundance of people appeared like a vision of a trail of ants at a picnic from on-lookers at the top floors of large skyscrapers. Yuzu was among the large crowd. Visiting a shop he frequented. You see, from the outside the small shop only appeared to be a quaint little ice cream shoppe. However, it's always been said that looks can be deceiving and in fact, that was exactly the case here. Inside the small shop was home to a large underground drug ring owned and operated by the mafia of the city. The mafia ruled the town even some higher authority figures knew about and even participated in gang activities. The small corner shop was just a part of the massive drug ring. This shop is where drugs are stored. In the freezer, all packaged neatly and hidden in gallon buckets of ice cream. The shop was still operating, selling gourmet ice cream and frozen treats to families and tourists. It was the perfect disguise.
Yuzu finished up the business he had with the ice cream shop manager and exited the store with a fresh raspberry shaved ice in hand. The transaction had been made and it was Yuzu's job to foresee it all. His grandfather had been the founder and leader of the ruling gang in the town. When he passed away the job was handed down to his father and now Yuzu was expected to follow in those foot-steps. Eventually he'd b taking over the family business. So his father pushed him hard in training. Yuzu was raised in the streets and had the attitude to match. Cold and calloused. As he strolled down the bustling streets resting the cool icy treat against his lips an artificial maroon tinge stained them giving a gradient look like that of a child who's just eaten a bright colored lollipop. Dark sunglasses hid his sullen eyes, but he was always alert. His dark brooding eyes darting from one side of the busy sidewalk to the other. Being aware of his surroundings was something he'd been taught since a young age.
Lee Woon Ha always got the same feeling every single morning: the feeling of dread.
He hated waking up and leaving his bed sheets that were insanely thin and had the scent of dog shit, which was likely what it was.
He hated waking up to hear the screams of innocent children, as they were tortured by the sadistic lady (Her name was Mrs. Hope. What a lie.) who was in charge of the building. What did she expect? The children were not masochistic, and didn't like the feeling of the whip as it slapped their behind.
That's right: Woon Ha was in a homeless home for minors. He ended up in here a few years back, when both of his parents were admitted to a mental hospital. He still didn't know what for. His parents never told him anything about his family, so he just assumed that he couldn't contact any of them.
"Up, up, up!" The main caretaker was Mrs. Hopes's daughter, and her personality was just as rotten. "Get up, or you'll get punished," she laughed. "Woon Ha, you take care of the bathroom with Sullie." Sullie was a short girl who reminded Woon Ha of a rat. She had no physical advantages, but she was strong. Sullie was the only human friend he had in the entire world. She told him stories of her past, where she got sexually abused by her uncle. Woon Ha pitied her, but he was as useless as the dust under her bed. After cleaning the bathroom, which smelled like rotten piss, they were on grocery shopping duty, with Ms. Rosa. He hated and loved grocery duty; hated it because it required lots of physical labor and loved it because he could see the real world, an opportunity he hardly got. Ms. Rosa was the kindest of the caretakers, she was new and naïve. For grocery shopping, they had to walk to the city, which was at least a 40 minute adventure. It wasn't just Woon Ha, there were around 10 other kids. It was loud, and the noise hurt his ears. Ever since he was a young kid, he was as weak as a butterfly. Some of the smallest things were distractions to him. After they had bought their food items in bulk, (pasta, potatoes, carrots, sauce, and some other things) Ms. Rosa decided they needed a break. "Hey, I'll buy you all some ice cream!" She smiled one of her cheerful smiles. "But don't be naughty and chose anything too expensive, okay?" After that, she let them into the ice cream store, and let them experience some freedom choosing. Woon Ha loved ice cream. It was soft, ans reminded him of Fluffy, his animal friend in the children's home. He chose cookies and cream, and used Ms. Rosa's money to pay for it. Ah! Isn't this gonna taste amazing? He took a small bite of it, and nearly fainted in ecstasy. The ones who got the ice cream were allowed to enjoy a walk, as long as they didn't do anything "naughty." (Ms. Rosa used that word often) As Woon Ha walked down the city road, squinting at the sun and enjoying he ice cream, he had a feeling of doom. His ice cream spilled over the chest area of, uh, somebody. He couldn't see the guy's face, because of the dark glasses. But he could tell he was unlucky.
