A Scene From The Past

The house had two rooms, a kitchen and a bathroom. Compared to his earlier single-room shack of a home, this was on another level. The rent was indeed high and given his earlier salary he wouldn't have been able to rent it but now things changed. 

The janitor's work at the school paid quite handsomely so Jin did not care about the price and immediately bought it. The location was convenient. He could use a bus stop nearby to travel to the school early in the morning. 

Luckily, the house already had a few furniture like a bed and a couch. After doing a bit of cleaning Jin arranged his clothes in the wall-mounted wardrobe. 

He was all set for tomorrow. After arranging all the necessary toiletries he fell on the bed. He was all spent up. Today had been a long day and tomorrow would mark a new beginning of his life. 

He had initially thought of going along with the system and increasing his proficiency on that chokehold but after the police came to his house and were all cleared of suspicion a question appeared in his mind: for what?

For what should he risk his life and attempt to kill people? For the so-called 'kill points'? He found it all worthless. He was comfortable with the way things were going.

Even though he faced a few ups and downs because of the accidental death of the thief which was followed by him killing a cop...he did all that for the sake of protecting his current life...protecting his peace!

He had no intention of deliberately making his comfortable life difficult. 

'Living a normal life is great,' This was the last thought that passed his mind as his consciousness faded.

The next day.

Jin arrived half an hour before the said time of arrival since this was his first day. It was around 7:40 AM and the school started at 8:00 AM. Jin saw a large crowd of students coming in through the school gates.

They all wore the same uniform, schools polished, and hair styled properly. It was clear to anyone's eyes that they had someone who cared for them.

The scene made Jin remember the days when he used to go to school. 'It was till the 5th grade I think...' Jin thought.

His parents died after that and he was no longer in a position to attend school...Jin's eyebrows furrowed all of a sudden as a memory that had been slumbering deep in his mind erupted all of a sudden.

It was on the day his parents had died. An old man in a suit came that day at the hospital. He handled everything that needed to be handled there and took Jin who was sitting alone in the waiting room back with him.

For some reason, the man knew where Jin lived and he took him back to his house.

He stayed with Jin for the next 7 days in the house. Every day he talked to him for an hour and explained to Jin what he needed to know to survive alone. He left the 7th day leaving behind a few words.

"Keep your head low all your life and don't attract attention. Otherwise, the ones who came for your parents will come for you aswell..." The man disappeared in the darkness of the night leaving a confused Jin standing at the doorway.

Jin's whole being shivered as this memory became more and more pronounced. He knew for a fact that this had happened in the past and was not a figment of his imagination. 

When he was a child he was unable to make sense of what that old man had told me...the only thing he understood was that he shouldn't stand out much and should not aspire for more. It was something that the old man had told me again and again during those 7 days.

Now that he was already 22 years old...how could he not understand the meaning behind that old man's last words? He meant that what happened to his parents was not an accident. That Carbon Monoxide poisoning which happened that winter was not an accident...

'My parents were killed? Why?' Jin didn't know how to react to this news. It felt as if all his life had been a lie. He was always in the know of the truth but for some reason, his subconscious had blocked this memory until today...

Various thoughts were churning in his mind but he was soon brought out of his world by the ring of the school bell. It was already 8:00 AM.