1 00. GULLIBLE CHILDREN

Pain.

All he felt was pain---and the hands

The pulling,

Scraping,

Grabbing,

Touching,

Poking.

Oh, how it hurt.

"Bring them in." says a cold voice. There's the sound of a door opening, the eerie sound of someone's body being dragged. Footsteps echo darkly in that open room, haunting. More footsteps, more soft feet, and the whimpering of a scared child can be heard.

"Here, Boss."

A muffled banging to the floor followed by a fit of coughing. At the end of the room, a man sits on a chair, his face buried in his hand. When he looks up, he smirks.

The man gets up from the chair and walks over to a kid lying before him. A younger child stood in the back. The one on the floor scoots over as if trying to block the man's path from the child behind him. Uninterested, the man steps over the first and comes to stand in front of the smaller one.

"So, can you tell me why you are here?"

"I had tried to leave, sir." The child's voice broke; pallid tears leaked from his eyes as he tried to be strong. He looked to be about eight, with messy brown hair.

The man lowered his face to meet the child's whimpering and smiled. "So you tried escaping the home that I openly gave to you?" Asks the man, standing up and turning to face the younger of the two. Walking over, he leans down and reaches for the child's tear stricken face. The boy flinches. "Now," He says slowly, calculating. "Why would you want to do that?"

The boy bowes his head. "Because. I- I wanted to see." he trailed off

"See?"

"Yes," says the boy, turning his head down. from the man, who grabs his chin, turning it sharply to face him.

"See what?"

"Th- The outside."

The man stands tall, pulling his shoulders back in a deep breath. "So," he says. "You wanted to see the outside?" The kid looks down, shivering from the cold imprint of his hand. He watches the boy before him and sighs. "I'll let you go with a warning."

"A warning?"

"Yes," says the man. "Just one. Ok?"

"Ok."

"Ok. Now, don't do it again."

"Yes, sir."

"And maybe," says the man, looking down to face the child. A small smile---fake---slips onto his face. "Maybe you can have seconds for dessert tonight. How does that sound?"

"Really?" Asks the child.

"Really."

"Then…Then do you think you could let Min-ho go too?" Asks the boy eagerly. "He- He was just trying to stop me. I promise."

The man pauses then. He watches the glimmer in the boy's eyes, the hope filling up in his little heart and smiles. "Sure. But, I still need to have a talk with him." The man pauses. "Have you learned your lesson?

"Now go back to your room with the others, ok?" 

"Yes, sir." says the boy. Shakily, he walks back to the other side of the room where a large metal door has sealed shut. With one more look back, the boy knocks on the door twice, then twice again. The door heaves itself open to reveal a woman. Smiling, She puts her arm around the small boy,and talks to him softly. The boy steps out into the light of the hall and walks away with the woman.

The door shuts and the man scoffs. "How easy for them to have hope." Then he turns to face the second boy, who was laying on the ground.

"Get up."

He grabs the child by hair roughly, yanking him to his feet. The older boy gasped, suprized, by a hand so fast he never saw it coming. The boy glares up at him in disgust. "You still have that look, my Min-ho," Says the man gruffly. The child called Min-ho

He looks down at him with no expression on his face. "Fine. If that's how it's going to be." The man lets go of the boy, tossing him down, and walks back to his chair. "Ren," He says. "take him back to the Flower room. Have him hang out there for a few days, double the dose. I will be there soon as well."

Min-ho's eyes widened in fear. 

The man sits back and watches his Min-ho as he tries to stop himself from being dragged out of the room. "Oh, my Min-ho. If only you would accept me." he says softly to no one in particular. The door seals closed a second time, dampening the boy's screams down the hall.