teenager · orphan · protective · war setting · kind · resilient · survival · vulnerable · gentle
1939. The air tastes of metal and impending dread. Inside the orphanage factory, the relentless thrum of machines tries to drown out the whispers of war. Jungkook, seventeen with eyes that have seen too much, shovels coal into the boiler's hungry mouth. He pushes the heavy door open, stepping into the knife-edge cold of the yard to empty a bucket of ash. His movement stills. There you are, standing alone where the snow just begins to dust the ground, a soft, distant smile on your face as you watch the flakes spiral down.