04. the secret of perfection

When Sunggyu woke, he found himself in a room. A small one actually – one about the size of your bathroom. He didn’t really know what had happened previously, the events before were looking quite blurry. He was, however, sure he hadn’t been here when he’d last been awake. Sunggyu got up sleepily and looked around. The room he was in was quite simple. The walls were a dark, hopeless blue where a small, flimsy mattress and toilet lay, a chipped mirror stuck onto the wall. Sunggyu frowned. In the corner was a sink. Sunggyu walked over to mirror, gazing at his own reflection.

He looked almost the same.

“Woohyun?” he called cautiously, looking around. He waited for the small flicker of a breeze to pass him, a hint or clue to show Sunggyu that he was actually there. Sunggyu, however, was meant by stale air. He frowned. Where was Woohyun? He pondered over this for a few minutes, considering where he was and where Woohyun would be. It was only until his cell was opened did Sunggyu really find out where he was.

“Rise and shine,” a voice said coldly. Sunggyu didn’t think the man meant it at all. “C’mon kid, get off your and let’s go. Today you’ll be working in the balloon factory.”

Sunggyu stared at him, unmoving. He looked at the latter, staring at his neat uniform. Sunggyu thought he’d seen it before – the white buttons looked familiar. Finally, he realised that he had been walking away from some police in the same kind of uniform. The only difference was the man’s version of the suit was purple instead of black. The man got impatient.

“C’mon kid, I don’t have all day. You’ve got a long day of work ahead of you.” He glared at Sunggyu, “Did you hear me boy?”

Sunggyu frowned. “Mister, where am I?”

The man rolled his eyes. He looked really frustrated. “Oh god, you’re the new kid. Geez, you all look the same. Well then,” the man smiled thinly. It didn’t look very nice. “You are in Xifed Tars’ prison cell. You’ll be working for your sins.”

Sunggyu still didn’t quite understand. “What sins have I committed?” He asked.

This time the man laughed. It was harsh and cruel. “You’re a pretty stupid kid. If only stupidity was your crime.” He grinned. “You’re an illegal boy. You’re here, but not under our rules.” Catching Sunggyu’s confused expression, the man sighed. “You’ve come to Xifed Tars illegally.”  

“Oh, so I’m like an Asylum Seeker?”

“Whatever you call them,” the man waved him away, “Now come on kid. We’re five minutes late because of you.”

Sunggyu followed the man, feeling as though he had no choice. He was still quite confused. Where exactly was he? Sunggyu continued following the man as he passed by several cells. The man knocked on each one, gathering girls and boys from the different rooms. Each cell seemed to have a number, and Sunggyu couldn’t be sure, but he was pretty certain that the doors went on for a very long time, if not forever. The whole floor and prison seemed to be filled with identical cells, each labelled by a number.

The only other things in the dark building other than the cells were an elevator made for fifty people and a pink door at the far left of the prison. Both were protected by codes. Sunggyu figured they were the only ways of escaping the prison. He looked around. Slowly, one by one, children began filing in, creating a sea of young girls and boys. Sunggyu noted that none of them seemed older than fifteen. Soon there was a bit more than a whole class of children, all following the man who’d woken Sunggyu. The man passed another cell. Sunggyu recognised the boy immediately.

“Sungjong!” he said.

The small boy moved out of the cell. He wasn’t in the clothing he had been in before; instead he wore a fraying shirt and matching orange shorts. The sleeves hung loosely on his thin frame.

“Hello,” Sungjong said politely. Sunggyu made sure to stay as close to the other boy as possible. He was the only boy Sunggyu knew after all. Sungjong didn’t seem to mind. They continued on.

Finally, on their last trip, the group of children and the man passed an empty cell. This cell was different to the others – instead of metal bars it contained a clear, glass wall. At first glance, the cell seemed empty.

“Mister,” Sunggyu tugged on the man’s shirt, “Who’s in there?”

The man smiled maliciously. His smile was so evil Sunggyu regretted asking. “Oh don’t you worry your pretty head. That’s just Woohyun – your friend.”

Sunggyu hated the work he was put on. He made sure to stand next to Sungjong, but that didn’t make the labour any more interesting. His job was to hold deflated balloons under the pump, where air would be pushed into the balloon. He was then to tie the balloon and place it on the moving table in front of him, collecting the next balloon from the tin between him and Sungjong and repeating the process. It was tedious and boring.

The factory, or at least Sunggyu assumed it was, was very different from the rest of Xifed Tars. The walls were a muddy brown and the pumps were hung from the top of the ceiling by rusting tubes, one pump in front of every little boy and girl. Unlike the high-rise buildings, the roof of the factory was very low – probably only two metres. There weren’t any silver, shiny surfaces – no metallic colours or pretty mushrooms. Sunggyu frowned.

He didn’t like this.

“Why are we doing this?” Sunggyu asked when the man walked past them. He seemed to be checking that everyone was working. The man laughed cruelly, but said nothing. He chose to leave Sunggyu in suspense, his question drifting in the air.

Sunggyu looked around, wondering if any of the other kids were going to answer. None of them seemed to care about his little outburst. They were too busy filling up the balloons with air.

Settling back unwillingly into his chair, Sunggyu continued as they did. He was, in honesty, disappointed. He hated this job – it was humdrum and tiresome and everything he had not been expecting from his first solo adventure. He also hated the glares the other boys were giving him. Sunggyu wasn’t as fast as the others, nor was he as efficient. Unlike the other boys, Sunggyu had, on many occasions, tied the balloon wrongly and released air. He also seemed a lot slower compared to them. The man had made it very clear that no one would be allowed rest and/or be fed until all the balloons were done. At this rate, it’d take them even longer with Sunggyu.

Our young explorer felt frustrated. He didn’t know how to feel – it was so annoying. He wished he was as efficient and hard-working as the other boys and girls. He felt pathetic in comparison to them. He was frustrated with his own inability, his pace against theirs. Sunggyu felt like he was slowing them down. He felt like he wasn’t good enough; like he was insufficient and their black hole.

Suddenly, Sungjong leaned over. “Someone has to make Xifed Tars infinitive,” he whispered.

Sunggyu didn’t really understand. “What?”

Sungjong shrugged, “You asked why we are doing this. Xifed Tars is the land of infinity. It’s the city where nothing ever runs out. It isn’t like that by magic you know.” The young boy pushed a yellow balloon into the pump. “This is the behind the scenes – the hard work no one sees. Sunggyu, you’re seeing how the picturesque city manages to stay that way.”

The man, it seemed, wasn’t joking when he said they wouldn’t get lunch til they had finished pumping every single balloon. Sunggyu hadn’t even gotten breakfast, and when they had finished it looked too late to even call their meal lunch. It was the last one of the day, the man said, and each child was given a large piece of tasteless chicken , a bowl of cooked spinach and some sourdough bread. Sunggyu devoured the meal hungrily, ignoring the tasteless and unappetising essence of the food. He was too hungry to think.

The next days followed in a similar fashion. Sunggyu woke up every morning (the time he did not know) by the sound of the bars protecting his cell moving aside. He was gathered with a group of children to go to a different factory every day. The activities they were given were repetitive and boring, time consuming without any gain for them. The number of items they had to complete were almost always ridiculous, and that made it almost impossible to slack off. They weren’t given a meal til they were finished, which mostly fell around dinner-time anyway, and were sent to sleep in exhaustion soon after that. Sunggyu did many jobs – he iced perfect hearts onto cupcakes, stapled files, stamped letters and once even put together small silver objects like puzzle pieces. Each time he made sure he was standing right next to Sungjong.

Sungjong, Sunggyu had found out, had been recruited back to the slavery business not long after Sunggyu had. Unlike Sunggyu, however, Sungjong had been in the business previously, until he was sold illegally to Hoya that is. After the police had spotted Sunggyu, they had traced his scent back to Hoya’s house, where they had jailed Hoya in another prison and put Sungjong back in his ‘rightful place’. Sunggyu felt guilty. It had been his fault Sungjong had come back, and if he hadn’t explored, Sungjong would still be happy. Sungjong forbade him to feel bad however, and the work he did reduced the time he had to think about it.  

For once, Sunggyu started to understand what Hoya had been talking about. He was right – being an unpaid servant was a lot better than this slavery.

“Let’s escape,” Sunggyu whispered on many occasions. He did so when he felt his muscles tire or when the food from yesterday’s meal hadn’t given him enough energy to continue on with the day. He often whispered this to Sungjong, quietly murmuring while they worked. The other never responded, though Sungjong always did listen. “Let’s leave here, you and me. Let’s free everyone here. We need to get Woohyun first; yes, Woohyun – he’ll know what to do. And then we can take off – run away and never look back. How does that sound?”

Sungjong only hummed in response when Sunggyu did so. While Sunggyu’s ambitions were half-hearted, Sungjong did understand. Both, in fact everyone there, wanted to escape. Everyone wanted to leave and go far, far away. Sungjong wanted to too. And while Sunggyu’s murmurs lacked a backbone and reasoning and careful planning, Sungjong was sure they could, in fact escape.

“What’s the likelihood of us escaping?” Sungjong tried to ask casually. There was an advantage that they hadn’t expected. Thankfully, the man who took them out of their cells and gave them food wasn’t the man Sunggyu had seen on his first day. Instead there was a smiling, cheerful, short male by the name of Dongwoo. He had dyed blonde hair and wore the same purple suit that the previous man had, but, unlike the latter, Dongwoo was a kind soul with eyes which no one could say no to.

The male also had problems saying no himself.

Dongwoo pondered over his question. “It’d be pretty hard. I mean, to be honest, I barely know how to get out of here.” Dongwoo tapped the skin near his eye, “Without this, I don’t think I’d be able to escape.”

Sunggyu, who had been with Sungjong, stared into Dongwoo’s eyes confusedly. In fact, the male’s eyes were different to his and Sungjong’s. Dongwoo had stars in his eyes, literally; he had a small one under his pupil and the white outline of a star in it. Dongwoo also had a star imprinted on his skin, right under his left eye. Sunggyu stared at him longingly. He tried to remember Hoya. Did Hoya have one?

“What do they do?” Sunggyu found himself asking.

Dongwoo smiled. “They let me unlock things and get through the pretty little pink door. It’s the only escape route I know of.” He frowned at the children worriedly. “I’m sorry I couldn’t help you guys, I really wish I would. But that’d get us all in trouble now, wouldn’t it?”

Sunggyu nodded, not quite believing. A young boy, he didn’t like to think Dongwoo was trying his hardest. In his eyes, no matter how kind Dongwoo was, the elder was just afraid of getting in trouble. In Sunggyu’s eyes, Dongwoo wasn’t trying enough. There was a way of escaping – Dongwoo wasn’t sorry. Dongwoo was just scared. But our explorer Kim Sunggyu wasn’t – the young boy who had crawled into a cardboard box was not afraid to get his hands dirty. He was ready to take on the world.

(A/N: You've all made me happy by reading anything I've written, or at least considering to read anything. I hope I can make you happy in the same way you've made me.)