Chapter Text
People are, for the most part, selfish and self-centered.
This wasn’t a criticism, just an observation.
Her golden eyes flickered across the passing people with a sense of desperation and despair growing inside of her. You always had to be careful about asking for help or showing weakness. There were those who were disgusted by ragged homeless children, those who pitied them, and those who had malice towards them.
It was better to avoid a risk than to draw attention towards oneself.
However, people were self centered. They would hesitate to offer help without prompting for fear of overstepping unwritten social rules even if they had kindness in their hearts.
Ohn knew all too well that she needed to be the one to reach out and acquire assistance. She also knew that reaching out to anyone without thoughtful consideration could be fatal.
Hong was breathing heavily at her side and she tried to hyperfixate on how jagged his breathing sounded. If she fixated on it anymore, she would panic and they would die.
She clutched her hand against her stomach with as much pressure as she could muster, hopeful that it would be enough to clog the bleeding.
They needed help. They couldn’t survive alone.
But it had been her mistake that landed them in this mess to begin with. Her foolishness. Her misstep. If she’d seen the malice in the proffered food instead of eagerly accepting it to feed her starving brother, if she’d run away instead of letting her guard down, they wouldn’t have gotten beaten so thoroughly.
People were selfish and some people valued entertainment above the lives and dignity of others. Some people chose the simple joys and rejected very simple acts of kindness.
In this case, it resulted in the end of Ohn and Hong’s lives. They chose the entertainment of watching them scream above the simple charity of giving them food.
Ohn couldn’t even muster the energy to properly hate them. She knew better than to expect anything from people. At nine years old she had become excessively jaded to the intentions and priorities of humanity.
The truth of the matter was that if a person was presented with the very simple choice of an extremely minor inconvenience to support others, they would never choose to inconvenience themselves in any matter. A chicken sandwich for a person who had the money and means for plenty more could easily become a bridge too far.
People claim to believe in charity or caring for others but when it comes to sacrificing insignificant entertainment or a damn sandwich, they would choose selfishness every time.
Ohn was fixating on it. Not out of necessity but because her eyes had long begun to droop and her ability to see the passersby became more and more difficult. Her hand loosened against her stomach and she knew she was at her limit.
They wouldn’t survive.
It was a terrible way to go.
She cuddled against her unconscious brother and bit back the miserable tears that it was her mistake that killed them in the end. Her naive willingness to trust that anyone could actually hold charity for them when it was so much easier and so much more entertaining to watch them squirm.
Ohn knew better.
She did.
She’d just been so hungry.
Hong was hungry too of course, but she’d allowed her own hunger to cloud her judgment.
In the end, it was her own self centered selfishness that led them here. In so many ways, she’d killed her own brother.
Ohn hugged him tightly, wishing he would wake up so she could at least say goodbye but also wretchedly hoping that he wouldn’t. She didn’t want to face up to her own mistake and accept that she killed him. To look into his small face and tell him how sorry she was and to know that no apology could ever make up for her failure.
She’d failed.
It was her responsibility as his sister to protect him and she’d failed. There was no making up for it. No fixing it. No apology that could ever express the depths of just how sorry she truly felt in her heart.
The guilt might kill her before her injuries. The irony of it was too much to bear and so she just held him close and hoped that the pain would fade soon.
“...haaa… dammit.”
Ohn flinched at the sound of the exasperated voice, hissing on instinct and glaring towards the alleymouth with as much strength as she could. Hong held protectively against her as she tried to see through her blurry vision at this next enemy. She would fight with every last bit of her strength if it meant sparing Hong from a more painful death.
The red hair caught her off guard.
It looked so similar to Hong’s that it confused her and made her feel even more dizzy.
“...go…way…” Ohn tried to speak but it came out in a growling rasp that hardly conveyed how seriously she intended to protect her brother.
The man made no attempt to approach initially and it made Ohn even more anxious about his intentions. There was no need to hide his feelings. They were already as defenseless as they could possibly get.
He said something but the swirling nausea made her miss the words. Attempting to focus only resulted in the nausea making good on its ever present threats. Ohn coughed weakly in the mess and tried to remember what she was doing. All she could focus on was Hong's jagged breathing.
She heard a muffled curse and suddenly she was lifted up. Sudden was the wrong word, it felt sudden because the whole world felt far too sudden and far too bleak but it was gingerly done. She cried out, fearful of losing her brother, but he was gathered into unfamiliar arms as well.
The arms were warm. Ohn hadn't realized just how cold she was until now. She instinctively curled up into the warmth despite some part of her brain knowing how dangerous it was.
Knowing that people were selfish and her life was worth less to them than a sandwich.
In the circumstances, there was only one thing left she could do. Only one gambit left for a person with no strength, no allies, and no defense. She forced her lungs to work and begged the person holding them earnestly. Every last bit of her strength for a few simple words.
"...save... Hong..." She coughed and nearly vomited again, suppressing the pain as her consciousness began to fade away into nothing. "...my brother... please..."
Ohn sank into the warm oblivion.
Ohn knew better than most just how selfish humans were. She just prayed that this one person would spare a shred of mercy, if not for her, at least her brother.
Ohn hoped for an impossible miracle.