Vardaan

A beautiful evening in Mumbai city with a cool breeze and orange sky. Some children were playing in the park after school. Some elderly people were taking a stroll. The road near the park usually has heavy traffic but that evening only one or two vehicles were visible.

A skinny boy with silver hair was looking at those children with sadness in his blue eyes and Smiling as if he was finding himself among them.There were bruises on the boy's face as if someone had beaten him.

After sitting on the bench for some time, he picked up his bag and walked out of the park towards his workplace.

After walking some distance, he stopped and went to the convenience store near his house. As soon as he entered the store, the store owner called out his name in surprise.

"Leo?"

"Good evening mr.pal."

Leo looked towards the store owner and said with a hesitant smile.

"What is good about this evening and who the hell did this to you? It's them again isn't it.

Those little brats, just give me the names, I will give them a good beating."

Mr. Pal said angrily.

"Father I told you not to watch those weird fantasy shows."

A girl's voice came from the room behind the counter. That voice was of Disha Pal who was the daughter of store owner Jagdish Pal. As soon as she came out of the room and saw the condition of Leo, she lost all her cool.

"WHAT THE HELL, HOW DARE THEY DO THIS TO YOU. WHERE ARE MY DRAGONS I WILL BURN THEM ALIVE."

As soon as she saw Leo's condition, she screamed angrily.

"Now who is watching the fantasy shows haa?"

Mr.Pal said while looking at Disha.

"Haaa? Father you are the one who watches those dirty fantasy shows."

Disha said making an angry face.

"Hooo? So how do you know that those shows are dirty? Hmm?"

Mr. Pal said with a rageful gaze.

"Well....Just.. because." Disha with a hesitant pout.

"You brat....." Mr. Pal said angrily.

Leo could see the murderous intent in both of their eyes so he remained silent.When the quarrel became worse, he spoke out.

"Um... excuse me both of you."

Leo whispered.

"WHAT?"

Both synced.

"Sorry.... for... interruption... But you are scaring the customers."

Leo said hesitantly, pointing his finger towards the customers.

"Eh....?"

They synced again.

At that time Leo thought 'Like father like daughter, they are so much alike.'

After few minutes.

"Now are gonna tell us exactly what happened to you or not?"

Disha asked Leo while Mr.Pal handled the customers.

"It's not what you are thinking i....just.....fell....down..the stairs."

Leo shrugged his head and said in a slow and broken voice.

They both looked at Leo with concern and then looked at each other and sighed.

After some time, Disha grabbed Leo's hand and then she made him sit on a stool and applied medicine on his bruises from the first aid box.

"You know, you're really terrible at lying."

Disha said while applying ointment on Leo's face.

After applying ointment on Leo's face, Disha went to the room behind the counter.

Leo picked up his bag and headed towards the changing room to get on his part time job.

"Are you still thinking of working in this condition? Go home and rest, Leo."

Mr. Pal said sighing and looked at Leo anxiously.

"But I can do my shift, I'm fine so let me work, Boss."

Leo said with a hesitant smile while looking at Mr. Pal but Mr. Pal understood the pain hidden behind his smile.

Despite Leo's many attempts, Mr. Pal did not allow him to work. In the end, Leo got tired and accepted what his boss said, he picked up his bag and walked towards his apartment.

"Poor kid."

Mr. Pal said sadly as he saw Leo leave.

Leo reached the building of his apartment and started walking towards the lift, when his phone rang.

He picked up the phone and said hello but as soon as he picked up the phone, he got jolted by the loud noise.

"WHERE IS HE? WHY IS LEO HYUNG* IS NOT HEAR YET? HE PROMISED TO HAVE A SLEEPOVER SO WHY IS HE NOT HERE YET?"

{Hyung - informal way of speaking Big brother in Korean

Hyung-nim - formal way of speaking Big brother in Korean}

A sharp and loud sound was coming from the phone receiver.

Even after putting the phone away the scream could be clearly heard.

As soon as the sound subsided, Leo put the phone to his ear.

"Hello? Leo, can you hear me?"

A woman's sweet and gentle voice came from the phone receiver.

"Yes aunty, I can hear you."

Leo replied in a gentle tone.

"Son, where are you? You haven't come yet that's why Surya is making havoc in the house. Where are you?"

The woman asked Leo in a worried voice.

"Sorry aunty, I will not be able to come today. I know that I had promised Surya. Please say sorry to Surya on my behalf. I promise and will definitely come next week."

Leo said with sadness in his voice and hung up the phone.

'Sorry, I'm so sorry but I can't let you see me like this, i don't want to bother you guys anymore.'

Leo thought in his mind and started walking towards his apartment. With every step he took, tears started falling from his eyes.

He came near his apartment and opened the door with the key.He went inside his apartment and took off his shoes, which were already very dirty and torn.

"I need to buy a new pair of shoes."

Leo whispered as he put his shoes on the shoe rack. He put his bag on the couch and went to his room.

He closed the door and lay down on the bed. Sadness was clearly visible on Leo's face. He picked up the photo on the mini table which was kept near his bed.

"Mother, Father, Sneha didi*, Hina, I'm home."

{Didi* - Big sister in Hindi}

Leo looked at that photo and said in a sad voice. Leo put the photo back on the mini table and fell asleep.

Leo's life was not always like this. He also had a family, a happy family. But it only takes a moment for an unfortunate to happen.

Leo's father's name was Rishabh Parth and his mother's name was Lea Parth.

Leo had two sisters. His elder sister's name was Sneha Parth. She was five years older than Leo and his little sister's name was Hina Parth who was two years younger than Leo.

When Leo was seven years old, his mother was afflicted with an unknown disease.

Even after getting treatment in all the hospitals of the city, when the desired result was not found, Leo's father decided to go to Bangalore city and get Leo's mother treated in the biggest hospital there.

But the day they were to leave, Leo's health deteriorated, but they had to reach Bangalore that day at any cost.

That's why Rishabh decided to leave Leo at his close friend's place. He left Leo at his friends' house and departed for Bangalore with his sick wife and two daughters.

Then the unfortunate happened. One of the engines of the plane caught fire and exploded. The plane crashed in a field, killing all the people inside along with Leo's entire family.

After that tragic accident Leo drowned in misery.

After a few months Leo was adopted by his parents' friends.

Lee hyun-jin and his wife Lee Nikita Thalapathy adopted Leo when he was seven years old.

They both had a very deep friendship with Leo's parents. The friendship between the two families was so deep that they considered Leo and his sisters as their own children.

Even after a period of time, Leo was badly traumatized and affected by the fact that his family was no longer with him.

Mr. and Mrs. Lee tried to help Leo but that didn't do anything.

They had two children. Lee Jin Thalapathy the elder son who was six years older than Leo and younger son Lee Surya Thalapathy who was four years younger than Leo.

Those two were the reason that Leo became stable. And after a few months Leo became an official member of the Lee family.

When Leo turned fifteen he decided that he would stay in his parents' apartment where he had lived during his childhood.

His foster family gave permission after understanding his wishes, but took a promise from Leo that he would spend the nights at their house on weekends.

And thus two years passed.

Seventeen-year-old Leo was lying down on his bed with bruises on his face and tears in his eyes. He was sleeping while holding a picture of his deceased family close to his chest.

The next morning Leo's eyes opened with the ringing of the phone. He picked up the phone in the middle of his sleep.

"Hello? Leo are you alright?..."