The ties that bound them as family sometimes felt as heavy as chains. When Taji returned home, his mother’s eyes, as always, were a mixture of worry and love. Waiting for her son alone in the empty house late at night, her heart was a thousand pounds heavy. The sound of the door opening made her jump and rush out, and seeing her son, gaunt and thin, she couldn't help but tear up.

"Taji… where have you been? So late…"

Her voice trembled. Taji hugged his mother wordlessly. Feeling her son's chilling coldness, like the frigid night air, her heart sank. Ten years ago, after that terrible shooting, her son had been unstable. The shadow of the gang that clung to him, the darkness that deeply shadowed his eyes, was a nightmare that kept his mother awake every night.