at first glance, you’d say he had it good. the cliché of an upper east sider; the notorious silver spoon, designer clothes varying from tom ford to balenciaga, the best view in new york city and summers spent in southern europe. his parents treated him like the king of the hill and he loved it. despite all the agonising social events, his life was near perfect.

charles was an athletic boy with good grades. how he found free time between school, private french classes and track practice, one could never comprehend. he was polite, only speaking up when necessary. he had a way to win over a person almost instantly. since the early ages the boy had the power over his social circle and he was not afraid to use it. a problem could be made to vanish into thin air if you threw enough money at it, after all.

at second glance, you’d see all the flaws of the dean family. if the walls of his home could talk, the whole city would know how mr. dean hit a line for breakfast, lunch and dinner and how his business partner’s lunch breaks were spent with mrs. dean. surprisingly no one knew about the skeletons in their closets, not even their only son. it was as if the family were three strangers put under one roof for a reality television show. additionally, charles himself was excellent at hiding his - the twisted ways of mrs. teller.

at the age of seventeen, had charles not gone to the charity gala his father had been planning for five years, his life would have never taken a twist some would definitely consider gruesome. it was a hell of a time and his ardour for it could only grow. the slim figure of the slightly older lady had caught his eye, something about her was so intriguing that had him introduce himself to her. fast forward to a few hours later, it was like charles had found himself in a fifty shades of grey movie. from that moment on, he realised with mrs. teller, there were no boundaries. nearly three years later, when charles was almost about to turn twenty, mrs. teller was gone without a trace.

two days before his twentieth birthday, charles threw his first and last birthday party. then came the fateful second almost as if it was a punishment for the deans’ sins. the small family had left for the hamptons to celebrate the young man’s birthday, he was hungover and had dozed off soon after getting in the car. one split second was all it took. a god damn second and everything he’d taken for granted was gone. if only charles’ father had left his work home, his parents would’ve possibly lived and had their happily ever after. mr. dean was insistent on checking up on how his employees were doing, he was a workaholic without a way out of the addiction. the older man hadn’t noticed the van halting to a stop in front of them and crashed into it with their speed definitely over sixty miles per hour, sending his mother flying out of the windshield. it was a miracle how the young adult survived with a traumatic amnesia and a broken arm. what happened to his father, he won’t tell.

“CEO of dean international involved in a fatal crash leaving at least one dead” – he read the bold title shown on the tv, pictures from the crash scene flashing before his eyes when he closed them. following the crash which was broadcasted nationwide, charles found himself in a hospital bed and completely alone. the twenty year old man finally realised his knowledge of the real world was inadequate. his father wasn’t there to provide him with the money and his mother wasn’t there to comfort him when something misfortunate occurred. all charles really knew what to do well was throwing everything in the wind. a month later, he had become a mirror of his parents' skeletons. cocaine and sex had become his best friend and he felt like there was no way out.

it took months of the self-destructing, hedonistic existence of himself to make him realise that a change was needed. in autumn he found himself in seoul, south korea. going to an university felt like the perfect place to start and an institution with a track and field team had him sold. whatever happens next, only time will tell and he is eager to find out.

jun 14 2018 ∞
jun 15 2018 +