From Blood Bank to Brilliant Star

In order to scrape together the sky-high medical bills for my mother, who had leukemia, and also to train the healthiest possible bone marrow so I could donate it to her.

I went to the construction site without hesitation.

I ate the hardest bread, lived in a prefab shack that leaked from every side, and sent every last cent of my blood-and-sweat money to her.

For three years, I finally saved up that “life-saving money,” and I also built myself a solid body.

I thought the hard days were finally over, so I rushed home full of excitement, only to hear my stepfather’s voice outside the door.