White Chocolate and the Peppermint Candy Analyzing Love How can you tell it’s true love? You can’t… Only after you have failed… You understand the depth that you have lost. Sea of mixed emotions, Guilt, Sorrow, Anguish, Confusion, And loss you shall imbue, Until an abandoned soul approaches you in hopes of help… That you can mend its torn love… Accept them regardless of their past.  It is your choice to make, But you too, are hungry, Thirsty, Eager to accept light back into life… It’s like having a single pinpoint of the sun’s full spectrum penetrating through the heavy, troubled waters. It will be almost impossible at first, Differences too great, But the faith and trust will open the world, Brighten the midnight ocean… Only then, will the first white bird of dawn drink and praise the glory. By: Stephanie Kang ** Hye Sung looked around and saw many little children having snack on the small table, but only one caught his eyes. It was a little girl that was only about four years old. He walked up to her and stood behind her sitting figure. Yet, the girl knew there was a man behind her. “Can you peel this orange? Also the white stuff that’s on it…” The little girl faced Hye Sung and handed him the orange. Hye Sung couldn’t help smiling…it reminded him of his girlfriend who died a year ago. She too used to ask Hye Sung to peel off the white part of the orange. A lady came to him… “Did you choose anyone? They’re all nice kids…” Hye Sung smiled. “Yes…I like her…the one eating the orange…” “Well, that’s good news. Come with me Sir, we have papers to fill.” ** It was couple days later before someone knocked on his on a Saturday afternoon. ‘Ah…must be the little girl’ Hye Sung thought. It was arranged so that the girl will come to his home that day. He swung the door open but to his surprise, the little girl…wasn’t little. A girl…a little younger than his age but much older than the four year old invited herself into the home. Hye Sung was dumbfounded and was just standing there. He couldn’t quite figure out what was going on. He stood there until he heard a crash behind him. He spun around and saw his mother’s favorite ceramic vase in pieces on the floor. He quickly ran over and pushed the girl away. ‘It was my mother’s favorite…. It was my mother’s favorite….’ That was the only thing that went through Hye Sung’s mind as he cleared the big pieces and got the vacuum ready to suck in the rest of the sharp little ones. After he furiously cleared the area, he gave a cold look at the girl. The girl only looked at him with terror and backed away. “Ya! Nuh mo ya!?” (Hey! What are you?!…eh…I would more likely phrase it as a ‘who the f---?’) The girl only looked down and started to bawl like a little child. It was so loud, it actually scared Hye Sung. o.o    o.O   0.0    O.O Hye Sung wasn’t quite sure what to do…frustration and stress overwhelmed him. He didn’t know this girl…but he didn’t have the heart to kick her out…but then again…she broke his mother’s favorite vase. He didn’t care. He just left her bawling on the cold tile and he went upstairs…hoping to wake from this bad stressful dream. Chapter 2 ::Hye Sung’s POV:: I woke up in the morning to the smell of coffee. Wait…that’s not right…I live by myself…! I scrambled out of bed and ran downstairs while trying to get my robe on. “…!!!…” The girl was wearing his apron and was sadly attempting to brew coffee and make eggs at the same time. Oh…can’t forget the morning hair. >< Afraid that she will do further damage to the kitchen and herself, I quickly ran to her and snatched away the spatula she was trying to mix coffee with. She looked surprised at first, but her expression turned into a cute one. “Want some mud coffee? I got it from the garden this morning!” I just gave her a weak smile, although I was totally disgusted. What if some worm popped out of cup? I looked to my side and saw that she had a plate of two cracked, raw eggs and a burned sausage to make a smiley face. Oi~ “I’m not hungry…but I’ll make you something to eat before you go.” “G…Go? Are you mad at me? I don’t want to go back! No~!! Yuri doesn’t want to go back!! No, No, NO!!” ‘Eh? Yuri? Is that her name?’ By now, this girl was on the floor crying again and having a tantrum. I picked her up and held her until she calmed down. I noticed that she was wearing a wrist tag with her information. I wanted to have a close look at it, but didn’t want to startle the girl by suddenly grabbing her wrist. I let her calm down before I told her she can stay here a little longer. “Choco ah juh shi~ I’m hungry!” “Choco ah juh shi?!” “Yup! You have chocolate color hair but Yoon Jungie have black hair!” ‘Yoon Jungie? Didn’t she say she was Yuri?’ “No, No, No! I change my mind. You’re white chocolate ah juh shi because you have white skin!” --;; I shrugged and got up to make her some NEW breakfast. I wanted to throw out the worm and the awful plate of eggs and sausage, but I didn’t want to hurt her feelings. After all, she did make it with dedication…and I didn’t want her to bawl on my kitchen floor again…for the third time. I set a plate of bacon and pancake in front of her and she dug right in. I watched her eat hungrily…no need for fork and knife. She ate like as if she had been starved for years. “So…how old are you?” I asked gently. She just looked up with pancake pieces all over her mouth. She shyly held up greasy pancaked fingers. “SIX?!” She nodded and pulled her attention to the messy plate again. There was NO WAY she could have been six…she was practically as tall as me and six year olds don’t have boobs like that…not…that I was looking…>< “White choco ah juh shi~” “Na ah juh shi ahn ni ya!” (I’m not an older man!) “…Um…chingoo ya~ let’s go to the park and play on the slides!!” !? O.O !? “PLEASE~!! Yoon Jungie really, REALLY want to go!” “Erg…okay…fine…only because I don’t have work today, okay?” “OKAY!! Wee~” “Oi~” I rolled my eyes and went upstairs to dress out of my robes and into something more casual. I came downstairs with some baggy jeans and a t-shirt. I brought along a pair of old shorts and a shirt for Yoon Jungie or Yuri…whichever one it was. She had somehow found some of my small gardening shovels and pots. Guess she was going to play in the sand as well. “Yoon Jung..?” I called uncertainly…in case I called her by the wrong name. She looked up with her big curious eyes. I held up the shirt and shorts. “Go change into these…it’s probably uncomfortable with the attire you’re wearing.” I cringed at the dirty matching cotton shirt and pants. It had dirt stains and stains from this morning’s breakfast. “Ooo~ Can I keep it?” I didn’t wear it because it was too small anyway. “Sure…now, change into those so that we can go to the park.” “OKAY!!” To my surprise, Yoon Jungie started to pull up her shirt right in front of me. “Ahh! Yoon Jung! Not in front of me! Go into the bathroom and change!” “Why not here? It’s much more roomy here.” I couldn’t believe what I was hearing. Maybe she WAS a six year old… “Fine…I’m going to go watch TV while you change here. Don’t follow me…just tell me when you’re done.” With that, I just went into the living room and turned on the TV. It had been 15 minutes and the girl still hadn’t come to me. I began to worry… “Hey, are you done?” “…” I scrambled out of my couch and went to where she was standing before. There, she just stood there, looking at the shorts. She, on the other hand, was only wearing the shirt I gave her and her underwear. >< “I can’t tell which side was the front…” She said bashfully. --;; This time, I just decided to help her clothe. It wasn’t anything big…it just felt like as if I was tying some kid’s shoelaces…just helping someone out…nothing more. We walked out to my neighborhood park that was only a short distance away. There, Yoon Jungie played on the slides and built sand things. I honestly couldn’t tell what they were, but I smiled and said it looked good anyway. I just sat on a swing and watched her play. I must have dozed off sometime under the warm sun, because the next thing I know, the day was getting a little hazy orange. I looked around for Yoon Jungie, but I couldn’t find her. I started to panic and look around the playground. Out of nowhere, everything became dark as someone put their hands over my eyes. “AHH! What do you want?” “…Kekekekekekeke~ guess who?” “Argh…Yoon Jungie?!” “Yup!!” “Oiya…don’t scare me like that! Come on…let’s go. It’s getting late. Go get the shovel and the pots.” ::Pout:: “Come on~ we have to go get some dinner, right?” Yoon Jungie quickly packed up and ran towards home. “Hehehehe~ I’ll race you home!” Yoon Jung yelled out. “Hey! You got a head start!” I raced her home but she won. Oh well. I let her win…mhmm…I didn’t lose~ >< We washed our hands and she went out into the living room to watch TV while I was making dinner. The dinner wasn’t anything big, just what I usually have. I wiped wet hands on the apron and stepped into the living room. The TV was on really loud…sigh…Disney Channel. Yoon Jungie was sleeping on the couch, regardless how loud the TV was on. I took this time to look at the tag on her wrist. Carefully, not to awaken her, I quietly read. Banana Valley Orphan Home Name: Hwang Mi Hwa D.O.B: 2/4/81 Disorder: Multiple Personalities (Yuri, Yoon Jung, Mi Hwa) Contact: N/A ‘Mi…Hwa…’ It was the name of my girlfriend…I finally understood why Mi Hwa called herself by many names…but why hasn’t she called herself the real name? I felt sorry for her…from the birthday, I figured she was couple years younger than me. Mi Hwa started to stir from her sleep so I quickly got up. She opened her eyes and looked at me. “Come on, you must be hungry. Let’s go eat some dinner.” ******************************************************