| dChapter 6 The bond fire was burning, the only source of light Mi Hwa and I had, except for the bright full moon. All my friends and the chicks left a long time ago, and now I was spending some quiet time with Mi Hwa. Mi Hwa was still drifted off in her own land as we sat together side by side. Guilt came back about early today…when I didn’t buy Mi Hwa the white dress. No…but…I can’t…it’s too hard… “Yuri…?” Mi Hwa turned her head…her gaze on me…it was so unemotional…that it scared me. Her child-like gleam wasn’t there. “Are you…mad at me? I know I was a jerk today…” “…No…” “What do you mean?” “You weren’t a jerk today…” “Then what’s wrong?” Mi Hwa turned away from me again. “What? I don’t get it! Why can’t you talk to me?” Mi Hwa had her head down and refused to look at me when I turned her tugged her shoulders to look at her face. I huffed and turned the other direction as well…that is, until I heard her. “…Heuk…sniff…” She was crying…her shoulders trembling. I couldn’t help keep looking back…it hurt me to see her so sorrowful…although the reason was unknown to me. I sighed and turned to her. I put my arms around her to give her comfort…to let her know I was still there. She gave out her final sniffles before she started mumbling her story. As she told her story…I realized that she was truly 20 years old inside…that somewhere behind the childish act…there was someone I didn’t know. “When I was younger…my family and I always used to go to the beach. We’d play and laugh for hours…without a care…but…one day…while my brother and I were playing in the water…and when we came back…we couldn’t find them.” “So you were lost…? Was that the reason you were at Banana Valley?” “…heuk…n..no…one night, while everyone was sleeping…I was snooping around…and I found a document…saying that…my parents purposely left me and my brother there. They didn’t want us…anymore. Maybe because I was a bad girl…the next morning…another family took my brother…so that I was all by myself. That’s why I had to run away…to you. Just in case…you were the one who took my brother…I had to be with him. I owe everyone so much … I only received…wanted…but I never gave them…back my love. Why did they love me…a person like me? I didn’t get to tell them how much I loved them. I didn’t get to thank them for being in my life…I didn’t get to thank them for doing and going through what they did to keep me happy. I didn’t hug them or let them know I cared when they were sad… I wasn’t there for them when they needed me. I guess that’s why they left…” I looked at her sympathetically…I didn’t know what to say…so I kept my mouth shut and just listened to her talk. “When you said you’ll take me to the beach, I was delighted…I actually believed that my family will be there again…waiting for me…that it’ll be like the old times with my family and play together. That’s why I wanted the white dress…I wanted to look good for my family…haha…isn’t that silly of me?” Mi Hwa wiped her tears with the back of her hand. “I’m sorry…I…I…but…Mi Hwa…you and I …we can be like a family…I can be your oppa…and you can be my dongseng. We can just live like this! Can’t we be like a happy family?” “How can that be possible? You already have a family…your mom and dad who care…” “But I’m not good with relationships…Haha…this is none of your business…but I used to love this one girl named Mi Hwa…but our relationship didn’t work out. I was heartbroken for a while until I found another girl named Kyung Hee…but…she passed away…” “How….did she die?” Yuri asked carefully. “…She fell into a river…and I couldn’t save her fast enough…she…she was wearing the white dress…that you wanted…and that’s why I didn’t want to buy you the dress…because it reminded me of her…because…” I couldn’t go on any further, so I stopped. Mi Hwa dropped her head. Since we were in deep conversation…I wanted to push things further. “Why…why do you have so many names?” “…I heard you call me Mi Hwa today…how did you know?” “Your tag…” “Oh…::silence::…My brother used to call me Yuri…ever since I was little…I don’t remember why…although my real name is Mi Hwa. Then, when we were sent to the orphanage…I refused to give my name…so they named me Yoon Jung until they found my real name through documents…But I don’t know…I feel safe…better…when…I’m just being the little Yuri or Yoon Jung…my worries go away…and I’m not afraid. That’s why, oppa, that’s the reason I can’t be the 20 year old…I have to continue being six. So just tonight…I’ll show you my true self…but after this…forget that I ever told you all this…just think of me as a six year old…” With that, Mi Hwa stood up and started to walk somewhere. She disappeared into the dark night so I ran to find her. Damn night…I couldn’t see her. I was about to call her when ::SPLASH:: ack! The salt water was all over me! “YOON JUNGIE!! YOU’RE ASKING FOR IT!” I ran towards the direction of the splash and started to splash her until we were completely drenched with water in the cold night on a full moon. Chapter 7 ::ACHOO:: Shit…I caught a cold from last night. It was totally not my fault though…Yoon Jungie started it. I didn’t even want to bother to get out of bed, but I realized that I had work today. Reluctantly, I got up but tripped on something and landed right on my face. ::damn bunny slippers:: Just then, Mi Hwa opened the door and made a grand entrance to my room. When she didn’t see me on my bed, her eyes came down to the ground. “Oooh! You kiss your bunny slippers good morning? Hehe…Yoon Jungie used to kiss her teddy bear good morning…but…but…I don’t have it no more!!” Mi Hwa had a sad face, but it was too cute. But it’s not like as if I would admit that to her when I’m flat on my face on the ground with my nose stuck inside this slipper. I got up and recomposed myself. “What do you want?” “Huh?” “Why did you make your ‘grand entrance’ into my room 6:00 in the morning?” “…Um…I forgot…” I slapped my forehead and rolled my eyes. “Oh yeah! I remember! Yoon Jungie sang a song in her dream!” “THAT’S WHY YOU CAME BARGING INTO MY ROOM?!” “Yup! You want me to sing it for you? ‘Twinkle twinkle little star…’” “Okay, that’s great. Hey, do me a favor and get me some cold medicine from the cabinet.” “Okay!” Mi Hwa ran downstairs into the medicine cabinet to get me my cold medicine. I sat down on my bed and thought of all the things I had to get done today. Mi Hwa came running back into my room…without the medicine. “Where’s the medicine?” “I don’t know which one…there’s too many.” “My GOSH~ Deary…you’re 20 years old and you can’t read something that says ‘Cold Medicine’? or even maybe ‘Advil’?” “I’M NOT TWENTY…I’m six! Remember! I’m six! I’m six! I’m six!” “Fine! You’re six! Geez…I’ll go get it myself. ::sigh:: I should start sending you to school.” Just when I said “school,” Mi Hwa’s eyes lit up, but the gleam quickly disappeared. “What…you don’t want to go to school?” “…They’re mean.” “Huh? The kids? I don’t know…last time I went there…which have been few years now…they were pretty nice…and lot of good looking guys.” Mi Hwa frowned. “Yuri don’t like school. You wouldn’t understand. You never will.” With that, Yuri just turned away and slammed the door shut. “…Shit…ACHOO!” I left for work after I made a small plate of breakfast for her and a sandwich she can eat for lunch. I knew she was upset with me so I left silently. ** Life sucks. Life at the office sucked even more when my boss demanded to know where I was yesterday instead of being in the office. He also yelled at me for being late this morning. Damn boss…it’s not like he’s any better work than I am. ACHOO! Finally, after 12 hours of crap load of work I had to catch up on, I decided to go home. On my way, I was passing by a gift shop. The lady was about to close for the day, but I stopped her to buy something that caught my eye…a teddy bear. It wasn’t too big, maybe a foot big, but dang, merchandise these days- it was expensive. I got into my car and settled the teddy bear with my briefcase on the passenger seat. Then, I bucked the seat belt across the bear and briefcase so that it doesn’t go flying off all over the world if I brake hard or some bastard cut in front of me. I didn’t go far before I got out of the car again. This time, I stopped at a local candy store. Nothing unordinary…searched for what I was looking for, checked out a hot chick that worked there, bought what I needed, gave her my number, and saw her roll her eyes at me when I accidentally sneezed on the paper. Chi~ didn’t hurt to try. How come hot chicks don’t care when Minwoo sneezes and think it’s cute? Aish. ACHOO! When I got home, the whole house was dark…which was unusual since she’s still up and running until I came home. Besides…she didn’t have dinner yet. I went from room to room trying to find her. She was nowhere in sight. I walked outside to my garden to check if she got lost in my mini jungle. ::OOF:: I tripped on a shovel…and fell…which totals up to 3 falls today…the morning get-together with the bunny slippers, my acquaintance with this damned shovel, and earlier today at the office, I slipped on a runaway number two pencil. I’m telling you…these regular household thingers have legs on them and magically place themselves in front of me when I’m walking. I’m not a klutz…Never was…Never will be…mhm…who said I was a klutz?! ACHOO! Gawd…this is getting annoying. “Choco ahjuhshi…are you kissing Mr. Shovel good evening?” “ACHOO! ::sigh:: yes Yoon Jung…this Choco OPPA is ‘kissing’ ‘Mr. Shovel’ a good evening. Where the hell were you?” Yoon Jungie looked at me accusingly. “Ooo…you’re gonna go to ja-il~” “Huh? What?! Why am I~ going to jail?” “Because you violated my ears…” “What! No…when!?” For a six year old…she had high vocabulary. --;; “You said a bad word…the H word…” “HELL?!” ::gasp:: “You said it again! Now you go to double jail.” Mi Hwa said matter-of-factly. “Ugh…Hell isn’t a bad word- oi…okay okay! I won’t…wait…I will TRY~ not to say Hell. Deal? ACHOO~!” Yoon Jungie gave me a hard stare. “Fine.” “Shake on it!” “EW! NO! YOU JUST SNEEZED ON IT!” …oh yeah…I forgot. Geez…tough girl…>< she’s so silly sometimes…but seriously…I do cuss a lot…can you tell? Haha. “I brought you a present. Hurry and come inside. It’s too cold and dark now.” “Where’s the present?” “Hehe…on the dining table.” I saw Mi Hwa run over to the dining table as I tried to untie my shoe from the garden. “EW! IT’S UGLY! CHOCO AHJUHSHI! YOU GOT ME A BREECASE?!” “!…O_O…!” “No you silly…try looking ACROSS the table.” “Oh! Hehe…it’s still ugly…you have bad taste…but I like it! Thanx Choco ahjuhshi! Now I have something to kiss good morning!” “Hehehehe~ I’m glad you like it- hey! I have good taste…what do you mean that’s ugly? Hey! Hey! Come back here! Hehe…you know the bear looks good~” I chased after Mi Hwa who ran into my room and hid under the bed. I pretended not to know where she was hiding and was casually “searching” for her. “A-HA! Found ya~” EEP! A teddy bear came straight for my head from under the bed. So abusive. >< What did I ever do to her? >D When the bear did bonk my head, Mi Hwa came out with a victorious smile. “Fine! I won’t give you the candies I bought.” “ACK! Sorry! It wasn’t my fault! Mr. Bear just flung out by himself without telling me! Let me have some candy!” “Are you lying?” “…no…yes…eh…” “Hehe…aigo…dork. Here. These are for you.” “Oo…candy cane balls?” “Balls?! ::o.O:: Oh! Haha…those balls…(eesh…everyone knows sungie is a perv now~ hehe jk!) …haha…they’re not balls…they’re peppermint candy. They remind me of you…simple but pretty…small, but with a sweet, fresh, new attitude. White mint-color for your innocence…red to define your other characteristics…it fits you well.” “…What are they called?” “Peppermint candies.” “OH! Then you can still be choco ahjuhshi and I’ll be peppermint so that we all sound like candy people. Okay?~” Haha….cool kid. I can’t help but to like her more each day. I can’t believe this is the same kid who barged into my house and let herself be adopted like that. I can’t believe I’m sane enough to keep her. I can’t believe I actually like her as my “adoptive kid.” I can’t believe I’m talking to myself. Stupid brain. --;; We sat on my bed and I was telling her a story…a bedtime story that my mother used to tell me when I was little, Three Little Pigs. Shut up. I still like that story. I don’t know why I started to tell her…it wasn’t even her bedtime yet. Oh well. Anyway, Mi Hwa- erm, I mean Peppermint, was enjoying the story, but by the time the two little pigs went to the third pig’s brick house, Peppermint was sound asleep on my stomach. I brushed some strands of hair away from her face and watched her sleep. She looked so peaceful…so child-like. I laughed a little bit when I reminded myself that this is a twenty year old that has a six year old mental psychology that was curled up on my stomach and fell asleep while listening to Three Little Pigs. I took out a scissor out from my drawer and brought it to her wrist. Quickly so that she doesn’t wake up, I cut it from her wrist… the identity tag…from Banana Valley Orphanage. She is going to be with me. End *********************************************************** |