Hwamin still wasn’t sure what to do with the strange intruder in her home. She considered calling the police a couple of times but the boy seemed so shaken up already that she didn’t know what would happen if armed people were added to the mix. Especially with the way police treated delinquents. This boy had something happen to him, he needed a hospital more than a cell, and he’d already escaped from one before. But he couldn’t stay with her either.

After finishing the second box of cookies the boy had reverted to his almost feral state and refused to let her near him, occasionally snarling at her when she tried to come near him anyway. Now he’d built himself a fortress of sorts with her pots, pans and anything else he could find in her kitchen, and sealed himself off from the rest of the apartment. Hwamin felt sorry for the creature. Eventually she gave up on trying to approach him and laid down in bed, turning the lights outside the kitchen off.

Maybe half an hour later, Hwamin wasn’t sure because she was trying to fall asleep herself, she heard a soft snoring sound coming from the kitchen. Tiptoeing she went back to check on the boy. He’d managed to curl up into a tiny ball and was hugging his knees. He was indeed asleep, and looked like an angel. Unable to just leave him there Hwamin carefully moved some of his walls and covered him with a sleeping bag, the only other object she owned that could function as a blanket. Then she carefully rebuilt his walls and went to sleep, turning the lights in the kitchen off as well.

A crashing sound woke her up the next morning. Panicked she sat up and noticed the strange boy sitting beside her bed with the sleeping bag still wrapped around him. He held up the empty package from the night before and pointed to hit mouth. Hungry again. Hwamin sighed and got up. Her sudden movements scared him and he made a dash for the bathroom this time. This would take some getting used to, Hwamin felt herself thinking. He would probably come out if she cooked something that smelled good.

“You don’t have to run away every time I move you know? I’m not going to hurt you.” She said, more to herself than to him. There was no response of course, so Hwamin headed to the kitchen and put on some rice. Everyone likes Kimchi fried rice, she thought as she went through her fridge. That and those were the ingredients she had. It turned out she wasn’t wrong, because as soon as she started frying the kimchi she could hear the boy crawling to the door. Because cooking took most of her concentration, and because she didn’t want to scare him, Hwamin didn’t turn back to look at him.

Once she’d finished and turned around, Hwamin found him sitting in the corner of the kitchen, staring at her over his knees that he was hugging. Without a word she grabbed two spoons and carried the pan back to her living and bedroom. Quick footsteps behind her indicated that he was following her. She placed the pan on the low table and noticed him closer to her than he’d willingly been before, only a meter behind her.

“Come sit.” She sat as she sat down and pointed at the spot beside her. The boy glanced at the way she folded her legs and slowly crouched down, trying to sit like she had. Hesitantly he reached for the pan. Hwamin grabbed his hand to stop him, causing him to panic and try to squirm out of her reach with all he could.

“You can’t touch it. It’s hot.” Hwamin tried to explain. The boy didn’t understand and remained where he was. Hwamin sighed and scooped up a spoonful for him, blowing on it until she was sure it was cooled enough. Then she held it out to him. Although he still looked at her with distrust the boy did crawl closer to her and sniffed at the spoon curiously.

“Eat.” Hwamin said. The boy seemed to have a grasp on what that word meant and lunged forward, taking the bite. Once he’d taken it he moved backwards and chewed, rather quickly. Only when he’d swallowed did he come closer again and pointed at his mouth. Hwamin didn’t think she could take care of someone like this and decided it would probably be for the better if she never became a mom either.

Regardless of his mistrust Hwamin did manage to feed him half the contents in the pan. Then her own stomach started to grumble. Surprised the boy looked from her to the origin of the noise and reached for the other spoon. Just like he’d seen Hwamin do, he scooped up a spoonful and blew on it, then held it out to her. His actions were a bit shaky and he dropped most of the food, but Hwamin appreciated the gesture. With a smile she took the bite carefully. It was still hot, but this was a positive development. Maybe she wasn’t entirely unfit to be a mother at some point.

Once they’d emptied the pan the boy scurried away to a corner and started a discovery journey through her apartment. Hwamin decided to let him be and clean up the apartment instead. There was a big mess in the kitchen still and now also in the living room. The boy needed a name, Hwamin decided. Everyone deserves a name. But how was she going to figure out what he was called?

“Do you remember what I said last night?” She asked him as he flipped through a picture book with great interest. He didn’t seem to be listening to her. “I said I’m Hwamin last night. Hwamin is my name. I want to know yours, too.” Her name certainly spiked his interest. The first time she said it he looked up from the book and when she repeated it he even closed it.

“I’m Hwamin.” She repeated, patting her chest, “who are you?” He followed her fingers that were pointing at his chest with his gaze and then looked up at her expectantly. Was he really mute?

“We’ll try and find it out together then.. Let’s see..” She sighed and sat down in front of him, “Does it start with a ‘g’ or a ‘k’? Like Ka, Ki, Ko..” Did she really need to go down the entire alphabet? Luckily he reacted strongly when she’d gotten to the diphthongs. The word ‘Kyung’ made him nod, so that could be his name.

“Kyung?” She asked him again to confirm. The boy breathed out in a sound that sounded like an ‘s’. He was trying to add something, Hwamin realized. “Kyung si, Kyung so, Kyungsoo?” Immediately he nodded.

“Kyungsoo.” He repeated after her. It shocked her to hear him talk. “Kyungsoo.” The boy repeated as he patted his chest. Why did that name sound so familiar? Hwamin rubbed her temples and nodded. Kyungsoo. Who did she know by that name?

“Hello Kyungsoo.” She smiled at him and wondered if she could figure out his family name. Kyungsoo was too busy repeating his own name to pay attention to her anymore. It didn’t look like he wanted to do anymore thinking. It was pretty cute to see him go on like that. Although she didn’t notice it, the emptiness that always seemed to haunt her was no more. Something had finally filled the void.

Hwamin hadn’t originally had plans for the day and that was a good thing because Kyungsoo suddenly needed a lot of her attention. He still wouldn’t come closer to her but seemed very interested in telling her his name and having her repeat her name to him.

“Hwamin.” She said for the seventh time as she opened her laptop, looking for an asylum he might have escaped from. Of course she wasn’t allowed to see the list of patients, and googling “Kyungsoo” didn’t lead to many results. Kyungsoo crouched down beside her and looked up at the laptop.

“Kyungsoo?” He asked, gesturing at it.

“This is a laptop.” Hwamin tried.

“Kyungsoo.” Kyungsoo said again. Hwamin just closed it again. It didn’t look like they would make more progress on this. At least he was happy for now. Kyungsoo behind her ran off to look at his picture books. Now he incorporated the sleeping bag, nestling underneath it as he eagerly looked through the pictures. Every now and then Hwamin heard a vaguely mumbled “Kyungsoo” coming from his corner but he remained mostly quiet for the rest of the day.