That morning didn’t start in the way she expects.

In her carelessness, Hyejin now finds herself sprawled on the floor after tripping over a non-existent bump near the bed right after she rouses herself out of it. Only for stabilizing a lamp that nearly fell. Now the said lamp crashed and broke to pieces. She does feel tiny prickles when that happens, but never mind that. Inhaling several times, she drags a little bit farther and blindly lets her hands travel until she recognizes a pillow. A slight pull causes the pillow to be dragged down together with the thick blanket along with it. Putting the pillow underneath her to as a stand to pull herself up after comforting herself for a moment, she wonders if she can somehow smother herself to death with the blanket to escape the embarrassment. She slowly closed her eyes.

Let’s try to pull it together, shall we? 1… 2…

The door opened with hastened steps.

There is no time to register what is happening next. She caught mutterings of curses as the owner of the voice stepped cautiously past the shards scattered on the floor and she was met with a worried expression. “What happened? I heard a crash…”

There’s no way Hyejin would tell her about her leg being so embarrassing these days. “Nothing. I just tripped—”

Her words stopped as the other girl slowly wore a horrified expression. Trailing her staring point, she looked down with the support of her elbows. Hidden by the long dress, it’s a tiny shard dug near her kneecap, so small no one wouldn’t even realize it if they were not to look closer.

Ah. That explains the sharp pain earlier.

Her nonchalant expression turned into surprise as Moonbyul took her jacket off to cover the shards on the floor before slipping her arms under Hyejin’s arms and waist. “Wait. I can do it myself. I really can—” But Moonbyul didn’t take no for an answer. Or she pretends not to hear anything as she quickly puts her to bed and treats the wound with the first aid box she fished out near the kitchen.

“Byulyi.”

Digging out the shard quickly, she ignored the hiss of pain and quickly cleaned the wound and dabbed it with antiseptic.

“Byulyi.”

Hyejin knew she was not in the mood, yet the pout she now wears kind of kills any tension in the air. “What is it? Look at me.”

Moonbyul looks straight at her, with the same pouty expression that becomes so endearing for Hyejin with time.

“I’ll tell you what.” With that sentence alone, Hyejin knows it takes almost all of her not to snap. “You fell, Hyejin. I heard a crash. You should have called me. Shout, or anything.”

“I know my limit, Byulyi.” She sighs like a mother trying to explain to her newborn kid. “I was taught since day one how to adjust in situations like this. I was about to stand up and have it all under control before you came.”

“If you know your limit you should have called me immediately before you got hurt.” The ramble goes on with her hands busily dressing the wound with clean sheets. “Those shards are dangerous. What if some of it gets to your eyes? I can clearly hear the thump before the shattering sound. Hyejin-ah, do you know that—”

Hyejin cupped both of her cheeks and pulled Moonbyul closer. Moonbyul’s shoulder sags as their faces were inches apart. “I know. I’m sorry. But we escaped that weird man, didn’t we?”

Hyejin completely understands the reason behind this tension. After an encounter with a shady man that creeped on them while they were waiting in the station, it was the same man who held Hyejin by the wrist and attempted to diffuse in the crowd. Hyejin is sure something worse would happen if not for Moonbyul sensing something’s out of place and quickly sprinting from the vending machine and locating her in time, taking her forcefully from his clutch. The same man even had the audacity to give them a chase until the train shuts its door exactly in time as it left for her hometown, Jeonju.

It took quite a while to convince the woman over and over that it might not come from The Organization because if it was, Kyung and the boys must have confirmed it immediately in advance. A man could as well be your usual creeper that always lurks in public places, the common type that you have to be cautious of.

It seems like the tension hasn’t left her even after hours passed.

“I told you. It’s fine.” She touched her forehead against Moonbyul’s with a small smile. “Remember that you’re here on a break, didn’t you?”

The crinkled smile is all it takes to stir inside Hyejin, brewing with emotions she cannot quite place this time around.

--

If there’s one thing Hyejin misses about Jeonju, it is quite likely the culinary aspects of it.

Bibimbap, makgeolli, even the side dishes are not that different compared to other parts in South Korea, but getting acquainted to a taste you’ve been getting since the day you were born is a thing that Hyejin sure everybody can relate to to to a certain degree.

She ended up dragging Moonbyul to a culinary tour (that became quite short since the other girl keeps asking her over and over if Hyejin should rest or if Hyejin feels sore for walking all day, which deserves an eyeroll for all she cares about) and getting Moonbyul to taste and binge on other food that are not sweets, a feat that somehow elevated Hyejin.

Really, food is what binds people together. Even more proud as Moonbyul binged her homemade bibimbap that she concocted in the motel room out of whim for their dinner one day. Watching someone eating something you made incited a feeling Hyejin thought had long forgotten.

“We’re here, Hyejin-ah.”

Standing before them is a desolate building with cracks everywhere, its European interior is something that Hyejin will never forget. A smudged sign, possibly eroded from rain and time, standing near the entrance.

GA-EULSUG-ESEO CHILDREN’S HOME

“You ask me once where I was born.” Hyejin turns to look. “Here.” She stands at the entrance of the building that once became an orphanage. “I was left here, right near the doorstep. At least that person is nice enough to leave a name in the crib and made sure I was holding it in my palm.” She looks to the floor. “A name that I didn’t really like that much.”

The fact that Hyejin didn’t refer to that person as her parents didn’t lose its meaning to Moonbyul. She tentatively watched as Hyejin first entered the building, making sure the bike had been locked and all, despite the low number of criminalities possibly happening in a desolate orphanage located on the hill.

It was a past that Hyejin didn’t particularly hate but never bothered to visit back.

Everything must be done accordingly from the moment she wakes up, with manners becoming the top priority. The buildings were combined with spacious schools and an effort to drill all those lessons, becoming the students imbued with the highest quality of education. The number of people in fine suits and regal aura at that time makes Hyejin wondered if it truly was a place where the elites would adopt the children with the right skills to continue their legacy.

She steps inside a principal’s office, or whatever remains of what once is a principal’s office. She's a kind lady that always makes sure everyone gets their equal right to live and is adopted into a family that will care for their wellbeing for life. She didn’t know what to expect as she skimmed through the archi