A girl with a raggedy suitcase and an equally used rucksack stood, out of place, at the intersection. She was making a phone call at one of the few public phones in that neighborhood, and prayed with everything that she had that the other line would pick up.

“Min? Can I come crash at your place?”

“Yah! Yeon Jinri, do you know what time it is?”

“Sena kicked me out. For good this time.” Jinri’s voice was small and a bit hoarse, but the message came through clearly.

“…You know where I keep the spare key.”

Ten minutes later, Jinri entered the home of her classmates and childhood friends. Cho Minseok and Cho Jaeseok were twin brothers whom she had been friends with since she could remember. They had known about the situation with her aunt, and at one point even begged their mother to take her in. But nothing could be done, and so Jinri stayed with them when things got rough. Minseok stood at the base of the staircase with a blanket and pillow in hand as she dragged her things over to the couch.

“I was planning to sleep there; you can have the bed,” he said, though she ignored him and took a seat anyway. “Hey, Jinri. Don’t look so glum. We’ll figure this out.” He came over and sat next to her. Jinri nodded, her usual vigorous energy giving way to the exhaustion of the fight with her aunt, and subsequent eviction from her home.

“Yeon Jinri, what do you think you’re doing right now?” Her aunt had found her in the attic, going through a box of pictures that had been stored there long ago.

“I was just looking for some pictures of my mom. Where are they? The day she-”

“How dare you speak of her in this house!” her aunt had shrieked. “That of a woman who was so stupid and got herself killed? A woman who killed the man who she claimed to love? A man who she stole? A man she carelessly dragged into death with her?”

Jinri had long known that she was the product of her mother’s affair with her aunt’s husband, How could she forget, when that vile woman reminded her of it almost daily?

“He never loved you,” Jinri said, her voice quiet and full of anger. Her aunt narrowed her eyes and glowered at the girl.

“What did you just say?”

“I SAID THAT MY FATHER NEVER LOVED YOU!” Jinri screamed, her hands shaking from anger. She had felt this angry before but had never acted out on it. It was terrifying and exhilarating. “He was never yours to begin with and you think that by taking it out on me, you will get some sort of satisfaction? You think this will bring him back to you?”

A sharp sting echoed as flesh met flesh. Her aunt had slapped her, hard.

“You think you know everything, don’t you, you little ,” her aunt hissed, face red with rage. “You think that you can speak any kind of way to me? How dare you? You know nothing!” Her aunt charged forward and grabbed Jinri’s arm, dragging her from the attic and nearly tossing her down the short flight of stairs to the second floor.

“G