Waltz for the Moon

In the end, the boy took her in his arms and placed the groceries on her lap. He wasn’t an ignorant bastard. She needed help and he was the Good Samaritan.  That was all.

His mother was different. When he entered the house with not only the groceries, but also a girl, his mother remained dumbstruck. After he told her where he found the young girl, his mother took care of everything. She bathed Mi Rae, she gave her something to eat and most importantly, she gave her a warm and comfortable bed.

“Do you think she’s going to be fine?” His mother watched the young girl sleep peacefully. Her face was wrinkled.

“I don’t know. She’s lucky you found her, Jong Dae. Who knows for how long she stood there” Jong Dae sighed and leaned against his chair.

Unfortunately, the house had only two bedrooms. Thankfully, his older brother has already left the nest for the city life. His parents went to sleep in their own bed while his bed was occupied by the anonymous crazy girl.  He sighed and walked to his dresser. He grabbed two blankets and a pillow. He was going to sleep on the floor that night.

It was around midnight when Mi Rae woke up. She jumped up when she realized she didn’t know where she was. The room was dark and she couldn’t see anything. The last thing she remembered was freezing on the beach.

She got off the bed and tried to find the door. It was on the other side of the room. She sighed and tried to sneak out. She didn’t know someone was on the floor, sleeping. She tripped over what felt like a body and fell on her face. Jong Daw groaned and sat up. He the light and noticed a bundle of limbs on the floor. He raised an eyebrow and bent over.

“Do you need something?” Mi Rae groaned and tried to get up. It was definitely harder than it looked.

She glared at the new found acquaintance and stuck her hand out. His eyebrow raised even more, if that was possible. Instead of helping her up, he gave her a high five. She scoffed and got up on her own.

“Who are you and how did I get in here?” He scowled and walked right past her.

He jumped on his bed and stretched. The floor was uncomfortable. She should have slept there.

“I am your savior. You were ready to kill yourself by throwing yourself in the ocean but I saved you” He was lying through his teeth and Mi Rae figured it out faster than he could blink. She stared blankly at him for a few seconds.

 He was an idiot.

“I’m not stupid. I wasn’t going to commit suicide. I was crying on the beach. That’s all” He scoffed and rolled his eyes.

“You’re an ungrateful crazy girl. I even took you into my house and gave you comfort. You should thank me” She blinked a few times. Realization hit her and she nodded. She was safe granted to him.

“Thank you” He was mean, yes, but he didn’t expect her to actually thank him.

Besides, it sounded genuine. Her eyes moved on the improvised bed on the floor. She noticed how tensed his muscles were and how often he would rub his neck.

“You don’t have to sleep on the floor” She got on her knees and made her way over the blanket. She placed the blanket and pillow in order and tucked herself in.

“Are you sure you can sleep on the floor? You are the guest and mom will kill me if she sees you there” She rolled her eyes and one side.

“Then you should wake me up before she comes in” He blinked confusedly. She closed her eyes and ignored him. She was a stubborn girl. Well, at least he got his bed back.

That morning, Jong Dae felt weird. He woke up first and automatically waked her up too. They had to use the paper, scissors, stone game in order to choose who was the first to use the bathroom. She won. He gave up quickly and decided to change while she was busy.

His mother was surprised when she saw two teenagers, instead of one, walking into the kitchen. She smiled softly at the new face and greeted them warmly. Mi Rae bowed in sign of respect and tried to smile in return.

“So, what is your name?” It was only natural for a mother to ask who she was.

Well, she was a stranger who ran away from home. Her father was actually a mafia leader and she might have or might have not killed her English teacher. Ha! Of course she wasn’t going to tell them that.

“Mi Rae. My name is Mi Rae” Jong Dae’s mother took her bowl and filled it with rice. It looked and smelled good. Homemade breakfast with nothing fancy on it tasted delicious.

“So, what were you doing on the beach? Were you crying after your long term boyfriend who decided to break up with you?” The older woman hit her son and excused him.

“Actually, yes” It was the perfect cover and she had to create a story around that subject. “He left when I needed him the most. I had some issues and he left me, knowing how hard it was for me” The ahjumma’s eyes softened and she was ready to hug the young girl. On the other side, Jong Dae scowled. He didn’t care what happened to her and he definitely didn’t want to hear her sad life story.

The whole day, Mi Rae had to respond to ahjumma’s questions. She was very curious what her family was like and what were her parents doing for a living. She lied. Her father magically turned into a responsible family man. She turned her family situation to 180 degrees. Jong Dae wasn’t buying her lies. No family was that perfect.

Late in the afternoon, Jong Dae’s girlfriend visited. Mi Rae noticed the change in ahjumma’s behavior.

“Why don’t you like his girlfriend, ahjumma?” She was a curious person. She couldn’t help herself. Ahjumma’s face sulked and she sat on the nearest chair.

“She is bad news. There are many rumors about her and her past relationships. I heard someone at the market talk about her. Her ex-boyfriend was involved with the mafia” Mi Rae’s eyes widened. “They said she was involved with some drug dealers”

Ahjumma continued to explain why that girl wasn’t good for her son. With every new piece of information, Mi Rae realized how bad she actually was. She was involved with the mafia directly and she was constantly in danger. Her first love was a man she didn’t know much about and was 20 years older than her. She was really unfortunate.

“But he likes her a lot, right?” Ahjumma nodded. “As long as they love each other and are willing to do anything for each other, then nothing will come in between” The old lady crossed her arms in front of her chest and sulked even more. Mi Rae cracked a smile. She was an interesting old woman.

The whole day, she did what she always wanted to do with her mother in the past. She helped the old woman cook, clean, wash the dishes and even helped her in the garden.

“Do you want to come and help me tomorrow?” Mi Rae titled her head to the side confusedly. The old woman laughed under her hand. “I work at the market. Do you want to come and help me sell these vegetables?” She nodded without a second thought. She didn’t know where she was exactly but she didn’t care.

Jong Dae returned home late at night. Ahjumma didn’t scold him like she used to. The teenage boy was thankful. He walked into his room, forgetting about the guest. When he opened the door, he got blind. Someone threw something at his head. He grabbed it and realized it was his shirt. His eyes traveled to the half girl inside his room. She was glaring profoundly at him.

“I want to change. Can you wait for 5 more minutes?” He looked between his shirt and her body. A silly grin appeared on his face and he shook his head. She raised one eyebrow. He was challenging her. Suddenly, she dropped the towel and dressed right in front of him. Jong Dae’s eyes widened like two plates and his mouth opened slightly. She rolled her eyes and walked right past him.     

The next day, Mi Rae woke up first. She tiptoed around the room until she grabbed everything she needed for the day. She showered quickly and closed the door to his room silently. He was snoring softly and even talking gibberish in his sleep. She rolled her eyes and walked downstairs. Ahjumma was already there, prepared for another busy day.

Mi Rae had never been before to a market. She was used to buy everything she wanted through the internet. When her household needed fresh food, the cook and servants were doing the shopping. Her mother used to tell her how fun was to shop for food. She died too soon and couldn’t show Mi Rae what a normal life was like.

Ahjumma was a kind woman. She explained slowly what Mi Rae had to do for the day. Shortly, the market was going to open and they had to place the vegetables on their shafts.

What Mi Rae realized that day was how grateful she was for being trained in the art of manipulation. She succeeded to sell the merchandise at a better price than the average. Her pretty face attracted a lot of old women looking for a daughter in law. She got a lot of contact cards and even deals. She was surprised by how old women were thinking. It wasn’t very different from the world she was coming from. They wanted a wealthy partner for their children. Ahjumma got annoyed at some point and told the women to leave. She even gave them a good reason to back off.

“Maybe I want to make her my daughter in law” She shouted once.

Mi Rae chuckled and placed her hands on ahjumma’s shoulders. She smiled softly at her well-doer and worsened her situation. The women were getting more and more attracted to her innocence. Sadly, that was just an act. Mi Rae knew very well that she was anything but innocent.     

However, rumors spread quickly through the city. Many ahjummas were talking about Mrs Kim’s daughter in law.  The rumor got more and more intense when Kim Ahjumma forced her son to show Mi Rae the surroundings. They were seen together. It didn’t matter the obvious distance between them or how cold they were to each other. They were together and that was everything that mattered.

“Su Jin will come soon and you’ll have to go on your merry way without me” He stated.

She was walking with her hands behind her back, trying to save the naïve façade she worked so much on. Jong Dae wasn’t stupid. She was too nice to be real. She must have had some really dark secrets to put up such a believable act.

She didn’t care what he saw her as. They couldn’t care less about each other’s lives.  

“Good for you” Her responses were always succinct and objective. He hated how careful she was. He wanted to catch her badly. She wasn’t an easy prey.

They stopped when they reached an intersection. Mi Rae turned her attention on Jong Dae, who was slowly walking further and further away from her. She shrugged and tucked her hands into the jacket’s pockets. She had an entire day of living like a normal girl.