Chapter 3: Runaways

        Days later, the grumpy old manager of the orphanage came and told Taeyeon something that every other orphan has always wanted to hear: “You’re going to get adopted soon.” Now she wasn’t very happy about it. First off, the old lady said that she was going to be adopted by her grand-aunt from the far off province, who she very well remembered wasn’t very nice to her at all. She remembered that that old woman owned way too many cats, and those cats weren’t too friendly either. Besides, she was actually finally getting the hang of life around here with Sooyeon. It may get lonely sometimes since Sooyeon was quite cold, but at least she can finally say that they were kinda friends. She would really rather not get adopted and just stay with Sooyeon than live with a crazy cat person anyway.

          “You should be happy that you get to be adopted by a relative. Most of us here would do anything just to get adopted,” Sooyeon told her.

          “All she actually wants is my parents’ money,” Taeyeon said with a pout. “She knows that if she adopts me, she can take my own heirloom and use it for her own selfish purposes. That’s exactly why she wants to adopt me. She once said that she hated children so this makes a lot of sense. I don’t even like her either.”

          Sooyeon just sighed instead of saying anything.

          “Besides, what about you?” Taeyeon asked in concern. “I don’t want to leave you here. You’re my only friend now.”

          “I don’t think there’s any hope for me,” Sooyeon said dejectedly. “No one will want to adopt me. Everyone else can get adopted, but I won’t, even if I want to. And we can’t be friends. We just can’t, so you might as well just go off with your grand-aunt. You’ll be better off there than with me.”

          “Why not?” Every time Sooyeon tells her that they cannot be friends, Taeyeon just gets depressed. Sooyeon never really tells her the reason why either. It was quite frustrating. Yet, Taeyeon still held on to the hope that they will stay friends. She already wished upon that certain star, and she knew that her wish will not just fall flat.

          “I told you, there is no hope for me. Let’s leave it at that.”

Later, Taeyeon approached the reception lady and asked her, “If I’m going to be adopted, can’t Sooyeon come with me?”

Surprisingly, the grumpy old woman just laughed out loud at her question. This irked the child a little, since there was obviously nothing funny about what she just asked her. She was very serious about this.

“Sooyeon get adopted?” the grumpy old woman echoed. “Of course she won’t get adopted! Ridiculous homeless child, out of all the tykes around here, Sooyeon will never—and I mean never ever—get adopted.”

“But why?”

“Just go away and stop bothering me.”

          Taeyeon was left feeling confused. Is Sooyeon hiding something? What exactly did Sooyeon do that no one would accept her at all?

          Then one cold night, Taeyeon woke Sooyeon up.

          “Ugh, what now?” Sooyeon asked with eyes barely opened.

          “My grand-aunt is coming tomorrow and I don’t want to go with her. I don’t want to leave you miserable here either. Come and run away with me.”

          “Are you crazy? How are we even supposed to survive out there? We’re just kids!”

          Then Taeyeon took her backpack and fumbled through some of the pockets. She took out a wallet filled with credit and debit cards that she took from her house just before the policeman took her to the orphanage. Her father always had it stowed in his sock drawer so she knew where to find it back then.

          “We can get by with these,” Taeyeon said. “I am entitled to all of my parents’ bank accounts now. We can travel, wear nice clothes, and eat fancy foods if we want! We don’t have to stay here!” Clearly, the young rebel doesn't understand how banks work.

          “The orphanage manager will never let us out. If she catches us, we’re done for. And what if you run out of money? Besides, we’re just kids. Be practical. Don’t be reckless.”

          “Would you rather stay here then, where you’ll never be happy?” Taeyeon asked. “Take it or leave it. As for me, I’m running away.”

          In the end, Sooyeon agreed to leave with Taeyeon. They both quietly snuck out while no one was looking and ran out in the empty streets late that night. That January night was really cold. Taeyeon took Sooyeon to ride the subway until they reached the area where Taeyeon used to live. Sooyeon trembled throughout the whole ride. To keep her warm, Taeyeon always had an arm around her. For that whole time, Sooyeon stayed quiet, but deep down, she was very thankful to get out of that awful orphanage. She did not know what will happen to them, but she was actually looking forward to an adventure, even though she knew that what they were doing was reckless.

When they got to the apartment, Taeyeon entered the passcode into their house. Maybe tonight they could crash in her old apartment. It has only been a few weeks since the death of her parents, and she was sure that no one has come to claim their belongings from that place yet.

          “Wow,” Sooyeon said as they entered the apartment. Taeyeon was right, the place was untouched. “You used to live here?”

          “Yes.”

          Sooyeon’s eyes wandered around the neatly furnished home. The modern décor and high-tech gadgets definitely show Taeyeon’s family’s decent wealth. There were picture frames on the walls surrounding the huge flat-screen television, all showing how much Taeyeon’s parents really loved her and each other as a family. The thermostat works really well too, and it was quite warm in that apartment compared to the orphanage. Sooyeon could not help but just stand there in awe. She had never really been outside the orphanage before—at least there was not a time that she remembers. This is also the first time that anyone has ever invited her into such a beautiful home.

          Then Taeyeon motioned Sooyeon to follow her into her own bedroom. Her bed room was really nice. There were blue butterflies painted on the walls and glow-in-the-dark stars on the ceiling. Drawings and pictures were taped on one side of the wall, showing her art. There was also a quaint study table for her to do her homework and her drawings. Sooyeon could tell that Taeyeon was a really artistic person.

“We can sleep on my bed tonight. It’s big and comfy, unlike the ones in the orphanage. You and I will fit there just fine. You can also take a warm shower in the bathroom before you go to bed if you want. I can lend you some of my clothes too,” Taeyeon said with a smile.

As Taeyeon advised, Sooyeon took a nice hot shower in the bathroom and even used the sweet-smelling body washes and shampoos. After that, Taeyeon combed Sooyeon’s light brown hair and lent her some of her really warm pajamas. She felt like a princess. She had never experienced this at the orphanage.

          When they were ready to turn the lights off and go to sleep, Sooyeon said, “Thanks for letting me stay here.”

          “No problem,” Taeyeon said with a smile as she switched off the fluorescent lights and switched on her table lamp. “Maybe tomorrow we can wander the city and I’ll take you to eat to restaurants and we can travel to some of my favorite parks! Don’t worry, we won’t get lost. I know my way around quite well.”

          Then Taeyeon noticed something about Sooyeon again. Before going to sleep, Sooyeon fumbled through the coat that she was wearing earlier and took out the same notebook that she had always been writing on. Taeyeon approached her to at least get a little peek, but as soon as Sooyeon finished whatever she quickly scribbled there for about a second, she shut it immediately.

          “What exactly are you writing on that notebook? Can you tell me now?” Taeyeon asked curiously.

          Hearing Taeyeon ask this, Sooyeon’s good mood instantly vanished. That same cold, lonely look in her eyes came back and took over. Then she shook her head. With a sad, regretful voice she replied, “Someday, I will probably show you, but not yet.”

          “When?”

          “When my wish comes true, then I will tell you.”

          Taeyeon frowned once more. Sooyeon’s secrets just made her more and more curious the longer she kept it. Why can’t Sooyeon just tell her? She’s really making things way too complicated. Nevertheless, Taeyeon had no choice but to wait. Finally, she turned off the lights and went to sleep under the thick quilt beside her cold friend Sooyeon. “Good night then.”

          The next morning, Taeyeon woke up to see that Sooyeon was still sleeping so soundly. This was the first time that Taeyeon saw her like that. Usually when she woke up, Sooyeon would be out of sight, but this time, Sooyeon was still here. Maybe she just felt so comfortable on that bed.

Anyway, since she had a guest in her house, Taeyeon got up to prepare some breakfast for her and Sooyeon. Although she was young, she knew to cook quite well because her mother always taught her well. So then she began to fry some eggs and boil hot water for ramyun. Ramyun was one of the easiest dishes to prepare anyway. While she waited for the water to boil, she set two bowls, two spoons, and two sets of chopsticks on the dining table.

Oddly, after Taeyeon had finished cooking, Sooyeon was still sleeping. It was about 10 a.m. already. Maybe Sooyeon really got tired from last night. They did sleep around past midnight. To check on Sooyeon, Taeyeon went to the room. She was still sleeping.

“Ugh, the soup might get cold,” Taeyeon worried. Then she just decided to wait for Sooyeon in the dining area so as not to bother her sleep.

On her way out of the room, Taeyeon noticed Sooyeon’s notebook lying on the floor, covered by the light-blue scarf and Sooyeon’s coat. Then she looked back at the sleeping Sooyeon and saw that the blanket was even covering her face. Out of curiosity, Taeyeon crouched down to take a peek in the notebook. Sooyeon was asleep anyway. Sooyeon will never know.

When Taeyeon opened the notebook somewhere in the middle, she found that it was empty on that page. Then she ran her thumb through the leaves and found that it was mostly blank with nothing written in it…until she reached the first pages of the notebook. Now that particular notebook was like a daily planner type of notebook. The first twelve pages consisted of a calendar for the previous year, and on the thirteenth page was a smaller calendar for the year after that—the current year. Now the strange thing about this notebook was that there was absolutely nothing written on it, but there were check marks for every single day on the calendars up to yesterday’s date. Is that all that Sooyeon ever does with this notebook—check off the finished days every night? Taeyeon tried scanning the rest of the notebook again, but found nothing. Just the check marks on the calendar. There were no words, no drawings, no notes… Just the check marks on the calendar indicating the finished days of the year.

If this is all that there is with this stupid notebook, then why did she have to keep it from me? Why won’t she show it to me? There’s nothing special about it…, Taeyeon thought as she closed the notebook and put it back under the coat and scarf where she found it. She was kind of disappointed that there was nothing there. She thought she would learn something new about Sooyeon but the girl just became a bigger enigma to her after seeing the contents of that notebook. She even thought that Sooyeon's wish would be written in that notebook somewhere but there was nothing.

As Taeyeon was about to head out of the room, she heard Sooyeon groan and move. She’s awake.

“Hey, there sleepy head,” Taeyeon said as Sooyeon sat up from the bed. “I cooked breakfast.”

          Sooyeon sat there and groggily rubbed her eyes. Her hair was a mess and she looked tired even though she slept through the night. She doesn’t look all too happy either. Still, she tried to fake a smile at Taeyeon and slowly got up from the bed. When she tried to walk, her steps slightly tottered. Taeyeon had never seen her wake up before so she wasn’t sure if this was a routine or not.

          “Are you alright? Did you get a cold from last night?” Taeyeon asked. At first she ignored Sooyeon’s unusually pale skin and skinny body because Sooyeon had always been like that with no problems, but seeing Sooyeon wake up like she had a hangover worried the concerned Taeyeon.

          Sooyeon shot her a glare and replied, “I’m fine. This is just how I wake up in the morning, that’s all.”

          Together they ate the ramyun for breakfast, although Taeyeon pretty much ate most of it. Sooyeon ate some too and she thought it was delicious, but she did not eat much. She had always been like that at the orphanage too, so it did not surprise Taeyeon.

          Finally, after eating breakfast, Taeyeon said, “I told you last night that I can show you around and take you to places today because I know that you have never really been to the outside world much. Want to go?”

          Sooyeon contemplated it for a bit, as if this was something absolutely serious. She seemed to be scared of something but she just kept it all to herself. Then she hesitantly said, “Um, maybe… Sure, let’s go.”

          “Yay!” Taeyeon exclaimed. Then as if she read through Sooyeon’s worried expression, Taeyeon reassured her, “Don’t worry though. We won’t get caught by the orphanage woman. In fact, I doubt that she’d be looking for us at all since she doesn’t even care. And even if my grand-aunt would come out looking for me, she won’t recognize me at all. She has terrible eyes and it has been years since I last saw her so she won’t recognize me by how much I’ve grown either. We’ll have fun and just have freedom to do whatever we want, I know it.”

          Sooyeon just sighed and gave Taeyeon a forced smile. “Yeah, I hope so…”