(30) MILK TEETH

Suho, Kris and Xiumin are forced to make their own choices for the rest of their lives the moment they step on the tram. From there on, there are no more parents to tell them what to do, how to live, or what’s best for them. They’re on their own now, skipping towns, jumping trains, and hiding in unused apartment buildings in the ghettos with days without running hot water, much less baths, and surviving with the same outfits for weeks. Sooner or later, they’re coated with dirt and grime, and they’re forced to buy new ones with whatever money they had left smelling like wet dogs.

Seven months pass as they live off of the cash taken from Suho’s previous home. Now, though, they find themselves in a different, difficult situation.

They’re starting to run out of money.

So, Kris one day brings up the brilliant idea of shoplifting. Of course, Suho is mortified, but he’s forced to go along with his plan. Anything to continue living.

Suho feels uneasy as he sits in the small shop. Kris gave into his request to tone down their attempt at stealing, just so he wouldn’t be so scared the first time around. With Kris sitting across from him and Xiumin right at his side, it wasn’t like he was on the edge. Rather contrary, their table is placed next to a wall so he was blocked off from any unwanted people sitting near them. Even then he felt nervous and out in the open, awkwardly playing with the empty paper sleeve of his chopsticks as Kris and Xiumin took their order.

“Stop playing around with that.” Kris muttered under his breath as the lady left with their order.

Kris was uneasy since the woman guarding the shop looked weird. Not in the sense where it was bad, but she didn’t look local to the area at all. He really thought he saw a bit of Chinese in her, but he wasn’t sure with her age. It would’ve been rude to just ask out of nowhere, and he wouldn’t want to strike up a conversation if they were to eat and leave right after without paying. This was the compromised plan he had made for themselves at Suho’s will.

“Speak normally. I think she understands Chinese.” Xiumin whispered, his face neutral as Kris followed along just as calmly. The only problem was Suho, but if he kept quiet, then he was fine.

He observed the small shop a few hours prior to having them enter for a late lunch, their stomachs not being able to handle going for so long without eating anything. The last of their part time workers had gone home, and only the shop woman was left. She was short, almost as short as them, and her slightly hunched back made her appear even shorter as she struggled to grab cups from the shelves that were just out of her reach. The place never got too busy, so she wouldn’t need to run around like a mad woman, though she was lucky to have such patient customers like themselves. They had no right to complain in a situation like this.

She returned shortly after a while with their beverages, even preparing three small cups of milk in their to-go containers. Her smile was soft and sweet, bringing out the little wrinkles that littered her face. The way her eyes twinkled fondly reminded them of their own mothers, and that made the guilt for what was to happen even worse.

While she had her back turned, Kris leaned forward towards the center of the table. “We won’t hurt her. Just eat and sneak to the back to grab some food before we leave, nothing bad. You guys got it?”

Xiumin nodded his head while Suho absentmindedly watched as the old woman placed their plates of food onto a large tray. He thought the tray looked awfully heavy for an old woman to carry alone, and almost stood up to help if Xiumin hadn’t gone himself to help. A hiss could be heard across the table and Kris was already halfway out of his seat as he prepared to go and help the woman as well.

This was bad.

“Eat well boys. You look like you haven’t eaten in days!” She chirped cheerfully, almost hopping back into the kitchen to get them an extra container of side dishes while they ate. “You need to grow sometime.”

Her playful attitude made them all smile. She was being so kind to them in their time of need, and Suho couldn’t bear the thought of having to deceive her after all of this. The kimchi tasted extra tasty and he didn’t know what it was, but the ddeokbokki tasted especially good. Better than any other he’s ever tasted.

Kris and Xiumin were silent as they ate, making sure to eat every last bit of food, even the crumbs. The ddeokbokki was gone within a mere few minutes, and before they were able to stand to leave, the old woman had yet another surprise for them.

She brought out another tray of rice and soup for them, saying something about how this was on the house. The way they ate reminded her of her children when they were younger and she couldn’t help but smile at how eagerly they ate their food. With another gift from the woman, Kris and Xiumin felt bitter.

Suho took his spoon with a shaky hand and let the metal dip into the soup, bringing it to his dry lips as another burst of flavor invaded his senses. It was salty and savory, just like the way the maids used to make it when he still lived with them. The memories clouded his memory until he felt something drip onto his cheeks, realizing that he had dropped his spoon into the soup and it had come back out to splash him.

“Sorry! I-I, I’m sorry…”

He scrambled to grab the spoon, but his fingers weren’t cooperating with him and he ended up letting the side of his hand graze past the side of the bowl. It was only for a second, but that flash of heat surprised him. It surprised him so much that his breathing became heavy and grew quicker in pace, ultimately allowing the tears to come falling down into the soup.

“It’s alright dear, you don’t need to cry!” The woman hushed him, going over to help wipe up the falling droplets off his face. “I’ll just get you a new one, how does that sound?”

That didn’t sound all that great and Suho didn’t even have the stomach to eat anymore. His hunger disappeared with his poker face, and now he was outright crying in front of the woman. It upset him that it had to be her, the kind, sweet old lady that wanted nothing but for them to be happy. He thought about how hot the bowl of soup was and cried even harder knowing that it must’ve been hot for her too, but she still went around giving out food to them and the other customers with a smile on her face.

“Suho… Stop, crying…” Kris trailed off, looking away from the situation as he bawled his eyes out.

Xiumin was in a similar position but he still continued to eat as if they’d get caught and the food would be taken away. He was hungry and this was their first bit of food in a while, and it was too delicious to put to waste like that.

“I-I, can’t do this!” Suho hiccuped, eyes trailing back from Kris and Xiumin to the old woman who looked surprised by his sudden outburst. “I’m so sorry, b-but I can’t eat anymore.”

Her eyes flickered from the boys to the other patrons of the shop and she was glad to see they were only waiting on her to take their money so they could leave. They watched the scene with interest and from a distance, could see how bitter and upset those three boys looked. Their eyes seemed to have untold stories they needed to get off their chests.

While quickly collecting the money and stowing it away in the cash register, she ran back over to the table to see the tallest boy of the three already standing in front of their table, as if he were trying to protect them.

“I’m sorry, but we only came here to eat and leave.” He barely got out, the words getting stuck in his throat. “We don’t have any money… But I can do something if you want something in return, we just. I can’t go to jail.”

“I need to protect them.” The woman could see the burning desire to protect his friends, the flames almost visible in the boy’s eyes. She sighed and proceeded to the door to flip the sign saying that they’d be closed for the rest of the day.

“Sit and we’ll talk. And finish up your food unless you’re full or it will get cold.” She said in a hushed voice.

As she went to go and sit at their table, her legs gave way and she almost fell down before even making it to the chair to sit. Xiumin reached forward just in time to support her and guide her to the table himself, spoon still being held between his teeth as he genuinely worried about the state of her legs.

“I’m fine, just a bit tired.” She brushed him off and proceeded to coo at Suho until he stopped crying, trails of tears evident on his red face. “So you boys ran away from home?”

“Kind of…” The boys all had left, though for different reasons. They weren’t able to say those exact reasons, but for Suho, it had almost slipped as he began to cry again.

“I won’t call the police. But I need all of your help cleaning up the shop. My legs can’t handle all this work since I’m getting a bit old.” She sighed, already beginning to stand up again as she headed to the kitchen. Halfway there she noticed that none of them followed and she frowned, placing her hands on her hips.

“If you don’t help me I really will call the police! Come on, I have a couple freebees I can give you if anything.”

The three boys all huddled together as they followed the path into the kitchen, amazed by the amount of space that such a small shop had to offer. The tour ended abruptly as the old woman pointed at a large stack of pots and pans on one of the counters. She told them to take those pots and pans and bring it to where she was washing the dishes, making her job easier so she’d be finished faster. The cooking products weren’t that heavy, but in comparison, it looked like she was struggling a lot.

Xiumin had slowly inched closer to her side until he had gotten ahold of another pair of rubber gloves, and beginning to wash dishes in the next basin over together with her. She said nothing and let him do as he pleased, the four of them finishing within the hour of constantly working. Suho’s arms were hurting from the amount of things he had to carry, and was astonished to see the old woman still washing dishes as if she weren’t in any pain at all.

“There are some cakes that are expiring in the fridge. Take those and eat as a gift for helping me.”

Kris’ face scrunched up together confusedly as she still treated them so kindly. “We have paid our dues, and cannot accept such gifts.”

“Nonsense!” Her loud voice shocked the boys, who were only used to her soft and kind words. “This is for helping me with the dishes. I have other things I want to talk to you about.”

Suho was the first to obey and wander into the fridge to find the cakes she was talking about. They were sitting atop silver plates with clear wrapping over the tops, perfect three waiting for them as if it were meant for them to eat.

They all sat down together and stared at the sweet treat on the table, pretty shades of pink and blue almost making them drool. The shop woman laughed and urged for them to eat, getting a good laugh out of their desperate faces.

“Now, I’m well aware that you boys weren’t going to pay for your meals today, so I’ll make this quick to spare the scoldings. You know what you were planning on doing was wrong, right?”

Suho, Kris and Xiumin visibly slumped down in their seats, even with the old woman’s kind tone. They felt guilty for doing such a thing to her and the feeling worsened when she still was nice to them afterwards.

“How did you know?” Xiumin asked curiously, mouth still half full with cool whip and sponge cake.

She grinned and looked over at Kris, tapping her own lips as she giggled. “I’ve never heard such a young boy like yourself utter so many curses in one sentence. You should really fix that before you get in trouble.”

Kris’ face froze and his cheeks flared up with a deep red blush. He coughed out an apology before looking away to calm his heated face, but the way the tips of his ears were red still gave it away that he was embarrassed.

“So I was right, you were Chinese after all.” Xiumin sighed.

“Yes and I’m surprised you’re not with a name like that.” She reached forward and pinched his cheek. “You look like a baozi so I figured you’d have some kind of Chinese influence in you.”

“Nope! The only influence I have is from him,” he points at Kris, “but he’s a bad influence, so I guess it doesn’t count.”

Kris became more and more shy as they kept talking about him and the old woman laughed at his quick wit.

The woman did end up giving them a small lecture on why it’s bad to steal, though she stopped after she began to ask about what their families were doing right about now. She said they’d be worried about them for being off on their own like this, but to them, there probably was no where to go if they ever went back.

“How about I tell you a story?” She said while adjusting her back in the chair. “I have a grandson around your age, though I haven’t seen him for eight years…”

Xiumin was more astonished than the other two, since he had just turned twelve that year and that meant the woman’s grandson was around four the last time she’s seen him.

“His mother and father had both passed away a couple years after he was born and the government took him away from me… They didn’t think I was capable enough to take care of him at my age…”

Her eyes began to get watery and Suho and Xiumin were too absorbed in the story to do anything about it. Kris cleared his throat to get her attention before speaking. “But you’re strong. Super strong for an old lady.”

He saw a small amount of malice in her eyes and told himself to keep age out of such a serious topic for the time being.

“I miss him dearly. And seeing kids like you three make me feel a little better because if you could last, then he could last, too.”

“Right! And he probably made a lot of good friends too, like me!” Suho stood, motioning at Kris and Xiumin who just laughed at the enthusiasm.

“He’s my age and I found kids like this.” Xiumin said while motioning to Kris and Suho. “He should be... no. He is fine.”

Seeing the three boys try to comfort her was nice, and the woman chuckled a bit before standing up again. “Yes, you’re right. I need to keep faith in my boy.”

A sudden tapping noise stopped her from speaking anymore. Heads turned to find a teenage boy, a few years older than them knocking against the glass.

“That’s one of my regular workers boys, so don’t tell him what you’ve done today if you want to keep your police records clean.” She stood up and went over to the door to let him in, making him go to the kitchen to get prepped before he started his shift.

“Are these your nephews or something?”