MEI is thrown into a large room, painted the color of salmon, with tiled white and grey floor. There’s barely any furniture: just one white loveseat, and a bookcase standing adjacent from a medium sized gas fireplace. The red headed Mi Ja stands near the bookcase, running her fingers along the book titles. She glances at Mei for a second, smiles, before grabbing a hold of one of the books and slamming it down on the floor in front of Mei. It’s written in Korean, and though Mei can speak and understand most Korean—she sure can’t read or write it. The book is blue, with outlines of pacifiers of all sizes on the front and back cover.

“I suppose, since you made it through the night, I owe you that talk.” Mi Ja begins, as she slides onto the white love seat and crosses one leg over the other. Her dark laced red dress riding up on her thigh as her black heel taps against the tiled floor in a rhythm: tap, tap, pause, tap, pause, tap, tap. Must be a nervous habit. “Oh, Mei-Mei, I’m not quite sure how you’ll handle all of this. I mean, you don’t look like a strong woman. You look weak, and broken—and well, this might make things worse for you, or better? It depends on how you take it.” Weak? Mei’s not weak. Broken? Yeah, she presumes she is. After everything she went through, she has the right to be. Well, maybe not right, but Lord knows she deserves to be a little bit messed up. No one can be “normal” in a situation like Mei’s.

Mi Ja’s eyes flicker down toward the book, the book Mei can’t read. Mei’s eyes flicker toward it as well—wondering its importance to their conversation. She looks up at Mi Ja, then down at the book, and once more at Mi Ja. Just from looking at the book, with the pacifiers on it, she knows it involves babies. But, why do babies matter?

She’s not sure what she’s supposed to do, or say, but she doesn’t have to think much longer as Mi Ja takes rains of the conversation once more. “The book is titled, ‘Babies born in nineteen-ninety-one’. At the end of every year the North Korean government creates a book containing pictures of all the babies born that year. There’s no reason per say, they just do it to please the community…I guess.” The woman pauses, undoubtedly frustrating Mei. As she just wants this conversation over and done with. Mi Ja glances back at Mei, a look in her eyes that worries Mei. It’s nerve wracking like a bomb is about to be dropped on her.

“On page seven, is my son.”

Mi Ja waits for Mei to flip to the exact page, and when she does so she watches as Mei’s mind does a complete flip in the air at the sight of what’s on the page. Twelve pictures of bald and barely haired babies sat in a row like a yearbook. Names lining the sides and depicting who is who. Mei began to think it would be hard to find Mi Ja’s child, she doesn’t know who the father is. That is, until, she spots the last name Zhao. Zhao Hyun.

“My son, is your half-brother, I presume you understand that that means, your father is his father, right?”

Mei pauses for a beat as she processes the words in her brain. Half-brother? Mei has a brother, a real life family member other than her parents.

She runs her fingers along the picture of the baby. He has chubby cheeks, and chestnut eyes but oddly enough his facial features—his slender nose, and wide set eyes—resemble Mei’s. A small inkling of what could be a smile, slips onto the corner of her lips as she blinks over and over again. Her fingers continue to brush over the photo, her other fingers curling into the side of the book—her fingers breaking the page. The small could be smile disappears from her face as she slides her fingers off the page and thinks it over more. She doesn’t find it out there; for her father to have ual with another woman besides her mother. Jun said back in the forest, that his parents and her parents were ‘together’ a while before they were born.

“On the last page of the book, there’s a piece of paper, grab it.” Mei stares questioningly at Mi Ja before doing as said. She flips through the pages of babies, before landing on the last page like she said. A thin piece of paper hangs there, Mei grabs it and flips it open. Very little information is said, only a name and date of birth. This time, a different last name stands out—Roe. As in General Roe. “Just like your father, your mother was quite a . While your father was involved with me; your mother was involved with Roe Tae Il. Unlike your father and me, once your parents left for China—Tae Il and your mother continued their affair. And a year after you were born, it resulted in a baby.”

Mei’s eyes flicker back toward the paper. Roe Tai Yu. A picture is stapled to the end of the page. Just like Hyun, Tai Yu looks similar to Mei. Chubby cheeks, hazel eyes, slender nose, and wide-set eyes. If all three of their baby pictures were put together, there’s no question that someone would assume them as siblings. Just like before, her fingers brush against his picture except, this time her eyes glaze over with tears. She stretches her legs out in front of her, despite the pain from it, and sets the book on her legs. She flips between the two pages. Between Hyun and Tai Yu—comparing. She begs herself not to think about it. To think about a life growing up with them. Sure, they’re her half-brothers but they’re still her brothers. She hates her mind; how it can play tricks on her. How it can force her to think of a better life, with maybe her brother’s intertwined into her childhood.

“He’s younger than me?” Mei mumbles, to which Mi Ja nods. Why would they keep me and give him up? Her father always said he wished for a son rather than a daughter. Mei decides not to ask the question because how the hell would Mi Ja know?

“Another half-brother, amazing right?” Mi Ja chuckles cynically as she runs a hand down her hair, leaving it around the place where her (tarnished) ear is. She digs into the side of the couch, pulling out two objects: a packet of cigarettes and a lighter. She pulls one smoke out, and lights it—letting it linger at the tip of before she holds it between her middle and index finger with a puff of air leaving . “We didn’t keep our sons, of course your mother never knew of Hyun and I never knew of Tai Yu—not for a while at least. But, we both had made the decision to name our sons and then give them up for adoption, here, in South Korea.”

Mi Ja stands up, and waltzes back toward the bookshelf—grabbing something else. A photobook, and throws it in front of Mei; still holding tightly onto her cigarette, even taking a puff. Mei takes a hold of it, her fingers brushing against the front cover—it’s a picture of Mi Ja, her hair a lighter red then now, holding Hyun in her arms. He’s small in the picture, probably not even nearing five pounds. She wears a hospital gown, looking exhausted with tears leaking out of her eyes as she stares down at her son. “I left North Korea for vacation once, and decided to find Hyun—to see how he grew up. He did, somewhat. Went from foster home to foster home. When he turned eighteen he began drag racing. Not something I was found of, but he loved it—from what I learned.” The red headed woman blows out a puff of smoke as she takes a seat on the white love seat once more and crosses her legs once more. “A few days after seeing my son, he passed away in a car accident—wrapped his car around a tree. Stupid idiot.”

“What about Tai Yu?” Mei asks; wondering why Mi Ja sounds so cold about her own son, a son whom she’s supposed to love. Maybe her parents are cruel, but not all are—Jing Jing’s parents aren’t cruel. After giving up her son, she should be a little more caring. Although, all the North Korean’s she’s met, aren’t very nice—at all. Why would they be to their family members?

Mi Ja shrugs her shoulders, “Tae Il made it his life mission to find his son; but, unlike me with Hyun—Tae Il has never managed to find Tai Yu. I took it in my hands to find him; but, even I couldn’t. Where ever he is, if he’s even alive, he’s managed to hide himself well. Too well.” Mei listens attentively as she flickers through the pages of the photobook: mainly consisting of baby photos, except for one. She presumes its Hyun; he looks to be about sixteen at the time it was taken. Curly auburn hair, chestnut eyes, and a thin jawline like Mei’s father but his nose fanned out on the sides like Mi Ja’s. He holds a skateboard in one hand, as he stares at the camera in confusion. As if he was surprised to get his photo taken in the first place—must’ve been caught off guard.

Mei looks back at Mi Ja, her eyes narrowing as she slides the books away from her. “Is this the whole of the talk? That you wanted to tell me what my parents never did? That I have two half-brothers thanks to you and my mother’s carelessness.” Mi Ja cracks her jaw; and Mei thinks it’s because she got on the woman’s toes. Mi Ja presumes Mei is weak in the stance of a delegate, and only knows how to survive through physical skills. But it takes mental stability, and braveness to make it through hell like last night. If she even thinks she’s scary, then she has another thing coming. She isn’t near the devils her parents were.

“No; there’s one more thing,” The red head announces as she slides her thumb against the tips of her cigarette, pushing some of the ashes onto the tiled floor. “In nineteen-ninety, before Hyun and Tai Yu, your parents got pregnant—this time with each other. Your mother confessed to me that she wasn’t ready to have a child, and I—being your mother’s best friend at the time—told her I could help. Once she had the baby, I sent it over the border untold to anyone, he was unknown to everyone in North Korea, including your own father who thought he died at birth. Just like Hyun, he grew up in the foster system. His name is Min, last name Choi. Choi Min. He knows he’s not Korean, but all he’s ever known is Korea; so he gave himself the name at the age of five.”

Mi Ja shifts her hair behind her ear and points to her burned, sliced off ear. “When your mother found out that your father was the father to Hyun, she got angry. A bit too angry, and took it out on me. After the little incident, she and your father left North Korea—the reason as to why is unknown to me, above my pay grade I guess—and sometime after I left, and settled here in South Korea. I met Min a few weeks after, I knew it was him the minute I saw him.” Mi Ja stops to smirk down at Mei and lean herself on her knee. “I told him everything about your parents; and told him that he had a younger sibling. It was before Tae Il told me about Tai Yu, and gave me that information.” Mei’s eyes widen in proclamation of what Mi Ja said.

“You knew about me?” Mei mumbles with a drop of her jaw in awe.

Mi Ja nods her head as she settles back into the couch and takes another puff of her cigarette. “Your mother couldn’t hide her pregnancy well. I knew she was pregnant just from the mere sight of her feet. Big. Fat. Smelly. Feet.” The woman, who’s been serious this entire time, bursts into laughter as she uses a hand to cover of her awful smile and crooked teeth. Mei stares in confusion; how does one person go from seriousness to happiness in one second? “Min was definitely surprised to know of his family; but, despite that. All he wanted was to meet you. Apparently, he gave up on your parents a while ago—but would care for a younger sibling. You.” Mei thins her eyes out as she her head to the side.

She has no reason to believe the woman of this ‘Min’. Hyun and Tai Yu she can believe, there’s obvious proof. But, Min? There’s no reason for to believe her parents had a child before Mei. Her mother was never one for a touchy feely relationship with Mei’s father. Especially so if they had been cheating on each other for years. “You don’t believe me?” Mi Ja asks, to which Mei nods in confirmation.

“Why should I; besides, why does it matter? I have a brother, so what? Why does it matter to me?” The topic of family to Mei, is scary. If she has a brother, what if he’s like them, a monster? What if he has the tendency’s their dad has? To hurt. To kill. What if he likes their mother? Awful. Belligerent. Mentally scarring. Or worse, what if he’s like both? All of the things Mei fears to be, is exactly who Min might be. Half-brothers are different. They’re only partial products of her awful parents. Mi Ja and General Roe aren’t the greatest people; but, they’re better than her parents…by far. Hyun and Tai Yu can’t be as awful.

Mi Ja straightens her back and stands up, “Leaders from North Korea found out who Min was once I met with him. Yet, he managed to free himself from them, and live his life here without any inconvenience from the government. I’m sure that’s what you want.” She flicks the end of her cigarette before taking another puff from it. “Maybe you don’t want a brother; but, you want a life…right Mei Fen?” Mei thinks back to that dream, of living a simple life. Going to Jing Jing’s wedding, maybe forming a relationship with Jun, befriending Ming Hao, and living life happy. Yeah, Mei wants that. She would probably give anything to have a simple life like that.

She simply nods her head to Mi Ja’s question; the older woman smiles. “Good. Now, I’ll write down his information for you while you go get cleaned up. I’m sure your boyfriend wouldn’t like for you to come home looking like, well, that.” Mi Ja gestures with her fingers toward Mei’s messed up appearance.

“Boyfriend?” Mei murmurs, her eyes immediately flickering back toward Mi Ja in shock. “What are you talking about?” Please tell me she doesn’t know about Jun and Ming Hao!

Mi Ja rolls her eyes as she stands up, “Do you think you came here without me knowing? How do you think I got those papers with your information on it Mei?” The blonde girl gulps as she processes those similar words General Roe had said earlier to her. He had watched her for days; and so, in return, he sent had information on her. It’s possible, it’s possible for him to have sent that vary information over to Mi Ja—but what would be the point? “I may be the devil Mei, but General Roe is hell. He leaked all your information to everyone in South Korea who has connections to North Korea.” The woman stalks over toward Mei and helps the injured girl up. Her eyes gazing down in a grimace at her appearance once more. “Now, please go take a shower—you smell.”

Mei grips Mi Ja’s wrist, keeping the older woman in place. “Am I safe?” The young girl murmurs; Mi Ja maneuvers out of Mei’s grip and picks up the books on the floor—her fingers lingering on her son’s picture. A look of sheer love lingering in her eyes, before it disappears, and she’s shoving the books back into the shelf without a care.

She swivels back toward Mei, “You? No. Your loved ones? Yes. Like General Roe should’ve informed you, the government isn’t scared of hurting you but they’re scared of going for the ones you care for. They don’t want you on their bad side. And they’ll be especially cautious with someone like you.”

Mei’s eyebrows furrow. Someone like you? “What’s that supposed to mean?”

Once more, Mei presumes she’s getting on Mi Ja’s nerves as the woman’s nose flares as she runs a hand through her hair. The cigarette now long gone; having stomped it out over by the couch. “The North Korean government in two thousand and nine, initiated a new program for their top leaders. Instead of letting anyone climb the ranks to be officials. They began only letting those who are children of leaders, become leaders. Those who were taught by their parents, and raised like their parents.” The woman pauses to gaze back at Mei, her eyes somewhat softening at the look of her.

“But, kids like you Mei, kids who grew up outside of the propaganda filled land of North Korea—yet was still raised by their parents—kids like you are sought after. Because, you lived like a normal person growing up in the world of normalcy. But, at the same time, were taught things just like the kids in North Korea. The government wants you; because, you know more than those there. You know the real world.”

And that what? Gives me an advantage to kill people? To ruin people’s lives? Mei doesn’t want to think about this anymore. She wants to go home, to go back to Jun and Ming Hao. To act like she never left to Mi Ja’s. To pretend she never learned about her her ‘half-brothers’ and ‘older brother’. To pretend like everything, she just went through, never happened. “What’s the point in going after someone like me, if I don’t want to be involved in the first place?”

Mi Ja only shrugs shoulder; and for some reason, it slightly pisses Mei off. She believes, after everything, she deserves answers for every question she has. Yes, it’s a bit selfish and intolerable. But, it’s something she needs to know. Something she needs to find out about. Maybe Mi Ja doesn’t know the answers, but someone will—and she’ll find the answers out. At some point. “Look, I don’t know everything. I’ve told you as much as I know. Trust me, if I had the answers, I’d have told you already.” The woman scribbles down information on a sheet of yellow notebook paper and shoves it toward Mei. “Min will know more; he’s made it his mission to learn everything he can about the government.”

Mei takes the paper into her hands and glances down at the cursive handwriting. It lists Min’s name, and his address. Mei’s eyebrows furrow, the address is too a fish market. She glances back at Mi Ja in confusion. “He lives in a fish market?” She questions, and Mi Ja nods her head back and forth in a ‘sort-of’ confirmation.

“He’s part of a triad that works out of the fish market.” Mi Ja answers simply and Mei scoffs. Of course he does. Before Mei can take another step, Mi Ja grips Mei by her upper arm and stops her. “Be careful. Min, he’s a bit of a mess, and I don’t know how he’ll react seeing you. If you trust someone, bring them along—Min doesn’t like casualties, but he’ll kill if he has to.”

Mei’s eyebrows thin, “What do you mean? He’s killed before?”

Mi Ja nods her head and slips her hand off of Mei’s, “He goes by the name ten. It was given to him by his leader. It represents how many people he’s killed in his life time. It may have gone up by now, I haven’t seen him for a few years; but, I’m sure he won’t hurt you. Just be careful. Okay?” Mei nods her head, but stills stares in confusion.

“Why do you care so much about my safety?” She asks in hesitance.

Mi Ja shrugs her shoulders and takes a seat on the couch—even going as far as lighting up another cigarette just for the hell of it. “You’re my son’s sister. Think of me like another mother.” Mei, somewhat, realizes it then. Mi Ja doesn’t hate her son, or thinks of him in a cruel manner. Instead, Mi Ja loves her son too much. To the point that she cares for those that he would’ve loved. To the point that she can’t bear to look at his picture without almost crying. To the point that she thinks of a life with him, before he died. Where he grew up with her as his mother, as a family, not in foster care. Where they loved each other. Mi Ja isn’t as cruel as people say she is; she’s just broken. Just like Mei. Because, like Mei, Mi Ja has gone through just as much—if not more.

Mei does, at some point, take that shower. Washing away the memories of the forest and surviving a night of pure horror. She won’t forget it; she just doesn’t want to remember—not now at least. She thinks to the new revelations she’s just learned about. Her brothers—all three of them. Hyun, Tai Yu, and Min. One’s dead. One’s missing. And one’s part of a gang. Sounds like her family. All a bunch of crazy, killers and psychopaths. To think, she’s probably the normal one.

When she’s done with shower, she finds that Mi Ja had set out a pair of pants and a yellow knit sweater—similar to her now destroyed pink one. Leaving, was a bit weird. When she exited the house, she glanced over her shoulder to see Mi Ja glancing out the window at her—watching her walk down the steps to Jun’s red truck. She drove down the hill, just a bit, before stopping and pulling to the side. She leans her head on the steering wheel, her fingers gripping it tightly. After a minute or so of just sitting there like that, she looks to her left and sees her phone blaring with multiple messages. She grabs for it, her head still leaning on the wheel, and to no surprise, she has millions of messages. From Jun to Ming Hao and even Jing Jing who Jun probably called. A few text messages from Charlie, asking if she really went to see Mi Ja. Before she can reply to him, Jun calls—again, and this time, she picks up.

“Mei? Mei? —Mei, where the hell are you?” Comes his instant questions and she can just picture him stuffing a hand through his hair and running it down his face soon after. “Are you okay? Are you hurt? Did you leave the country? You know what, no, I don’t care. J-just, tell me where you are and I’ll come get you. I promise, just tell me where you are.”

Mei sighs, trailing a hand over the steering wheel. “I’ll be home soon. I had things to do, I’m sorry for leaving without telling you. Sorry for worrying you.” A sigh of breath is heard through the phone, and she knows he’s somewhat relieved—but not enough until she gets home, for him to actually see her. And he won’t be happy with how she looks. Sure, she had a shower, but it doesn’t cover up her limp, the cuts on her face, or even her tarnished hands which were getting better but now have gotten worse.

“Are you okay?” He sputters in his worried tone.

She lets out a huff of breath and even though she feels like crying she doesn’t say anything of it. “Of course I’m fine. Nothing’s wrong, I just, I needed air.”

“Please,” He strains a sense of disregard for her earlier sentence. “Don’t lie to me, Mei. I know you, I know when you’re lying. And you are, right now. There’s something going on, and I know that you don’t have to tell me, but, please—just tell me. I can help, and I will help as much as possible. Just, please, tell me.”

Mei takes another breath in as she leans off of the steering wheel, “I’ll be home soon, and then—then we’ll talk, and I’ll tell you everything.” She doesn’t let Jun say anything more, as she clamps the phone shut and slides it into the cup holder, before starting the car up once more. The ride back to Jun and Ming Hao’s apartment, it’s a slow one. She finds no reason to speed her way home, it’ll just lead her to the long conversation with Jun—one she’s not excited for. She knows that he’ll want her to see Min, but he’ll want to go with. And he’ll reprimand her for going to Mi Ja without telling him, and for never talking about General Roe with him even though it was quiet serious. He’ll get upset that she got hurt again, and then he’ll try to comfort her.

Somehow, Mei somewhat parks the car in Jun’s spot—accidentally maneuvering the tire onto the sidewalk. She debates whether or not to re-park but goes against it knowing that she did it well enough, and probably can’t do it better. She tramples up the stairs, the elevator still broken, and stops at the door of their apartment. She takes a breath in, then lets it out. And does so a few times; before finally walking inside.

The minute she does, she’s slammed into a hug by a young tall boy who seems chilled with anger. His arms wrap tightly around her shoulders, her face plastered against his grey V-neck, and his chin leaning a top her head as her back hits the door she just walked through. “What the hell is wrong with you?” He hisses, a pain of anger running through his words. “Do you know how worried we were?”

Mei pushes away from him and keeps her head down toward the floor—making sure they can’t see her face, not yet at least. They’d probably freak at the sight. “I’m sorry.” She hears Ming Hao ramble on, about how she should’ve warned him or told him. How she should’ve left a note or something for them to know she was okay. Or to pick up the phone when they called her. But, her mind only focused on the two dirty converses in her eye sight, standing directly in front of her. She knows they belong to Jun, and she knows that that’s fresh dirt—as in, he’s been outside looking for her. Probably for hours.

His hand catches a hold of her hand, his fingers nestling between hers before he’s shifting her into his arms. His free arm wraps around the back of neck as the other lines on her waist, his head nestling into the crook of her shoulder. A content sigh leaves his mouth, and hits the side of her neck from where his mouth is located. “Mei, why is your back bleeding?” Ming Hao asks as his eyes trail down her back. She gulps, as Jun pulls away to stare at her—now realizing that she’s not even looking at him. He grabs a hold of the tops of her shoulders and twists her around. His eyes snap down to the ever frowning stain of blood on the yellow sweater she’s wearing. His eyes linger toward her hands which are lying by her side—they’re destroyed. He in a breath as he takes a hold of her arm, delicately holding onto it, and rolls her sleeve up.

“Holy !” Ming Hao mutters; his eyes widening at all the cuts and formation of bruises lining her arm. He does the same thing with her other arm, and isn’t surprised to find similar markings. He twists her back toward him, and lets his eyes linger on the top of her head before he slides a finger underneath her chin and lifts her head up. He lets out his harsh breath as he slides his finger over the few scrapes on her cheeks and the nick on her lower lip before letting it graze over her sliced forehead. He lets his fingers linger over a few of them, before Mei’s pushing them away and shifting out of his grip.

She peaks over Jun’s shoulder to find Charlie lingering behind him, staring intently at her, just like the other two. “Told you you wouldn’t die.” The older man states with a chuckle—his upper lip curing in a smirk. Ming Hao storms up to Charlie, glaring at him the same way he always does. Charlie doesn’t even glance at the boy as he crosses his arm and shakes his head in laughter.

“You knew she left and didn’t tell us!” Charlie glances at the young boy for less than a second before he nods his head and shifts his attention elsewhere. He mutters a quiet ‘so what?’ It only seems to piss Ming Hao off further, as he swings his fist back and connects it with the side of Charlie’s jaw. The second time he’s hit Charlie. “You’re a ing jackass, you know?” The young boy screams as he swings his arm at the man once more but gets stopped when Jun pulls him backward and pushes him onto the couch. The boy fumes, running hands through is hair as he looks up at Charlie and scowls.

Charlie shrugs and shifts his jaw back and forth, “Yeah? And you’re a punk—you foul mouth little , don’t cuss at your elders.” He runs a hand along his jaw before twisting toward Ming Hao and flipping him off. “Be respectful!” Ming Hao tries to go after Charlie once more, but Jun blocks him and gives him that ‘look’. The look that says to back off—thin set eyes narrowed in on him, and a frown on his lips. Ming Hao sighs, pushing Jun away from him before stalking to his room and slamming the door.

Jun walks back to Mei and grabs a hold of her hand, “Come on.” He drags her with him to her room and sits her on the white comforter covered bed. From underneath her bed, where he had stored it, he grabs the first aid kit and places it on the bed next to her. He grabs a hold of one of her hands and grabs the bandage tape from the kit. He slowly begins to wrap it, from the edge of her wrist all the way up to the top of her palm. She hisses in pain at the contact of the harsh texture to her cuts and nicks. “Sorry.” The boy murmurs as he glances up at her for a split second before looking back down at her hands.

Once he’s done bandaging both her hands, he looks back up at her and sighs. “I need to see your back.” She nods and twists so that her back is somewhat facing him. With shaking hands, his fingers grip the end of her sweater and shifts it upwards. She crosses her arms over her chest to keep her sweater in place as he shifts it up further to get a good look at her wound. His fingers brush around it, chilling her since his fingers are rather cold. “What happened?”

“A branch punctured my back when I fell out of a tree.” Jun grabs a hold of the small bottle of peroxide and pours some on a cotton ball; with it in his hand, he runs it along the circular wound causing her to let out a small yelp as her fingers curl into her sweater. He apologizes again, and continues to fix her wound as she begins to tell the story of the past few days. No surprise that Jun isn’t happy with what Mei’s been doing. She hears him cuss a few times when she tells him about what she went through last night and she knows he’s beating himself up for not being there for her. And then he’s completely quiet when she tells him about her brothers. How Hyun died, Tai Yu is missing, and Min is part of a triad and also wants to meet her.

When he’s finished fixing all of her wounds, she finished her story and the two found their way to sit on the fire escape that belongs to her. The two’s backs rest against the wall, Mei’s slightly hurting from her wound, and their eyes focus on the fog covering up the distant city life. “Are you going to go meet him?” He asks after a second; referring to Min as if it’s natural.

Mei shrugs her shoulders, “Do you think I should?”

Jun stays quiet and reaches out to touch her hand which is sat off to the side. His fingers nestle into her bandage which is wrapped tightly around her palm, before he slips his fingers away from it and holds her hand like a regular person would. Her eyes snap down to it in wonder. Why does he do this? Why does he like me? Why is he putting himself through this pain? “Yeah, you should and I’ll go with you.” She turns toward him, her face in complete and utter disagreement.

“You, you can’t—” Jun was already facing Mei when she began talking; and maybe it’s the words that she was about to say that compelled him to do what he did. Or maybe it’s because he was scared he’d never get the chance. Mei can’t finish her sentence because the auburn haired boy leans forward and pecks her lips ever so lightly. His one hand is placed near her leg as his other brushes against her cheek. She sits still as his lips linger a bit away from hers, before he shuffles gawkily to sit in his original position.

The two sit there in silence both of them self-consciously thinking about the other person sitting next to them. He couldn’t get the fact that he just kissed the girl he’s liked for years. And she can’t understand why he kissed her in the first place if not to shut her up. “I-I, I’m going with you.” Jun finally says as he runs his hand through his hair a multitude of times.

Before Mei can say anything in response, Ming Hao and Charlie come running inside. “We’re coming too!” Charlie states as he slides an arm around Ming Hao’s neck—who merely shoves it off soon after. Charlie sends the youngest a glare, but Ming Hao only throws a fist in his direction which calms the both of them down.

Jun, ever so ineptly, stands up and slips back into Mei’s room—Mei following in tow. “We heard everything, and we want to help you go meet Min!” Ming Hao states with a cross of his arms and a scowl sent in Mei’s direction. “We don’t care what you say, we’re all going with.” He stands there with a firm nod of his head, with Charlie agreeing despite their ever growing hate for each other, and even Jun goes as far as nodding his head in agreement. Leaving Mei with one choice: to nod and go along with it.

“Fine, you can all come with.”

N o v e m b e r  1 2

2 0 1 5

D a e j e o n,  S o u t h  K o r e a

THE minute Mei steps out off the train, she feels like a weight has now been thrown onto her shoulders. After the two-hour car drive to Daejeon, she’s merely five minutes away from Min. From her brother. Not only was the train ride stuffy (mainly because she was shoved between Ming Hao and Jun with Charlie adjacent from her) and awkward (since Jun won’t talk to her after kissing her and Ming Hao doesn’t like talking to her and she hates Charlie) but the whole ride was filled with silence and blatant scarcity.

“You okay?” Mei peeks over her shoulder to see Jun standing there cumbersomely as he shifts his gaze to the front of them. I’m really getting tired of him avoiding me. It’s not like I did anything wrong. She nods her head, and moves to look behind them, at Ming Hao and Charlie who are busy trying to buy some food from a stand nearing the ticket seller. The two are shoving at each other, even glaring—like two year olds. She looks back at Jun; this time, he stares back at her, and he doesn’t look away when she stares back. “You’d tell me if you weren’t, right?”

Once more she nods as she snaps her gaze to the front. “We should go.” Jun agrees, and calls out for Ming Hao and Charlie—who have pieces of meat sticking out of their mouth and barbecue sauce smeared on their mouths. They drop a few dollars for the food, before running after Mei and Jun who slowly waltz out of the building. When exiting, Jun slides a hand down Mei’s arm before grabbing a hold of her hand and intertwining their fingers—as if their awkwardness has slowly diminished. Despite not even talking about what’s happened between them. When the other two reach them, Charlie glances around the area as Ming Hao slings an arm around Mei’s shoulder as if it’s normal to him.

“I wonder if Min is as much of an idiot as you are,” He mutters—earning a glare from Jun. “I mean, you have the same genes, which equals idiocy, I bet all of your siblings are idiots…” Ming Hao trails off—Lord knows he has more to say—but stops when he sees that Jun, and even Charlie, are scowling at him. Mei simply stares at the crossing light, and drags everyone across when it turns green. A majority of the walking goes like this, Ming Hao says something rude, Jun and Charlie glare, and Mei pulls everyone with her like she’s a teacher and they’re her kids.

The fish market, is huge—that’s the only thing Mei can see. When you walk in, you’re greeted with thousands of wide isles filled with all types of seafood and customers. The ground is a grey sleet and the walls are mixed colors changing depending on what part of the market is there. There’s people shouting, people talking and discussing, others are eating and laughing. Needless to say, it’s a bit too crowded and easy to get claustrophobic in. “We should split up.” Charlie announces, as if he thinks he’s the know all-see all.

Yet, Mei agrees and disperses into the crowd—separating herself from Jun who frantically follows after, yet she somehow manages to disappear from his view. She knows she promised for them to come along, and technically the did—she just hopes they don’t have to meet Min. If she’s going to meet him, it’s going to be by herself.

She passes by a lot of people—men, women, and children—but no one that looked like the boy in Mi Ja’s picture. At one point she feels like giving up and going back to find Jun and Ming Hao—maybe leaving Charlie here alone as the three of them leave. But, towards the end of the building, she finds a random grey metal door leading to a back room. That’s a little too suspicious to not be where Min is. She glances around a few times, before shuffling over to the door and placing her hand on the knob—in a minute or so, she opens the door and sneaks inside.

Her back hits the door the minute it closes; a breath leaves as she straightens herself up. She takes one step forward, only to come to a stop when someone stands in front of her. A short man, with spiked dark brown hair, and hazel green eyes. He looks to be in his mid-twenties, as his hands slide into his jean pockets, and his gaze shifts down to stare at her. “Can I help you, miss?”

Mei nods her head as her fingers dig into her bandages. “I’m looking for,” Mei pauses to grasp at what Mi Ja had called Min earlier—his gang name, Ten. “I’m looking for Ten.” The man stares at Mei for a few seconds, before nodding and twisting down the hallway—Mei following closely after. The man doesn’t say much to Mei, merely mumbles a ‘follow after’, to which she nods. They pass through a few rooms, all doors are closed and no one exits them. She gets the sense that it’s not something she wants to see anyways. The man finally comes to a stop, nearing the end of the hallway, and places his hand on the handle of a door to the left of them.

The man glances at her, then back at the handle and opens the door—instead of walking in, he points toward the room, telling her to enter. “Is he in there?” She asks, to which the man nods. She runs a hand through her hair as she walks into the room with her breath caught in . The door behind her closes just as she spots a man sitting at a table, reading the daily newspaper. She spots curly auburn hair, wide set hazel eyes, a thick jaw line, and a slender nose. Min.

He folds his newspaper and places it on the metal table in front of it, before her eyes flicker up toward her. “So, you are?” She bites her tongue as her bandaged hands slide behind her back in self-consciousness. For God’s sake, this is her brother, she wants him to like her. Mei bows her head respectfully as she curls her finger into her shirt.

“My name is Mei Fen,” Her eyes glance back at Min to see him narrowing his eyes at her. Probably trying to think if he knows her. “Zhao Mei Fen; I’m your sister.” The man doesn’t react, only stares at her as Mei curls her fingers into the back of her shirt—a habit she tends to have. She keeps her hold on her tongue, as the man stands up and takes a step forward. She wants to take a step back, to run—afraid that he’ll try something. To hurt her. To kill her. Yet, the so-called triad member, wraps his arms around the girl’s frame and shoves her into his chest. Holding her ever so lightly; like a fragile child. As if he’s worried she’ll break or disappear.

He pulls back to stare at her, analyzing her like she did a minute a go with him. That is, until, a smile breaks out on his face. “Mi Ja called yesterday, she told me about you. But, , I didn’t think we’d actually look so…so…so similar.” The man breaks out into a bright smile as he hugs the girl once more, tightening his hold on her this time, and swaying her left and right. “Dude, do you know how long I’ve been searching for you? ! I can’t believe you exist, like, you’re actually real—really real!” He pulls away to stare at a wide-eyed Mei; who’s not understanding his sudden burst of friendliness. The boy smiles even more, to where she can outline all his teeth—one has a silver cap on it, in the far back of his mouth. “Mei, is it?” She nods and he continues. “Mei and Min, Min and Mei. Even our names sound sibling like.”

The man drags her over to the metal chairs and sits her down, keeping a hold of her hands in his, as he takes a seat across from her. “Mei-yah,” She cringes, the boy has already dropped the formalities between each other; he must have really wanted to meet her. “How old are you? Are you still in schooling? Do you have a job? Where do you live? Are you dating someone? What’s your uality? What’s your favorite color? Where did you grow up? Do you like our parents?” Min continues with his questions, Mei simply tuning him out after a while as she shifts her hands out of his hands—which is when he notices all the bandages wrapped around her hands. He grips her wrists and stares down at them, his eyes flickering back up toward hers. “Who the did this to you?” The man, who was a ball of bright smiles a second ago, has now turned into a serious mess of distaste as he stares at her bandages. “Mei, who the did this?” He pulls at her hands, and when he loosens his grip a little, she pulls her hands out of his and shoves them into her pocket.

“I did, I fell out of a tree.” She mumbles, and the boy seems to calm down at her answer; but, it doesn’t stop him from starring at her hands despite the fact that they’re shoved in her pockets. “Min-ah, can you help me? Mi Ja-sshi, said that you managed to break away from the North Korean government, I was hoping you could help me with doing the same thing.” She watches silently as the man shuffles out of his chair to walk to a metal desk, where he opens a drawer. He pulls out a stack of papers and sets it on the table.

Mei stares down at them in confusion. She tries to figure out what they are, but the man won’t let her as he flips through the pages. “I’ve been waiting for this day, my whole life. I knew that whenever I found my sibling, I was going to help them,” Min twists toward Mei and blinds her with another one of his gummy smiles before turning his attention back toward his papers. “There’s a lot of things we have to do; but, the first thing we need, is help. Mi Ja will help us no questions asked because she thinks of me—and now you—as family because we’re Hyun’s siblings, next we need General Roe’s help.” Min shifts his gaze back toward Mei and leans on his knees. “Have you met Roe?”

“Yes, I had the displeasure of meeting him.” She mumbles, making the boy chuckle into a fit of laughter with his hand hitting his knee.

He sobers up his laughter after a minute, “My sister’s so funny!” The man, whom she’s known less than an hour, reaches up and pinches Mei’s cheek with a smile. She shutters out of his grip in shock—not quite understanding why he’s become so used to her already. Sure, they’re siblings, and yes she wants to get to know him—but they don’t know each other. First, he’s dropped the formalities and that’s one thing, but referring to her as his sisters and acting touchy-feely—it’s weird. It makes her feel like she’s known him her whole life. But, the thing is, she hasn’t. And if she hasn’t, they shouldn’t act like it.

“The only way to get General Roe’s help, is if we find his son, our brother—Tai Yu. He’d be forever indebted to us because all he wants is Tai Yu.” Min lets out a chortled ‘ah-ha’ as he grabs a paper from the stack and places it front of him—now fully turning his attention to Mei. “Not much is known about Tai Yu. Mi Ja and Roe haven’t found anything; but, I’ve been lucky enough to find a few things about him. First, he was adopted at age three months by a man and woman who were from Taipei, Taiwan. After adopting Tai Yu, they moved back to Taipei, and that’s about it, except...” Min runs his finger along the information before once more looking at Mei. “They changed his name.”

“To what?” She asks as she tries to peak at the paper but he shoves it away from her like a petty little kid who won’t let anyone see his favorite toys. She’s beginning to realize that maybe this boy is a bit of a kid, a lot like another boy she knows. Only one is twenty-five and the other is twenty. It’s a bit of a difference if you ask Mei.

Mei processes the information as Min glances back down at the information once more. Tai Yu was born a year after Mei was born, he’d be twenty, and he grew up in Taipei after being adopted at the age of three months. That story sounds vaguely similar to that of one of her roommate’s life story. Her eyes snap up at Min’s with wide eyes as he looks back at her after finding the name. Please don’t tell me it’s him, it can’t be him.

“Xu Ming Hao.”