“We are here, noona.” YongHoon says to Jasmine pulling her towards the door of their semi basement apartment. YeonSeon unlocks the door with the key she has and all of them go inside. It is a pretty decent size of apartment for four of them but what catches Jasmine attention is how empty the place is. They almost have nothing. It seems like they only have basics like mattress to sleep on and a mini gas stove to cook. “This is our home, Jasmine. I am so sorry you might feel uncomfortable here.” Grandma Im says to her as she takes off her shoes entering the house. “No, I am good halmeoni. It is a relief that you guys are staying here and not at the upper level, you don’t have to climb more stairs.” She says following Grandma Im inside the area. There is nothing much to see there but they keep it clean and neat. “Unnie, I put your stuff here, okay?” YeonSeon says as she puts the plastic bags on a small table. “Oh, it is food for you guys. It is for your lunch and dinner later.” She finally lets them know. The three of them are surprised to learn that. They are so touched. They are happy that they don’t have to think about what to cook and what to eat later. They don’t have to be worried about food at least for one day. They are that grateful. “Thank you so much, unnie.” YeonJoo says to her holding back her tears. “You’re welcome! Don’t you want to show me around?” She says to the girls. YongHoon is already lying on the mattress. He looks exhausted. Grandma Im is staring at Jasmine lovingly. She just can’t believe that she gets to meet someone this kind in this busy world. It only takes them about ten minutes to show everything to Jasmine. She scans the place thinking of something. “Come, have a seat. I can make you some hot coffee.” Grandma Im says to her wanting to stand up. “No, halmeoni. I am fine. Let’s sit together.” She stops her. “We used to have everything but we had to sell it to get some money for food. That is why it looks so empty right now. We sold everything that we could. We had no choice.” She lets her know without being asked. “How do you wash the clothes? By hands?” She asks them. They all nod. “It must be hard.” She replies. “We are used to it, unnie. It is fine as long as we can still eat. That is the most important thing right now.” YeonJoo says to her. She smiles looking at the mature young girl. She knows she has no choice but to be that way. Jasmine understands. They spend some time answering her questions and they answer it without hiding anything. Jasmine feels like she needs to do something about it because she is capable of doing so.

Something pops in Jasmine’s mind. “YeonJoo and YeonSeon, are you two busy right now? Do you have something to do?” She asks the girls. They both shake their heads simultaneously. “Halmeoni, can I borrow the girls? This is my first time coming to this area. Is it possible if they show me around? I’ll be leaving later tonight, so I don’t have much time to go out and see around.” She asks for her permission to go out with the girls. Without feeling anything suspicious, she immediately says yes. “Of course, you have given us a lot. You made our day. That is the least thing the girls can do to repay.” She says to her touching her hand. “Thank you halmeoni, we won’t be long.” She says as she stands up walking towards the door. “Take your time. Just enjoy our town while you can.” Grandma Im says to her with a big smile on her face. Jasmine nods. “Are you girls ready to show me around?” She asks the two girls who are standing in front of her. They nod excitedly. “We’ll be back safely halmeoni. Just call us up if you need us.” YeonJoo says to her grandmother as they all leave the apartment. “Where do you want to go, unnie?” She asks Jasmine. “I saw some shops and offices down the hill, can you show me the way?” She asks. Both girls nod as they walk side by side. YeonJoo is on Jasmine’s right and YeonSeon is on the left. The smile can never leave their faces with Jasmine by their side. They feel the real happiness they haven’t felt for a long time. “So here it is.” Jasmine stops in front of an office that she believes will help her with some matters she wants to settle today. “Hello ma’am, what can I help you with?” A friendly female officer approaches them by the entrance. “Oh, yeah. Hello! I want to pay some electricity and water bills. Can you show me where I should go?” She asks her. “Yes, this way please.” The officer brings them to her desk at the corner. “Can I have the details of the place so I can check how much you owe?” She asks them in a polite way. “YeonJoo, can you tell her the address of the apartment.” Jasmine asks YeonJoo to let the officer know. She is confused but she shares the address successfully. “Okay, there it is. From our record, this is the whole amount of the payment that needs to be paid. It also includes the overdue one.” She says showing the total of both electricity and water bills. Jasmine looks at it carefully. YeonJoo and YeonSeon are staring at it looking really surprised. They don’t expect the number to be that high. They look at each other. They are very worried right now. How on the earth they will get the money to pay it all?

“I can use my card to pay, right?” Jasmine asks the officer. “Yes, of course ma’am.” She replies. “One more thing, is it possible if I pinch in more money that can be used forward to pay the bills in the future?” She asks another question. “You mean you want to pay in advance, ma’am?” She wants to confirm if they are on the same page. Jasmine nods. “Yeah, that is exactly what I meant. Is it possible?” She asks again. The officer smiles as she is looking at Jasmine. “Yes, ma’am. It is absolutely possible though it is not a normal case. But yeah, you can do that. I can help you with it.” She replies. “Okay, wonderful!” Jasmine is happy to hear that. “But first, I will help you to settle the current amount with the overdue included. After that, we can settle the advanced payment. Okay ma’am?” The officer lets her know. She nods. “Yeah, sure. Here is my debit card.” She says giving her personal card. YeonJoo and YeonSeon are just sitting quietly still feeling confused with what is happening right now. “This must be a dream.” YeonJoo whispers to her younger sister. “I hope I don’t have to wake up from this wonderful dream, unnie.” She replies holding her sister’s hand tight. They are looking at the kind hearted Jasmine quietly as she is settling the bills. “So here is the receipt for both payments. One for the overdue and another one is for the advance one, please keep them well. Do you have anything else that I can help you with, ma’am?” The officer asks Jasmine. “No, that is it. Thank you so much for helping me out. That is so efficient of you. I really appreciate it. You have worked hard. Thanks again.” She replies as she stands to leave. “It is my job. Have a nice day.” The officer who doesn’t stop smiling and treating them politely says to them. “Yeah, you too!” Jasmine replies as they go out of the office. It only took them about fifteen minutes to settle the bills which is nice. “Unnie, thank you so much. Halmeoni will be so happy to know this. You don’t have to do this but thank you.” YeonJoo says to her wanting to cry. “It is nothing. Thank you for letting me to do it. Thank you for not stopping. You don’t know how hard I prayed for you not to fight back in there.” She says jokingly. It is enough to make the two girls smile. “Let’s go. I got some shopping to be done. Can you help me with that?” She asks the girls. “Of course unnie. Let’s go. What do you want to buy?” They ask. She smiles.

Standing in front of a home appliances store that they never went in for the past years, YeonJoo and YeonSeon seem to get what Jasmine meant by ‘shopping’ earlier. They are at the verge of tears seeing how Jasmine is talking to the store’s manager right now. “YeonJoo, YeonSeon, didn’t you say you will help me out?” She calls the girls in. They try to stay calm as they put their first foot inside the store and followed by the other. “Welcome girls, what can I help you?” The owner welcomes them with a big smile. “Yes, I am looking for some basic home appliances. Emm, can I look around?” Jasmine says to the owner. He nods. “Yes, of course. I will assist you.” He replies as he walks beside her as she looks for a good size refrigerator. “Oh before that, do you offer a delivery service?” She asks him as she opens a silver color refrigerator that attracts her attention. “Yes, we do.” He replies standing in front of her. “That’s wonderful. How much do you normally charge?” She asks again checking the inside of the refrigerator simultaneously looking at the owner. “It depends on the address. But for those who stay in this area, it is free of charge.” He calmly explains to her. “Oh, that is very nice of you. Girls, do you like this one?” She asks the two sisters pointing at the refrigerator. They only look at her without saying anything. “Or do you like this one better?” She asks pointing at the one next to her, the black one. They don’t know what to do. “If I can recommend, this one right here, the silver one is one of our best sellers. It works well. And it is not too small or too big for an apartment.” The owner helps her out. “Yeah, I thought so too. I’ll take one of these.” She makes her decision. “Okay, please wait for a while. I’ll write the receipt for you.” He says as he walks towards his desk. “No sir, wait! I want to buy more. I am not done yet. I think it is better for you to make one single receipt for everything.” She lets him know. “Oh, sorry. I didn’t know. Please comfortably look around.” He says approaching her again. “Sir, if I bought a TV from you, I am wondering if it comes with all the cables and you know, the recorder and everything?” She asks him. “You mean the recorder for the channels and TV programs, right? No, but it can be done separately. I have the device.” He explains. “Okay, how long will it take?” She asks him. “Just a few minutes will do. It is not complicated at all. We can do that for you.” He answers. “Great! How about washing machine like this? I know something needs to be done especially the wiring and the piping. Can you do that too?” She asks again. The owner smiles. “We don’t normally do that but if you want me to, I can work it out.” He replies. “Awesome! Yes, please do that, sir.” She replies. He nods taking note.

They spend about half an hour choosing the home appliances needed in a home. Jasmine is now at the desk, waiting for the owner to calculate everything. “Let me repeat again the appliances that you want to purchase. You chose the silver refrigerator, one kimchi fridge, the silver automatic washing machine, the 32 inch black TV, the black handy vacuum cleaner, the silver rice cooker, three air conditioners, along with three electric fans, one electric water kettle, the electric stove, the black microwave, one non-stick iron along with its board, the black hair dryer, three desk lamps, did I miss something?” He asks Jasmine for confirmation. “Oh I think, I need the plug extensions too. Please include that one.” She lets him know. “No, it is okay. I’ll give three of that and a set of cooking utensils as service (freebie).” He says pointing at a set of pots, pans and all knifes, spoons and chopsticks. She is surprised. “OMG! Thank you so much. That is very kind of you.” She doesn’t forget to say her gratitude. “No, it is okay. You bought a lot from my store. This is the least thing I can do.” He says printing out the receipt. “Here is the total.” He says showing her the receipt. “You gave me extra discounted price?” She asks looking at the details. He nods as he smiles. He just feels like it is the right thing to do because he rarely has a customer who bought this many items all at once from his store. He is grateful. “Thank you so much. Here is my card.” She says giving it to him. As he is processing the payment, Jasmine realizes there is a glass door connecting this store with a furniture store next door. “Sir, is that your store too?” She asks him. He nods quietly. “My wife looks after it while I am here. Here is your card and the receipt. By the way, I need the address where I should send the appliances