The light is dim, a good reflector of the whole ambience of the place. Face to face with the man garbed with grey overall, Wheein can feel her inside shrivelled and dried up.

 

 

Separated by thin glass is the past she is not quite ready to put behind.

 

 

“Minsik-oppa.”

 

 

“You still had the gall to call me that.” His boyish features were slightly twisted with a look of disgust. “I  know why you’re looking for me.”

 

 

Wheein responded to that with absolute silence as he continued.

 

 

“I promise everything will be alright as soon as I get to be at your side again, just like before.” His gaze turned softer, a stark contrast to earlier. “You know you will never be able to let me go. You just couldn’t take it.”

 

--

 

As a kid, Wheein has always believed in herself with no sense of direction.

 

 

Or at least that’s what people keep telling her. She always gets lost in every game of hide-and-seek, she couldn’t tell left or right, but at least her mom would never spite her for it.

 

 

She and Kwon Minsik, the brash next-door neighbor boy who always kicks those who jeered at Wheein for dozing out or engaging in activities no one could comprehend. Kids can be cruel when it comes to hammering a nail that stuck out of the plank, but Minsik can be more than that. One of the bullies once came crying for having two of his milky teeth plucked out.

 

 

Soon the bullying was getting less and less, which is good since it means more time to indulge with Minsik. A little bit of the womanizing attitude in high school didn’t really change the whole dynamic. There are three people who knew her: her mother, her grandmother, and Kwon Minsik.

 

 

It was all the better time before her mom was nowhere to be found in the house. With only Minsik sitting behind the dining table, the expression becomes white as sheet.

 

 

“Auntie said she has to go somewhere with this man from her workplace. This man can give her a future for your family.” Said Minsik after swallowing down a glass of cold water in one shot. “She said she will always love you, Wheein.”

 

 

Light snoring can be heard from the other side of the bedroom. Her grandmother is still napping. She doesn’t know how to break this kind of news to the poor old lady.

 

 

Why is she telling him and not her own daughter? Is she afraid that she is unable to face the truth? Why is she not taking them with her? When is she coming back? Will she ever come back?

 

 

A sharp pang distracts her when she turns to the high school boy.

 

 

All of a sudden his existence has a whole different meaning. The only witness of her leaving, maybe, just maybe, if she sticks with him, she can have some semblance to a daily life, a life where she can be closer to her mother, even when it comes only in spirit.

 

--

 

Wheein shut her eyes, taking a deep breath in an attempt to calm the incoming waves of anxiety. As she opens her eyes, she speaks eloquently. “I thought that by having you with me, I can keep one more person who knew of my mother’s existence.” There are some good memories of them together, until the fragile motivation between it all collapsing, broken down to the point of irreversible series of events. She keeps talking without observing the man’s expression carefully, as the smirk slowly wipes off the boyish features that she was once so fond of in the past.

 

 

His expression now becomes almost without malice, only tired and lost. Wheein took another deep breath, choosing to look straight into the shell of the man. This dance has gone on long enough. The act of using each other has to stop now.

 

 

“Good-bye, oppa.”

 

 

Wheein stood up abruptly, notifying the warden that she was ready to leave.

 

--

 

It was the longest steps along the hall that spanned without end.

 

 

As soon as the light is seen at the end, her steps become faster, trying to match the pace with her own head. By the time she evacuated herself out of the incarceration field, she had let out the breath she had been holding for so long. She was met with a lone figure that had been waiting outside, resting her back against the white wall of the prison. The glint in her eye transforms from wary to concerned in the spur of the moment.

 

 

“Have you met him?” The thought of Wheein getting near that bastard irate the hell out of Yongsun, but Wheein is her priority now. Wheein’s silence is assumed by Yongsun as the sign of shell-shocked, thus she cuts her words and stands attentively until Wheein can get a hold of her own breathing.

 

 

“Yes.” Finally breaking out of her muted state, Wheein gave out a smile that did not quite reach her eyes. “Thank you for coming with me. Sorry for troubling you, unnie.”

 

 

Yongsun shook her head in quiet disapproval. This has become a habit that she didn’t really like. But pointing to that will result in more apologies. “You have to skip work today. Let me walk you home.”

 

 

--

 

 

It has been weeks since Wheein was discharged from the hospital.

 

 

Due to Wheein’s insistence of not disclosing this matter to anyone, Yongsun decided to take the matter into her own hands. Including the time Yongsun attends to her needs in the hospital; feeding Wheein and bathing her with a warm towel every day (Wheein will always remember that moment of unexpected intimacy with a blush), the older woman never fails to attend the café where she works every evening.

 

 

Scrubbing the cup in her palm absentmindedly, her conscience roused by the sound of the bell as the door opened.

 

 

It was Yongsun in formal attire; ing her collar, she takes a seat on the stool, right in front of Wheein who swiftly serves the usual coffee that matches the older woman’s taste. Wheein takes her time observing the older woman. “You barely slept, unnie.” She referred to the deep bags under her eyes. “Are the duties from the house getting so excessive these days?”

 

 

Little did Wheein know that this has everything to do with the promise that Yongsun made with the family, a little secret that Yongsun intended to keep until the end. “Hm.” She sips the coffee after blowing it for a while before revelling in the bitterness that keeps her senses awake if only for a little while. “It will go on like this for a week; the hiring process did not go quite as smoothly as expected, so it might take a little while.”

 

 

A loud crash tore the air. Yongsun witnessed as Wheein twirled the napkin in her palm that was shaking. “It slipped out of my hand, let me just—”

 

 

“Don’t.” Yongsun gets up, opening the folded bar table and rushed to Wheein’s side, quickly gathering the shards with the dustpan and the small broom. As soon as she dumped the contents into the trash bin, she grabbed Wheein by the elbow and pulled up the sleeve.

 

 

The white patches did not really cover the black and blue spots that marred her lower arm up to the wrist. Noticing the trembling fingers, she caresses and intertwins it with hers gently with a whisper. “You should have taken a rest for another week, Wheein. Even your hand cannot hold a glass in place.”

 

 

At times like this Wheein find herself wavered under Yongsun’s gaze. Or all the gestures she has shown until now. Strict but very attentive to detail. Especially when it comes to her.

 

 

Even when Wheein cannot give her what she wants.

 

 

“I need to take my mind off things, unnie.” She flashed a small smile. “Or let me just help you at work. You said before that I was very helpful. Does that mean I can do more?”

 

--

 

And so Wheein is here, in her office, sitting behind the desk across from her, all because Yongsun, for once in her life, is unable to say no. She mentally kicked herself for being a fool in front of this woman. Though as expected, Wheein has done a really good job since her first day as a temporary secretary until the previous one is fit enough for duty. Her competence even went beyond other workers in the company. Why she kept being a mere barista in an obscure café remained a mystery.

 

 

“You really should try apply to this company, Wheein-ah.” It came out without thinking, and Wheein, in her reading glasses, slowly lifted her head with raised brows.

 

 

“I really shouldn’t, unnie.” Yongsun can’t help but notice the patience surfacing, as if Wheein is bearing t