“Are you a thorn on my side, Kyung?”

It is a question that would have angered the young man in the past, but this time, no one is to blame but himself.

“I never see someone so unsure of herself, noonim.” His tone borders on politeness, an aspect that rarely comes into view. “We find her because that’s what you want, but you are willing to let go of everything, at her beck and call…”

Hyejin stood up and cast a straight look, feeling the impending burst. There are many causes of temper these days, but coming from her subordinates is not something you see every day.

“We get to where we are now because of her.” Her patience is wearing thin. “But now you’re going to discard her like she’s nothing. It looks like I'm thinking of you too highly these days.”

Not trying to recover from the guilt tripping, an emotion crossed his face. “We’ve seen how difficult things can be when you try to pick this organization and rebuild it… to let those years of work go to waste is just…”

He left his sentence hanging in the air, waiting for the gap to be filled.

“Then be the leader, since you want it that much.” She murmured, her voice went low. “I should have just gone with her if this is what you all are going to act like…”

Kyung looked downward, humbling to himself.

“Impossible noonim. Besides…” His voice sound a little sad. “We don’t want to be under anyone but you.”

 The impatience decreased and left her shoulders weighted.

“Maybe you can start by stopping conspiring behind my back.”

--

In front of the mirror, Moonbyul scrutinized her fingers. To be more exact, the dirt underneath that has cracked and dried up for being left untamed for a week.

It is not hard to imagine where she may be getting it from: the load of freelance jobs involves scooping through dirt and other menial tasks with hourly payments that can get much more compared to waitressing or brewing drinks. Throw a night class into it, and one can barely push breakfast between, and the result was a highly unsanitary way of living.

She proceeded to scrape the dirt in a continuous motion with soap and a toothbrush. Her hands are already calloused, rough from years of projects. "Is there a way to soften it a bit?" she wondered.

The sound of the door opening roused her as she wiped her hands and scrambling out of the bathroom, only to find herself engulfed in a hug. By two… women?

“Is that really you, Byul-ah?”

Even when she heard her name being called with endearment, she still don’t remember.

“Byulyi-unnie.”

The other woman gazed at her after letting go, giving her room to breathe. It is certainly a set of dimples she can get drawn into.

Their stares were charged with emotion, but Moonbyul knew she could not give them what they wanted. Instead, she responded with repeated questions.

“Do I know you…?”

A light rapping put their attention forward, showing Hyejin standing near the door.

“You lot can introduce yourself since as you can see, she doesn’t remember .”

The other woman finally letting go, a maternal sense lacing her words. “I’m Yongsun. We used to know each other from work. You used to call me ‘unnie’ because I’m older than you.”

“And I’m Wheein.” The dimple girl added. At least that’s the name she’s going with until she memorizes it well. “You were a regular in the café where I work, Byul-unnie.”

Moonbyul would love to ask more questions, but with her lids droopy and her focus waning, this load of information will take some time to get used to before everything goes dark.

--

She had finally woken up.

And the embarrassment starts to creep in. It’s been a while since she lost consciousness. Finding herself laid in bed, by her side is… Wheein, sitting and indulging herself in the light book she read with particular attention. Gaining the weight of Moonbyul’s stare, she looked forward and her terse expression went cheery. “You’re awake? You can sleep some more. I can imagine that you must be tired.”

Moonbyul don’t want to sleep any more, but she can only open and close again, unsure where to start. Wheein look at her in silence before putting the book away, taking off the slippers and climbing onto the bed. Now they were both underneath the cover, and the familiar feeling surprised Moonbyul: it was the intimacy of an old friend.

“Maybe it will be easier to do it this way.” Wheein giggled. “They have to discuss something and we will be notified once they are done, so you’re stuck with me for a while.”

Another silence filling the air.

“What have you been doing in Hongkong?”

The smooth transition eases her up as she answers. “Freelancing jobs here and there, and a night class…”

Wheein smiled. “It’s like living in Korea all over again.” Her voice became low, a bit hesitant. “How about… your dad?”

As Moonbyul tells it as it is, starting from her meeting with Hyejin, there is almost no burden in recounting the story again, if not sharing this to someone who’s willing to listen to get the considerable amount of burden off her chest.

It was the lightness that was unexpected to her.

Especially when the other girl decides to pull her in for a hug. Her small frame make it feels like she’s holding onto Moonbyul, to which she responded with reassuring taps on her back.

“Oh, Byul-unnie… Yongsun-unnie and Hyejin-shi are discussing now right behind the door, but she’s so worried when you’re fainted and trying to stay beside you until Yongsun-unnie decides that is quite enough.” Remembering it sent Wheein into a chuckle. She sent another question that stopped Moonbyul in her thoughts.

“Promise that you won’t leave us again?”

--

Yongsun is about to lose her patience seeing Hyejin snap a look at the door for the nth time during the discussion.

“Another glance to that door and I swear—Wheein will tell us if something’s happened, Hyejin.”

“I know.” She never doubt that woman’s attentiveness to detail. “It’s just, suddenly she’s fainted…”

“It’s just a spell, and about right, when one is being kidnapped into another country without her knowing…” with the stress at the end and Yongsun’s glare the implication should be enough but for the other girl it doesn’t seem to be clear enough. “Let’s focus on this one, shall we?”

Hyejin bobbed her head to the older woman. “I thought you came here to see Byulyi?”  

“That, and also about this.” She put another piece of paper to be taken into notice. “Apparently the missing link in Hong Kong is bigger than we thought. They knew they were about to get caught, and now they will try to get to us first.”

She pinched the bridge of her nose.

“I’m sorry to relay this so late, but the company’s been wild these days.” Her hands point to the paper. “Me and Wheein can take care of ourselves, but since that incident in Hong Kong, you should be their top on the list.”

The memory of that incident in Hong Kong is still fresh on her mind. There’s no telling what would become of her if Moonbyul isn’t there to take her away that day.  

“You mean they can come here any second now—”

Like a bad omen, the alarm rang loudly throughout the mansion, signifying the arrival of intruders.

--

Hundreds of people crowding into the mansion. Bursting into it will be an exact word. Nevertheless, they bid each other farewell and got into a separate limousine, getting out of the premise from the backdoor. As her palm touched the glass, she observed the throngs of people spilling into the street. They keep shouting and screaming, it feels like froth will be coming out of their mouth.

Too absorbed in the view, she failed to notice Hyejin had already moved across and taken a seat next to her, causing her to jump in a surprise. But Hyejin kept staring at her, not moving an inch.

“W-what?”

“Lend me your lap for a bit.”

And there she goes, putting her head as a pillow, nesting comfortably on Moonbyul’s lap. She was practically immobilized right now except to push away hair strands from Hyejin’s closed eyes. It was a good chance to take in the woman’s feature from the side; the light makeup that can be seen reflected from the street’s lamp as the limousine went through doesn’t do justice to the rest of her features.

How can a woman be so ethereal from head to toe? Never mind her being cheesy even in her own head.

“Liking the view?”

Busted.

“Get some sleep. It’s going to be a long ride.”

“Where are we going?”

As Hyejin snuggled further into Moonbyul’s stomach, the latter wondered whether she would survive all of this.

“A safe place.”

After two hours, Moonbyul awoke to find the limousine halted in front of a building in a desolate part near the woods. This is nowhere near Seoul. As she steps outside, her eyes catch the sign near the entrance.

GA-EULSEUG-ESEO CHILDREN’S HOME

--

By the time they arrived it was 5AM. The time when children have woken