Jae Hee’s POV

I looked in the direction pointed by Krystal. As the old man covered with scars limped towards us, I recognised him. Unsure of whether he was still human or not, I jumped in front of Krystal to shield her from any possible harm. “Ah… ahjussi! Do… do you still re… remember me? I’m Jin Hee. Choi Jin Hee.”

Ahjussi stopped on his track and smiled, “Is that really you? Jin Hee, my little assistant? Wow, you are even taller than me now.”

“Forgive me for asking, but are you a human or…” ahjussi sounded friendly, but still…

“Or a ghost? Hahaha,” Ahjussi bellowed with laughter. “Miyanae, I look too scary with these scars.”

I was relieved to hear that. So was Krystal as I could feel her releasing her grip from my shoulder.

“Speaking of ghosts, don’t tell me you saw them too?”

“Them? You mean there’s more than one…” Krystal looked around fearfully.

“Unfortunately, yes. The children that used to live here… let’s just say they never have the chance to grow up into young ladies and gentlemen like you two.”

“What exactly happened?” Krystal and I asked together.

“Can we sit down over there and I’ll tell you the story?”

“Yes please,” Krystal and I helped him to the porch of the building, where there were a table and some chairs.

“Ahjussi, are you feeling well? Your hand is very cold,” I remarked. Krystal nodded in agreement.

“Erm… I have mild flu. Oh, I shouldn’t let you come near me. There are just a few steps left, I can manage on my own. Kumapta.”

After we had settled down, ahjussi began his story.

“It happened on the night after you had left the orphanage with your adopted parents. I could not sleep that night due to the summer heat, hence I decided to go out for a walk. When I passed by the side gate of the orphanage, I’ve noticed that it was unlocked. This was unusual because the gates were usually closed by 8 pm. Feeling that something was amiss, I went in to take a look. When I walked past the office, I thought I heard someone talking…”

Author’s POV

Flashback:
“Damn! This orphanage is dirt poor. I thought such places receive huge donations from the public,” Guy A, a tall and buffed man complained while puffing away with his cigarette.

“Even if they do, they probably keep the money in the bank instead,” Guy B, one of his partners, a gangly fellow, speculated.

“Why didn’t you tell me earlier?! We wasted an hour here!” Guy A started punching and kicking Guy B.

“Ouch! Stop it! You didn’t ask.”

“Gee! You wasted my effort in picking the lock,” Guy C was twirling a thin metal rod that he used to pick locks around his fingers. “This is one stubborn job!”

One didn’t need to be a rocket scientist to know that these guys were burglars, Tae Woo thought. Since it was dangerous to confront them himself, Tae Woo decided to call the police.

“Ringggggggg…” Too bad, Tae Woo’s wife called him first.

“Yah! There’s someone over there, holding a phone. He must be alerting the police!”

Tae Woo started to run away but age must be catching upon him. He was no match to the hooligans, who soon caught up with him. They pinned him to the ground and whacked his leg continuously with a metal pole. After several rounds, the burglars stopped. Guy A took out a switchblade and slashed Tae Woo’s face a few times.

“Ahhhhhh!” Tae Woo held his bleeding face and screamed in pain. Just then, the voices of children could be heard from the distance.

“Where is Rabbit Teeth hiding?!” the noona leader screamed.

“Shhh! Not so loud! If the ahjunmas wake up and find us not sleeping…”

“If you are so scared, leave my gang! AISHHHHHHHHH! Why did all of you follow me to the toilet? One of you should stay behind and guard her!”

“We are worried about you. Your arm is bleeding…”

“Damn! Gotta get rid of those little brats as well…” Guy A was heading in their direction, only to be held back by Guy B and Guy C.

“Leave them alone. They haven’t seen us anyway. We have a better chance of escaping if we just leave right now.”

“! What an unlucky day!” Guy A flung his half-smoked cigarette onto the parched grass at a distance. The burglars darted away and disappeared into the darkness.

Meanwhile, Tae Woo crawled on his stomach to reach for his phone. Unbeknownst to him, the burning cigarette ignited the dried patches of grass. Within seconds, the small fire grew into an inferno, swallowing everything in sight. Tae Woo tried to scream, to alert everyone, but he was in too much pain. Mustering his last ounce of strength, he managed to punch the number for the fire station before losing consciousness.

Present…
Jae Hee’s POV

“According to the fire department, they did not find any other survivors. As the records and documents were destroyed too, it was extremely difficult to identify the dead children.”

After Tae Woo Ahjussi had finished, I slumped back to the chair with despair.

“Were the burglars caught?” Krystal asked.

“Yes. It seemed like they were involved in other crimes too. Although the damages could not be reversed, at least some justice was done. Later on, the site was replaced with other buildings such as Childcare Centre or Tuition Centre. However, none of the operations lasted long as the occupants reported sightings of ghost children. No one dares to use this area anymore, therefore this place has been left vacant for a long time.”

“Ahjussi, do you see them also?” my voice weary and listless, “Is… Jin Ri there?”

“Ah, your dongsaeng? It’s strange but I’ve never seen her among the ghost children.”

My mood turned a 360 degrees somersault when I heard that.

“Jae Hee!” Krystal grabbed my hand excitedly, “That means Jin Ri might still be alive. Let’s find her together.”

I nodded my head eagerly. Jin Ri, Krystal is right, isn’t she? Hang on in there. Without much clues, it is harder to find you now, but oppa will never give up.

Back to Sulli’s POV (Hope Orphanage)

“Are you all right?” Eun Gyeol distracted me from my unhappy memories.

“I’m sorry I make you cry also,” Hye Ji was apologetic.

“No, it’s not you. Some dust got into my eyes,” I lied, rubbing my right eye to look more convincing. Even Soo Jung had no knowledge about this portion of my life, so it won’t be fair if I told someone else about it, would it? Okay, that was an excuse. The truth was I was not ready to open up.

“Come, let me blow it out for you,” Eun Gyeol cupped my left cheek with one hand and pried my right eye open with the fingers of his other hand. Then he blew gently.

“Unnie, your boyfriend is so sweet,” Hye Ji’s random comment caused both of us to pull apart.

“Hye Ji, don’t talk nonsense. This oppa is just a friend,” I quickly corrected Hye Ji, while looking apologetically at Eun Gyeol.

“Oppa is a boy. Oppa is your friend. Doesn’t that make him your boyfriend?”

“Where do you learn this from?” I pretended to be annoyed, punching her forehead gently.

“Hahaha!” Hye Ji simply laughed. At least she stopped crying. With this problem settled I brought Eun Gyeol to the administrative office to register as a volunteer.

Eun Gyeol’s POV

I couldn’t believe what I had done a few moments ago. When Sulli said some dust entered her eyes, all I wanted to do was to make her better.

Ever since the day Sulli visited our stall at the Genie High Annual Fair, images of her started to occupy a space in my mind and my mobile phone gallery. At first, I thought it was because she looked like a carbon copy of Jae Hee, my first crush. However, as my frequency of checking out her picture in my phone increased, to the point that it had taken over that of Jae Hee, I decided to re-examine my feeling. After all, it might not be a bad thing since things were less complicated where Sulli was concerned, compared to Jae Hee. I used to imagine what my future would be like if Jae Hee and I were married and had a child. Despite being labelled as “gay”, nothing gay and happy came out of our relationship. Not only was our imaginary child being a laughing stock in school for having two appas, we had to deal with his question as to which one of us gave birth to him. If it was Sulli…

Eun Gyeol’s Fantasy:

“Appa, appa, something funny happened in school today,” my son Sul Gyeol arrived home joyfully.

“Oh what is it?” I carried him lovingly.

“A new student, called Hyun Li, have two appas. Hahaha…” my son guffawed.

“No, that’s not funny at all,” I frowned. As a progressive-thinking man, I felt that I should educate my son to be tolerant of people who were different and to embrace diversity. “It doesn’t matter whether the parents are of the same gender or not, as long as they love each other.”

“Yes, just like your appa and me,” Sulli came out of the bedroom holding a well-ironed army uniform. “Yeobo, your uniform is ready. I’m going to miss you when you are doing national service,” then she gave me a peck on my lips.

“Hmm… then how did Hyun Li’s appas make him? Then again I didn’t know how my own appa and umma make me either. Appa, umma, can you explain?” my son’s eyes beamed with curiosity.

Sulli and I gulped at each other, as birds and bees started circling on top of our heads.

Back to reality…

Bang!

“Eun Gyeol! Are you all right?” Sulli quickly rushed to my side. “I was asking you to enter the office with me but you kept walking straight into the wall…”

“Oh, I was just…”

“Eun Gyeol, your nose is bleeding… Let me take you to rest in the office while I go get the first aid kit.”

Apart from me, there was no one in the office. They probably went for a lunch break. While waiting for Sulli to return, I reached for some tissue paper from a box to wipe off my blood. In doing so, I accidentally brushed my hand against a pile of paper, causing them to drop onto the floor. Picking up the papers quickly, I found an old photograph of a little girl with buck teeth, posing with a young lady with eye smile.

“Isn’t my baby bunny cute?” the lady from the photograph entered the office, together with Sulli.