Sulli’s POV

“Umma! What is this picture doing here?!” I scowled, snatching the photograph from Eun Gyeol.

“Umma loves your cute bunny look so much, but you insist on going for braces. So I keep this photograph as a memento,” my umma gushed, then she turned to Eun Gyeol, “So that’s the new volunteer you told me about.”

“Anyeonghaseyo! Ahju… I feel bad calling you ahjunma. You look so young,” Eun Gyeol scratched the back of his head, putting on a silly smile.

“Haha! Then call me noona. Tiffany noona!” my umma switched to her flirtatious mode.

“Umma, stop that or I’ll tell appa.”

“Aww! My baby bunny is jealous because I flirted with her boyfriend. Umma is so sorry,” then she patted my head.

“Yah! Eun Gyeol is just a friend.”

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

“Oh so you are the one teaching this nonsense to all those kids,” a realisation hits me.

“No, it’s not me. It’s Kdrama,” my umma got Eun Gyeol to tilt his head backward to stop the nose bleeding. “Are you so smitten with my baby bunny that your nose bleeds?”

“Umma!” once umma started teasing, she could not stop. Eun Gyeol lowered his head.

“Eun Gyeol ah, you need to tilt your head up for the blood to flow backward. Oh, why is your face so red?” She simply laughed her head off and continued the first aid treatment to Eun Gyeol.

“Ok, all done. In half an hour’s time, we need your help. Meanwhile, just rest for a while. I need to talk to the boys who have been bullying Hye Ji,” my umma packed up the first aid kit and leaves.

“Sulli, do you mind if I ask?”

“What is it?”

“Krystal once said you are adopted. But your umma and you look somewhat alike. Maybe it’s the way both of you smile.”

“Many people thought she is my real mother also. But like you say, she looks young. That’s because she really is young, too young to have a daughter that’s already in high school at least. Actually, there’s no need for her to adopt, considering that she has no problem having her own. In fact, she and my appa already have a baby boy when I joined their family.”

“But I can tell that she treats you like her own. Why did she adopt you anyway?”

“Some kind of affinity I guess…”

Flashback…
This was my first night without oppa. Being a beautiful child, he was selected by a couple who visited recently. Even though we were related by blood, I did not look as good as him, because of my teeth. Looks like I would be staying in this orphanage for a very long time.

Oppa felt bad about leaving me behind, so he gave me the box of chocolates that was supposed to be his gift from his adopted parents. Staring at the chocolates, I wished they did not have an expiry date so that I could eat them slowly till the day he came back.

“So now even your oppa does not want you?” not again, the big bad unnie, together with two of her friends.

“That’s not true. He promises to come back for me,” I believed in my oppa. So far he had never lied to me.

“I’m not sure about that. He may say that now, but once he sees the world outside and realises he has more freedom without carrying a burden like you, do you think he will still come back?” the three unnies laughed.

Their words hurt, but I had to admit that there was some truth in it. Oppa always got hurt while trying to protect me. Would he eventually find me a burden?

“Don’t worry, rabbit, we can protect you in your oppa’s place. All you need to do is to pay us protection fees. For a start, we shall take those chocolates as payment.”

“No way!” I got up from the porch and made my way to the bedroom. I should have followed the rules and slept early.

“Where do you think you are going?” one of the unnies grabbed my t-shirt and raised her fist, threatening to punch me. As a natural reaction, I cowered in fear and dropped my precious box of chocolate. Another unnie seized the opportunity and swiped it away, like a prize.

“Wow, that’s easier than I thought.”

“That’s why I say there’s no need to bring the entire gang. Unlike her oppa, she gets scared easily,” the big bad unnie taunted.

Get scared easily? That’s it. I’d never realised it till now. Normally oppa would appear at this moment like a superhero and get me out of the mess, while he himself got all messed up. Without him around, I was such an easy target who won’t even put up a fight. If I do not try to protect myself now, what makes me think I can do so in the future? It’s now or never.

I marched right up to the unnies from behind and attempted to snatch back my chocolates. It was not easy. As all three of them were at least a head taller than me, they pushed me to the ground easily.

“Oh! Do you want to have a taste of what your oppa is going through? Let us show you how delicious it is,” one of the unnies kicked my back before I could get up from the ground.

“Ahhhh!” I screamed in pain.

“Shut up! You noisy rabbit!” the other unnie grabbed my hair and aimed her fist at my mouth. The stinging pain left me speechless.

“Enough already. She’s bleeding. If we kill her now, then there’s nothing to play with next time. Let’s enjoy the chocolates instead,” the big bad unnie commanded and they turned to leave.

Who says you can enjoy MY chocolates? Who says I am a toy to be played with? There’s no next time! With those thoughts in mind, I dashed towards them and sank my teeth into big bad unnie’s arm. I suddenly understood why oppa always resorted to this tactic. When you are not as physically strong as your opponent, that’s all you are left with. The other two unnies tried to get me off by hitting me and pulling my hair. However, all those agonies, physical and emotional, past and present, were vented through that bite till I tasted unnie’s blood. Man, it tasted so gross that I had to let go. Big bad unnie gave one final kick to my stomach and I slumped to the ground, my name tag falling off as well. Despite the pain, it felt good. It felt so good to fight back.

“Unnie! You are bleeding!” one of them cried hysterically.

“Let’s go to the toilet to clean it. We shall teach her a lesson later,” the three of them rushed to the restroom and left my precious box of chocolates behind. I quickly retrieved it and staggered away. Common sense told me that it was foolish to return to the bedroom, so I decided to look for a place to hide instead. As I walked around, I noticed that the side gate was opened. Did the ahjunma forget to lock it? Whatever the reason was, the opened gate and the world outside looked inviting. Out I went.

As I got further and further away from the orphanage, fear started to overwhelm me. The unknown world ahead looked dark and frightening. When I turned around, the orphanage looked no better. Feeling hopeless, I sat down and cried.

After a long time, a car suddenly stopped beside me. A couple walked out and upon seeing me crying, the lady rushed towards me.

“Oh dear, who left a child alone outside at this time?” she held me and accidentally touched my wound.

“Ouch!” I flinched with pain.

“Did someone hurt you? Oh gosh! It looks really bad!” the lady was full of concern.

“Since we are taking our sick son to the hospital, let’s just bring her along,” her other half said.

Inside the car, I sat with the lady who was coaxing her wailing baby. Gazing at the way she held her child in her bosom so protectively warmed my heart. So this is what having an umma is liked.

“Oh sorry, little girl. I was too busy taking care of my son that I neglected you. What happen to you?”

I did not feel like returning to the orphanage, so I decided not to tell her anything about my background. “I… I… don’t remember anything.”

“Does that mean you hurt your head? Let me check…”

“It’s ok. Compared to the baby, my pain is nothing. What is wrong with him? He seems to be in a lot of pain…” I tried to change the topic.

“He had a high fever in the middle of the night. High fever is a serious thing, so we have to bring him to the hospital, even at this unearthly hour,” the driver, whom I guessed was the baby’s father, answered.

“Little baby, I’m sorry you are in so much pain. But did you realise you have saved me? So you must be strong and get well ok so that I can make it up to you. See I have chocolates here. You can have them all if you recover,” I smiled brightly and waved my box of chocolates at him.

The baby seemed to understand. He stopped crying and chuckled softly. Oooo… he’s so cute.

“Hahaha… silly girl. My baby can’t take solid food yet. But still… Kumawo,” the lady pulled me closer to her side.

A few days later, the baby recovered and could be discharged. My injuries had healed too, but I had to remain in the hospital for further examination because the doctors could not find out what was wrong with my head. Of course, they couldn’t since there was nothing wrong to begin with. All this time, Tiffany (I later learned her name) ahjunma and her husband acted as my guardians.

“My dear, I think I have found out your identity. According to the police, Angel’s Orphanage…”

“Ahjunma, I’m thirsty. Would you please pour me a cup of water?” I interrupted Tiffany because I did not wish to talk about my past.

“I’ll do it, dear,” her husband went to the water dispenser with my cup.

“So where are we? Oh yes the orphanage…”

“Ahjunma, where is your baby boy? I miss him,” I tried in vain to avoid the topic, hoping to delay my return to that dreaded home. Even if it meant I could spend a few minutes more with this lovely family…

“Hmm, why do I get this feeling you are avoiding your past? Are you beginning to recall something? Something unpleasant?”

I avoided her eye contact and remained silent.

“All right then, let’s skip straight to the next topic. Would you like to be part of our family? All of us like you very much,” Tiffany smiled brightly.

“Eh?” her question caught me by surprise.

“The orphanage you are from was destroyed by a fire. Come to think of it, you are a really pitiful child. Your parents were no longer with you. Now even the orphanage that you live in was gone. Since you have nowhere else to go, we thought of adopting you.”

“Really?!” I pinched myself to ensure that this was not a dream.

“Judging from the state we found you, you must have an unhappy past. How about putting those bad memories behind you and starting afresh with us instead?” Tiffany my hair gently.

I hopped into her and hugged her tightly. “May I start to call you umma?”

“Sure thing. Then what should I call you? Since you are starting afresh, how about giving you a new name? Your skin is white as snow. The hanja for snow is Sul(설, 雪). Let’s call you Sulli.”

“Sounds good. Choi Sulli,” her husband commented.

“Choi?” were they retaining my surname?

“Oh, I haven’t properly introduced myself yet. My name is Choi Si Won. Come shake hand with appa.”

Oppa, I have found a nice family too. Thank you for taking care of me all this time. From now on, you do not need to get hurt for me anymore.

Present…
Jae Hee’s POV (Angel’s Orphanage)

“Ahjussi, thank you very much! For telling us what happened here.”

“Don’t mention it! All these years I want to try finding Jin Ri but there’s a limit to what I can do,” ahjussi gazed at his legs sadly, “I wish I can do more for her.”

“You have done your best, ahjussi. Besides, if anyone is responsible for Jin Ri, it’s me.”

“I’m glad you are back to do what I fail to do. Wish you and your girlfriend luck in finding Jin Ri.”

Krystal’s eyes widen when Ahjussi brought up the word “girlfriend”.

“Ahjussi! Krystal has never agreed to be my girlfriend!” I was not ashamed of being associated with Krystal, but vice versa might not be true.

“Have you ever asked?” Ahjussi grabbed my shoulder firmly as a sign of encouragement, “Based on my old age wisdom, I can tell she’s a nice girl. Good girls are hard to come by these days. You have to work harder young man!”

“Ahjussi, it’s getting late so we have to go now,” without a hole to bury me into, switching the topic to divert Ahjussi’s attention was the next best thing to do, “What about you? Do you want us to help you back to your home?”

“Thanks, but I would like to stay for a little while more, to keep them company. After what these children had done to you and your dongsaeng, I do not expect you to forgive them. But to me, they are all innocent children. Most of them had a sad story behind them. Remember the noona leader? She was physically abused by her alcoholic parents before she came here. Perhaps she resorted to bullying because it made her feel empowered. While I do not condone her way of dealing with her trauma, I do wish she had the chance to grow older to understand where she had done wrong.”

After hearing that, I had a sudden urge to return to the spot where I last spotted noona’s apparition.

“Jae Hee! Where are you going?” Krystal ran after me.

I never saw the noona again, only the doodling she left behind on the sand.
진희, 진리, 죄송합니다! (Jin Hee, Jin Ri, I’m sorry!)