Arin’s family wasn’t that poor before. Her father was an employee of a big company in South Korea. He worked so hard, came back at around 10 p.m almost every night, working overtime. He earned quite well. The days when her dad came back early, bought some snacks for her and her mom were the happiest days for Arin.

Until unluckiest days had come.



Arin came back from school after the exam. Her mom was usually at home whenever she came back but on that day, her mom was nowhere to be found. She tried to call her mom.

“Hello, Arin-ah..”

“Mom, where are you?”

“Arin-ah, wait for me, I’m on the way.”

“Mom, are you -”

Her mom hanged up.

Arin didn’t have to wait for 5 minutes. Her mom came back.

“Arin-ah, change your clothes. Let’s go and see your dad.”

“Mom, what happened?”




Arin cried out loud on the way to the hospital. Her mom cried quietly beside her.

……………………………



It’s been 4 years since her father passed away from a sudden .

Arin and her mom moved to a semi-basement apartment that is half below ground. They sold everything they can from their home. They made a living by her mom worked in a supermarket while she worked part-time at a convenience store.



Arin’s now attending High school Year-1. She supposed to be studying hard but now she's in a convenience store working. Her stomach growled loudly, Arin doubted if her manager heard.

“Arin, you can go home now. I’ll handle the rest.” Her manager said while giving her Onigiri.

“Unnie, it's 30 minutes left to finish my shift.”

“It’s ok Arin. You look tired today. Plus I don’t think you study at home after work. You should study.” Her manager's eyes were on her report card in her bags. Arin swears in her head to her clumsiness. She should’ve zipped her bag. The red “F” sign is waving at her manager. Arin saw like that.

“Ahh…” Arin couldn’t find any reason to give. She barely studies at her home. The only thing she does was her homework so she w