It was sunrise and Yoon Hae was still awake ever since her prison-break. She was sitting on a log that laid horizontally on the moist ground that was covered in nature. Her back was hunched over, leaning in towards the wound that had only barely healed. The shirt she wore was ripped at the bottom, revealing her flat stomach. The material that was torn was used as bandage, tightly wrapped and securing any blood from flowing. Beads of sweat rolled down her temples once in a while, the excruciating heat went pass through the branches and down onto her tiresome body. For hours she had run. The sound of barks that echoed in her mind replayed over again with the scene that had occurred before. Her only way of survival was the obvious to a ‘criminal’s’ mind. Changing her identity, from her name, appearance and everything that could bring her back to prison.

Yoon Hae stood up from the moss covered log and adjusted her backpack onto her shoulders. The crunching of leaves was heard underneath her foot as the pressure was pressed upon the foliage, the process of walking continued for days. Yoon Hae’s leg needed to be treated properly; all she needed was luck on her side. To find a stranger that was helpful and skilful enough to treat a person like her, other than that she needed more money, the stash she kept in her pocket contained a few hundreds of dollars she had stolen and/or found in her years of being jail, whether it was spare change or not she had pocketed it, knowing it would definitely come to use.

Her legs were numb and the wound had slightly opened, everything needed to be rushed. It was only after the third day of travelling, she had discovered the empty flat concrete road. The excitement of meeting civilisation ran through her thick veins, all Yoon Hae had to do was follow the road. Soon enough, what she expected to see was right in front of her eyes, small buildings were seen erecting from the ground of her vision. Children’s laughter was heard in a far distance, enjoying their childhood life in a nearby lake. A town. That’s what it is; a small and quiet town that would give her the perfect opportunity to blend in as somebody else. She could just pretend that she was a lost traveller that was hurt, a lie that would easily fool anyone. The key point if that didn’t work was pity, yes if they pitied her she would not have to worry. Because at least she knew that she could trust them if they were like her old gullible self.

She dragged herself up the steep and dusty road, grabbing attention to the people who were outside, especially mothers who were hanging up clothes or collecting vegetables from their front garden. Kids minded their own business, continuing to play on whatever things they had, boys with small basketballs; girls with skipping ropes or playing hopscotch. A lady had shown interest and concern for the limping figure that stood out on the foreign path. Her motherly instincts were switched on, stopping whatever she was doing and approaching the stranger.

“Excuse me, would you like to come in? I can see that your leg is injured; let me treat it so it will not be infected,” her gentle voice was soothing to Yoon Hae’s ears, how she wished she could also see her mother worry about her like always. Yoon Hae smiled before agreeing to follow the kind lady into a small cottage that was surrounded by a couple of flowers that were beautifully bloomed.

In no time, her wound was neatly bandaged; the white soft fabric replaced the ragged material of her shirt. Yoon Hae was all cleaned up; no evidence of dirt was smudged on her, it was as if she had not even broken out of jail, like she was just an ordinary person. The lady had insisted Yoon Hae to call her ‘umma,’ the lady had not even asked what had happened to her, respecting Yoon Hae’s privacy. Yoon Hae was thankful for the hospitality, although she was leaving after 2 days, her heart felt warm at the familiar presence of someone showing care.

Yoon Hae was driven by one of the town’s people; she was dropped off at another local town after a 30 minute drive. This town was different to the first, it was more civilised and it was common to see cars driving by. Her next stop was the hair dressers. The sound of the bell rang as she entered the hair salon and was greeted immediately. The female sat on the comfortable fake-leather chair and looked at the reflection of herself in the mirror.

“What kind of haircut would you like?” one of them had asked. Yoon Hae thought for a moment before answering.

“I want to look like a completely different person.”