“Why do you always head out every day? Where do you even go?”

 

She froze, her hand pressing against the cool metal of the door handle. She picked her answer carefully. “I go out...and do little errands for others in the community.”

 

Daehyun stared at her evenly, his expression unreadable. 

 

She swallowed uncertainly, her back still turned. 

 

“I think you should stop helping those old ladies and help me for once.”

 

She hesitated before turning around to face him. “What?”

 

He came forward and grabbed her arm, her skin tingling as he touched it. “You’re coming with me today.”

 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~

 

She found herself in the middle of a large mall, marvelling as a few teenage girls walked past and giggled loudly, swinging around their crisp paper bags holding so many clothes.

 

“You’re always wearing that black dress or my old sweatpants and hoodie. I figured you needed to expand your wardrobe at least a little bit.” Daehyun half shrugged, his face slightly embarrassed. 

 

His face bore a sheepish expression, his cheeks flushed pink. “No offense.” He added hastily.

 

She looked up at him with an emotionless face. “I don’t have money.” She said flatly.

 

His cheeks turned a shade redder. “I’ve... I’ve been working a whole bunch of different jobs around town lately...And I’ve got some cash, so...”

 

She stared at him.

 

“I told you I was going to get a job!” He protested indignantly, his face completely tomato red now. 

 

She shrugged. “Never said anything.”

 

He sighed, knowing that she had beaten him again. “Anyway, where should we start?”

 

~~~~~~~~~~

 

“Are you sure about this?” She looked at the clothes Daehyun was holding up.

 

“Just try them on.” Daehyun said impatiently, ing all the clothes into her small arms and pushing her into the fitting room. “Come back out when you’ve tried them on.” He quickly closed the door.

 

She sighed behind the wooden door, Daehyun leaning against the wall impatiently. 

 

After a few minutes, she emerged, dressed in a red sweater with a pair of tight jeans. “Is this okay?”

 

Daehyun looked her up and down. “I guess. Want it?”

 

“Sure.”

 

Daehyun took note of how she wasn’t acting like what he would’ve expected normal girls to. He had expected her to maybe, act a little bit like a normal girl and be a little bit picky about her clothes, but... she clearly wasn’t a normal girl.

 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

 

“How long is this going to take?” 

 

Daehyun came back to the real world, finding himself staring straight at her face. “Huh?”

 

She looked down at her lap. “I don’t like this.”

 

“You mean you don’t like shopping?” 

 

“Sure. That.”

 

Daehyun stared at her. “Don’t girls normally like shopping?”

 

She shrugged before looking up to fix her stare on Daehyun with her dark eyes. 

 

Daehyun looked at the clothing bags crowded around her feet. He sighed. “Alright. Let’s go.”

 

~~~~~~~~~

 

Daehyun cleared his throat again as they continued on walking, awkward silence filling the air between them. 

 

“Um...Daehyun?”

 

He looked at her. “Yeah?”

 

“Why don’t you smile?”

 

He stopped walking looked away.

 

She said nothing as she waited for his reply. 

 

Taking a deep breath, he began walking again. “So when I was in high school, my father had committed suicide by hanging, and soon afterward, my mother shot herself in the head, taking her own life as well.” He swallowed. 

 

“The police were coming and I knew I couldn’t stay any longer with my sister in that house because they’d make us go live with our abusive uncle. So I fled with my sister into the streets.” Daehyun felt his eyes begin to cloud up and he shook his head, willing himself not to cry. 

 

“Hee Sun... My little sister. I loved her so, so much.” 

 

It began to rain, the drops soaking into both their shirts.

 

“I’ll never forgive myself. When we were looking for a place to stay, a nice man that we didn’t know offered his home to us. I was really stupid back then and decided to stay with him. The first five months, he was very kind and fatherly to us, putting both of us at ease, helping us forget our tragic story of our parents.” Daehyun brought his hands up to his eyes and rubbed at them furiously. 

 

“But when he finally gained our trust, he made his move. That day, I went out looking for work as usual, leaving Hee Sun with him. When I returned, I thought no one was home. I went upstairs and I saw...” His voice caught in his throat. “him holding Hee Sun, and she was on the ground...she...” 

 

The tears broke free. “She had been used. I...I saw it all.”

 

He sank to his knees in the rain, tears mingling with the raindrops dotting his shirt. 

 

Somebody grabbed his hand. It was Hana. 

 

Slowly, she put her arm around his sobbing body. “How old was Hee Sun?” She asked softly. 

 

"Eleven.." He choked out. 

 

Hana fists clenched, but she kept her arms around Daehyun as his body shook from his sobbing. 

 

He shook his head. "I couldn't stop him. When he saw me frozen in the doorway.. He took out a knife and stabbed her in the stomach." 

 

"Her helpless screams... I can still hear them at night now. There's nothing worse than seeing your sister get stabbed to death." 

 

"I threw myself in front of her as soon as I unfroze, but..."

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

~~~~~~~~~~