Slow Awakening

"These are our children.  Out on the street. On milk cartons. On poster walls. Are we not going to do anything about it?"

The senator was campaigning again.

This time on lost and abducted children.

"Even if they were the children of the street," the senator stressed, "they were our children too."

So-Mi stared at the TV forlornly.

From her favourite spot on the floor.

"My dear senator, can you find my lost best friend too?" So Mi asked.

Tae-sik looked at her, over his book,  from his position on the sofa.

"The senator is getting more and more popular," she said to the ahjussi. "They said she may even run for president at the next elections."

"Chincha?" Tae-sik looked at the TV screen, looking at the passionate beautiful senator. "Has she contacted you lately?"

"Nope, I'm not that important, after all," So-Mi smiled at him and went back to finishing up her thesis.

Typing away on her old PC.

"What's your final year essay on?"

"Human behaviour," she answered him absently.

"Well, seeing that your major is psychology after all, I'm sure it'll be on human behavior," Tae-sik retorted.

So-Mi looked up at him, grinning at his deadpan voice.

"Mainly about how upbringing affects a person as an adult. Mine is focused on street children."

"I'm sure your senator will find that interesting."

"Yup, I bet she will," she smiled into her PC. "I seriously don't mind her using my case studies in her campaigning, especially in building a better support system for these kids."

He really enjoyed chatting with her like this and has come to acknowledge his more open nature nowadays.

"So-Mi...?"

"Eh?"

"Your case studies," he frowned. "You're not back on the streets again, are you?"

"Ani," she said, turning away to hide her discomfort.

"So...Mi..." or maybe to hide her crimson cheeks from his slow and dangerous yet cajoling voice.

His voice has never failed to turn her stomach up side down.

Only that she was becoming really good at hiding his effects on her.

"Seriously, I'm not," she shook her head, but still looking at her screen.

"What about digging in the police archives and stuff, then? Are you?" Thinking how she said she had her methods at getting information.

"Nnnnope."

He continued to stare at her, slightly amused at her behaviour.

And she could feel his eyes boring into her head.

"Chincha! I'm not."

She turned towards him, at last, to make her point.

Her eyes wide to prove her innocence.

He openly smiled at her action.

But uninvited, a thought suddenly crossed his mind.

"You doing good with your cop friend?"

"Depends on your definition of good."

So-Mi had her eyes back on the screen at that moment, mumbling her essay sentence to herself.

"Good enough," he tried his best, to sound disinterested, "to make him a permanent fixture in your life?"

She could not help then to look at him and stare, for the longest time.

Cocking her head while she observed him.

Making him uncharacteristically disconcerted.

So-Mi's mind wondered to the incident in the kitchen the other day.

He's jealous, she thought. And I did not imagine that near kiss moment.

Wow, she thought incredulously. He actually likes me. That way.

And the thought made her happy.

Really happy.

When Appa told her to let her heart choose, it has actually done so.

Only her head chose not to listen.

Til now.

"Nope, not good enough," she answered nonchalantly.

And she went back to her PC.

Let's make you grovel a bit, shall we, she thought.

The silence was only for a moment, before Tae-sik spoke again.

"Shall we get you a new computer?"

He asked looking at her old machine.

"Nope. No need."

Man, he's certainly conversational tonight. Just when I need to concentrate.

And she sighed.

Oh well, better now than later, So-Mi thought.

She got up from the floor, to sit beside him with her PC on her lap.

Purposely close, just to goad him.

So close he had to put his arm on the back rest to make room for her.

Taken aback at her sudden action.

"I'm not on the street but ... I confess I have been digging in police archives, and their real time data too," she wrinkled her nose, hesitantly, waiting his burst of anger. "I hack into their surveillance systems and also into some of the public ones."

Tae-sik simply raised an eyebrow, waiting for her to continue.

"They don't have that many, just traffic related ones. And not many on the red district either, but I keep the recordings just in case."

"Your pictures at the exhibition?"

"Those were personally taken. But I've already stop those," she quickly added.

"I can access phone lines and trace them, if the calls are on going. And I can also access data, credit card transactions, politicians' personal files, amongst others. Anything that is online, even protected. Especially if the security system is bad."

So-Mi tried to control her excitement, because computer hacking was one of her secret past time ventures.

"Info on Amber's whereabouts?"

"She completely disappeared," So-Mi shook her head, staring blankly at the PC screen. "No usage of credit cards, ATM transactions, insurance account, nothing."

Tae-sik rubbed her back soothingly, knowing she was still beleaguered with what has happened to her friend. 

"You said you have info on the phone lines, maybe I can trace them too," So-Mi tried to change the subject.

"Like what you did with the SMSes you received?"

"Yes."

"Well, the info I got, said the numbers run on private lines."

"But ahjussi, that's impossible for mobile, unless the owner of the private line has spectrum access."

"Spectrum access?"

"Yup, access to transmit data or voice over virtual lines. Only big organizations have those... Or maybe important personalities."

"Like politicians," Tae-sik added.

So- Mi typed furiously, till she came up with the information she wanted.

"Here, here's the list of people, or companies who has access to spectrum."

"Interesting," Tae-sik looked over her shoulder, restraining himself from resting his chin on it.

The list was not long, comprising mainly of telco conglomerates. 

Nothing out of the ordinary knowledge that the industry has.

At his peaked interest, So-Mi looked over her shoulder, not expecting his face to be so close.

Close enough to touch.

With her lips.

Ani, she mentally shook herself.

You are just imagining that look in his eyes, So-Mi. You may think he's jealous of you and Min-sung ssi, but then again, you may be wrong. He'll never look upon you as nothing more than a child.

She cleared and warned him instead.

"This data is not for you to act on,ok," she glared at him. "Let's give them to Chi-gon ahjussi."

"Yes ma'am," Tae-sik , squeezing her shoulders affectionately.

He still has not overcome being impressed with her.

He should be alarmed at her illegal activities or even angry.

But instead he was proud of her.

This girl is amazing, he thought. If only life was simple, I wouldn't think twice of making her mine.

Behind her head, Tae-sik allowed himself a wistful smile, thinking of how cruel life was at times.

In the mean time, So-Mi continued with her tinkering on her PC.

"And since I'm coming clean with you with how I get my info," and the fact that you have not so far slapped me on the wrist about it, she added silently, "I want to share this with you too."

She started to open an application, showing real time scenes if her home.

"I put a CCTV in, a long time ago, at home. To make sure Appa and Omma are safe whenever I'm not around," she explained, smiling at the image of her mother trying to shoo a stray cat that came through the balcony.

Tae-sik smiled too.

"I also had one put up at your old place, to help watch over it when you were still in prison."

So-Mi moved to another hidden camera.

"But only at the entrance, cos I didn't have access to get in, in the past."

While her home system has cameras in the living room, kitchen and balcony apart from outside the front door.

"How come I never noticed it?" Tae-sik asked, referring to both the CCTVs at her home and his.

"I camouflage it with an empty casing of air freshner dispensers," she answered him as a matter of factly.

He shook his head, remembering the out of place dispenser on the wall overlooking his old apartment door.

She went to open a to open a folder of old videos and pulled out a semi recent one, of him coming out of his old apartment.

Making him stiffen at the sight of the moving picture.

It was a recording of him there the week before.

She looked at him accusingly.

"What are you planning, Ahjussi?" she narrowed her eyes at him. "Hmm? Settling me here, in a nice apartment with a good business for my keep, and then you go back to that old life of yours?" She raised her brow, looking at him over her shoulder. "Think again, arasso...?!"

He was silenced momentarily before letting out a great big laugh.

One he has not allowed himself in the past 20 years or so.

Totally not expecting the level of resourcefulness from her.

"I thought you studied psychology?" he asked still laughing.

"Didn't I tell you?" She shrugged. "I minored in computer science in my first year."

He laughed again and pulled her by the side of her head to plant a loud lip smack on her temple.

Startling not only So-Mi but himself.

"Mianhe," he apologized quietly, letting his hand down immediately.

"It's ok," So-Mi answered, blushing profusely.

This time, they both looked down, bashfully.

But Tae-sik did not remove his hand from her shoulder.

Much to So-Mi's happiness.

Chincha? Being in his arms makes me happy, So-Mi thought.

So safe, warm, comfortable yet exciting at the same time.

The same comfortable feeling, whenever they were together.

And the same heart thumping experience, whenever he was close to her.

Unlike the uneasy shyness she felt, whenever Lee held her hand during their dates.

She knew it has been a slow awakening for her where Tae-sik was concerned.

And she tried to deny the feelings, by going out with Lee.

She has always looked upon Tae-sik as a father figure before, but since that day of his release, her heart has been beating a different tune.

She felt guilty for harbouring such feelings for him, but that brief moment in the kitchen seemed to indicate that she may not be alone with such feelings.

And without thinking, she snuggled closer to Tae-sik.

Receiving another natural yet heaty squeeze on her shoulder.

And her heart raced yet again.

But better yet, she felt his heart beating slightly faster too, through the thin cloth on her back.

And with her face away from her Ahjussi, she smiled at the revelation.