It was 11pm already.

Mihye was exhausted. If that wasn’t bad enough, she was freezing to death. She was also so hungry that her head was beginning to feel dizzy. In fact, she was almost on the verge of collapsing.

After arriving in Incheon at about 9pm, the truck driver started to unload the boxes in the truck. It was then when he finally noticed a 10-year old at the back of his van. He didn’t know that she was a pitiful girl who had just gotten abandoned by her stepmother. He thought that she was another mischievous kid who had hitched a free ride on his truck again. So he immediately yelled at her and chased her out of the truck, leaving her very much alone, and totally lost, at an isolated corner of Incheon.

Being a 10-year old, Mihye had absolutely no idea what to do. She had no idea where the heck she was, and had no idea how to make her way back home. Her father’s words had echoed in her mind – Mihye ah, when you get lost, just stay where you are and I’ll find you. Don’t move around at all, oh? And so, being the obedient girl she was, Mihye obeyed her late father’s words. She didn’t move an inch and spent the time waiting. Waiting and waiting for someone, anyone, to pick her up and send her back home. She was cold. She was hungry. And she was unbelievably exhausted. But still, she continued to wait. She waited and waited until eventually, her body couldn’t stand it anymore. She collapsed.

It was only until 11pm when Mrs. Nam passed by, on her way back home from work. Suddenly, out of nowhere, a frail figure collapsed onto the floor, causing Mrs. Nam jump. Upon closer inspection, she let out an involuntary gasp. Lying on the cold, hard floor was an extremely pale little girl who was shivering uncontrollably. She appeared to be unconscious.

“Little girl! Gwenchana?” Mrs. Nam immediately knelt down and placed her hand onto Mihye’s forehead. It was so hot that Mrs. Nam had to retreat her hand due to the heat radiating from Mihye’s forehead.

“You poor thing…” Mrs. Nam murmured as she looked around for anyone who could potentially be related to this girl. But the streets were empty. Of course they would be, it was 11 freaking pm. Mrs. Nam hesitated for a while, then gently helped Mihye up.

I can’t just leave her alone here…She thought. I guess she’ll have to stay with me, just for tonight, before I return her to her relatives tomorrow. With that, she supported Mihye with one hand as she made her way to her apartment, which was just around the corner. She gave Mihye a hot bath and cleaned her up nicely, before gently supporting her to the guest room and laying her down onto the spare bed. She tucked her in and got placed a towel wrapped with ice cubes on her forehead. In no time at all, she had stopped shivering and fell into a deep sleep, her lips curled upwards to form a peaceful, innocent smile.

You poor thing…Mrs. Nam Mihye’s little head as she sighed, already starting to get attached to this little girl. You must have been through a lot today, haven’t you? How could your parents have left you alone in this deserted corner, cold and sick? Don’t worry, little girl. Rest well and tomorrow, everything will be alright.

It was 9am the next morning when Mihye finally came to. Her eyes fluttered open as she blinked rapidly, trying her hardest to regain a clear vision. When she did, she found herself in a totally unfamiliar room, lying on a totally unfamiliar bed, dressed in a totally unfamiliar set of clothes.

Where am I? Mihye rubbed her eyes as she sat up, inspecting her surroundings. Still, nothing in the room ringed a bell in her head. She squeezed her eyes shut, trying her hardest to remember the incidents that took place the previous night, but she was too dizzy with hunger to remember.

“You’re awake”

Before her eyes could even look at the person entering the room, her nose picked up the aroma of Kimchi jjigae and her stomach rumbled furiously. Mrs. Nam was entering the guest room, with a tray of homemade Kimchi jjigae and rice. As soon as she laid it down in front of a famished Mihye, she started wolfing the food down at top speed, only stopping for quick bursts of breaths in between. In less than 5minutes, she had polished up the entire bowl of soup and rice. Her stomach finally stopped rumbling and she finally regained her strength.

“Was it good?” Mrs. Nam smiled as she cleared up the tray. Mihye responded with a hesitant nod.

“Where…where am I?” She finally asked, a puzzled expression on her face. “Who…who are you?”

“I’m Mrs. Nam, and you’re in my house.” Mrs. Nam answered. She then proceeded to explain how she found Mihye lying on the floor on the way back home, shivering and passed out, and how she decided to let her rest and recuperate back in her house for the night.

“But then,” Mrs. Nam asked curiously. “What were you doing all alone at 11pm in the streets? Can you remember what happened before you passed out last night?”

Mihye tried to remember again. This time though, her brain was functioning perfectly well due to the delicious breakfast Mrs. Nam whipped up for her, and so she had no trouble remembering the events that happened the previous night.

“I…I went to sleep…in my house…” Mihye murmured, with a puzzled expression on her innocent face. “The next thing I knew, I woke up in the back of a truck. An old man told me to get out of his truck and so…I was left in the middle of the streets at night…I waited and waited for someone to come fetch me, but no one came…I was so hungry and cold and tired…but I still waited…and waited...”

“Until your body couldn’t take it anymore and you passed out.” Mrs. Nam murmured, still totally confused. “You say you have no idea how you ended up on the truck?”

Suddenly, a brief image appeared in Mihye’s head for a split second, but it was all that she needed. In the image, she saw herself, screaming her for her stepmother as the truck drove off with her in it. And instead of helping her, her stepmother simply smirked and waved at her, turning her back towards her and walking away.

“Umma…umma…” she whispered, tears of disbelief welling up in her doe-like eyes.

“Umma…umma…” she started to choke, tears streaming down her eyes uncontrollably. She turned to look at Mrs. Nam with wet eyes, hoping to get an explanation for everything. “Why didn’t umma stop the truck from leaving? Why did she turn around and walk away? Doesn’t she love…doesn’t she love Mihye? Doesn’t she…doesn’t she want Mihye anymore? Why did she let the truck carry me away…without doing anything? Mihye’s a good girl! Mihye didn’t do anything wrong!” She sobbed, hugging herself tightly and burying her wet face into her knees, her shoulders shaking violently and her breaths becoming short and haggard.

“There there…” Mrs. Nam’s motherly instincts immediately perked up at the sight of the weeping child. She wrapped both arms around the confused, hurt and crying child, her back gently as she tried to calm her down.

From the looks of things, it seems as if her mother had abandoned her. Mrs. Nam deduced, almost bitterly. What is wrong with people nowadays, how could they just send their children away, all alone, just like that? It’s madness!

She looked down at Mihye, who was crying so hard she started to have hiccups, and sighed, her gaze immediately softening at the sight of the abandoned child who had no one to depend on. There was no way she could just leave Mihye alone to fend for herself, she could never bring herself to do it.

So she decided that if Mihye’s mother had abandoned her, she would take her in. She would become her new mother and love her as much, if not more, as a mother loved her own child. She would take care and provide for her, with no complaints at all, because that was the kind of person Nam Sunhee was.

And so, this was how everything began…

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As promised, here's the second chapter(: See you guys again in a week!

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