CHAPTER TWO - Ostricized [NOT EDITTED]:

"Choi." 

Choi jumped at the voice and turned her head around to the doorway of her room, cocking her head to the right.

"Ne Unnie?"

Jeun walked away from the door. Choi blinked before getting up and following in her footsteps. They entered into another room in the house. Only a stool sat in the middle of it. The little girl pursed her lips and walked to it. She had difficulty climbing to the seat making Jeun immediately pick her up and placing her on it. Choi smiled widely. "Gomawo Unnie!" 

Jeun nodded and opened the sliding closet to reveal a set or mirrors. At the end of it was a small clock and a box of scissors,  and clips. Holding the box in one hand and the cloak in the other, Jeun walked around to stand behind Choi. Placing the box on the ground for a second, she opened the cloak and wrapped it around Choi and tied it securely to her neck. Crouching, she took a pair of scissors and several clips and began the monthly routine of hair cutting. 

Minutes passed by and Choi swinged her tiny legs back and forth as she waited patiently for her Unnie to cut her hair. She was use to this after living with Jeun for three months now. At first she was hesistant to staying with the other girl. She had run away on several occasions in order to find her mom and to be alone, but every time she tried, Jeun found her in record time.

Choi rememebered on the fifth try of attempting to escape the house, it was a rainy day and she had ran across the city into a popular district, where she was not only lost, but scared. She was stuck on a bench in the middle of nowhere only to see her face plaster on one tv screen in a electronics stores. Choi learned how to read before being kidnapped, but at that moment she wished she couldn't. Her old photo with her original black hair was on the news, but instead of the usual 'Abducted, 6 year old Busan child, Ga Choi', or 'MISSING, PLEASE REPORT IF FOUND TO THE POLICE', Choi only saw the words: Search for Ga Choi Stopped. Mother has given up and will not continue.

Her heart had dropped when she saw footage of her mother walking away from the press and when the words 'given up' brightly overtook the other letters on the screen. Choi cried quietly from afar and let the rain pour on her. It was unforgiving as the sky darkened further and the drops of water pelted at her skin faster. It wasn't until Choi felt her skin turn cold that she looked up to see Jeun holding an umbrella over her. Jeun was staring straight at the tv Choi had been looking at for the past while.

Taking Choi's hand, she didn't speak on the walk home. The two did not bus it home, because it was a moment that Jeun felt that the little girl needed a moment to calm herself. After a few steps, Jeun stopped and held the umbrella to Choi to hold. She took off the backpack she had been carrying and placed a warm coat over the little girl's shoulder.

"Why do you keep finding me? Why don't you just leave me alone? WHY WON'T YOU JUST GIVE UP LIKE MY UMMA DID!?" Choi shouted.

Jeun buttoned up the little girl's coat and was about to stand back up until the sound of flesh hitting flesh echoed. Choi breathed heavily and stared shocked at what she had done. Jeun's expression showed nothing as her cheek reddened from the slap of the child. She looked at Choi and spoke quietly. "I'll give up when I'm dead."

"But why? If you cared about me enough you would let me go back home!" Choi whined.

"Fate." Jeun took the umbrella from the little girl and took her hand into her own. "Fate," she repeated, "brought you into my care, and it will teach you why you're with me." 

Choi for some reason knew that secretly, Jeun cared for her. She didn't know why, but she just knew. If that thing called fate made Jeun Unnie find her all the time, then she wouldn't question it. Choi just knew that nothing bad would happen to her if Jeun was by her side.

Looking into the mirror she watched Jeun professionally cut her hair. Her snips weren't harsh, but gentle. It was times was this when the two of them were alone that Choi saw the softness behind her Unnie's eyes. She believed that only around her, Jeun would be a nicer person than her usual self. Normally in public, Jeun was the woman that strangers took another look at because of her cold glares, but at home, she was a normal teenager who took the duties of an umma, only smiling for a millisecond at rare times. The only odd thing was seeing the man she called uncle around the house. Choi still didn't know if they were related.

"Unnie?" Choi said. She knew Jeun was listening after learning her habit of not replying back to others. "Are you excited for school tomorrow because I am! I can't wait to make new friends, and learn new things and draw cartoons, if I draw a cartoon can you put it on the fridge? Are you going to make lunch for me Unnie? I don't like cafeteria food. What time do we have to wake up? Do I have to wake up early? U- Wait...." Choi stared at her Unnie in the mirror. "What grade are you in Unnie?"

"Eleven."  Jeun crouched down and placed the scissors back into the box and shook off the cloak, getting rid of the pieces of hair on it.

"Wahh, Unnie, you're in high school!" Choi jumped off the stool and ran in front of the mirror to see her new hair. This time she had straight bangs and an uneven cut of medium length hair - Jeun had dyed her hair to a dark shade of brown last month. She grinned and ran back to Jeun, hugging her knees since she was still shorter than her by a great amount. "Kamsamnida Unnie! I like it a lot!" 

She took a step back and smiled once more before running back to her room to set up her bag for school. Jeun watched her leave and took in her own reflection in the mirror. She stood a few centimeters away from the reflective glass.

"That little girl is fond of you now Jeun." 

Slowly she turned to see her uncle standing at the doorway. Jeun nodded once and went to clean the mess of hair and water off the floorboards. 

"Jeun." She looked back up. "You can stop this deal any time now. We have enough money to last us for a lifetime. You don't have to keep playing. Besides, I can still find out what you need t