In the heavy darkness of the night, the yellow glow of a distant streetlight fought against the shadows, merging with the dim moonlight to push back the gloom. You couldn't clearly see the beautiful plum blossoms adorning the nearby trees, but their scent, dissolved in the cool air, made the atmosphere fragrant. However, that sweet aroma was now tainted by the unpleasant stench of a cigarette.
With one hand tucked into the pocket of her mother's old, tattered brown sweater, she held a cigarette in the other and took a long drag. Her shiny grey eyes occasionally drifted toward the sky, where the moon and stars hung among the clouds, until her gaze finally settled on her destination.
Leaning against a wall, his hands tucked under his armpits as he huddled in sleep, was her only friend, a total coward. Probably he had been kicked out of the house again after falling victim to his father's senseless rage.
After watching him for a few moments, she sat down silently beside him. For a while, she just stared at the moon peeking through the clouds. Then, for some unknown reason, she pressed the glowing end of her nearly finished cigarette against his long neck. Iseul let out a sudden scream, but he cut it short the moment he saw her.
"Sia ya!! Why would you do that?"
He gently rubbed a fallen, dew covered plum blossom over the burn mark, glaring at her with frustrated, weary eyes.
"I thought it was Papa. I almost had a heart attack in my sleep. Why do you do such stupid things?"
"Just because..."
She gave her usual answer to his irritation, which only made him seethe more.
"Sometimes I really hate you," he added.
"And do you love me the rest of the time?"
She winked mischievously as she pulled a fresh cigarette from the pack. He gave her a long look and tried to go back to sleep, but Noe Sia was in a different mood. With the cigarette between her lips, she grabbed his arm and tried to drag him along.
"What do you want now, woman??" Left with no choice, he stood up, feeling like he wanted to bang his head against the wall. The cold and the lack of sleep had made his brain numb, and now this "crazy girl" had arrived to mess with his head even more.
"You're so boring, Iseul. After being kicked out of that madhouse, you should thank God and go on a journey. Do you have any idea how beautiful the night is? Come with me. During the day, you're terrified of your father's shadow. Now that you have the chance at night, let me take you to my favorite spot. It's my sanctuary. It's a very lovely place."
She kept talking without listening to his protests, pulling him along until the harsh, screeching sound of an iron gate opening made them both stop and turn. It was Mr. Kang, coming out of the gate with an aggressive posture. Iseul turned pale with fear he almost forgot how to breathe.
Sia saw his face and quietly let go of his arm.
"You worthless boy. You've become completely shameless! What do you think? Just because you're growing up, you can do whatever you want? You think you can fly? I'll clip your wings! Now get inside! I'll deal with you later!" His voice wasn't loud, but it was filled with enough fire to burn anyone listening. Iseul walked forward with weak steps. Behind him, Mr. Kang turned his anger toward Sia, his voice low but wrapped in fire and dipped in poison.
"And you, you filthy girl! What kind of stubborn dirt are you made of? Why don't you understand? Stay away from my son! Are you trying to make him as trashy as you are?"
"One day, this 'trashy girl' will give birth to your next generation."
She was bored of his usual nonsense, so she gave the one answer she knew would make him the angriest. For a second, Mr. Kang was stunned by her boldness. But in the next second, his hand flew up and landed with full force on Sia's tanned cheek. The mark of five fingers wasn't visible in the dim light, but the sound of the slap reached Iseul, who was already at the gate. He stopped and turned, eyes wide with terror. Mr. Kang grabbed Sia's messy hair in his fist and whispered more poisonous things. Helplessly clenching his fists, Iseul wanted to help but couldn't. As he walked inside with his head down, he hated himself.
Noe Sia would fight anyone for him, but he, Kang Iseul, couldn't even raise his voice for her.
A light drizzle continued as Iseul returned home from his academy.
Holding an umbrella in one hand and his school bag over his shoulder, he entered his block, lost in thought. He looked up and saw Noe Sia near his house, and several thoughts hit him at once. He hurried toward her. Sia, who was playing a childish game on her phone, saw him too and walked toward him.
"Sia ya! Why do you keep trying to get me killed? Oh God! What are you doing here? If Papa sees you..." His words caught in his throat. Sia's right cheek was completely swollen, and there was a mark from an injury on the corner of her lip. He forgot everything he wanted to say. His face burned with shame. Lowering his head and biting his lip, he sadly closed his umbrella. The rain had suddenly stopped, and the orange rays of the setting sun were breaking through the clouds to say goodbye. It was a beautiful sight. Sia watched it closely.
"Sorry, Sia. Papa went too far yesterday. I wasn't nearby... and even if I was, I wouldn't have been able to do anything. Why... why do you even come here? Just tell me, and I'll come to you. You come here, Papa sees you and gets angry. I don't like it at all, Sia. You know he doesn't like you, so..."
"It's okay. I don't like him either." She shut him up with a mocking smile. "And you're such a coward. You don't even pick up my calls when your crazy father is around. If it were up to you, this friendship would have ended before it even started." She never hesitated to be blunt, and Iseul liked and disliked that about her at the same time.
He just gave her a regretful look.
"Fine. Maybe you're right... but Sia! You should leave now. Papa..."
"Ugh, your 'Papa ghost' again... Your Papa brought his precious girlfriend home. They dressed up and left a little while ago." Iseul's face lit up. He suddenly felt lighter.
"Really? So Papa won't be home all day." He muttered to himself.
"So, will you spend the whole day wandering around with me?" She suddenly looked directly into his eyes. Iseul paused. Those bright grey eyes weren't common in South Korea. They didn't seem to belong to her... or maybe those eyes were the only things that truly revealed who she was. Who knows....
He shook his head. For a moment, he wanted to say no. He had never been a brilliant student. He barely knew how he managed to pass. But for Mr. Kang, just passing wasn't enough, and he had become even stricter during high school. The house was also a mess. With Mr. Kang away, he could easily do a deep cleaning. There was so much to do, but it was either the hope in those grey eyes or the mark of his father's fingers on her cheek that made him agree.
"I'll go freshen up. It'll only take ten minutes," he said, opening the main gate. Sia just nodded.
After he left, she went back to her phone game until she saw their elderly neighbor, Mrs. Lee, struggling to carry a heavy sack. Shoving her phone into her sweater pocket, she walked toward her.
"Grandma! Can I help you with that?"
The neighbor put the sack down, took a deep breath, and sat down on her heels. She narrowed her eyes and scanned the tall, messy girl from head to toe. Once she recognized her, her face hardened.
"No, I'll do it myself," she said sharply and moved away. Sia just shrugged.
"That was Noe Tai-sik's daughter, wasn't it?"
When Mrs. Lee reached her house, another neighbor shifted closer.
"Yes, the worthless daughter of that worthless man."
"What was she saying?"
"Asking to help. Hmph."
"She's a very wayward girl. Wanders around all night. Smokes. Whenever I see her, she's with boys. If this is how she is now, I shudder to think what she'll do later."
"What else can you expect from the child of a characterless runaway mother and a low life fraud father?" The two old women had found a perfect topic to gossip about as they sat on the porch.
Further away, Noe Sia was walking with Kang Iseul. Iseul felt the neighbors' judging eyes on them. Feeling uncomfortable, he looked away and moved a little distance apart from Sia.
From home to school, and from school to the academy. From the academy, straight home! That was his whole life. He had forgotten the very streets he grew up playing in.
Even though the evening darkness was deepening, he looked at everything with excitement, as if he had arrived in Wonderland. Walking through these familiar paths with Sia, he felt like he was drifting through memories.
"This is Mr. Kim's house, right? Whose dog once chased us?" Iseul's face lit up when he saw the house covered in flowers. Lights and a sweet scent were coming from inside. It looked like a star shining in the night, as if happiness itself lived there.
"No, these people moved here last year. Mr. Kim's house is back that way," Sia said, adjusting the woolen cap on her head.
"What?? That dry, haunted looking place is Mr. Kim's house?" The shock was so great that Iseul stopped in his tracks.
"Mr. Kim died many years ago. After him, his wife turned away from flowers, colors, and beauty," Sia said, taking out a cigarette pack.
"Oh..." That's All he could say.
"Anyway, where are we going now?" he asked after a short silence.
"I don't know..." she muttered distractedly.
"You said you'd show me your 'sanctuary'?"
"Oh! Right! I was supposed to take you straight there. I don't know where my head was. The path is the other way." She grabbed Iseul's hand to turn back, but Iseul immediately pulled his hand away.
"No, I'm going home now. Papa could come back any time." He was ready to leave.
"You 'Papa's boy'! I feel like beating you up so much that you turn into mincemeat... maybe then the fear would leave you along with all your internal organs."
"I wish that was possible. I'd give you full permission to thrash me. You have no idea how sick I am of myself." He truly pulled at his silky hair in annoyance, then quickly began to fix it.
Sia smiled slightly at his habit. He always looked perfectly put together, like an idol.
"Our fathers are unstable, and our mothers are missing from our lives. Yet, look how different we appear on the outside," she said thoughtfully.
"Maybe because my Papa is image conscious. He presents himself as a perfect person to the world, and I have to play along with his drama... To be honest, I think I've become image conscious like him. My appearance is the only thing I can fix. It's the only thing I have control over... whereas you! You're lucky in that regard. You've always had complete freedom to live your life your own way. You can see the beauty of the night and the light of the day. If you paid a little more attention to yourself, maybe Papa wouldn't dislike you so much. Then we wouldn't have to meet in secret!"
Sia was behind him. Her pace was slow. There was a look of sorrow on her face, and her surprised eyes were fixed on Iseul's back.
Was he really that unaware of the state of her heart, the war in her mind, her confusion, and the difficulties of her life? He was calling her lucky? How easily he was giving her advice on how to look better! Didn't he know that when the heart is dead, a person is nothing but a corpse? And when do corpses ever look good? Especially old, stinking ones.
She walked quietly behind him, surprised. She knew Kang Iseul always put himself first, but... how could he be so unaware of his only friend?
She remained silent during the walk back. Iseul didn't say much either. He thought she was upset because he wanted to go home, even though Sia had never stopped talking to him even when she was angry.
"Anyway, when he goes with his precious girlfriend, he doesn't return before midnight," Sia said as they reached Iseul's gate, as if she knew the people in that house better than they knew themselves.
"Yeah, that's true. But I have other important things to do. And please don't just show up unannounced. At least let me know on the phone. Do you enjoy seeing me embarrassed by Papa's actions?" He pouted.
"I do, but whatever. I'll be careful in the future." She smiled briefly.
Iseul smirk with disbelief and went inside.
The closed gate seemed to mock her. The plum blossoms were still falling on her, but for some reason, she didn't like them today. The darkness of the night had settled in her eyes. The moon had hidden behind the clouds. Only the dim light of the distant streetlights remained, and in that yellow, dim light, her heart felt withered.
She had finished one cigarette on the way and was now taking out another. The smoke failed to fight off the heaviness inside her today. Her steps toward her own home were slower than usual. She didn't want to go home, but today, going was necessary...
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