Im Jin-Ah sat at the corner desk in class as she stared outside the window. The lunch-break bell rang a while ago as only a few people including her stayed behind. Jin-Ah had no appetite today as her mind had been preoccupied by the sudden return of her brother.
The concealed burn mark on her left forearm started to itch whenever she remembered the memories of him that were not pleasant in the slightest bit.
He was always dressed in shabby clothes and had a new tattoo whenever he showed up desperate for money. When Jin-Ah's grandmother could not give him anything, he would hurt the both of them and take items that were of any value then disappearing to avoid the authorities and loan sharks. It got so extreme that he attempted to burn them alive at one point for the insurance payout. They ended up moving to a new place with the help of the house insurance received, hoping to start a new life away from him, only to be found again.
'Do we have to move again? No, we can't afford to. The police couldn't do anything last time so I can't trust them.' Jin-Ah ran countless possible solutions on how to deal with her scum of the earth brother because she knew that the church incident was not the last time they would see him.
Eventually she came up with a few solutions that had a few kinks to manoeuvre around by the end of break as the bell rang and the students began pouring in. She sighed in a tired, taking out the English literature books from her inside the desk, when the figure of a plump man dressed in shabby clothes appeared in the corner of her eyes that made her quickly turn her head in that direction, only to find nobody there. She stared at that spot as her breathing became heavier and her hands started shaking uncontrollably.
'It was nothing, nobody was there.' Jin-Ah reassured herself, steadying her breathing and her shaking hands.
***
At the police station, Sun-Jae was about to leave the station to run an errand when he saw someone familiar at the reception desk, inquiring about him. He walked over to the desk and saw a white cast on an arm.
"Grandmother?" Sun-jae called out to Jin-Ah's grandmother, who was carrying a lunch bag with her uninjured hand. She was wearing the same clothes she wore.
"Oh, Sun-Jae. I was looking for you." She said, walking over after thanking the receptionist.
"Are you okay? Why did you leave the hospital?" He asked worriedly, walking over to support her.
"I'm okay. The hospital cost would have been too much if I stayed any longer." She replied.
"But I already covered the cost. You need to rest-" Sun-jae worried, being cut off by her,
"I'm seriously okay, you don't need to worry about me," She replied, handing Sun-Jae the lunch bag adding, "This is for you."
"Oh, you didn't have to," Sun-jae replied excitedly as he examined the lunch bag, "Thank you, I'll make sure to enjoy it." He said.
After exchanging a few more pleasantries, they left the police station and arrived at a coffee shop a couple of blocks away to talk.
"Grandmother, did something happen? Did your son bother you again?" Sun-jae immediately asked after they both sat down across each other. Jin-Ah's grandmother looked embarrassed that he found out about that
"No, I just wanted to thank you for helping me yesterday," She replied, watching Sun-Jae let out a sigh of relief as he relaxed back on his chair.
"I'm glad." Sun-jae said. They both sat quietly before Jin-Ah's grandmother noticed that he cut his hair and added.
"Your new haircut makes you look handsome." She complimented him as he blushed and let out a short laugh while pressing his hand on top of his hair.
"Yes, thank you." Sun-jae smiled, then remembered that she wanted to speak to him as he added, "What was that you wanted to talk about?" He asked as he picked up his ice coffee and took a sip.
"Ah, I almost forgot. Do you have a girlfriend?" She asked nonchalantly, making Sun-Jae choke on his coffee and cough uncontrollably.
"What?" He asked in shock.
"Ah, so you do have one." Jin-Ah's grandmother replied disappointedly, slowly nodding her head.
"No! I don't have a girlfriend" Sun-jae said, making Jin-Ah's grandmother smile again.
"How about Jin-Ah? Do you want to date her." She asked excitedly. Sun-Jae said nothing as he thought about one major detail that she was forgetting.
"Grandmother, Jin-Ah is in high school." He voiced his concern with what she suggested. She scoffed and leaned in.
"Jin-Ah will be eighteen next month so don't worry about it… Ah, but make sure you soften her before you go for it, you know?"
"Grandmother!" Sun-jae said even more shocked.
They laughed and continued talking some more, not noticing the suspicious old car parked across the street as Jin-Ah's brother sitting in it, silently watched his grandmother smile and laugh.
"You b**ch, that's right, keep on laughing. We'll see if you're still laughing after I'm done with you." He said to himself as he scratched his chubby chin and watched with eyes full of malice.