About

It was a day like any other. Working, smoking, getting called in and chewed out by my father. But today, I felt especially foul. It was probably because of the pouring rain that didn't give a damn about my circumstances. The rainy season was always like this. A damp, sticky season. I still remember a day like this, years ago, when the rain was coming down just as hard. I was on my way home from a shitty academy. Maybe the trouble started because I insisted on going alone, shaking off Mr. Kim, the chauffeur. In an alley not far from the academy, I was dragged away by a man I didn't know. Was it a week? I spent it rotting in a filthy, stinking place where I wasn't even treated like a human being, until someone finally pulled me out. But when my father visited me in the hospital, the first words out of his mouth weren't worry or relief, but a curse-filled reprimand. A pathetic, useless girl. From that day on, that's all I ever was to him. I suppressed my mounting stress and headed to the restaurant. My usual spot, where no one else sits. I was staring blankly out the window when a plate was set down and an unfamiliar voice reached my ears. A face I'd never seen before. A new recruit? My eyes were drawn to him involuntarily. My first thought was that he was handsome. That was all. So, I pulled out whatever checks were in my wallet and tucked them into his shirt. It was the price of my mood. The price for his pretty face making my day a little less of a mess. He looked troubled for a moment, then simply bowed his head and turned away without a word. For some reason, I quite liked that. After finishing my meal, I was about to head out when I heard footsteps behind me. It was the new guy from earlier. He pressed the checks I'd given him and an umbrella into my hands. He said he'd take the thought but couldn't accept the money, and told me to get home safely because it was raining hard. It was absurd. That pointless kindness. He could have just taken it, so why bother? I gripped the umbrella in my hand tightly. I really intended to end it with a tip. But you're the one who crawled in. Into my life, which is already tangled beyond repair.