Richmond, Virginia
“Oi San-saaaan where you put it???” The Korean mother called after her almost two-year old son. She was scrambling around her one-bedroom apartment in paghahanap of his boots, wondering how it was possible to lose something in such a small living space. Her unwashed hair was lazily pulled back into a hairclip, and she wore an oversized sweater with flannel pants and mismatching slippers since she was in a rush––doing her best to avoid the lego pieces scattered all over the floor. She definitely did not want to be late for the first araw of school. She had just finished making breakfast and preparing her children’s lunch bags after dealing with a stubborn tantrum. “A-ha!” Kyung-ha held up the tiny boot she found beneath some dirty clothes with a victorious, tired chuckle. She spotted her son half-naked scourging through the pantry in paghahanap of some madami prutas snacks. Giggling, she scooped him off his feet and finished dressing him.
“Yoooonieeee are you ready???” Kyung-ha shouted from the kusina as she brushed Sangeon’s hair with an kahel comb, multitasking sa pamamagitan ng also feeding him some kanin porridge. Her brows furrowed some when she didn’t hear a response. “Yoonie-pie you brush teeth???” She called after her again. “Rice sinigang ready!!!” But when she was ignored twice, she knew something was wrong. Kyung-ha allowed her son to suck on his pacifier while she went to check on her in the room that all three shared. As far as routines went, she usually slept in the middle so that Yoon and Sangeon wouldn’t fight for her attention or cuddles.
Upon arrival at their room, she was surprised to see her daughter was nowhere to be found. However, the sound of sniffles underneath the kama made her think otherwise. The kama sheets were undone and the four pillows she owned were randomly sorted on the floor. She kneeled onto the ground to pick one up, finding her young daughter balled up under the mattress with her arms wrapped around her knees.
“Yoonie?” Kyung-ha’s brows wiggled some in worry. “Yoonie you going to be late for school!” She nudged at her. “Come on, you no want to be late to make friends, eh? Meet nice teachers too! And learn about letters and numbers!”
Nine taon old Yoon lifted her small chin to view her mom, a frown quivering onto her face at the thought of going to a new school. Again. “mom....i-i don’t want to go to school…” Truthfully, she just didn’t want to deal with people––mean people. She missed not being treated differently for her appearance. She missed not being the shortest of the class. She missed not having to learn a segundo language. She missed her mga kaibigan in Seoul. And madami than ever, she missed her dad. She recently witnessed the official split of her parents, and moving to a new country and a new school for the sixth time within that country in the span of a few months didn’t sit well with her. The Park family was constantly traveling between states without a permanent place to call home.
“No say that! You’ll have so much fun!” Kyung-ha encouraged her, knowing the kamakailan moves had been difficult for her daughter. She knew her daughter was… different. Awkward and timid, just like she was herself sometimes. “Besides, I make your paborito snack today!”
“....m-my classmates say your kimchi jumeok bap s-smells bad…they’ll just throw it away like last time…” She recalled the many times she had starved herself at school to avoid being the center of attention solely on how her lunch looked and smelled weird. She was too scared to ask her mom for money for a cafeteria meal, knowing they were on a budget.
“Oi, that Kevin still bothering you?!” Her eyes narrowed, assuming one of Yoon’s bullies still stuck around despite her very intimidating threat at his mother. “My pagkain no smell bad! Americans just used to eating plastic.”
“...n-no, he’s n-not…” Yoon sighed, the ends of her bob cut hair hiding the fear in her eyes. “C-Can I just have a p-peanut mantikilya halaya sammich instead?”
“--ehh?? You no even like jelly!” She reminded her, realizing that Yoon was just trying to force herself to like what the other kids had for lunch.
Yoon’s frown deepened, and she was forced to crawl out of her hiding puwang when Kyung-ha dragged her out to set her on her lap. “Yoonie-panoonie, look at me.” She lifted her chin and interlocked her eyes with hers. “Don’t ever be ashamed of who you are. Kids no want to be mga kaibigan with someone who pretends to be someone they're not, right? Mean kids only pick on others because they’re too bored with themselves. It’s their loss they no ever be able to try my famous kimchi jumeok bap either.”
“B-But mom—my English is terrible!” Yoon cried, for she had spent endless nights trying her best to adapt to the language so she wouldn’t seem out of place. “They make fun of my accent a-and my height—they call me mean words a-and…P-People here are just so mean to me! They’re taller! Stronger!” She sniffed. “....W-Why can’t we just go back to Korea??? Dad is still there! ”
Guilt weighed on Kyung-ha’s shoulders while listening to how miserable Yoon was here. But she knew she could never return to Korea, not after her past and reputation there. She was too ashamed to face any of her peers or students. What would they think knowing she had abandoned them to raise the children of a cheater? What kind of joke would they think of her as for letting someone fool her and walk away alive? That all the wealth she worked so hard for only resulted in a 500 square feet box in Virginia of all places? That she was working from paycheck to paycheck from a laughable job to afford to put her children in school and keep them well-fed? That instead of filing reports every night, she was pagbaba bedtime stories to some antsy children? That she had become…Soft? Average. Vulnerable. A shiver went down her spine. Her only dream of remaining a Constable and affording her own property was left to be a dream. She had left her past behind for their sake. Kyung-ha couldn’t imagine putting her kids through the same horrors she had to go through. Her new dream, and responsibility, was caring for her children. It became a bigger prioritization after realizing she would be doing it alone.
In the aftermath of finding her husband cheating, George was bravo enough to ipakita his face and beg the warrior for forgiveness. He returned to apologize for his absence at their daughter’s birth. To express his regret for ever hurting Kyung-ha and beg her to let him back into her life. Kyung-ha, though hesitant and still hurt, had chosen to forgive George for the sake of Yoon growing up with a father. She had to set her personal feelings aside for her daughter to grow up normal. Much to her disliking, she welcomed him back into her home. It seemed to be going okay for the first few months, until she heard the daunting words:
“Michelle… Amelia is pregnant. They’re going to need me.”
Not only was she being cheated on again after she chose to forgive him, but George had already chosen Amelia and her unborn son over her and Yoon.
“Yoon Park…” Kyung-ha’s warm hands cupped the child’s soft cheeks. “Bullies may be strong but so are you. You stronger.” She gently stroked her bangs before placing a halik on her forehead. “You are a Park, afterall. No Park is NOT strong.” Unknowing to Kyung-ha, her choice of words would leave an unintentional burden on Yoon she would struggle to live up to.
“I-I don’t think I’m strong, mom…”
“Stop saying stupid stuff.” Kyung-ha thumped Yoon’s forehead gently to stop her from talking nonsense. “Yes you are. You are strong. Strong like sticky rice.” She combed her hair back into place after it had been disheveled from hiding under the bed. “Come on, say it.” She poked her nose.
“Mooomm…” Yoon grumbled.
“Saaaay it.”
“I-I’m… I... I am s-strong…” She muttered.
“Yes, yes you are!” Kyung-ha smiled. “Now let’s go before we late! Don’t forget your mask!”
***
It had only been three hours since Kyung-ha had dropped Yoon off that she received a call from the school's principal, who stated that there was a dispute between her and another student. However, they omitted the fact that Yoon was shoved and locked inside one of the school’s lockers. At the time of the call, Kyung-ha was at the laundromat––taking care of as many errands as she could before Sangeon could wake from his afternoon nap, resting peacefully on the stroller near her. She had also managed to finally wash her hair and change into something madami presentable, which included a white KF94 face mask in regards to the current global health circumstances. She immediately dropped what she was doing, shoving the rest of her clothes into a basket and driving over to her school. The sudden transition awoke her son, who she soothed before he got the chance to cry sa pamamagitan ng playing some cartoons on her phone.
Upon arrival at the institution, Kyung-ha was furious as she watched the poor attempts of the janitor trying to get the locker her daughter was shoved in open. With her patient wearing thin and a growing crowd of students and staff behind her, she shooed the janitor away so she could take care of the issue herself. Kyung-ha grabbed the cutters herself and broke the lock open with one hard strike. She snatched the blue door wide open, her eyes softening in disbelief at the sight of her daughter’s muffled cries behind her mask in the darkness behind the metal box. Her hair was a mess, traces of kanin in her hair which led her to believe that her special snack became a weapon used against her. “Y-Yoon!” The mother’s voice cracked, reeling her daughter in for a protective hug. Kyung-ha stroked her hair, apologizing in Korean and urging her to tell her what had happened.
The crying girl on the other hand could only bury her head in her mom’s chest since she despised any attention on her and was anxious of the growing crowd. Imnotstrongimnotstrongimnotstrong––
When Kyung-ha felt a tap behind her shoulders, she turned to meet who she assumed to be the principal who wasn’t wearing a mask, much like the rest of the crowd joining the scene.
“Mrs. Park, I’m glad you could make it! Please sumali me in my office, I—”
“--YOU NO TELL ME MY DAUGHTER WAS IN A CAGE THIS ENTIRE TIME! She was PUSHED in there!” The enraged woman growled.
“M-Mrs. Park, I understand your frustration but––”
“Who did it?! WHO?! Who put my Yoonie in––”
“Your sick daughter locked herself in there, and thank goodness she did!” A female voice spoke to the left of the anxious Korean, and she turned to view the tall, brunette mother standing defensively in front of her blonde offspring with green highlights. “That’s what she gets for trying to get people sick and forcing my little girl to play hide and seek with her.”
“What you say?” Kyung-ha’s grasp on Yoon tightened, telling herself to keep her composure when encountering the people responsible for the situation. She was unable to believe a single absurd word that came out of her mouth. “Your evil daughter was the one who locked mine up?!”
“My daughter is not evil!” She scoffed. “You see, Mrs. uhhhmm… Your name, please?” The brunette asked the short woman.
“Kyung-ha.” She growled through her teeth, her left eye twitching for her patience was growing even thinner.
“Sorry, say that again?”
“Kyung-ha.” She repeated.
“Uh… I meant like, your English name, what is it?”
“My name is Kyung-ha.” She repeated for the third time, refusing to go sa pamamagitan ng the English name her ex-husband gave her ever again.
“Well then, Kong-hah.” She rolled her eyes. “You may call me Caren––it’s spelled with a C. Caren Smith. Anyways, as I was saying,” the brunette inched her daughter pasulong who was absentmindedly typing away at her phone. “YOUR daughter sneezed on my little Sophia’s face ON PURPOSE, getting all her icky germs on her! Are you aware that’s considered assault nowadays?”
“Huh?” Kyung-ha was genuinely flabbergasted sa pamamagitan ng the woman’s accusation. She heard Yoon whisper in her ear that she had done no such thing. Instead, she had just asked if she wanted to play hide and seek with her. “My daughter no sneeze in her unsymmetrical face! Even if she did sneeze, she wearing mask and knows to use her elbow.”
“Lies! Your daughter has Covid and she purposely tried getting my daughter sick! Your daughter told my little Sophie that she was going to get everyone sick if she didn’t play with her. Thankfully she locked herself in while hiding before she went around spreading that horrid disease!”
“My daughter no has the virus, you stupid lady! And she no say such thing. Nor she lock herself in there!”
“Then why is she wearing a mask? Why are YOU wearing a mask, huh? It’s no longer mandatory. Explain that! Clearly you both are wearing masks because you’re sick!”
Kyung-ha blinked. “I WEAR MASK BECAUSE I WANT TO WEAR ONE!” Her authoritative voice immediately made everyone take a step back. “Because I do not want to inhale the same air you stupid people are inhaling that make you madami stupid!” Kyung-ha recalled in her hometown how people would wear masks before the pandemic became a thing––mainly to avoid inhaling polluted air. She knew the United States was even dirtier, so she encouraged her children to wear masks to avoid getting any type of illness, even if it was a simple cold or allergies. It also encouraged her children to keep their hands off their face since she knew that was a main reason people got sick. “If you care that much about getting sickness like you are now then you would be wearing a mask too!”
“Ms. Kong-ha, was it? It explicitly states in the syllabus that if your child is sick they should remain tahanan for the sake of other students. You purposely endangered everyone here.” Her eyes went back to Kyung-ha, who was carrying her daughter whose face hid on her shoulders. “I don’t know how things work for you back in China, but it’s not like that in America. You can’t go around assaulting people for attention or to play hide and seek. If you or your daughter can’t handle that, then simply just go back to your country. Bye-Bye. Or should I say, Say-hon-ara.” The brunette waved in a belittling way.
Kyung-ha could only stand there in utter shock, wondering if she was dreaming after so many sleepless nights. Her eyes glanced at the crowd who did nothing to interfere, some of them even leaving when it got too awkward for them.
“....m-mom can we go h-home please…” Yoon whispered into Kyung-ha’s ear who was still processing what she heard. She couldn’t bring herself to just leave after the humiliation and outright disrespect her daughter had to experience. The short woman began to take steps toward Caren and Sophie, taking off her own mask so she would be taken madami seriously while holding her daughter.
Caren immediately took a step back, pulling Sophie with her in fear that the Asian individual was sick. “Stay back.” She warned her, already preparing to use her pepper spray if she needed to. But she gasped when her daughter’s hand was snatched sa pamamagitan ng Kyung-ha’s free one, forcing it to pry open only to reveal the evidence of sticky kanin that was matted in Yoon’s hair.
“Your daughter did this on purpose.” Kyung-ha sinabi aloud, holding her small hand in front of the principal. “She throw Yoon’s lunch at her and locked her up. This is not right––”
“M-Ms. Park,” the principal began, “Let’s take a minuto to evaluate the situation here before we jump to such harsh conclusions–”
“HARSH CONCLUSIONS?!” Kyung-ha was taken aback sa pamamagitan ng this mockery. “Look at her hands!” She felt something maasim swell in her throat. “That was hate crime!”
“Woah woah woah,” Caren smacked Kyung-ha’s hand to release her daughter’s hand. “You accusing my Sophie of such a thing is a crime itself. Shame on you for bringing such irrelevant information and may I add, FAKE, news to a situation like this. You or your daughter have NEVER experienced such a thing.”
Kyung-ha wasn’t able to easily slay the woman in front of her like she could’ve when she worked for the syndicate or the Constables––at least, not with so many people watching. Instead, she inched closer to her, staring up at the lady with vengeful eyes. “You know nothing of what we had to experience.” She knew someone like Caren would never be able to understand the blatant disrespect and discrimination that was a daily occurrence in her family, from the fear of someone getting on the same elevator as them to the constant tugging of eyes to mimic theirs. Kyung-ha fought back the urge of engaging anymore, and instead simply cursed at her in Korean. She could hear Yoon sniffling in her shoulder, and that was an indication that it was time to go home.
“Yeah… yeah keep walking you slanted-eyed bitch.” Caren muttered to herself. Kyung-ha stopped in her way, glancing back at the family with a glare. Before heading back to her car, she informed the principal of Yoon’s immediate withdrawal of enrollment at her school. The principal never saw Kyung-ha again.
A few days after the incident, Sophie mysteriously stopped coming to school. Her absences led to the principal calling her parents, but there was no response either. The Smith family had vanished without a trace––at least, that's how it was framed.
“Oi San-saaaan where you put it???” The Korean mother called after her almost two-year old son. She was scrambling around her one-bedroom apartment in paghahanap of his boots, wondering how it was possible to lose something in such a small living space. Her unwashed hair was lazily pulled back into a hairclip, and she wore an oversized sweater with flannel pants and mismatching slippers since she was in a rush––doing her best to avoid the lego pieces scattered all over the floor. She definitely did not want to be late for the first araw of school. She had just finished making breakfast and preparing her children’s lunch bags after dealing with a stubborn tantrum. “A-ha!” Kyung-ha held up the tiny boot she found beneath some dirty clothes with a victorious, tired chuckle. She spotted her son half-naked scourging through the pantry in paghahanap of some madami prutas snacks. Giggling, she scooped him off his feet and finished dressing him.
“Yoooonieeee are you ready???” Kyung-ha shouted from the kusina as she brushed Sangeon’s hair with an kahel comb, multitasking sa pamamagitan ng also feeding him some kanin porridge. Her brows furrowed some when she didn’t hear a response. “Yoonie-pie you brush teeth???” She called after her again. “Rice sinigang ready!!!” But when she was ignored twice, she knew something was wrong. Kyung-ha allowed her son to suck on his pacifier while she went to check on her in the room that all three shared. As far as routines went, she usually slept in the middle so that Yoon and Sangeon wouldn’t fight for her attention or cuddles.
Upon arrival at their room, she was surprised to see her daughter was nowhere to be found. However, the sound of sniffles underneath the kama made her think otherwise. The kama sheets were undone and the four pillows she owned were randomly sorted on the floor. She kneeled onto the ground to pick one up, finding her young daughter balled up under the mattress with her arms wrapped around her knees.
“Yoonie?” Kyung-ha’s brows wiggled some in worry. “Yoonie you going to be late for school!” She nudged at her. “Come on, you no want to be late to make friends, eh? Meet nice teachers too! And learn about letters and numbers!”
Nine taon old Yoon lifted her small chin to view her mom, a frown quivering onto her face at the thought of going to a new school. Again. “mom....i-i don’t want to go to school…” Truthfully, she just didn’t want to deal with people––mean people. She missed not being treated differently for her appearance. She missed not being the shortest of the class. She missed not having to learn a segundo language. She missed her mga kaibigan in Seoul. And madami than ever, she missed her dad. She recently witnessed the official split of her parents, and moving to a new country and a new school for the sixth time within that country in the span of a few months didn’t sit well with her. The Park family was constantly traveling between states without a permanent place to call home.
“No say that! You’ll have so much fun!” Kyung-ha encouraged her, knowing the kamakailan moves had been difficult for her daughter. She knew her daughter was… different. Awkward and timid, just like she was herself sometimes. “Besides, I make your paborito snack today!”
“....m-my classmates say your kimchi jumeok bap s-smells bad…they’ll just throw it away like last time…” She recalled the many times she had starved herself at school to avoid being the center of attention solely on how her lunch looked and smelled weird. She was too scared to ask her mom for money for a cafeteria meal, knowing they were on a budget.
“Oi, that Kevin still bothering you?!” Her eyes narrowed, assuming one of Yoon’s bullies still stuck around despite her very intimidating threat at his mother. “My pagkain no smell bad! Americans just used to eating plastic.”
“...n-no, he’s n-not…” Yoon sighed, the ends of her bob cut hair hiding the fear in her eyes. “C-Can I just have a p-peanut mantikilya halaya sammich instead?”
“--ehh?? You no even like jelly!” She reminded her, realizing that Yoon was just trying to force herself to like what the other kids had for lunch.
Yoon’s frown deepened, and she was forced to crawl out of her hiding puwang when Kyung-ha dragged her out to set her on her lap. “Yoonie-panoonie, look at me.” She lifted her chin and interlocked her eyes with hers. “Don’t ever be ashamed of who you are. Kids no want to be mga kaibigan with someone who pretends to be someone they're not, right? Mean kids only pick on others because they’re too bored with themselves. It’s their loss they no ever be able to try my famous kimchi jumeok bap either.”
“B-But mom—my English is terrible!” Yoon cried, for she had spent endless nights trying her best to adapt to the language so she wouldn’t seem out of place. “They make fun of my accent a-and my height—they call me mean words a-and…P-People here are just so mean to me! They’re taller! Stronger!” She sniffed. “....W-Why can’t we just go back to Korea??? Dad is still there! ”
Guilt weighed on Kyung-ha’s shoulders while listening to how miserable Yoon was here. But she knew she could never return to Korea, not after her past and reputation there. She was too ashamed to face any of her peers or students. What would they think knowing she had abandoned them to raise the children of a cheater? What kind of joke would they think of her as for letting someone fool her and walk away alive? That all the wealth she worked so hard for only resulted in a 500 square feet box in Virginia of all places? That she was working from paycheck to paycheck from a laughable job to afford to put her children in school and keep them well-fed? That instead of filing reports every night, she was pagbaba bedtime stories to some antsy children? That she had become…Soft? Average. Vulnerable. A shiver went down her spine. Her only dream of remaining a Constable and affording her own property was left to be a dream. She had left her past behind for their sake. Kyung-ha couldn’t imagine putting her kids through the same horrors she had to go through. Her new dream, and responsibility, was caring for her children. It became a bigger prioritization after realizing she would be doing it alone.
In the aftermath of finding her husband cheating, George was bravo enough to ipakita his face and beg the warrior for forgiveness. He returned to apologize for his absence at their daughter’s birth. To express his regret for ever hurting Kyung-ha and beg her to let him back into her life. Kyung-ha, though hesitant and still hurt, had chosen to forgive George for the sake of Yoon growing up with a father. She had to set her personal feelings aside for her daughter to grow up normal. Much to her disliking, she welcomed him back into her home. It seemed to be going okay for the first few months, until she heard the daunting words:
“Michelle… Amelia is pregnant. They’re going to need me.”
Not only was she being cheated on again after she chose to forgive him, but George had already chosen Amelia and her unborn son over her and Yoon.
“Yoon Park…” Kyung-ha’s warm hands cupped the child’s soft cheeks. “Bullies may be strong but so are you. You stronger.” She gently stroked her bangs before placing a halik on her forehead. “You are a Park, afterall. No Park is NOT strong.” Unknowing to Kyung-ha, her choice of words would leave an unintentional burden on Yoon she would struggle to live up to.
“I-I don’t think I’m strong, mom…”
“Stop saying stupid stuff.” Kyung-ha thumped Yoon’s forehead gently to stop her from talking nonsense. “Yes you are. You are strong. Strong like sticky rice.” She combed her hair back into place after it had been disheveled from hiding under the bed. “Come on, say it.” She poked her nose.
“Mooomm…” Yoon grumbled.
“Saaaay it.”
“I-I’m… I... I am s-strong…” She muttered.
“Yes, yes you are!” Kyung-ha smiled. “Now let’s go before we late! Don’t forget your mask!”
***
It had only been three hours since Kyung-ha had dropped Yoon off that she received a call from the school's principal, who stated that there was a dispute between her and another student. However, they omitted the fact that Yoon was shoved and locked inside one of the school’s lockers. At the time of the call, Kyung-ha was at the laundromat––taking care of as many errands as she could before Sangeon could wake from his afternoon nap, resting peacefully on the stroller near her. She had also managed to finally wash her hair and change into something madami presentable, which included a white KF94 face mask in regards to the current global health circumstances. She immediately dropped what she was doing, shoving the rest of her clothes into a basket and driving over to her school. The sudden transition awoke her son, who she soothed before he got the chance to cry sa pamamagitan ng playing some cartoons on her phone.
Upon arrival at the institution, Kyung-ha was furious as she watched the poor attempts of the janitor trying to get the locker her daughter was shoved in open. With her patient wearing thin and a growing crowd of students and staff behind her, she shooed the janitor away so she could take care of the issue herself. Kyung-ha grabbed the cutters herself and broke the lock open with one hard strike. She snatched the blue door wide open, her eyes softening in disbelief at the sight of her daughter’s muffled cries behind her mask in the darkness behind the metal box. Her hair was a mess, traces of kanin in her hair which led her to believe that her special snack became a weapon used against her. “Y-Yoon!” The mother’s voice cracked, reeling her daughter in for a protective hug. Kyung-ha stroked her hair, apologizing in Korean and urging her to tell her what had happened.
The crying girl on the other hand could only bury her head in her mom’s chest since she despised any attention on her and was anxious of the growing crowd. Imnotstrongimnotstrongimnotstrong––
When Kyung-ha felt a tap behind her shoulders, she turned to meet who she assumed to be the principal who wasn’t wearing a mask, much like the rest of the crowd joining the scene.
“Mrs. Park, I’m glad you could make it! Please sumali me in my office, I—”
“--YOU NO TELL ME MY DAUGHTER WAS IN A CAGE THIS ENTIRE TIME! She was PUSHED in there!” The enraged woman growled.
“M-Mrs. Park, I understand your frustration but––”
“Who did it?! WHO?! Who put my Yoonie in––”
“Your sick daughter locked herself in there, and thank goodness she did!” A female voice spoke to the left of the anxious Korean, and she turned to view the tall, brunette mother standing defensively in front of her blonde offspring with green highlights. “That’s what she gets for trying to get people sick and forcing my little girl to play hide and seek with her.”
“What you say?” Kyung-ha’s grasp on Yoon tightened, telling herself to keep her composure when encountering the people responsible for the situation. She was unable to believe a single absurd word that came out of her mouth. “Your evil daughter was the one who locked mine up?!”
“My daughter is not evil!” She scoffed. “You see, Mrs. uhhhmm… Your name, please?” The brunette asked the short woman.
“Kyung-ha.” She growled through her teeth, her left eye twitching for her patience was growing even thinner.
“Sorry, say that again?”
“Kyung-ha.” She repeated.
“Uh… I meant like, your English name, what is it?”
“My name is Kyung-ha.” She repeated for the third time, refusing to go sa pamamagitan ng the English name her ex-husband gave her ever again.
“Well then, Kong-hah.” She rolled her eyes. “You may call me Caren––it’s spelled with a C. Caren Smith. Anyways, as I was saying,” the brunette inched her daughter pasulong who was absentmindedly typing away at her phone. “YOUR daughter sneezed on my little Sophia’s face ON PURPOSE, getting all her icky germs on her! Are you aware that’s considered assault nowadays?”
“Huh?” Kyung-ha was genuinely flabbergasted sa pamamagitan ng the woman’s accusation. She heard Yoon whisper in her ear that she had done no such thing. Instead, she had just asked if she wanted to play hide and seek with her. “My daughter no sneeze in her unsymmetrical face! Even if she did sneeze, she wearing mask and knows to use her elbow.”
“Lies! Your daughter has Covid and she purposely tried getting my daughter sick! Your daughter told my little Sophie that she was going to get everyone sick if she didn’t play with her. Thankfully she locked herself in while hiding before she went around spreading that horrid disease!”
“My daughter no has the virus, you stupid lady! And she no say such thing. Nor she lock herself in there!”
“Then why is she wearing a mask? Why are YOU wearing a mask, huh? It’s no longer mandatory. Explain that! Clearly you both are wearing masks because you’re sick!”
Kyung-ha blinked. “I WEAR MASK BECAUSE I WANT TO WEAR ONE!” Her authoritative voice immediately made everyone take a step back. “Because I do not want to inhale the same air you stupid people are inhaling that make you madami stupid!” Kyung-ha recalled in her hometown how people would wear masks before the pandemic became a thing––mainly to avoid inhaling polluted air. She knew the United States was even dirtier, so she encouraged her children to wear masks to avoid getting any type of illness, even if it was a simple cold or allergies. It also encouraged her children to keep their hands off their face since she knew that was a main reason people got sick. “If you care that much about getting sickness like you are now then you would be wearing a mask too!”
“Ms. Kong-ha, was it? It explicitly states in the syllabus that if your child is sick they should remain tahanan for the sake of other students. You purposely endangered everyone here.” Her eyes went back to Kyung-ha, who was carrying her daughter whose face hid on her shoulders. “I don’t know how things work for you back in China, but it’s not like that in America. You can’t go around assaulting people for attention or to play hide and seek. If you or your daughter can’t handle that, then simply just go back to your country. Bye-Bye. Or should I say, Say-hon-ara.” The brunette waved in a belittling way.
Kyung-ha could only stand there in utter shock, wondering if she was dreaming after so many sleepless nights. Her eyes glanced at the crowd who did nothing to interfere, some of them even leaving when it got too awkward for them.
“....m-mom can we go h-home please…” Yoon whispered into Kyung-ha’s ear who was still processing what she heard. She couldn’t bring herself to just leave after the humiliation and outright disrespect her daughter had to experience. The short woman began to take steps toward Caren and Sophie, taking off her own mask so she would be taken madami seriously while holding her daughter.
Caren immediately took a step back, pulling Sophie with her in fear that the Asian individual was sick. “Stay back.” She warned her, already preparing to use her pepper spray if she needed to. But she gasped when her daughter’s hand was snatched sa pamamagitan ng Kyung-ha’s free one, forcing it to pry open only to reveal the evidence of sticky kanin that was matted in Yoon’s hair.
“Your daughter did this on purpose.” Kyung-ha sinabi aloud, holding her small hand in front of the principal. “She throw Yoon’s lunch at her and locked her up. This is not right––”
“M-Ms. Park,” the principal began, “Let’s take a minuto to evaluate the situation here before we jump to such harsh conclusions–”
“HARSH CONCLUSIONS?!” Kyung-ha was taken aback sa pamamagitan ng this mockery. “Look at her hands!” She felt something maasim swell in her throat. “That was hate crime!”
“Woah woah woah,” Caren smacked Kyung-ha’s hand to release her daughter’s hand. “You accusing my Sophie of such a thing is a crime itself. Shame on you for bringing such irrelevant information and may I add, FAKE, news to a situation like this. You or your daughter have NEVER experienced such a thing.”
Kyung-ha wasn’t able to easily slay the woman in front of her like she could’ve when she worked for the syndicate or the Constables––at least, not with so many people watching. Instead, she inched closer to her, staring up at the lady with vengeful eyes. “You know nothing of what we had to experience.” She knew someone like Caren would never be able to understand the blatant disrespect and discrimination that was a daily occurrence in her family, from the fear of someone getting on the same elevator as them to the constant tugging of eyes to mimic theirs. Kyung-ha fought back the urge of engaging anymore, and instead simply cursed at her in Korean. She could hear Yoon sniffling in her shoulder, and that was an indication that it was time to go home.
“Yeah… yeah keep walking you slanted-eyed bitch.” Caren muttered to herself. Kyung-ha stopped in her way, glancing back at the family with a glare. Before heading back to her car, she informed the principal of Yoon’s immediate withdrawal of enrollment at her school. The principal never saw Kyung-ha again.
A few days after the incident, Sophie mysteriously stopped coming to school. Her absences led to the principal calling her parents, but there was no response either. The Smith family had vanished without a trace––at least, that's how it was framed.
