The rain was louder than her footsteps, alone, she felt her womb and mustered strength from it. Out of breath with vision blurred by the rain amid the impeccable black street, her tired legs continued to run. Run for her life, no. Running for the most precious thing she had, hidden in her womb. That thing did not feel her sadness and fear, it only saw bliss and happiness, the cruel world could offer.

Her knees soon kissed the pavement, but she did not cry. She did not want to ruin the joy the thing inside was feeling. She stood up, her fresh wound was immediately washed by the sky, it erased any evidence of blood. But not the blood on her clothes.

Run! Hurry! She could not afford to show the thing inside the darkness, the monotonous cry of the sky, the fear of being alone or they would both die. She ran until every part of her body felt sore. She closed her eyes, trusting only her heart for the direction to the only safe place she knew. A safe place.

"Hyerim! Kim Hyerim!! Hyerim ssi!" She called out, tapping the door heavily with her last energy. Then, she felt numb, her both hands were paralyzed. She could not speak either, her cries turned into whispers. I'm sorry my child. She let loose of her last string of hope. I'm sorry my child. 

"Omo! Jaeshin!" The door opened and the woman brought back the light again, and her hope. And she passed out.

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She opened her eyes and let them wander around the room. There was a rope nailed from one corner to another, damp clothes hung there. The safe place for her was an old house of stone from antiquity, aging perforated walls with patches of wood to cover, a bucket was occasionally placed in the middle of the room to catch drops of water.

What caught her attention was the little boy, sitting beside her and watching her intently. The innocence of his eyes gave him comfort and helped her to gain her hope again. She touched her womb and smiled. The boy smiled at him and she smiled back. She smiled again. She never expected to smile again.

"What's your name?" She asked the little boy with curiosity stemmed from gladness but before he could answer, the door opened. It was Hyerim, holding a bowl of soup.

"Jaeshin ssi, did my Joongki trouble you?" Hyerim bantered and stroked her son's hair with her fingers. "Joongki ya, can you leave us for a moment?" He nodded and left the room, shyly smiling again at Jaeshin.

"He's going to be a fine man." Jaeshin muttered, her eyes following Joongki until he disappeared from her sight. Hyerim flushed as if that was the first time she heard that remark. "When is your due date?" asked Jaeshin, placing her hand on Hyerim's womb.

"Next month." Hyerim replied, her expression was cryptic, bordered in happiness and misery. From her womb, Jaeshin's hand reached for her hand and pinched it. "Joongki's father has not returned yet, almost a week from now." She craned her head to hinder her teary eyes to wet her face. Silence consumed them, Hyerim realized the awkwardness, broke it. "Eat up." She said, gave her a smile and helped Jaeshin sat up.

"Thank you, Hyerim."

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"Its a girl." Jaeshin did not hear what her friend said but the cry from the baby made her heart jumped but it did not help to prolong her capacity to breathe. She was in the peak of happiness but the same thing deteriorated her body. She flashed her last smile and closed her eyes... forever.

"Here she is." Hyerim said after she cleaned the baby, she noticed how peaceful Jaeshin face was, and how cold it was at the same time when she tapped it slightly to wake her up. "Jaeshin ssi... Jaeshin." Her heartbeat became louder, it was shouting. Chill spread down her spine, rooted from a different level of nervousness. She sought for her pulse in almost every part of her body. When she gone hopeless, she splashed a glass of water on her face.

Jaeshin remained like a stone. A cold one.

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An hour after Jaeshin's death, Hyerim staring blankly at the hanging clothes as she rocked Jaeshin's daughter in her arms. A knock on her door stopped her but she did not answer. It was Joongki who opened the door. His innocent eyes met the interrogating eyes of the cop.

"How may I help you?" Hyerim asked, dragging Joongki behind her. The cop bowed at showed her his ID.

"I just want to know if Nam Jaeshin was here."

"What do you need from her?"

"Miss Nam is the prime suspect in killing Bae Kyunghee." The cop said, his eyes showed no hint of feelings and incapacity of any emotion.

"What?! Jaeshin wouldn't do that?!" She scowled in disbelief.

"We have no time for that Ma'am." The cop said calmly. "It could be a self defense since we learned that Ms. Bae forced Ms. Nam to abort her child, we won't hurt her. We just need to clarify some things." He continued.

"She's dead."

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The funeral lasted for two days. Jaeshin became an orphan at the age of seven and learned to live independently since then. Some of their friends went to the funeral but Hyerim never heard a word from Chung Euisun, Jaeshin's husband.

She found out that Jaeshin left Euisun and her two-year old daughter, and eloped with Jay Lee, who was also married to Bae Kyunghee and like Jaeshin, had a child. Should she call Jay Lee and tell him about her daughter? Or call Euisun and tell him about Jaeshin's death?

"Hyerim! You wench?! Where are you?" It was her husband, from his voice, Hyerim smelled alcohol and smoke.

"Yobu!" Hyerim called out. She tried to smile at the presence of her husband.

"Ya! Give me 20,000 won. I'll give it back. Hurry!" said her husband whose balance was stolen by alcohol.

"Yobu, all I have is for the rent and food." She said trembling in fear. The baby must have felt her tension and cried.

"Ya, who's that?" Her husband asked, entering the house and saw the baby. "Whose baby is this?" He grabbed Hyerim's arm, gripping it tightly she yawped in pain. "So you adopt a baby. Spending my money to feed another mouth and if I ask for some, you won't give me!" He said with fury in his eyes.

"No, its not that. Its not what you think. The truth is-" Her husband cut her off and slapped her. The impact threw her on the floor. She felt a different kind of shock, not from being hit by her husband, but by the sight of blood on her legs.

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Two weeks had passed, Hyerim was in a funeral again after giving birth to her daughter. Her husband died after being involved in a shootout. She did not know the right emotion for her husband's funeral. All she knew was, no one would hurt her. No one.

Her husband's death did not give her a relief at all. She knew that her neighbors' generosity would not last. She knew that she had to look for a job to feed her children.. and Jaeshin's. She knew it wouldn't be easy.

Another knock on the door. Too late for any visitor. It was past twelve midnight and the crickets were louder than people's snore. Hyerim opened it. It was Jay Lee.

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Clouds from the east just gave way to the sun when Joongki woke up. He searched around the house for his mother and the babies. No one was around, he went outside and watched the people passing by. It was noon when Hyerim returned. It was only Hyerim and a plastic of food. No babies.

"Omma!" Joongki called out and paced up to meet Hyerim. "Where are my dongsaengs?" He asked curiously. Hyerim heaved a sigh, crouched down and hugged him.

"They are in a safe place."She answered, her eyes warned an upcoming tears. "From now on, we only have each other, okay?"

"Omma..."