Taewon-Thank You

I could tell he was still aching to ask a lot of questions. Before his curiosity took a dangerous trajectory, I changed the topic.

'So,' I said. 'How did you learn those unsavory words from?'

The kid gave me a quizzical look.

'You know, the last time when you asked for meanings of those two words,' I shrugged.

'Oh you mean illegitimate and bastard?' he asked. 'From school.'

'From school?' I frowned. 'What did they say?'

'The class teacher called me illegitimate,' Deen said. There was a hint of sadness in his tone. 'And the other kids called me that too. Then there's Jungmo and his friends. They call me a bastard. Today at lunch time, he almost tried to choke me. My friend Hae-ra hit him and we escaped.'

It took me a while to fully comprehend what the kid said. Bullied. The kid was bullied. I cursed myself. I should have figured it out that day. But my temper got the best of me.

'Did you complain to someone?' I asked quietly. 'Did you tell your mom?'

He shook his head. 'Mee would be hurt if she found out that someone called me a bastard,' he said.

'Kid,' I said. My voice was shaking. 'You're being bullied. Your mother would be hurt is she found out that you didn't tell her about this. You have to tell her.'

'It's not that bad,' the kid lied. 'I'll be fine.'

What sort of lives were these two living? A mother who was raising a kid singlehandedly in a foreign land. And a kid who was hiding that he was being bullied. Should I call them brave? Or stupid?

Suddenly, we heard the door open and close.

'Someone's here,' I whispered. Was it the babysitter? It would be disastrous is she saw me. But there was no place to hide. Deen was as white as sheet. I frantically searched for my mask in my pockets before I realized that I forgot to bring it. Footsteps got closer around the corner.

'Where do I hide you?' Deen panicked.

'Deen I'm home-'

She stopped midway. It wasn't the babysitter. It was the mother.

Her eyes were wide open in shock.

'Hi Mee,' Deen greeted nervously. He looked from me to his mother. Her shock was replaced by confusion.

'Why are you here?' she demanded. Her tone was not friendly. Clearly, our last encounter was fresh in her mind.

I'm here coz you couldn't get a better babysitter,' I said icily.

'What do you mean?' she asked. I narrated the whole story of how her kid was left home alone and how he ended up at our house last time. I left out the part where he asked us about those two words though. It wasn't wise to bring it up in front of the kid.

The mother listened to every word I said. Her expression changed from confusion to fury. She rounded on her son.

'Why didn't you tell me you were home alone?' she asked angrily. 'You should've told me!'

The kid lowered his head.

'I'm sorry Mee,' he said quietly. 'I didn't want to disturb you at work.'

'What if something had happened to you?' she screamed at him. The kid was scared. He probably never saw her so angry.

'Miss, you're scaring him,' I warned. She rounded on me.

'Please don't teach me how to deal with my child,' she snapped. Her words angered me.

'It's your fault for not hiring a better babysitter!' I shot back at her. It seemed to have hit her hard.

'Then why didn't you or your pals inform me that my kid was being left home alone by the babysitter?'

'The last time we were here, we got attacked by a she-monster,' I said sarcastically.

'Because you were trespassing.'

'We didn't know someone moved in!'

'ENOUGH!' Deen yelled at us. 'Both of you be quiet and listen to me!'

We stared down at him. He was trembling but stood his ground.

'Mee,' he said. 'It's my fault. I should have told you that the babysitter left me alone at home. I thought she'd never do it again but this was the second time. I was about to tell you today anyway. Besides, Ahjusshi and his friend looked after me both the times. He even made me food.'

Deen pointed at our bowls on the table.

'Angry ahjusshi is not as bad as he seemed,' Deen concluded.

'Kid, it's Taewon,' I said. 'Taewon! Drop the angry, would ya?'

'Okay,' he said. 'Taewon ahjusshi is nice. Choi ahjumma is the one at fault.'

'Ugh, that ahjumma is fired,' the mother said in frustration. She turned to me. Her expression softened a bit.

'Thank you,' she said with a hint of sincerity. 'For looking after my son.'