Us || [Chaerji]

{6}

Yeji's POV
"Exactly...?" I asked. I'm so confused right now. Where does he live?

I followed the old man, still pulling the cart with us of course. He has that kind smile hanging on his face, which reminded me of my grandpa. If you're wondering, my grandma, passed away before I was born, I didn't get a chance to meet her. But, besides my mother, grandpa is my only closest relative.

When I was a small kid, I used to live in my grandpa's house, since my parents had to go to work, they couldn't spare any time to take care of me.

Every weekend, we would go out in the night to search for boxes. He pulls a wooden cart and walks along the street with me beside him. I was in charge of finding the boxes. We collect those to earn money. Well, we weren't poor that time, it's just that staying in the house was too boring, so my grandpa decided for us to do some activities outdoor.

It was fun. We chatted for hours while picking up boxes, we're just like best friends. Whenever it's time to go home, I would insist to help my grandpa pull the cart.

Reminiscing all those memories, I missed the old days. I missed grandpa...

Now that I'm here pulling a cart with him, the old man, I felt a little happy. He's kind, just like my grandpa.

"Wait here, young lady." the old man stopped in front of me and motioned me to put down the cart.

"Where are you going?" I asked when I saw him about to walk away. Beads of sweat on my forehead, I wiped them off with the back of my hand.

"Just wait here. Young adults should learn how to be patient." he chuckled and walked away, leaving me alone here.

I looked around, there's nothing around me. It's just plain ground with some trees. There's a very high fence wall on my left, it has vines climbing on the walls.

I sat on the floor and leaned back on the wall. What's taking that old man so long? It's so late already, though I don't sleep, it's dangerous out here. Feeling bored, I looked up at the sky to count the stars.

"1..."

"2..."

"3..." I mumbled softly as I count.

I counted to 126, and soon, someone was coming towards me. It's a man, but it's not the old man. My hand slid inside my pocket, taking the pocket knife in my hand. You know, just in case.

"Excuse me, Miss, I'm Jamuel. Mr Chan is waiting for you in the garden. Please, follow me." the man bowed and smiled at me.

"Who's waiting for me?"

"Mr Chan." the man replied.

I was hesitating, but I did follow the man as he guided me to the freaking huge mansion eventually. We went inside. Damn, I've never gone into a mansion in my whole life before. It's a freaking rich place.

"Mr Chan is just right beside the pond, sitting on the bench. Go to him, he has something to tell you." the man said and bowed at me before he leave.

So I'm left here again being so confused. The old man left me alone with that cart in the night, a man suddenly came up to me being so polite, smiling and bowing at me, now there's this "Mr Chan" who wants to see me?

I walked up to where the man was, his hair was grey, with a few white strands. Wait, he looks familiar...?

"I heard that you wanted to see me," I said coldly, which he stood up and turned around to look at me.

"O-Old man??" I was shocked. So shocked.

He's wearing a black suit, although he had no rings or whatever jewellery on him, he still looks so damn rich, compared to the poor-looking old man I met earlier, it wasn't the same at all.

"Hi again, young lady." the old man chuckled.

"Wait, this is your house??" I questioned, still processing what the hell is going on here. He nodded with a smile, raising one of his eyebrows.

"Thanks, for helping me today, young lady," he said.

"And what do you want to tell me...?" I asked, which he grinned.

"Take this." he took the briefcase up from the floor and placed it on the table.

"What's this?" I asked curiously, knitting my eyebrows in confusion as I walked closer to the table. He gestured for me to open the briefcase, and so, I did.

Eyes widened, jaw dropped down. What the heck. A briefcase full of money.

I lifted my head to look at him in a state of shock, blinking my eyes at him, he chuckled, a slight smirk on his face.

"I-I can't take this." I shook my head. Although I wanted that huge amount of money so bad, I pushed the briefcase away to him.

"Young lady, you deserved having all of these. You're kind, helpful, and you're not greedy," he uttered, pushing the briefcase back to me.

Did he say about greed? So he knows about the money? Did he put the envelope there on purpose?

"You're wrong, old man. I'm greedy. I was going to steal the money, but thinking that you might be struggling in your life just like me, I refused to. That doesn't mean I'm not greedy, I had greedy thoughts at the start." I tried pushing away the briefcase again, but he stopped me.

"Such an honest young lady. I'm impressed. Take this money, with you." he nods his head at me, telling me to receive the "reward". I wanted to push away again, but he insisted that I should keep the money. I let out a sigh in defeat.

"T-Thank you," I said, head lowered down to bow at him.

"You know, the main reason for giving you this money, it's because you look like my granddaughter. But she's like a brat, a troublemaker. She's rude and useless. Giving her this pile of money is not worth it at all. I can feel it already, I can't live any longer. So, why don't I use my money on helping people?" he pats on my shoulder, smiling at me.

"People who are kind deserve to be living a good life. Young lady, use the money. Use it wherever you want to, the money is all yours." he tittered.

I frowned. He's... a good man. I felt sad when I heard him saying he can't live any longer. I've been losing a lot of people around me in my life. Even though I just met this old man for not more than a week, I'm very thankful for him.

"I don't know what to say-"

"You don't have to, young lady. Just promise me to live happier after you walk out of this mansion." I nodded and he chuckled again. He keeps chuckling though.

"It's very late now, you should leave and have some good rest." he patted on my arm gently, I nodded.

"Right, that envelope in my cart, take it with you as well. I don't need it." he shrugged his shoulder and laughed.

"Thank you. For giving me all of these..." I said softly.

"It's not me who gives you. You earned this yourself, with your kind personality. May I know your name?" he asked.

"I'm Yeji. Hwang Yeji." I replied which he nodded, complimenting my name as a 'nice name'.

I bowed at him and left the mansion, with the briefcase in my hand. The old man's, oh, I mean, Mr Chan's cart is just parked outside the gate. As I was told to, I took the envelope with me and walked away.

Taking a glance at the huge mansion, I smiled. I'll never forget this old man for my whole life. He saved me. I get to pay the amount of how much my father owed Ryujin now. I feel grateful.

Tears formed in my eyes, it's all happy tears, of course. I'm glad that I did the right choice earlier. Haha. I'm going to be free soon, I guess. Finally.