Haan

Chapter 6 - Yoo Mi Rae

Behind her locked bedroom door, the one Si Woo repaired months earlier, Mi Rae studied her shaking hands. Although Oppa's skin was clear, his hands were cool to her touch. Not cold but cooler than a normal healthy person's hands should be.

What does that mean? Was Oppa having symptoms?

That wretched lying Spirit. She knew she shouldn't have trusted it.

Her thoughts went back to that day.

That day about a month ago, she met the Spirit. She had naively thought she had obtained salvation and a means for revenge. She had endured so much since the terrible fire that took away her family. Near starvation and crushing depression left her a shell of her former self. The malicious slander and accusations were tolerated only because she had no choice.

Byun, the Village Head, Dae, his wife and Bora, Kang Chul the butcher's wife were a bane to her existence. Their mean words and actions hurt and cut her deeply, tearing at her already tenuous hold on dignity. When her rich parents were alive, the trio were constantly sucking up to them for benefits. However, when their orphan child could not offer them anything, they displayed their true colors.

Mi Rae did not have access to her parent's wealth nor did she know about their many businesses in the city. Luckily, her parents had the foresight to set-up several Trusts and Boards in case something happened to them. After all, their only child was still a minor. They were confident that the villagers would take in and care for their beloved daughter until she was of age and could inherit everything. However, all did not go as planned. They would have never expected such harsh treatment from the villages they had help support so much when they were alive.

The nearby forest became a refuge for her. She would often find solace surrounded by the sounds and beauty of nature. Its calming ambiance helped heal her soul from her new cruel reality.

On one such day, Mi Rae ran headlong into the forest, her heart breaking yet again form verbal abuse. Although she should be used to it after months of taunting and slander, she was not. Usually, she would just bite her lips and hold her breath, retreating into her own mind until they got bored or distracted by something else. But that day, she could not. Perhaps it was the way they said it or perhaps it was the disgusting looks which accompanied their cruel words. Shame, sadness, fear, anger, rage ... so many emotions rose up to engulf her in a tsunami of feelings. Blinded by her hot tears, she paid no heed to where her feet took her. As long as she got away, that was all that mattered. So she ran.

Byun, the Village Head had shamed her outside the baker's shop. He had sneered at her, loud enough for everyone to hear that the Heavens was punishing her for killing her family. Not only that but she deserved every bit of misery she was experiencing. Her parents were better off dead than to have a sinful daughter like Mi Rae.

"Greed moved her hand to start the fire, I'm sure of it! Why else kill an innocent babe who would inherit her family's wealth? Jealousy! That's why!" his wife, Dae chimed in adding salt to her her emotional wound.

"Shhhh!" said Sook, the baker's wife but she could not shut them up. She threw Mi Rae an apologetic glance. "Byun-ah, you don't have to keep bringing it up. It's already been six years. You too, Dae. The poor child has no one."

"Wae? Why not? It's true isn't it? She's a murderer. If she can murder her own flesh and blood, imagine what she'll do to us?" asked Bora shuddering dramatically.

"A lot of good it did! Look at how pathetic she is. A child born into a rich family, now penniless and begging for scraps!!"

"Sook-ah, you should stop feeding her. She doesn't deserve even a morsel. Murderers don't deserve to live well!"