Talking to the moon

Chapter 10

Major trigger warning for this chapter,
please read at your own risk

Eunchae seemed pissed the entire day, and Yunjin had no idea why.

It started with a phone call from Hanni, saying that Eunchae and one of the other kids in her class got into a little fight. Just verbal and nothing serious, but Eunchae got a star taken away because of it and she was mad. Yunjin didn't believe her, that was until Eunchae came out of school, scowling the entire ride home.

She wouldn't say what they fought about or why she was so mad in the first place, but the attitude was still there. Huffing and puffing when Yunjin asked her to do her homework, getting so angry when she couldn't figure out what the answer was in math. Yunjin tried to help, but it was clear Eunchae wanted her to leave her alone. So she did. She just let her be as she heated up dinner, premade food Chaewon had left in their fridge saying that Eunchae shouldn't be growing up on takeout. Yunjin would beg to differ.

The anger seemed to fade away with dinner though, Eunchae enjoying the food and Yunjin could almost physically see the tension leave her body with each bite. Eunchae liked to eat, Yunjin could place her bets on it being because she used to not have a constant food supply and now when Eunchae gets to eat she feels relieved. She let Eunchae color at the table during dinner, drawing whatever was bothering her so much in her little blue journal as she did the dishes.

Testing her luck, Yunjin tried to make conversation with the kindergarten, "You know Chaewon made that for you?"

"I like Chaewon, she's a nice friend." Eunchae hummed, reaching to pick up a new crayon, "Mommy's friends weren't nice like her."

Yunjin paused for a second, before continuing to scrub the plate that was in her hands. Why was Eunchae bringing that up now? Is that what she's been thinking about all afternoon? She needed to keep Eunchae calm if she wanted any information from her if Yunjin started to get too emotional Eunchae would pick up on that and clam up. Make it seem like a conversation, casual, but give support. Make her feel heard, and that she can trust you. Yunjin took a breath, "Why weren't they nice?"

Eunchae went quiet. Yunjin couldn't tell if she was contemplating a response or trying to figure out a way to get out of this conversation. After what felt like ages, she spoke up again, soft and unsure like she was testing new waters and was scared of what she would find, "They used to want to play games, I didn't like them. One used to want to play catch but would throw the ball really hard and it hurt."

The detective thought back to the circular bruise on Eunchae's ribs the day they took evidence pictures, and Eunchae's refusal to play catch in the park. That was starting to make sense. But there were so many more questions Yunjin had. "That's so mean, I'm sorry he would do that to you."

"He wasn't that bad." Eunchae sounded sad, "Some were worse." Yunjin could practically hear the gears in Eunchae's head turning, trying to figure out what she should do. Sensing this was the right timing, she turned off the sink and dried her hands on her pants, taking a seat opposite of Eunchae at the table. "The ones who brought mommy her medicine were scary."

Eunchae wouldn't look at her. Yunjin tried to iron her facial muscles, not let the fear that was starting to fester in her stomach show. "Yeah? Why?"

"They were mean to mommy, she would have to help them for them to give her medicine. One time they didn't-" Eunchae trailed off, the crayon stopping its motions on the paper. "Mommy was so scary that week. I tried to tell Ms.Pham, but she didn't understand me."

Eunchae's been screaming for help this whole time. That was starting to become glaringly obvious. For some reason, she wouldn't say what was wrong but would say or do other things to try and hint at what was bothering her. Had Yunjin not been listening? She tried. If this was how Eunchae would tell her, Yunjin would listen. She tried to frame her next question in a way that would let Eunchae answer without breaking an oath of secrecy she still lived by, "Why did they not give her, her medicine? You need to give sick people medicine, how could they not do that?"