two sides of the same moon

eunsuh | snickers?

"Eh, fuck..."

A tiny pool of crimson gathered at the nail bed edge of a poorly manicured index finger. The nail polish had long since scratched and chipped bit by bit, the free edge chewed off by the anxious biter. But instead of being anxious about what most kids her age were - getting into the best national university, what grade they were getting in chemistry, and whether they could sneak back into the dorms without getting caught - Eunsuh was worried about getting snagged off the streets of the red-light district while she was selling stolen aromatics and candy. See, she wasn't like the other transitory teens she ran into around town. She had left home with a small sum largely comprised of her savings and money she had taken from her brother's elaborately hidden stash. With this, the perhaps brilliant but mostly downright stupid idea she had was to purchase a decent quality aromatic along with smaller, cheaper glass bottles which she would redistribute evenly among the bottles for inflated resale. It seemed like a good idea at the time, as she discovered, by coincidence, that the red light district was the easiest way to do semi-illegal things and get away with it. But when realizing that no one would really buy what she had to sell - because who would really want to smell good when they would just be doing the deed and getting on with their life - she decided to sell candies bought cheap at the local convenience store instead.

A voice called from behind her, and she immediately dropped her hands down to her inventory. "What do you have?" he asked, tilting his head back as he nodded toward her bag. "Mints, gums, candy bars." The older man's eyes remained trained on her bag, the zip-up resting close against her chest. A ripple of apprehension crept up her spine as he took a few steps forward, his hand reaching toward his back pocket. "Take electronic pay?" When did she get to be this spineless? "Yes, of course."

Feet firmly planted on the ground, Eunsuh took out her newly purchased burner - another investment made with her small sum - and popped open the app for transfer. While it loaded, she proceeded with the transaction, unzipping her pack as leaned in toward her customer. "₩1200 each. How many-" The man moved closer and casually took her wrist up in his hand. Eunsuh flinched and quickly pulled away, slipping through the man's grasp. "Be civil." Her voice held still, firmly commanding respect. "I want all of it, so how much?" A wry smile began forming on the man's lips. Ought she be scared?

The teen looked over her counterpart incredulously, committing to her well-practiced memory his features and the timbre of his voice. If this went the wrong kind of way...She could be in serious trouble.

But the male appeared to back off with her warning glare as evidenced by the nonchalant back petal and the surrendering gesture. "Easy, girl." he teased, holding his phone up to show he was going to transfer whatever she asked for. "I'll buy your inventory." Struck with both fear and confusion, the now-honey-haired girl couldn't help but let out the kind of laugh that sounded like a mocking bark. "Why would you want my entire inventory? You know I have inflated prices. You could buy less at the corner store." The two exchanged raised eyebrows, each unsure how their barter had gotten so jumbled. Eunsuh thought he was joking, and the man wondered why she wasn't pouncing on the opportunity. "I could, and yet, here I am offering to buy. Do you want the money and offload, or not?"

A visible flare of the nostrils and the edge of a smile appeared on the youth's face. "You don't have a bag to keep it in. ₩10,000 more and you can take the pack, too." The man tilted his head to the side as he stared at this ridiculous girl trying to bargain with him. It was true, indeed, he hadn't brought a bag. "Deal." Eunsuh couldn't appear more shocked by him, almost wary that he was going to strike her at any moment and simply rob her. But he didn't appear as the typical man who visited 588 did. He was coherent, for one, even if he was a bit sly, and he seemed decently kept. No rank scent of an unhappy married man or a man ready to get his rocks off as a pathetic rebound or tact for evoking jealousy in an ex.

"I have aromatics, too." she added, patting the front pocket to the bag. A head scratch and a wave of his hand later, she had thousands more won in her account but no pack to carry her belongings in. For now, she was living out of a plastic bag with tampons, chapstick, a cheap palette, and a comb.

As her counterpart inspected the inventory, zipped up the bag, and slung it over his shoulder, he looked to Eunsuh again. "What's a girl like you doing here selling candy, anyway?" It was clear she was underage for the kind of work that usually was done around this part of town, but...Well, that didn't stop them from doing it anyways. A soft click sounded from the teen as she glanced over his way. She returned the obvious ask with an obvious response. "Making money." Besides, why was he pestering her? He got what he wanted, now he should be on his merry way. "Going to call the authorities on me?" The man responded with a wider grin, looking down at the ground momentarily as he shook his head. "It's past curfew for a high schooler. You should head back to your dorm before you get caught," he advised, before offering, "I can call you a cab."

Time slowed as the savvy teen evaluated the risk of accepting the man's generosity. The offer was strangely comforting. Why she felt more at ease in the presence of an unidentified man than her own family, she failed to know. "No. I'll be on my way. It's faster if I walk," she replied, finding the lie second nature. "Find a safe way home and feel at peace this evening. Thank you." Eunsuh dipped her head in gratitude before taking off back to the underground space she had been calling house the last few weeks.

**

The transient girl began waking to the sound of a strong stream of water. The aural stimulus was oddly pleasant, or at least she thought it was, until the pungent aroma of piss wafted to her nostrils and woke her with a start. A low growl formed in her throat as her half-conscious body tried to form the right words to say. "Really? You fucking cunt!" she managed, prying an eye open to find one of the familiar alcoholics smiling hazily at her. Eunsuh chucked an empty pizza box at the culprit of her harsh awakening, only to hear the equally familiar garbled language of a drunkard. She sighed, pulling the lightly dirtied blanket closer to her face. Just a few more minutes.

A temporary panic rose in her chest as she sat straight up. God, why did she have that stupid teenage habit of saying just a few more minutes when she didn't have a few more minutes! She would be late for class! 

Oh wait. 

The harsh beating in her chest began to slow as the realization hit her. She was panicking for no good reason - she didn't have class to go to. She was a dropout. 

For the few acquaintances she did have, she wondered how they were doing. What it must be like to sit in a classroom with an empty desk that didn't dare fill with a new student. She wondered, just for a second, whether anyone had decorated her locker or left notes on her desk with unanswered pleas for her to return back to the home and school safely. She wondered if her teachers were cooperating with authorities and if her baby brother had recounted their last interaction while sitting inside a sterile interrogation room. She wondered what he must be feeling. 

The only reminder she had of him was the dull ache in her chest, longing for the comfort of his arms.