Molded

44: Ironic Miracles

As you ran and stumbled down different streets, you tried to stop crying. You couldn't see where you were going with tears in your eyes. Not that you knew where you wanted to go anyway. You hadn't left the house alone in years. Around a decade. You needed a miracle.

Suddenly, you found yourself back on the ground.

"Watch where you're go-- Oh, honey, I didn't mean to hurt you so bad you'd cry!" It was the old lady who had given you Bum's things.

As you stood up and pawed at your eyes, you tried to look at her face.

"It-it's not you, ma'am. It's okay. I w-wasn't watching where I w-was going." You sniffed as you bowed your head in apology.

"Where's your handsome boyfriend? I don't think I've ever seen you two apart."

The tears fired up again and you put your face in your hands. Gently, the old lady reached out and rubbed your back.

"There, there. Why don't you come inside for some tea and tell me what happened?"

"O-okay..." You followed her inside and sat where she showed you.

"Do you have any tea preferences?"

"I like two scoops of sugar."

"That seems like a lot of sugar for one cup."

"I don't drink a lot of tea."

As the woman pulled out the tea cups, sugar, spoons and saucers, she glanced back at you. You were probably going to need a lot more than some tea to make you feel better. She placed the tray of utensils in front of you and turned to grab the tea pot, which already had tea brewing in it. Gently, she poured each tea cup full, set the teapot down, took her cup and sat down next to you.

"So, what happened, girl?"

You racked your brain for what to say next. You weren't going to give Sangwoo up, obviously. And you didn't want to tell her that he had been arrested. So you went with the next most truthful thing.

"I caught him cheating on me with a boy."

"O-Oh, my! No wonder you ran away! What a despicable thing to do."

You hoped she meant cheating on you, not the more... gay aspect. 

"We got into a fight and I just left. So I don't have any clothes or money or-or-or..." You started crying again and the old lady handed you a tissue.

"Don't you have a job? You could ask them to give you pay checks in person rather than that direct-deposit."

"N-No, I don't have a job." You realized how suspicious this sounded and quickly amended it. "We were engaged and we thought it was best that I just stay at home. We wanted children as quickly as possible." You dabbed at your face with the tissue.

"Oh dearest. Well..." She felt like what she was about to say would be a bad decision, but she couldn't help it. "You know, you remind me of my daughter. And if some old lady found my daughter in the state you were in, I would hope she would do what I'm about to do."

You looked up at her hopefully. This sounded good.

"If you promise to help me around the complex and help me run errands, I will let you stay in the vacant studio apartment I have in return. I'm afraid you'll have to clean it up, as the last tenant was disgusting, but it isn't a bad place to live."

You looked at her and gave her a pitiful smile.

"Thank you so much Mrs...." You hesitated.

"You can just call me Mrs. Landlady."

"Thank you Mrs. Landlady. You've shown me so much kindness."

"And I'm about to show you a bit more. My daughter left most of her old clothes here. She was your size when she was a teenager, so her clothes should fit you. I'll give them to you for now."

You sighed and smiled at her. This was exactly the miracle you needed.