Two-faced Moonlight

3) Rain's Sorrows

"Sometimes the devil is forgiving. The devil saw pity in the girl. She was so young, and deserved life. He saw error in his judgment. The devil gave his crippled hand to the girl and let her return to life. This meeting would severely change the girl's mindset and when it would be her time, the devil will see what she has done with the life he gave her. He would judge whether she used her life usefully or wastefully."

Alas, his path was decided. Although they had an age gap of 3 years, Jin decided he would be a professor and counselor at Seoul University. It was a path of money and of much interest to him. Money, money, and money. All they cared about was for money. The thought made Jin sigh. He raised his head from the ground to look at Hana. An unreadable expression was painted all over her faces. It was between anger, confusion, and sadness. It was something that was almost always there, yet after all those months with her, it was still there. Nothing could fix her sour expression or the dullness in her eyes. "Hana get up. I'll try a new hairstyle on your hair. A little change would be good for you."

Hana listened and sat back on the chair like a robot. The mirror in front of her reflected her expression and as well as Jin's. He was always so happy, so why couldn't she be like him? When she looked at herself and then at him, they didn't resemble each other. Her scowl made her look different. She blamed her parents her scowl. They couldn't let their hands off her at all. She was promising, yet wouldn't look at a textbook on her own. Even when she would be punished and had her hands bloodied, Hana wouldn't stop what she loved to do, which was in the creative field, something her parents were against.

Jin gently touched Hana's hair. It was still wet. He dried her hair. It was always like this. Jin picking up the broken pieces in her life and trying to put them back again. Sometimes it was to no avail. Sometimes he would have to sneak into Hana's mansion to make sure she had eaten or had listened to what her parents said. Hana couldn't always live like this. She wasn't independent, she depended on Jin for basic necessities. "When it's Monday, come to my office in the morning. There's someone who I think you should meet. He's an acclaimed scholar and he's your age. He's transferring universities from the United States." Jin said all while combing Hana's hair. "And top of that, take care of you hair. It's always tangled and oily unless I work my worldwide magic." He went on listing things for Hana to fix.

"It doesn't matter does it? I'm topping my classes. There's no use in looking pretty in university," Hana said." I'm just here to get my degree." Hana immediately regretted talking back. She made a worldwide mistake. Talking back to Mr. I'm Beautiful and You Can't Do Anything About It is death. Jin kept his calm however. Something flipped a switch in his brain that she was in her temper tantrums once again.

※

After Jin's magic, Hana's hair looked straight out of her sketchbook of people. It looked like a model's hair. She stopped focusing on her hair and realized she forgot to ask about the violin she desperately wanted to play once more. She looked out the window. It was still dreary with the dark clouds and the rain. "I'm not going to let you go outside. You're grounded Hana," Jin said while leaning on the bedroom dorm framed.

"Sure you're a couple years older than me doesn't mean you can ground me, grandpa," Hana said while mocking him.

"Might I remind you that you're wearing my clothes and you are living in my house eating all my food," Jin retorted. "I believe I have the right to ground you, child. Also, if you disrespect me one more time, say good bye to my worldwide cooking." Everything Jin said was completely true. She had everything. She had a future set out for her. She had food and clothes everyday, fine ones at that.

Greed was what led everyone in her family away from human emotion. Each painting from Hana was a sign of revolt and did not sit well with her family. "Whatever," Hana whispered,"idiot." Jin ticked. This time, for sure, she had crossed the line knowingly. He moved from his leaning position and towards Hana.

"Show me you wrists," Jin demanded. Hana kept staring at the window. "I hate this. Why are you doing this upon yourself? If I send you to your parents with such nasty attitude and demeaning values who knows what will happen to us?" He grabbed Hana's shoulders and aggressively shook them." Stop dreaming and actually think about your future!" Still, she kept on looking forward, seeing the raindrops pour. Nothing would work on the stubborn Hana. She was set on her thoughts and nothing could change her mind. Except one tiny factor. He used it to his advantage and snaked his hands on her right arm, which was where her watch rested. "Till you straighten up, this is gone. You can always see the time on your phone."  Hana's eyes quickly moved from the window to Jin.

"Why do you care?" Hana chocked. Her shoulders were shuddering. Jin softened at the sight of her breaking and hugged her. He whispered encouraging words as in 'you can do this' and 'believe in yourself'.

"What your heart wants is different from what your brain says," Jin whispered."Now go to bed. It's already 10 p.m. You have university tomorrow." And with that he left the room, knowing what was going to happen the next morning. He closed Hana's door and stopped in the middle of the hallway. He sighed and same look of pity painted on his face. An escape from the waters of despair was needed, but when he came up to light, again he fell deeper, unable to find a way out.

-Jin's perspective-

My phone rang as soon as I had entered my room. I took it out of my jacket and checked the caller's number. My hands shook out of fear, but I answered, knowing the consequences of not answering.

"Hello?" I inquired, my voice quivering out of complete fear because of the caller.