The Mountain With Melted Snow Caps | Ateez San

Part III

When the children woke up, they were laying inside a home.

"Are we alive?" Haeun whispered to the groggy Mingi.

"I hope so," Mingi replied, rubbing his eyes.

"Wait a minute--" he paused, looking around the room. "--this is my house!" he screamed with joy. The door suddenly opened and a woman appeared.

"You're finally awake!" She ran to the boy, tightly grasping him.

"Mom! I'm so glad you found me." He hugged her even tighter as tears fell from her eyes. Haeun was a little saddened, wishing her parents too would have looked for her. But, she knew she should have been happy that Mingi parents had found him and even happier that they chose to save her too.

"You scared me to death, Mingi. We spent all night looking for you. Don't run away like that ever again," she said, bringing his face close to her and giving him a stern look.

"I'm sorry, mom. I was so scared." He started to choke up. It truly was a frightening experience for everyone.

"But, Haeun was there to protect me, so I was okay." He turned over to her and gave a weak smile.

"Haeun? Park Haeun? How did I not recognize you?" She moved closer to the girl now, inspecting her.

"You know who I am?" The girl chose her words carefully, feeling a little threatened by the stare she was receiving.

"The entire village knows who you are, Haeun. I'm so glad you are safe too." The woman threw her arms around the little girl now, squeezing her with all the love she could give. Haeun hadn't been given this much affection before, causing her to tear up as well. Her parents had always acted distant towards her, as if they were afraid. They were there to provide the necessities, nothing more and nothing less. But now, this stranger was giving her all the attention she had ever wanted, and her emotions started to overflow.

"Where have you been?" The woman asked after finally releasing from the hug.

"Up in the mountains," Haeun replied. The woman laughed, causing confusion between both the children.

"She's telling the truth! When I found her she was living in a little hut up there," Mingi explained, again using facial expressions and hand gestures.

"Did Mingi make you go along with this story? I swear my son has the craziest imagination." She laughed and messed up his hair, causing him to pout.

"No, my parents drove me up there and told me they'd come back, but they never did." The little girl's eyes started to glaze over once again. The woman's face softened.

"When did they drive you up there?" Her voice was filled with concern.

"I don't remember when, but it's been a long time."

"You never heard from them after that?"

"No, have you seen them? I miss them a lot."

The woman's face dropped. She was contemplating on whether or not she had the courage to tell Haeun that her parents were dead.

"We all miss them," the woman said, trying to soften the news.

"Where are they?" Haeun asked, hopeful.

"They're not here anymore."

"They left me?"

"The fires were too strong."

Haeun's face froze now. She had finally found out about the death of her mother and father, and she didn't know how to process the information. The whole time she was upset with them for abandoning her, but maybe they were truly trying to protect her. No one knew the truth about it being a suicide mission.

"Did they know the house was going to burn down?" Haeun asked.

"Flames are unpredictable."

"But, how did they know to send me away? They left me a bag full of supplies too. They must have known something was going to happen." Haeun started spitting out all the thoughts racing through her head.

"Your parents were good people. Their only concern was to protect you," the woman said, trying to reassure her.

"Why couldn't they protect themselves too?"

The room fell silent. These were questions that were going to be left unanswered for everyone. Mingi was quiet the entire time, trying to understand who Haeun was and why she was so famous. He too could not understand the circumstance she was in.

"I'm going to go get you guys something to eat," the woman said after moments of silence. She carefully made her way out the door.

The atmosphere was tense now after hearing the news about Haeun's parents. Mingi didn't know how to comfort her and Haeun felt like a part of her had died.

"I'm sorry," Mingi whispered. With those words, Haeun broke down, throwing her entire body into the boy's arms, weeping heavily into his shoulder.

When the children came down to eat, Mingi's mother had prepared a feast for them. She wanted to make Haeun feel welcomed and she needed to celebrate her son's return. Her husband and his father sat at the table.

"Mingi!" The two yelled with joy as the boy ran to hug them. Haeun awkwardly followed behind, not knowing how to greet them.

"Hello, Haeun," the man said with a big smile on his face. The older man kept his mouth shut and stared.

The entire family shared their meal that night, Mingi's parents doing their best to try and cheer the little girl up. But, something did not sit right with Haeun. After dinner, the woman offered to help her freshen up after weeks of living alone, but Haeun declined, insisting that she was capable of handling it on her own. The woman agreed, wanting her to feel independent, and left a spare change of clothes in the bathroom then proceeded to go to bed. When Haeun got out of the shower, Mingi's grandfather was waiting outside the door.

"I know who you are, Haeun." The girl was startled.

"You're the demon child who created all these fires," the old man continued, his voice building with anger. Haeun was petrified by his words.

"You're cursed!" he screamed, waking up his son.

"Leave her alone!" the man said, immediately rushing to protect the girl.

"The man in my dreams told me she is the daughter of the devil! She is the reason why our village is ruined!" His voice grew louder with every word. The man was speechless as he never saw his father act in such a way before.

"Look at her hair! The red symbolizes fire and it is completely unnatural! Things only started going badly after she was born!" His rambling continued on but his nonsensical words started to have reason. The man was slowly being persuaded, but he knew he had to protect Haeun.

"Please, go to bed," he pleaded.

"Don't come crying to me when you realize I'm right." The old man lit a cigarette with a match before walking away. The man turned to the crying girl.

"Are you alright?" he said, bending down to face her. She was shaking and couldn't respond. He lifted her up and carried her into Mingi's bedroom.

"You'll have to sleep in here, is that alright with you?" he asked, gently placing her down. She nodded. They both looked to see Mingi already knocked out cold.

"I'm sorry my father was being so scary, he usually is nice. Please, don't listen to him, okay?" the man said, wiping away her tears. All she did was nod again, proceeding to hug him.

"Thank you for saving me." He gave her a smile and a kiss on the forehead.

"Goodnight, Haeun."

The little girl made her way to her side of the ground where a blanket and pillow was prepared for her. Nights were finally cold enough to properly use blankets now, and the warmth they provided were a comfort she hadn't experienced before. But even then, the little girl wouldn't be able to sleep that night. She tossed and turned as the hateful phrases the old man spewed replayed in her head. She didn't know what any of it meant.