“Ari?”

“Yes?” I stand almost immediately from kneeling on the floor while searching for the coloring kits of the children. I yelp as my head hits against the wood of the open cupboard and hold the top of my head, rubbing the part where it aches.

“Aigoo…” Mrs.Oh Bit-Na, a middle-aged woman who works along with me, sighs and throws me a look of pity as she leans on the open doorway. “Despite your strict and regal demeanor at times, you’re really a clumsy woman.”

“It’s not my fault that you suddenly wanted to shock me by calling my name,” I grumble, fixing the coloring kits on my arms. It takes me a few seconds to count how many kits I am able to carry before facing Mrs. Oh again. “Anyway, is there anything you need from me?”

“I wanted to check if there are any extra coloring pages for the children in case there are some who want to color more than two.”

I nod. “Of course, there are extra ones. I’m not so sure with the designs though, but we do have a lot of copies of our four current designs.”

“Great,” Mrs. Oh smiles, walking towards me to grab some of the coloring kits from my arms. “Now, let me help you with these. The other kids are looking forward to their coloring kits."

We leave our makeshift stock room, technically one of the free rooms of one of the houses owned by one of the residents of the coastal area. 

I’ve always enjoyed the moment I set foot in this area I was assigned to. To live near the tranquil sea and see the sunset every afternoon are just two of the many things I love about this area. 

And don’t get me started with the people here. No one is in a hurry, everyone helps each other and is all good neighbors to one another. This simple life for a 26-year-old is just what I need. 

“Miss, miss!” One of the children I take care of, Sunja, runs toward me. I break off into a grin, watching how her little feet leave their prints on the sand. She stops before me, breathing heavily, the happy expression on her face has not wavered any bit. Since I do not have that many coloring kits in my arms, I am able to cross my arms before myself. “We’ve been looking all over for you!”

“Sunja! Aren’t you supposed to be with the others who are coloring?” I ask her, raising an eyebrow at her. She is undeterred by how stern I am since she starts to giggle, holding onto the hem of my blouse, even finding the temerity to play with it between her fingers. 

I’m mostly strict with them, but not to the point where I distance myself from knowing their personal likes and dislikes. The kids like how I am stern with them despite being scared of me at first. I can be someone nice too...it just depends on when there is some work that should be done or not. 

“I had to gather more coloring kits for the other children,” I continued. “Again, why aren’t you with your friends coloring the new pages that arrived?”

“I’m done already, miss! The other kids who are done are playing with me near the water!” She points toward her back and I follow her finger, seeing the other children playing a game they made up which involves running away from the waves that arrive on the sand before disappearing back into the water.

“Well,” I utter, looking back at her, “you should take care of yourselves over there, okay? The other misses might start looking for you, children.”

She puffs her chest out in pride. “I’ll take care of everyone, miss!”

“And that’s a promise?”

She nods vehemently. I chuckle softly and ruffle her hair a bit. “Go back to playing with your friends, then. Just make sure to be finished before dinner okay? It’s an hour before dinner starts.”

“Mhm!” She nods once more and runs back to her friends to continue their game of running away from the waves. 

I continue my way to the shaded area of the beach where an open room, used for lessons and activities, is still filled with other children busying themselves with the coloring pages. Mrs. Oh is there already, distributing the coloring kits. “Sorry, I got held back,” I apologize, immediately distributing the coloring kits I have with me.

“Was it Sunja again?” She says, a knowing smirk playing about her face. 

I say nothing and only cock my head at her. She gets my silent answer instantly. “You should be happy that she’s very fond of you. She treats you like her...mother.”

“Mrs. Oh, are we going back to this conversation again?”

She raises her hands in mock surrender. “I didn’t say anything!” She utters defensively, and before I could even reply, she leaves the room -- more like, rushes out of the room. 

Mrs. Oh has always been like that. Ever since the day Sunja would not stop talking to me, she always thought of me choosing to adopt her as a child of my own. I am not entirely against the idea, but my work here is to take care of every child here. If I were to ‘adopt’ a child, I should adopt all of them and welcome them as my own. 

Anyway, that may be a story for another time. 

“AHHH!!! AHHH!!!” Loud screams of terror suddenly ring above the air. They sound like they came from the beach. Oh, my God! The children! 

The screams have not stopped and they are getting louder. The kids with me in the room have started to look up from their work. 

“Miss, what’s going on?”

“Do you hear that also?”

“What’s happening outside, miss?”

The growing worry in their faces was evident and I know that they are waiting for me for answers. “Everyone stay here, okay?” I reassure them, bending down a bit to make sure that I meet their eye level. They huddle together, with the help of the two other social workers with me. “I will check on it, alright? You all will be safe here so don’t go out of the room, okay?” They timidly nod their heads at me and I could see how some of them are shaking out of fear. Without any hesitancy and knowing that there are other adults to take care of them, I run out of the room to the sand where there are children running towards me, crying and screaming. 

Mrs. Oh is with some of them, holding them and keeping them surrounded by her arms. I then feel someone suddenly tugging down the hem of my blouse sharply. I look down to see Sunja with tears endlessly pouring out of her eyes. “Sunja!” I exclaim and immediately carry her in my arms. “Sunja, my dear, what did you see?” 

She tries to answer but her words come out as more sobs. Instead, with a shaky finger, she points toward something laying on the sand. The incoming waves hit the lifeless object. 

“MISS, MISS, THERE IS A DEAD BODY ON THE SAND!” One of the older children shrieks at me. 

“W-What?” I sputter as it all makes sense now. I could now see the outline of a body, I can tell by the arms and legs laying on each side even from afar.

That’s not an object. It really is a man.

~~~~~~~~~~~~

First chapter of the book! I hope you emjoyed it ♡

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