"Uh, I'm sorry, how much is this going to cost? I really can't afford all of this." Ari looked at the spread of meat and side dishes laid out in front of him before staring at the old lady who was continually filling the table.
"Just eat!" Granny Choi glared at him fiercely as she slammed a bowl of rice on the table.
A young Asian girl with dyed blond hair who looked to be around his age stared curiously at his masked face before putting down a plate of sautéed meat.
"Hi! I'm Grace! Here's bulgogi, fresh off the grill, and my favorite thing grandpa makes. Enjoy."
With a hesitant expression, Ari picked up the bowl.
After fumbling with the unfamiliar chopsticks for several moments, he gratefully took the fork thrust in his hands, pulled down his face mask, and began devouring the food.
Mmmmm
Mhmmmm, so delicious.
Without paying attention to his surroundings, he happily ate until he was full before noticing that he was no longer alone in the booth.
Granny Choi had silently joined him at some point and was nodding with a little smile as he ate.
"Enjoyed the food?"
"Yes, it was delicious! Uh, how much do I owe you?"
Although he was desperately trying to save money, he definitely had to pay this old lady back. He knew how expensive meat could be.
"Arale was it?"
"Ariel."
"Like the fish princess?"
"…sigh, yes ."
'Ari briefly considered explaining that it was actually a guy's name, but soon gave up.'
'If such an explanation worked, he wouldn't have been teased all of his life.'
He just waited for the inevitable line of questions that usually came, but surprisingly, Granny Choi just moved on.
"So? What's your story? I noticed you refusing to leave the bathhouse, and I saw the sticker on your ID card."
"The stick—oh." Ari suddenly remembered the little silver sticker on his state ID that indicated he was a foster kid and to call a particular number in case anything happened to him.
But how did she know about it?
Despite his questioning look, Granny Choi continued asking what she wanted to ask.
"Did you run away? Did your foster parents do this to you?" She pointed at his covered face and his bruises. "Do you need me to report them?"
Despite her small size, Granny Choi's voice was angry, and Ari felt touched once again.
"Ah, no, it wasn't them. But…it's not like I'm on the best of terms with them either. It's a bit complicated."
"Uncomplicate it. We're closed until 6, and I have full confidence that you have nowhere else to go. Start talking, young man."
As Ari blinked at her in confusion, Granny Choi reached out and stuck a spoonful of something sweet into his mouth.
"What the he-"
She slid a small container of ice cream in front of him.
"No cursing. Eat something sweet and tell me everything, or I'll make you pay for the food you just ate. I assure you, it was quite expensive. Much more expensive than that bath. Beef is very, very expensive."
Gulp-
Seeing her serious expression and a random wooden spoon scarily tapping the table, Ari lightly explained his situation to her while eating his ice cream.
He had been robbed (murdered), was doubly homeless (his foster parents had kicked him out), and then his tent and things were stolen, and he was recently fired from both of his steady jobs, and his inability to sign a lease because of his age, and his vague plans to somehow become an idol.
After several hours of spilling his metaphorical guts to an old lady whom he had literally just met but somehow reminded him of a gruffer version of Grandma Kim, Ari could only sigh as she stared at him blankly.
She probably thought that he was crazy.
"So that's my story. Uhm, if you don't mind telling me the time, I need to see if I can catch a bus to head to a motel to sleep."
"No need. Come."
With a firm grip on his arm, he was dragged outside for several blocks before stopping in front of a small white church building.
Then she began asking him a bunch of questions.
"Are you crazy?"
"No?"
"Murderer, killer?"
"Definitely not!"
"Worked in a restaurant? Know how to clean?"
"Uh, yes and yes?"
"Are you asking me or telling me?"
"I'm telling you."
"Still in school?"
"For now."
"Have you stolen or robbed anybody? If you lie, I'll know."
"Uh, I always took extra food that was supposed to be thrown away at my fast food job, but that's it."
"People who waste food away should go to jail." Granny Choi replied firmly while staring at him as if she were trying to see into his soul.
Looking down at his bruises and covered, swollen face once more, she nodded firmly before dragging him inside.
Granny Choi dragged him into the small church through several hallways before slamming a door open without knocking.
"Mother!" A flustered voice responded as Granny Choi entered and dragged Ari in.
Inside was a middle-aged Korean man wearing a priest's white robe with thin-framed glasses on his face.
He had stopped flipping through the papers on his desk and glanced with a resigned expression.
"What are you doing here?!"
"This child here got beaten up and has no parents. He needs a place to sleep. Make him do the church chores and pay him the cleaner's salary so he can live here. Off the books."
"Mother!"
Completely ignoring him, Granny Choi then turned around.
"You. Ari."
"Yes???"
"Live here from now on. Come work in the restaurant and bathhouse after school whenever you have time and you're done with your school work. You're not allowed to refuse."
"I respectfully decline." Ari immediately shook his head.
"I'm done talking to you."
Granny Choi completely ignored him and turned to face the priest with a stern expression.
"Steven, if he leaves…" Granny Choi slid her hand across her throat.
"Mom! Are you threatening me?!"
"Figure that out yourself."
Then, without waiting for a response from either of them, Granny Choi turned around and left, slamming the door shut behind her.
Ari: "..."
Unknown priest: "..."
The air between the two suddenly became awkward, so Ari greeted first.
"Hello, I am Ari. Please don't worry. I plan on leaving. Please tell Granny Choi thank you so much for the food, I appreciate i-"
"Aghhhhhhh!" the priest suddenly yelled out before standing up.
"Are you okay?" Ari looked at the priest like he was crazy.
"Where do you think you're going! I can't let you leave! That old lady would kill me. Give you a job? A place to sleep? Fine! No problem! It's a church! God will provide! We have a vacancy to fill anyway."
"No, that's okay. I-"
"Ahhhhhhhhhhhhhh!!! Could it be that you want me to die? You want that old lady to kill me? Do you not know the terrors of Korean grandmothers?"
"No, I know. But I need to leave r-"
"Ahhhhhh, it's fine! I will take care of you! One way or another! You cannot leave! If you leave, when I get to heaven, I'll make a special request to come find you and haunt you!"
As the priest yelled out a stream of words that made no sense, Ari slowly backed away from him.
'Was he in danger? Is this a cult? Trafficking operation.'
The priest sighed while rubbing his nose under his glasses before speaking in a much calmer tone.
"Please. Ari was it? Consider my offer. I don't want to die before seeing my daughter get married."
Ari: "….."
Priest Steven Choi: "No leaving. The church has a room, a kitchen, and I can give you a job that pays minimum wage with flexible hours. What do you say? If you don't agree, I'll take you back to Granny Choi, and you can convince her yourself."
Ari thought of the slightly fierce look on the Korean grandmother's face before shaking his head.
"….okay. I'll stay."
"Phew. Good. Great. Sorry about my outburst. Each time you spoke about leaving, my life began flashing in front of my eyes. Since we agreed to your staying. Please, follow me."
"...okay."
As Ari followed the priest down a hidden hallway, the lights began flickering, and it continued getting dimmer and darker.
He began to get nervous, and his footsteps slowed down, creating some distance with the priest in front of him.
Bzzt.
Bzzzzt.
The light kept flickering.
Was it just him, or did the air suddenly become colder?
As he was rubbing his shoulders and legs from the chill, the system decided to interject.
[Is this how you die again? Following a stranger in a church down a dark hallway? Never to be seen again?]
[Who knows what will possess you this time? Or if you'll come back to life if you die again.]
"You shut up."
"Pardon me?" The priest turned around, and as the fluorescent lighting shadowed his face in a creepy manner, Ari took a step back.
"No, sorry. I was asking what your name was. I don't think I caught it earlier."
"Oh, my name is Steven Choi, I'm that bossy old lady's son, can't you tell? People say I have her eyes."
As Steven Choi smiled, the fluorescent lighting flickered and then went off, making the last thing Ari saw in the dark hallway a shadowed smile of a priest in a full-length white gown with a fluorescent light reflecting on his glasses.
Then everything went dark.
"Oh, this dang lighting. It happens all the time, haha. Wait just one second."
Ari suddenly felt all of his senses heightened as Steven Choi began mumbling to himself while walking.
"Now, where did I put that phone of mine?"
Step.
Step.
Step.
He could hear the priest's rustling robes and heavy breath, and suddenly, the steady footsteps began to sound ominous.
Ari immediately began backing away with his hands on the wall.
[Run.]
An unnecessary message from NOVA was seen, and the blue screen flickered ominously.
Step.
Step.
Step.
"Ah, it's probably at my desk. I think I plugged it in."
[Run!]
Step.
Step.
Step.
"Ari, are you still there? I'm sorry that this happened. Where did you go? Don't go too far. We wouldn't want you to get hurt, right?"
The words sounded ominous.
No matter how much Ari backed away, the footsteps kept on getting closer, and now he could hear the sound of something tapping the wall steadily.
Step.
Thud.
Step.
THUD
Step.
THUD.
[RUN!]
As a large hand brushed over his shoulder, Ari turned and sprinted back the way he came.