People say, “When the rich go bankrupt, they still get their meals for three years.” Perhaps that was the case for us, since I don’t remember Stepmom or Dad working. They sure demanded that we tighten our belts, though. But I recall seeing my stepmom going shopping, my dad’s golf clubs in the car trunk. They kept buying Hyunwoo perfectly fitting pants as he grew up, but would scold me when I outgrew the school gym uniform. It’s no good for a girl to grow so tall, you better stop eating so much food, they said. If I talked on the phone with my friend for too long, Stepmom would pull out the cord and throw it against the wall. She grew hysterical every day, and the quarrels between her and my dad grew more frequent.

I’ve been walking down the road, tracing my memories for quite a while but am still far from the subway station. I stop at the city cemetery bathroom. I need to pee and wash my face. In a rush, I run into the stall, and sit on the toilet. It feels unhygienic and a little creepy, so my pee comes out in hesitant spurts. What is this strange noise that I hear? Is someone sobbing? No, I don’t think that’s it. It sounds like Leche’s whining. I leave the stall to search for the source of the sound, and knock on the next stall. I don’t hear any response. Did I imagine that? Is there a stray cat in here? I drop to my hands and knees and bend down to look under the stall. I see a pair of sneakers, a boot. I knock on the door loudly.

“Is everything okay?”

No response.

When I press my ear against the door I can hear strained breathing.

“Crazy assholes.” I mutter to myself and turn around to wash my hands and face. The bathroom door flies open and two people spill out.

“What the fuck did you call us? Crazy assholes?” A girl who looks a lot younger than me, at best a middle schooler, yells at me without using the honorific.

“Yes, that’s what I said. What are you going to do about that?”

“So you got a gaping piehole you can’t control, huh?” The girl’s fist in the air trembles. Her other fist is holding a pair of hot-pink panties. Her boyfriend smirks like he was watching some sort of tournament.