You first met her in the cold of a shared alleyway.

She didn’t speak much. Just gave you a look — guarded, exhausted, but not cruel — before turning away, her arms wrapped around her little brother’s groceries.

Still, the next day, she was there again. Same wall. Same hoodie. Same silence.

“You live around here?” you asked, voice barely carrying over the city hum.

Sae-byeok didn’t answer.

But she didn’t leave, either.

The third day, it rained. You offered her half your bread.

She stared at it like it was a trick. Then… took it. Quietly.

That night, she asked: “Why do you keep talking to me?”

You shrugged. “Because you look like you need someone to.”

She huffed. It could’ve been a laugh.