The bell's sharp chime rippled through the corridors, announcing the lunch break. Voices swelled, chairs scraped, footsteps rushed—but Nau Rin had no desire to head toward the noisy crowd. Instead, she turned her steps toward the janitor's room.
'If I have to stay after school to clean every day starting today, I won't have any time left to go to practice' she thought with a quiet sigh. Still pondering how she might solve this problem, she reached the supply room, picked up the cleaning tools, and began her work in the fourth-floor restroom—the least crowded.
The school had four floors, each with two restrooms, and every restroom contained six stalls.
Rolling up the sleeves of her white shirt, Nau Rin slipped on a pair of rubber gloves. She decided to start with the toilets. Careful not to splash her clothes, she scrubbed the basins thoroughly, then wiped them down with a damp cloth from the sink area. After that, she cleaned the stall walls and floors, washed the sinks, and finally polished the mirrors until they shone.
By the end of the lunch break, she had managed to clean only two restrooms.
'If I stay after school to finish cleaning, I won't be leaving until seven in the evening,' Nau Rin thought, letting out a long breath as she headed back to her classroom. She hadn't expected the cleaning to take this much time.
When classes ended, she called her teacher and explained that she wouldn't be able to make it to practice that day. Then she phoned her mother to let her know she would be late. Worry instantly colored her mother's voice.
"It's dangerous to walk home alone so late. I'll come and get you."
Nau Rin gently tried to reassure her.
"Don't worry, Mom. I'll be fine. I can get home on my own."
After some persuasion, she ended the call.
The moment the line went dead, her stomach growled, reminding her that she hadn't eaten a single thing since morning. Feeling the weight of her wallet still in her hand, she murmured to herself, At least I didn't let them empty it today. With that, she stepped out of the school.
She stopped by a convenience store, picked up a carton of milk and a sandwich, and took her place at the counter. Just as she was about to pay, a hand slipped into view from the side.
"Add these too," a voice said, as four cans of soda were placed on the counter.
Nau Rin turned in surprise, only to find Yu Dahi standing beside her. The other girl caught her gaze from the corner of her eye but offered no sign of recognition, acting as if she weren't even there.
"Ten thousand won," the cashier said flatly.
Thinking she would at least get to keep her sandwich and milk, Nau Rin paid without protest. But to her shock, Yu Dahi swept everything into a bag and walked out without a word.
Nau Rin stood there, staring blankly after her for a moment.
Ignoring the protests of her growling stomach, Nau Rin worked on until she barely made it to six in the evening. Exhausted and hollow with hunger, she dragged her feet to the bus stop. A passing breeze brushed her face, faintly cool. The bus arrived already packed—there was no seat, not even space to stand properly. Clutching the handrail, she swayed with the motion of the bus until, at last, she reached her stop.
Rushing over, she said,
"I told you, you didn't have to wait for me."
Her mother smiled gently.
"I just can't help worrying," she said, her eyes warm as they rested on her daughter.
They walked quietly together, and as they reached their front door, they saw her father returning from work as well. The three of them went inside side by side and sat down at the table, where the comforting aroma of hot food filled the air.
After a short stretch of silent eating, her father finally asked Nau Rin why she had been punished. Her mother, too, paused and listened closely.
Nau Rin quietly set her chopsticks down.
"When I went into the restroom, there were some students who had just finished smoking," she said. "Then a teacher came in right after me… and assumed I was the one who'd done it."
With that, she picked up her chopsticks again and resumed eating, as if the matter were already settled.
Her father shook his head with a sigh.
"That's a tough break," he murmured.
Her mother looked at her intently.
"Why didn't you explain the situation to your teacher?"
In a subdued voice, Nau Rin replied,
"I didn't have any proof…"
Her father fell silent for a moment, then nodded.
"That's true. Empty words don't settle anything," he said shortly, before continuing his meal.
Her mother raised her voice slightly.
"So, you're saying it's right for her to be punished when she did nothing wrong?"
"What's done is done," her father said. He turned to Nau Rin with a steady, gentle gaze. "Since you're already doing it, don't think of it as punishment. Just do it properly. Whatever you do, do it wholeheartedly."
Nau Rin gave a small nod.
"I understand," she said softly, and finished her meal.
As soon as dinner ended, Nau Rin retreated to her room. From the corner of her wardrobe, she took out the stained white shirt she had hidden away and headed downstairs with it, along with her school uniform, toward the tiny laundry room—barely large enough to hold the washing machine.
Once inside, she locked the door behind her and loaded the uniform into the machine first, setting it in motion. As the machine began to hum and sway softly, she unfolded the shirt. A dull yellow stain had already dried deep into the fabric.
She stared at it for a moment, lost in thought.
'I need to break down the sugar and pigment in the stain with white vinegar first, then treat it so that dish soap can remove it…' she reasoned silently.
The hardest part was figuring out how to get the ingredients from the kitchen without her mother noticing.
Nau Rin cracked the door open and peeked outside. Her mother was seated on the sofa, watching television, while her father was still in his study and showed no sign of coming out.
Acting casual, she stepped into the kitchen and poured herself a glass of water, sipping it slowly as she observed her mother from the corner of her eye. Seeing no change, she relaxed. Once the glass was empty, she opened the refrigerator and quietly slipped a bottle of white vinegar into her pocket. Then, turning back, she poured some dishwashing liquid into the same cup, pretending it was part of her drink, and walked back to the laundry room as if nothing were amiss. With her heart still racing, she slipped back into the laundry room; the click of the lock finally brought a sense of relief.
She filled a basin with warm water, added the vinegar and the dish soap, and fully soaked the stained area. After a while, she scrubbed it gently with a brush, rinsed it with warm water, and finally placed it into the washing machine along with a spare white shirt. Then, feigning casual steps, she returned to the laundry room and locked the door behind her.
Another morning arrived, and classes had already been underway for three weeks. During that time, Nau Rin had spent every day cleaning the restrooms until seven in the evening, giving them two hundred thousand won—equivalent to two months' pocket money—and doing their homework and running their errands every single day.
But today, she resolutely refused to hand over any money. "The more I give, the more they demand. Eventually, where on earth would I find the money for them?" she thought.
It was lunch break. Nau Rin sat at her usual corner table in the school cafeteria, quietly eating her meal. Kim Mina and her friends approached and, without asking, sat down at her table.
Kim Mina leaned close, her voice barely a whisper but laced with menace:
"Didn't I tell you to bring the money? Why aren't you listening?"
Nau Rin fiddled with her spoon, shrugging slightly.
"I don't have any. I only get pocket money once a week," she replied wearily.
Kim Mina furrowed her brows and snapped sharply,
"Then find it!"
A brief silence fell. Nau Rin spoke as calmly as she could,
"I can only give you twenty thousand won a week," she said.
For a moment, they looked at her with disdain, but Kim Mina gritted her teeth.
"I see. So this is the path you've chosen" she hissed. Standing up, she deliberately emptied her food scraps onto Nau Rin's tray.
The warm meal she had barely tasted was instantly ruined, turned into a mess of leftovers. Watching them walk away, Nau Rin stood up, dumped the mess from her metal tray into the trash, and walked out of the cafeteria without a word.
As soon as she entered the classroom, she sat at her desk, resting her cheek on her hand, and stared with a bored gaze—just like on previous days—at the birds perched on the tree outside the window.
In the middle of the lesson, her stomach suddenly growled.
Startled, she glanced around anxiously, but no one seemed to notice. Afraid it might happen again, she pulled her abdomen in and pressed a hand against it. A faint sound escaped anyway, though it was mercifully quiet. Relief washed over her, and she sat there silently, praying that the class would end quickly.
When the final bell rang, she went about her routine—cleaning from the fourth floor all the way down to the first. Once finished, she headed for the exit, only to find the door locked.
Nam Yunhee was leaving her literature club when she noticed that Nau Rin was still cleaning. A faint smile curved across her lips. Quietly, she slipped a key from the janitor's room and followed Nau Rin to the first-floor restroom. From the outside, Yunhee locked the door, returned the key to its place, and left the school with an unchanged smile.
Inside, Nau Rin pounded on the door again and again, shouting, "Is anyone there?" But no one came. Not even the sound of footsteps answered her calls.
Gradually, the room sank into darkness. She pulled out her phone, hesitated for a long moment, and at last decided to call her friends.
She tried Taehyun first—the first person on her speed dial—but there was no answer. Seohoon didn't pick up either, his phone ringing into a hollow silence. When she called Minho, it rang endlessly, each tone heightening her anxiety, until he finally picked up.
Minho had just entered his room when his phone began to buzz. He glanced at the screen. Arim.
"Hello?"
Nau Rin spoke in a low voice.
"Hi… Where are you?"
Sitting down on his bed, Minho replied,
"I'm in my room. What's wrong?"
"I'm locked inside the school restroom… Can you come?"
Minho sprang to his feet.
"What? How does that even happen?"
"Don't shout," she hissed. "Can you come or not?"
"Stay there," he said, and hung up immediately.
As he hurried to put on his shoes by the door, his mother asked where he was going.
"I'm going to pick up Arim. Please let her mom know," he said quickly, already heading out.
On the way, he stopped by Taehyun's and Seohoon's houses, dragging them along without much explanation. When they reached the gates of Saebom Girls' Middle School, the guard refused to let them in.
"That doesn't make any sense," the guard scoffed, even after hearing their explanation.
"If you don't believe us, then come check with us," Seohoon said firmly.
The guard hesitated.
"You know you'll be punished if this turns out to be a lie, right?"
"I know. Now could you hurry, please?"
With a scowl, the guard followed them to the restroom near the library. When he tried the door, it was indeed locked. He quickly took out his key and opened it.
Inside, a girl sat curled up in the corner, hugging her knees.
Before the guard could say a word, the boys rushed past him into the room. Minho shot the guard a look that clearly said I told you so. Clearing his throat, the guard quietly left.
Seohoon slung Nau Rin's bag over his shoulder, while Taehyun helped her into her coat. Together, they walked out of the school gates and toward the bus stop in silence.
Breaking that silence, Minho muttered,
"I told you it was going to be hard, didn't I?"
Taehyun jabbed him in the side.
"Shut up."