We are at Auntie Ji An’s house. I am helping Hae-in board up the windows. Several damaged homes have been looted. Why people steal from people that have already experienced a loss is something I have never been able to understand. It makes me really angry. I am also sweaty and I am sticky. The mosquito repellant I put on is NOT working. Bites dot my arms and legs. I hope I don’t catch the latest disease carried by mosquitos. The salt from my sweat burns my eyes. Hae-in pounding nails is giving me a headache.

From the open front door I hear the voices of Neighbor Song and Auntie Ji An. Inside they are setting the house to rights. I let out a sigh and Hae-in asks, “You okay?”

“Yeah.”

From Neighbor Song’s house comes the mournful howl of Gong Yoo. He is in the kitchen window letting it loose. I wish I could do the same. I want running water, electricity and fans that blow!

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Hae-in moves a little closer to me. He is rank. If I could hold my nose I would. He catches my expression and laughs. I don’t know what is so funny about being stinky. He tells me, “You know, you don’t smell so sweet either. Just how much bug spray did you put on?”

Stupidly embarrassed, I clam up.

He moves even closer to me. I push him away. For the brief second my hand makes contact with his skin, I forget about how he smells. My mind is completely focused on how he just made me feel. Why do I have to feel this way? I don’t want to. I really don’t want to. If anything started with Hae-in and didn’t work out, not only would current me be hurt, but thirteen year old me would be devastated. I had so many dreams about that boy and me. Only, he’s not a boy and I’m not thirteen.

He hammers in the last nail and steps back to admire his handiwork. All the boards are straight and secured. I step beside him. He rubs the top of my head like he did when I was a kid. And I, true to my inner child, lean into the rub like a dog being scratched between the ears. More gently, his hand slides down my hair and brushes against my jaw. His finger comes under my chin and he tilts my face up. For a moment, we just stare at each other.

The surrounding silence is shattered by the water pump coming on and the delighted squeals of Auntie Ji An and Neighbor Song. Hae-in looks me dead in the eye and says, “We have electricity.”

We do. We definitely do.