Her little body had refused to move as if trapped in an eternal nightmare. No tears streamed down her pale face. No screams escaped her lips. It was as if something was blocking her, as if a spoiled child's voice was on a loop in her head, convincing her that none of this was real, that a child like her didn’t deserve any of it.

Unlike me, her reaction to the loss of her parents was disturbingly neutral; she was so used to things working out in her favour that she couldn’t comprehend such an unexpected twist. Soo-jin’s soul seemed to have drifted out of her body. Trembling, a cold sweat ran down her forehead and cheeks.

The fire nearly out, the deafening noise still ringing in the air, I crouched down to Soo-jin’s level, stroking her short hair with my left hand. Then, suddenly, I grabbed her by the neck, pulling her ear close to my mouth, and hissed, "Don’t worry, now you’re just a disgusting orphan like the rest of us, aren’t you?"

As I stepped back into the comfort of my own home, the scent of vanilla candles greeted me as usual. My adoptive mother rushed to my side, her face a mask of concern.

"What happened? Are you okay?" she asked, cupping my cheeks.

I forced my lips to quiver, my eyes wide with feigned terror. "It was horrible... Soo-jin's house... it just... exploded. I don’t know what happened, but there was fire everywhere. I tried to help, but..." My voice broke off, a perfect imitation of shock and sorrow.

My adoptive father entered the room, his expression stern but worried. " Oh gosh, it's the terrible. How could something like this happen?"

I nodded, playing the part of the traumatized witness. "I dunno ...I... It all happened so fast..."

They believed every word, as they always did. But what truly gnawed at me as I curled up in my bed later that night wasn’t the thought of Soo-jin or her brother. It was the bitter sting of not receiving my payment. All that effort, all that planning, and no reward?I kept a careful eye on their daughter, though she didn't explode like them after all.

Maybe Soo-jin underestimated all orphans at a very young age . But she would learn. Everyone eventually does. And... she’d remember the lesson I taught her for the rest of her miserable life.