The rain still hadn’t stopped the next day.
Only two customers came to the shop all morning, and the income wasn’t even enough to cover the rent.
In the afternoon, the rain grew heavier.
Maya knew the day was a lost cause, so she closed up shop at five and headed home.
On her way to the police station, she got a call from her second aunt.
“Maya, about that three thousand dollars I lent you…
you need to pay me back next month.”
At the mention of repayment, Maya’s heart sank.
She stopped walking under her umbrella and forced a smile.
“Auntie, we agreed I’d pay you back at the end of the year.
Do you need the money for something at home?”
Her aunt sounded troubled.
“Your cousin has a girlfriend, and they’re planning to get engaged.
It’s going to cost tens of thousands.”
Marriage was a major event, and Maya knew she couldn’t be the one to hold it up.
She had no choice but to bite the bullet.
“Congratulations, Auntie!
In that case, I’ll definitely transfer the money to you next month.
Thank you so much.”
After hanging up, Maya stood in the rain and sighed.
It was a classic case of “when it rains, it pours.” It seemed like every turn brought another expense.
In a fit of pique, she thought, ‘Maybe I really should just find a rich man to marry.
I could get a bride price of a hundred thousand or so and pay off all my debts.’
But it was just an absurd, fleeting thought.
She would rather grit her teeth and endure her struggles alone than be trapped in a miserable marriage.
When she got to the police station, she explained the reason for her visit.
“Hi.
I asked for your help before, looking into a tourist who went missing from a boat.
I was wondering if you’ve found anything?”
An officer flipped through some files.
“We’ve checked all the missing person reports in our jurisdiction for the past three months.
We have no record of a man with a name that sounds like ‘Mu,’ and we haven’t received any reports of a tourist falling overboard and going missing.”
Maya was disappointed.
Unwilling to give up, she asked, “What if you check a little further back?”
The officer spoke tactfully.
“We’ve checked everything we can.
There’s really nothing.
The man you’re describing…
frankly, with vagrants like him, a lot of them aren’t actually lost.
It might be that their family…”
He didn’t finish the sentence, but Maya understood the implication.
‘Morgan has something wrong with his mind.
He was probably just abandoned.
That’s why no one ever filed a missing person report for him.’
‘The police were basically telling her to give up.’
Maya didn’t know what to do.
‘If I can’t find Morgan’s family, am I supposed to just keep him forever?
It costs a lot to support a grown man.
I can barely make ends meet as it is, so how can I possibly care for a simpleton I just picked up?’
But they had already spent so many days together.
She couldn’t bring herself to just throw him out.
Lost in her troubled thoughts, Maya returned home.
She thought coming back early might be a nice surprise for Morgan, but when she opened the door, the apartment was empty.
“Morgan!” Maya knocked on the bathroom door, but there was no answer.
‘Morgan wasn’t home!’
‘Where could he possibly have gone in this rain?!’
Panicked, Maya turned and rushed back outside, guessing that the fool might have gone to meet her.
She looked for him all the way back to the shop, but there was still no sign of him.
Now Maya was truly panicked.
She knew Morgan wouldn’t just wander off, but what if he had?
What if he’d gone too far and gotten lost?
She searched the entire neighborhood meticulously under her umbrella.
The heavy rain made the sky darken earlier than usual.
Watching the few figures scurrying along the street, Maya grew increasingly distraught.
Two hours later, she ran home, clinging to a final shred of hope.
As she headed up the stairs, she spotted wet footprints in front of her door!
Maya was trembling with excitement as she fumbled to jam the key into the lock.
“Maya?”
Morgan was back, just as she’d hoped.
He was looking at her, his expression a mixture of surprise and confusion.
“You’re home so early today.
I haven’t even started making dinner.”
Maya looked at his drenched clothes, which he hadn’t had a chance to change, and her face darkened.
“Where have you been?” she asked.
Seeing that she was angry, Morgan grew frightened.
His mouth opened and closed, but no sound came out.
He hung his head, looking guilty.
“I asked you a question.
Answer me!”
Morgan still didn’t say a word.
The memory of her earlier panic, combined with the sight of this silent giant, was the last straw.
Maya, already in a foul mood over her money troubles, felt her anger boil over.
She grabbed Morgan’s arm and began to drag him outside.
“Maya…” Morgan didn’t understand what she was doing.
With a dark expression, Maya dragged him out the door and slammed it shut behind him.
“If you won’t listen, then you can just leave!”
That’s when Morgan truly panicked.
He started pounding desperately on the door.
“Maya, let me in.”
“Maya, I was wrong!
Please, let me in?”
He was terrified, standing alone in the pitch-black hallway.
He didn’t want to go back to sleeping on the streets or digging through trash cans for food.
More than anything, he didn’t want to be separated from Maya.
Inside, Maya leaned against the wall, her chest heaving.
‘How ridiculous,’ she thought.
‘Why did I ever let a simpleton into my life?’
‘My own life is a complete mess.
Where am I supposed to find the energy to manage an unpredictable simpleton?’
‘His own parents didn’t even want him.
What business was it of hers to meddle?’
‘He helped me fool my parents, it’s true.
But I’ve fed him and clothed him this whole time.
I’ve more than done right by him.
We’re even.
Neither of us owes the other a thing!’
Maya tried to convince herself with every reason she could think of.
She had to stop meddling in other people’s lives and let her own life return to some semblance of peace.
“Just go away!
You’re so annoying!” Maya screamed, her eyes red as she strained her voice.
“I don’t have any money to take care of you!
Go!”
Morgan’s urgent voice quieted, becoming pitifully small.
“Maya, I was wrong.
I’ll listen to whatever you say…”
Maya tilted her head back, her eyes stinging.
“Maya, please, can you let me in?
I’ll never run off again.
I’ll be good, really…”
Morgan’s pleading voice grew softer and softer.
“Maya…
do you really not want Morgan anymore?”
Maya felt a painful twisting in her heart.
Her mind was a chaotic mess.
When she realized it had been silent outside for a long time, she began to panic all over again.
‘Did he really leave?
In this downpour?
He doesn’t have a single penny—where could he possibly go?’
She yanked the metal door open.
Morgan was squatting on the doorstep, head tilted up, looking at her with a wounded, mournful gaze.
He was still there.
Maya let out a sigh of relief.
Morgan slowly rose to his feet, cautiously watching her expression.
Seeing that she was no longer furious, he reached into his pants pocket and fumbled around for a moment.
When he pulled his hand out, a few damp, crumpled bills lay in his wide palm.
“For you.”
His head was bowed low, and his voice was quiet.
Maya asked, confused, “Where did you get money?”
Morgan took her hand and pressed the money into it.
“I sold some scrap I collected.”
Maya’s heart sank.
‘That idiot went out to collect scrap for money?!’
‘So he hadn’t just wandered off—he’d gone to earn money?’
While she was still reeling from the shock, Morgan coughed a few times, then silently turned and headed down the stairs.