After finishing the dishes at the soup shop, So and Derek stepped into the alley entrance, only to find three or four boys their age blocking the way. At the front was Jinho, the neighborhood ringleader.
“Huh? Derek, since when did you start taking some girl around?” Jinho crossed his arms and looked So up and down.
Derek subtly moved So behind his back. “Hey, we’re just passing through. Leave us alone.”
“You don’t know you have to pay a passage fee to get through this alley?” one of the boys beside Jinho snickered, holding out his hand.
So tilted her head and stepped forward. “What’s a passage fee?”
Jinho looked flustered for a moment, then broke into a sly grin. “Hand over your money, kid. Or give me whatever that thing is you’re carrying.”
Derek furrowed his brow. “Hey, Jinho. Don’t touch her.”
“What is she, your little sister?”
So took the question seriously.
“No, I’m just... um, but if you have to pay a passage fee to get through, is that the law of this alley?”
Jinho looked a little bewildered, then nodded. “Uh... yeah.”
“Then does everyone else pay too? Men and women?”
“Of course. This is our territory.”
So thought for a moment before asking, “But the lady at the soup shop said earlier that if you want to get something, you have to pay a fair price for it. But you’re trying to take money from us without giving us anything. Isn’t that just... taking it?”
Silence fell. The boys in back exchanged uneasy glances. Jinho’s face turned slightly red.
“What are you talking about?”
“I don’t really know much, but that doesn’t seem right.” So spoke with complete innocence, calmly and without any anger.
“You don’t seem like a bad person either, big brother.”
For some reason, those words struck a sore spot in Jinho’s chest.
The truth was, the so-called passage fee had started as nothing more than a bluff, an act of swaggering around while imitating adults.
Derek didn’t miss the opening and jumped in.
“Hey, just let her go. She’s kind of unusual.”
Jinho glared at So for a long while, then finally let out a short laugh and stepped aside.
“Fine. I’ll let you go today. But you—” Jinho pointed at So.
“If I see you again, I’m really collecting that passage fee.”
So smiled brightly. “Then next time, I’ll bring something I can give you in return!”
At her ridiculous answer, Jinho and his entire group burst out laughing in disbelief. The hostile mood dissolved in an instant.
As they left the alley, Derek glanced at So. “You’ve got a knack for handling people, huh?”
“Is that what I was doing?” So looked genuinely clueless.