APHRODISIA

A woman was seen entering Cheonghae Gyodoso, a prison and a correctional institutions for those committing crimes with no remorse. The building stood up tall across the coastal city, Cheonghae Town. Their motto, "Hope Within Order", was slabbed across plaques and banners all over the building, serving as a reminder that the institution was there to bring hope and faith, yet ended up as nothing but mere marketing buzz for inmates serving their time.

But she wasn't there to serve a sentence. She was there for one purpose only and that was to serve God on Sunday Mass where she would be singing the responsorial psalm. She entered the tall metal gates and into their advanced security system, smiling and greeting the officers there warmly. Her smile tore through the coldness of the air, sending a clear distinction between reality and her personality, indicating that she had either been there multiple times for her to know most of the officers or she's just that likeable.

Once inside, she decided to pay her brother, the Deputy Warden of Cheonghae Gyodoso, a visit. As she made a turn around the corner, she saw a man sitting in front of her brother's office. He was handcuffed and wearing a grey inmate suit. She frowned as she noticed fresh wounds and dripping blood across his forehead and temple.

"Are you okay?" She tried initiating a talk, but he only raised one of his eyebrows towards the woman.

She sat next to him and tilted her head, studying his wounds. Thinking that the wounds were treatable enough, she got up and walked straight into the office with a brass plaque across the door that said "Kim Ji-Young, Deputy Warden". When she entered the room, she saw a man in a complete uniform talking on the phone, voice raised and brows frowned.

"Ah, Mi-Yeon!" He called out to the woman, but then pointed to his phone, indicating that he couldn't talk. Mi-Yeon just nodded in understanding. She then walked across the office to get to the first aid kit, exactly where she put it in case something happen to her brother. But apparently, today, it was she who needed it.

When she walked outside, the man was pondering at the sky. She sat next to him again and started unpacking the first aid kit.

"It's going to hurt a little, but I know you can take it."

Mi-Yeon then took out the medical alcohol and patted it on a cotton ball before gently swiping it across the man's wound. He hissed out of pain but she only smiled, telling him softly to take it in just a little longer. Once the blood was gone and the wound had been sanitized, she took out a bottle of healing ointment with dark liquid.

"It's going to hurt once again," she patted the ointment to another cotton ball. "Please bear with me."

And she was right, the ointment hit him like a sharp needle. But she blew a cold wind that helped lessen the pain. The man realized how close she was and he couldn't help but admiring her lips, her eyes, and the softness of her fingers.

"So, what foolish thing," she paused as she noticed a name embroidered across his right chest under a series of number, "that a cool guy like Lee Sang-Jun over did to get these wounds?"

"Just a usual prison brawl," he sulked, clearly upset, but secretly loved the sound she made when she said his name.

Mi-Yeon gave a small smile, "Were you going to Deputy Warden's office because of that?"

"No," he shook his head softly, his head was still pounding if he shook it too hard. "He was actually separating me from them, but he had to take a phone call. Crazy how they beat me up for not having goods. Just because I used to work for a drug lord, doesn't mean I still have any connection now."

She chuckled lightly seeing how a grown man with huge arms and broad shoulder like him was sulking like a kid losing a candy. He side eyed her and looked away, suddenly realizing that he had talked too much. Mi-Yeon smiled again and she got up as she needed to get ready for her service.

"Don't get in too much trouble, okay?" Then Mi-Yeon left.

Sang-Jun didn't say a word, but his eyes followed where she went and something inside him made him get up to follow her.

He saw her entering the hall where a Catholic Sunday Mass was usually held. Sang-Jun hesitated for a while. He used to be a part of a cult organization that heavily revolved around Catholicism but the central of everything was the drug lord, Pastor Jeon Yo-Hwan. But the organization was crumbled into pieces in seconds when Pastor Jeon was captured by government officials. Then, when he learned that no one came to safe him from the cold steel of the prison, despite his loyalty for years, Sang-Jun's belief was also shattered.

The sight of Mi-Yeon snapped him back to reality. He saw her already changed into a white robe and was taking care of some papers on a podium. Unconsciously, he let his feet took him inside the hall and he sat in one of the plastic chairs. When Mi-Yeon was gone to the back room, Sang-Jun was about to go, but unfortunately, not long after, the Mass had started and he couldn't leave the room. He was still handcuffed so he was actually feeling a little bit uncomfortable. But he still followed every step of the Mass. He still remembered the words to the prayers, but he was just reciting it out of memory.

Then, when Sang-Jun was about to get lost in his own thought, the responsorial psalm was sung. He looked up and he saw Mi-Yeon, basked in sunlight that entered through the crevices of the ceiling. Her voice was soft but strong at the same time, and, at the end of the song, Sang-Jun felt like he had just witnessed an angel singing praises of God.