Minjun stood alone on the bridge, staring at the onigiri in his hand. He raised his arm slowly, as though he were about to throw the rice ball into the river, and then he simply froze there with an empty expression on his face.
He was twenty-two years old. He was a nursing student at the University of Tokyo. Those were facts about him, and neither of them helped. He felt completely lost. Neither his body nor his heart seemed to belong where he was standing.
The onigiri reminded him of Tae. They used to buy them together, back when life still made sense. When Minjun first came to Japan, he had been full of dreams. He believed his new life would be filled with freedom, with exciting experiences, with endless opportunities.
Reality had turned out to be nothing like he had imagined. All he felt now was disappointment. His stomach growled with hunger, and he complained quietly to himself about it. It was just another day where nothing seemed to go right.
Then, suddenly, the sadness turned into something else, something hot and enormous, and he shouted at the top of his lungs. He did not care who heard him. He poured out every bit of the frustration he had been carrying inside, until his throat hurt.
People passing by moved away quickly, frightened by the outburst. Minjun did not care about that either. His rage came from wounds much deeper than that one moment on a bridge.
The reason for his suffering was his ex-boyfriend. Tae had not only broken his heart. He had also stolen all of Minjun's money, and even his passport. Buried in debt, Minjun felt trapped in a nightmare with no end in sight.
Trying to force the memories away, he slammed his forehead against the bridge railing, hoping the pain would erase everything. Of course it did not.
While he was still lost in his own thoughts, the loud screech of tires pulled him back to reality. Several cars came to an abrupt stop nearby, and men in black suits rushed out of them with serious expressions on their faces.
Minjun froze. What's happening? Why are they coming toward me? His heart pounded wildly as panic took over. It's the yakuza. They've come to collect my debt.
The intimidating men certainly did not look like they wanted a friendly conversation. His imagination ran wild, picturing threats, violence, or being thrown over the railing into the river below.
Then, completely out of nowhere, a small child appeared.
The little boy ran straight toward him and wrapped his arms tightly around him without warning. Minjun stood there in complete shock. The child clung to him, crying, and called him Mama. Again, and then again.
His confusion only grew stronger. Who was this child? Why was he hugging him? And why on earth was he calling him Mama?
Before Minjun could say a single word, the men in black surrounded them. They pointed their guns directly at him, and one of them ordered him sternly to let go of the boy.
Terrified, Minjun had no idea what was going on. But one thing was obvious. His situation had just become far more dangerous.
Still frightened, he instinctively held the child closer, almost shielding the small body with his own while the armed men approached. He did not understand anything that was happening. His only concern was protecting the frightened little boy clinging to him.
Seeing the tension, one of the men, who appeared to be the leader of the group, ordered everyone to lower their weapons. He apologised to Minjun, and calmly asked him to hand the child over.
Before Minjun could react, the boy hugged him even tighter and shook his head over and over.
"I don't want to leave," the child cried, nearly in tears. "I want to stay with Mama."
Completely confused, Minjun knelt down and explained gently that he was not the boy's mother. The child refused to listen. He only cried louder, insisting that Minjun really was his mama.
The men tried to calm the boy. Nothing worked. He would not let go.
Just then another man appeared. Unlike the others, his presence commanded immediate respect. He walked calmly, with a cigarette between his lips, and it was obvious to anyone with eyes that he was the one in charge.
In a calm voice, he asked what was happening, and one of his subordinates quickly explained the situation.
Before anyone could resolve it, the little boy shouted again, louder this time.
"I don't want to go with Papa. I want to stay with Mama."
The boss observed the scene quietly for a moment. Then he gave a firm order.
"Put both of them in the car."
Minjun struggled and shouted, demanding to know why he was being dragged away. Nobody listened. Inside the vehicle he could only think about how absurd everything had become. He kept telling himself that he had done nothing wrong. That did not seem to matter to anyone.
Beside him, the little boy smiled happily, completely satisfied now that he was with his mama.
After they arrived at their destination, Minjun was subjected to a thorough search. He was taken into a room and forced to remove part of his clothing while the men checked whether he was hiding anything on him. The humiliation was unbearable.
Once the inspection was finished, the boss entered holding a file that contained Minjun's personal information. With a mocking smile, he began reading it aloud.
He mentioned the one million yen Minjun owed to Yamamoto Finance. He questioned, sarcastically, how a nursing student at the University of Tokyo could have been so naive.
Then he brought up Tae.
As the boss revealed more details, Minjun grew visibly anxious. The man explained that Tae's supposedly sick mother had actually died two years earlier.
Hearing that, Minjun's blood boiled. Everything finally made sense. He realised just how badly he had been deceived. The words came out of him in a rush: how Tae had manipulated him, how he had stolen his passport, his savings, even his rent money.
The boss watched him calmly through all of it. Then he made an unexpected offer.
He promised to pay off all of Minjun's debts and to cover his university expenses. In return, Minjun would have to become Thomas's mother.
Thomas was the little boy who had refused to let him go.
Minjun tried to argue. Deep down, he knew he had no real choice. As ridiculous as the deal sounded, he eventually accepted it. He simply had nowhere else to turn.
And just like that, his life became tied to a strange and unbelievable agreement, all because one little boy had decided that Minjun was his mother.