The Mop of Justice

The janitor was surprised when he didn't find a letter under Miss Min-Hee's pillow the next afternoon. She hadn't received any letters for a while either. He was slightly curious about what might have happened, but decided not to think about it for too long; his amount of involvement was enough for him. He also realized that Miss Min-Hee might have been too tired yesterday; he'd heard rumors about some kind of big commotion she'd gotten involved in.
     The next day, there was still no letter under the pillow. Furthermore, there were now cameras placed all over her room. He thought that was strange, but did his job anyway. 
     The next day, there were still no letters. 
     A week passed without any letters appearing under Miss Min-Hee's pillow. The janitor began to worry, but he forced himself to calm down. 
     He awoke one morning, and as he stepped through the lobby of his apartment complex, he checked his mailbox. There were letters from his grandchildren and from his bank, but there were two more that made him smile in relief. 
     One was in a plain white envelope, and the other was in a yellow one. What gave them away were the stamps and addresses. He gingerly pulled the two foreign letters out of his mailbox and tucked them into his uniform, then continued out of his apartment complex.
     After cleaning for a few hours, he reached Miss Min-Hee's room again. He opened the door and went through his process of cleaning her room thoroughly, then moved on to her bathroom and scrubbed everything clean. After he'd finished with his main chores, he moved on to her bed. He lifted her pillow and found nothing. He blinked slowly, then made her bed as best he could. Once he was nearly finished, he pulled the letters out and froze.
     There was a camera on the headboard that was staring right at him.
     He knew he'd been caught. His old eyes caught the subtle movements within the camera's lens that focused on the letters in his hands. 
     He smiled and placed the letters under her pillow anyway. Once he'd done that, he finished making her bed and stepped out of her room, turning the lights off as he did so. 
     He mused about how all it had taken was one careless action. He'd have to apologize to Miss Min-Hee if he got the chance. 
     Before he finished the next idol's bathroom, he heard footsteps behind him. He stopped mid-toilet scrub and turned towards the men who'd found him. There were two of them, in suits, looking upset. He smiled pleasantly.
     "Good afternoon gentlemen."
     "Janitor Seo-Jun, your employment has been placed under review as per the contract you agreed upon when you entered Zygeist Media." Said the man with a strong chin.
     Seo-Jun chuckled.
     "May I at least finish cleaning this idol's room?" 
     "No; you are hereby suspended without pay from working with Zygeist Media until your employment has been thoroughly inspected and a proper resolution is found." The strong-chin said. "We are here to escort you out of the building. You will be called upon to defend yourself before the board and your manager within the next three months if you wish to continue working under Zygeist Media."
     Seo-Jun considered his options, then stood up. He placed his toilet scrubbing brush back into the plastic basket of cleaning supplies gingerly. As he peeled off his gloves, he sighed, folded them, then placed them back into the same basket. He went to the sink, took the rag he'd used to clean the inside of it, and put it away as well. Finally, he washed his slightly crooked hands with warm soap and water and looked in the mirror. 
     His gray hair and slightly sunken eyes looked back at him, with the wrinkles on his face seeming more prominent than they ever had before. He dried off his hands on the towel, then turned to the men and stepped out of the bathroom towards them. The light to the idol's bedroom flipped off as the three of them stepped out. 
     The walk was short.
     Seo-Jun turned to one of the men as they approached the glass doors of Zygeist Media. 
     "Young man, I don't think I'll bother." He said politely.
     The two men both turned towards him.
     "I've been cleaning this place for a while now, and I think I'd much rather be spending time with my grandchildren; they grow up so quickly, and the letters they've been sending me have been pulling at my heartstrings." 
     The three of them stood in front of Zygeist Media's doors. The guards looked at each other, then at Seo-Jun.
     "You might still be summoned to defend yourself." One said.
     "Then I'll show up for that." He shrugged. "But I think I should retire." He looked towards the glass doors and smiled. 
     He grabbed the metal handle. 
     "It's time I write a letter of my own." He whispered.
     Seo-Jun left.
~~~
     Gene sent his letter to Miya, and he sent another one with Annabelle. The two of them waited for days to receive a response. 
     When one came, it felt different. It had been sent to Gene's parents' address. He held the letter in his hands as he leaned against his parent's mailbox and opened it. The handwriting was completely different; it was in elegant, refined letters, but these were stately, as if written by a noble instead of a performer. 

     "To Whom it May Concern, I'm afraid Miss Min-Hee is no longer capable of receiving letters. I was the go-between for your letters to and from her, and I have been removed from my position. Without me, she is no longer capable of receiving your letters. I have not read anything you've sent, but because of the sheer quantity, I believe you must deeply care about the woman. I offer my sincerest apologies for my failure, and I hope that if you see her again, you will tell her as much. Sincerely, her janitor."

     Gene held the letter.
     He spoke with Annabelle about it, and she cried into his arms. She told their parents, and despite not fully comprehending what was going on, they insisted that they all pray about the situation. He was present for the prayer, but his mind was racing.
     Everything had been so clear; they were going to keep sending letters to each other, and he would tell her how much he loved her, and he would wait for her to retire, and they would end up together. It had all been so crystal clear.
     Hours passed. Annabelle fell asleep, and so had his parents. He sat on the front porch of their house in silence.
     It was a starless, moonless night. 
     He looked at the dark sky and trembled with rage. His boots slammed against the ground as he stood up and pointed an accusatory finger towards the heavens.
     "God, why don't you do something?!"
     "He did." 
     Gene whipped around to see Annabelle standing in her flowy black pajama dress on the porch. She seized the moment and spoke again. She seemed esoteric, her pale skin almost glowing. A gentle breeze blew between them, picking up her wavy black hair and making it dance as her blue eyes sparkled like rushing waters. Her voice was full of conviction and weight, sounding too mature to come from someone who was only ten years old.
     "He made you." 
     Gene stared at his sister. He looked back at the sky. The janitor's letter was pulled out of his pocket. His truck was in the driveway. His heart was pounding.
     Annabelle felt her brother kiss her on the forehead and wrap her up into a hug, but by the time she finished processing it, he was running back to his truck. 
     "Love you! Go to bed!" He shouted as he jumped into it and started it up.
     Annabelle nodded, but she watched him drive away before doing what he said. 
~~~
     Miya remained steadfast. 
     She hated not being able to write or read letters from the Southwell siblings anymore. It hurt more than any training injury, and Mukashi's words echoed in her mind nearly every day while she was training. 
     Mukashi told her that her off-season was ending early. She didn't know how he'd managed to do it, but he told her that in two weeks, she was going to be performing a sort of 'miniature' concert in order to make people forget about the fan meet-up fiasco. There weren't going to be any new songs in it, but she was told to do her best, and so she would.
     She wanted to see Gene again.
     But whenever night came and her weaknesses surfaced, she reminded herself of something critical.
     He could always see her performing.
     So for as long as she could, she would perform as if he were the only one watching her.
     She wanted him to smile.