Make It With You

3

Monique**

"Mornin', sleepyhead! Monica-sensei, rise and shine! Don't you miss me?" Mina chirped, giving me a shake.

"I miss you, I really do, but can I sleep for just five more minutes?" I groaned, pulling the blanket over my face.

"Don't you have work today?"

"I don't work on weekends," I mumbled, barely coherent.

"Let me check your phone to be sure." Mina snatched my phone and grinned. "Anata wa konshū-sue ni shigoto o shite imasu." (You're working on weekends now.)

I squinted, barely opening my eyes. "Dōiu imidesu ka?" (What does that even mean?) I mumbled, still half-asleep.

"Anata no mēru o chekku, baka!" (Check your email, idiot!) Mina said throwing my phone in my stomach.

"Ouch, Mina! I swear, one of these days I'm going to get you back," I muttered, scrolling through my inbox.

"Damn it," I muttered. "Did you eat breakfast?"

"Not yet, I'm waiting for you. Let's go, everyone's already in the dining room," Mina said.

I threw open the kitchen door and, with all the enthusiasm of a morning person (which I clearly wasn't), yelled, "Joh-eun achim nae salang!" (Good morning, my loves!)

Mina immediately smacked my head. "Why did you do that?"

"Stop shouting, it's way too early for this," she groaned.

My mom raised an eyebrow. "You're speaking Korean now?"

I grinned. "Nope, that's the only Korean I know." My dad shook his head in disbelief.

After planting kisses on everyone (and receiving a few groans in return), we finally dug into breakfast. Mina and Mom had whipped up a spread-fried rice, bacon, eggs, sausages, hot coffee for the adults, and hot chocolate for the kids. Breakfast never tasted so good, even if I had woken up with one foot still in dreamland.

"This is the best breakfast ever!" I exclaimed, practically dancing in my seat.

"Unnie, you're too noisy," Zoe whined, covering her ears dramatically.

"See? Even Zoe's annoyed with you," Mina teased, high-fiving Zoe like they were in on some secret joke.

"You don't have school?" I asked Emma, raising an eyebrow.

"Nope, Unnie. We're on break," Emma answered, looking way too pleased about it.

"When are you going back to the US?" Zoe asked, casually sipping her juice.

"Wait, what? When did I agree to that?" I looked at my mom and dad like they'd just signed me up for a mystery trip without my knowledge.

"Just do it, it's your brother's request," Dad said, shrugging as if it was a done deal.

"Mom, Dad, don't you have work today?" I asked, feeling a little betrayed by the idea that everyone was just relaxing while I had a schedule.

"We don't work on weekends," they said in perfect unison, like it was some family motto.

"But why do I have a schedule today?" I asked, feeling like I was the only one still caught up in real life. Everyone burst out laughing.

"Stop complaining, just go and work," Dad chuckled, clearly enjoying my dramatic meltdown.

"You're making fun of me," I pouted, crossing my arms like a child.

"Honey, no one's making fun of you. You don't want to be late, right?" Mom said, gently nudging me in the right direction.