Piano Boy | jjk

Chapter 1: Before You Came

Never-ending. That is what Summer felt like to me. Summer made the days seem longer. Time felt slow. And the heat is too hot. It felt as if bad luck was following me everywhere. No matter what I did, everything seemed to be falling apart.

My mind was preoccupied with the worries of my life. Living in an Asian household did not benefit my mental state. Instead, it was deteriorating me. I found myself feeling much more exhausted compared to before. It has been getting worse as time goes by. Even my friends began to observe that I was falling asleep during class too often, which was strange for them to see.

"Monica, you do not look good," Eunbi says, observing me.

"Erin, please get her a glass of water," Eunbi instructs as she nods.

Eunbi and Erin are sisters that attend the same church as me. I have known them for some time, but we do not share a close relationship. Our parents are friends, which explains why they stay at my house after school whilst waiting for their parents to pick them up.

Eunbi and I had a falling-out period a few years ago due to this girl that recently moved into the area. I admit, at first we were close. But as time progressed, her attitude shifted. She started to make claims against me, saying that I was stealing her attention from her. She'd often gaslight me and manipulate others into turning against me. All of my childhood friends chose her side, including Eunbi. Not long after, she finally moved away and those who betrayed me wanted to be friends again. How pathetic.

The church is a holy and sacred place. Funnily enough, it is not at all. I never realized how two-faced people could be. Despite this, the feeling of being taken care of felt weird but in a good way. It felt nice to be taken care of for once.

"Here, drink this," Erin tells me, as she passes me the tall glass of water whilst I gulp it down quickly.

"Go and see a doctor Monica," Eunbi tells me. I could see on her face and hear the genuine concern she had for me.

"I don't want to. It's expensive." I whine, not wanting to go. The thought of spending my money going to the doctors over a minor issue made me feel aggravated. I could spend it on better and more useful things.

"There's a pandemic going around. I'm not saying you'll get the illness but who knows? It's better to be safe than sorry." Eunbi explained as I contemplated the thought.

✧･ﾟ: *✧･ﾟ:* *:･ﾟ✧*:･ﾟ✧

My father was able to drive me to the specialists, despite complaining the whole time. It upset me when my parents would complain that I was asking to get sick...

Who in their right mind would want to purposely get sick? That is just disgusting. Do you think I want to be sick?

If I could, I'd choose not to. Obviously.

Sometimes, no. Most times, I do not understand their logic. Typical Asian parents seem to always find a way to compare and belittle their children. Their means of discipline is not disciplining at all. Do they not understand that they should not be disciplining their children the way their parents did? Nowadays, our generation is more vocal about their feelings, emotions and experiences. Claiming that our parents' generation is too close-minded, strict and uneducated. Therefore, contributes to the fact that the majority of us suffer from childhood trauma.

My mother often told me stories about my grandmother purposely humiliating her in front of others, getting whipped with a belt by her grandfather, and emotionally scarring childhood traumas like that. Funnily enough, they do not realise they are projecting those traumas onto their children, despite saying they would never treat their child like their parents did.