You Are Home [Hwang2Shin]

CH. 3

In your new town, where Yeji and Ryujin live, school is actually... okay. Which is a glowing recommendation, coming from you.

You've been to a number of schools in your time -- almost too many to remember -- and since you went into 'the system' you never really stayed in any town long enough to fit in. It doesn't help that other kids are loud and expressive and don't know what to make of your quiet watchfulness.

Sure, you've made friends here and there -- Annie in Glendale and Margot in Wakefield -- but when you started bouncing from foster home to foster home so rapidly you just kind of... gave up on the whole thing. (Besides, you know you'll always come back to Sunoo, and he's the only one who really gets you, anyway.)

But, for whatever reason, this town is different.

You wonder if it's because you're different. Because Yeji and Ryujin are different, so, so different from any foster parents you've had before (in that they actually care).

Here, your classmates smile at you and trade snacks with you at lunch and they've seem to come under the belief that your really short haircut is a fashion statement and, as a result, they think you're kinda cool and rebellious.

So, yeah, school is pretty okay. That's why it feels like a major betrayal when, sometime in the beginning of your second month at Pinks Middle School, Haewon Oh tells your teacher that she saw you puking in the bushes during recess. That mouth-breather.

You'd been feeling pretty horrible since last night, when your throat became scratchy and you got really, really hot. It was hard to sleep because your head was pounding, and you were shivering even under three blankets.

When morning came there was nothing you wanted to do more than stay in bed and sleep the day away, but you've learned from experience that foster parents don't like that. School is like free daycare, to them, and they get bent out of shape when a kid that's not even theirs comes down with a bug and disrupts their free time.

So, you got dressed, splashed water on your face, and went downstairs for breakfast.

Yeji definitely knew something was up. She felt your forehead and pressed the backs of her fingers to your cheeks, and you couldn't help but lean into her touch, a little, because her fingers were really cool and Yeji's touches make your heart swell up a bit. You know her father's a doctor so you were pretty sure she'd see past your bluff when you swore up and down that you were fine, but she just cocked her head to the side before smiling and running her fingers through your hair. (It's finally getting longer, thanks to your new shampoo, and she likes the way the bristly strands feel against her fingers.)

Ryujin, however, seemed unconvinced. She usually heads off to work right around the time you leave for school, and this morning was no different. She was leaning against the kitchen counter, sipping coffee and halfheartedly scrolling through her phone, while you knew her attention was really on you and Yeji. (You could tell because she gets this tiny half-smile when she's thinking about Yeji, which is practically all of the time. It's adorable and also gross.)

"Are you sure?" Ryujin asked. She glanced between you and Yeji and you weren't sure who she was addressing, so you stayed quiet. Yeji shrugged and made an unsure face. "She says she's fine." Actually, no, her voice lifted up at the end, so it was more like, "She says she's fine?" That's when you realized Yeji knew you were sick -- that Ryujin probably knew, too -- but they're trusting and good and they take you at your word.

So, they let you go to school and, in addition to your fever and headache, you also felt guilty for lying.

You just have to make it through the school day, you told yourself. Just six hours until you can crawl back into bed without having to inconvenience Yeji. But then there was recess and the puking and the betrayal, and now you're in the nurses office waiting for Yeji to come pick you up.