"He was fire, I was Ice. We were too different, yet we were just the same."
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Everything bad was happening to Jin all at once that he was certain he'd burned down a nation in his previous life. His world was freefalling and he just needed an escape...
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"You have to eat something," I said, standing at the foot of mum's bed, watching her hug a large pillow to her small body while staring off into nothing. "You haven't eaten since the day before yesterday."
For a moment she was quiet, then she asked, in a scratched, small voice. "Have you eaten anything? Your cheeks are losing their charm," she said without looking at me.
"Let's eat together," I said. I wasn't hungry, didn't have a single appetite and if not for my mother, I was fine going on without eating. But I was worried for her and would happily shove every bite of food into my mouth if it would make her eat.
No one had eaten dinner the previous night, so Aunt Soohyun was reheating the meals to have that morning. I had gone downstairs to find her in the Kitchen. She'd asked me to set the table and then go ahead to wake my mum, only she was wide awake when I had walked in.
"Come on," I urged, peeling the covers from her body. I handed her a thick robe to wear over the thin sleeping wear she had on, then I took her hand and helped her out of bed.
She felt so fragile in my arms, I almost wept. I had never seen her so weak and helpless. Even when dad had left the first time, it had been tough on her but she'd still managed to get on her feet by herself and make them both breakfast. I would hear her cry herself to sleep every night, but every morning, she'd have wiped every trace of her tears and would put on a mask to hide her pain from me.
This was different. This time was different. She didn't hide her pain and wore it on her face like a second skin. Her small eyes were almost non-existent behind swollen, dark lids. Her lips were pale and chapped. Her cheeks were sunken like a skeleton. Even the way she walked, dragging herself in the most strenuous attempt at movement was mummy-like. I had to hold her against my side with my arm around her waist so she wouldn't go tumbling down the stairs.
She was not taking this too well. I felt so sorry for her.
"Oh, Jia, come sit," Aunt Soohyun called, pulling out a chair from the table. She dished out rice in 3 small bowls as I led my mother to sit in front of one of the plates. "You look like you got run over by a bus, girl!"
Mum sat quietly on the sit, propping her elbows on the table and cradling her head in her hands. "I wish I'd been run-" She stopped and turned to look at me, her expression turning apologetic. She gestured for my hand and kissed it, holding it to her chest. "No. No. I'm sorry, baby."
This was too much.
"It's fine, Mum. Just eat," I said, pulling out the seat next to her.
We all sat in silence eating breakfast. I made sure to swallow every grain because every time my mother saw me eat, she ate, too.
After breakfast, I walked Aqua around the neighbourhood to pass time. The sky had glazed over with dark shadows hanging over my head. I hated it. I missed sunny days. Lately, I had noticed how the weather seemed to always align with his mood. Such a miserable coincidence.
