In Another Life

Not The End, But A Beginning

High school was a chaotic place, it's filled with so many different kinds of people and so many more opportunities....

"Oi Li Mingyue! Over here!" Haneul called her over. Mingyue nodded grabbing her books from her locker and joining her best friend.

"Aish Haneul, what's the rush? We literally have all the time in the world right now. School just ended."

"I don't feel like walking today, plus it looks like it's going to rain. If we catch my brother in time, he could drive us home."

The two girls hurried out the the parking lot to see if Kangdae was still there. Mingyue and Haneul wanted to go back to Haneul's house for a movie marathon of Harry Potter.

"Kangdae! Wait up!" Haneul called over to her brother. He looked at his sister, rolling his eyes.

"What do you want?"

"Can you please drive Mingyue and I home? You'd be my favorite brother in the entire world~"

"I'm your only brother," He sighed, "get in."

The two girls made sure to be wearing the comfiest clothes if they were being couch potato's for the whole weekend. But before they could even think about watching the movies, they needed to make a shit ton of snacks.

"Kangdae? If I give you money, can you run to the market to pick up some stuff?" Mingyue asked.

"Sure, what do you need?"

"Here is the list and the money, thank you!"

The boy nodded before going to put on his shoes and jacket.

"Wait you do stuff for her and not me? I'm literally your sister dipshit."

"This is why I do stuff for Mingyue. You just called me a dipshit." Kangdae pointed out. "Oh I'm inviting some of my friends over later."

Haneul gave him the thumbs up before her and Mingyue got to work on putting all the snacks together. In the end, they made chocolate chip cookies, brownies and Kangdae got them different kinds of chips from the store.

"This looks good, let's just get our hot coco and I think that this movie marathon is officially about to start!" Haneul squealed. She couldn't wait to get to the third movie to see Draco Malfoy, she claims that's when he starts to look 'hot'.

The two girls settle into the couch. Plenty of pillows and blankets around them with their food on the coffee table in front of them.

It was maybe towards the end of the second movie when Kangdae's friends arrived. Mingyue recognized them, they were the popular boys of the school because of their dashing visuals and their kindness towards others. They had plenty of fangirls to say the least.

"Kangdae! Your friends are here!" Haneul yelled up the stairs. The group of boys tried to hold their laugh in as Kangdae was being yelled at.

"Next time Mingyue should tell me, she's nicer about it. She's like the sister I've always wanted." Kangdae said, glaring at Haneul.

The two siblings had a weird relationship. Both of them severely annoyed each other, but would also do anything for each other. It varied by the day.

The group of boys followed Kangdae into another room, letting the girls continue with their movies. When the third movie came on, Haneul and Mingyue were both squealing.

"What's happened?" Kangdae ran in with a nervrious look.

"What happened was that this movie is the start of all their handsome looks!" Haneul said, basically bouncing off the walls. Mingyue couldn't tell if it was just because she was excited or because of how much sugar they consumed during the first two movies.

"Aish, I thought something actually happened!" Kangdae fought with his sister.

"And something did happen!"

The two siblings fought until Mingyue decided to step in. All she needed to do was clear her throat and the bickering would come to an end.

The Choi's were probably the only family that was aware of Mingyue's situation. They treated her like a baby sister even though she was still a few months older than Haneul. Both of them favored the Li girl because of her kind character even in a rough situation.

"Sorry..." the Choi siblings muttered. They tried refraining from actual fights in front of Mingyue, they only let her see the petty ones that aren't important.

Mingyue's phone on the table started violently vibrating. Her heart rate increased at the sudden noise, Haneul took one look at the user ID and didn't need to know more. She grabbed Mingyue's phone and guided her into a more private place.

"It's best if you answer, I'll be right on the other side of that door if you need me."

Mingyue looked at her best friend, her shaky hands grasped the phone as she struggled to answer.

"Li Mingyue! Where are you? Come home now."

"Mom, I'm at the Choi's house... remember? We talked about this the other night, you said that it would be good for me if I-"

"That never happened."

"Yes it did, please let me stay."

"My final answer is no."

The phone went dead after that, only the sound of faint ringing was left. Defeated, Mingyue gathered all of her stuff.

Haneul and Kangdae watched as the tired girl forced herself to keep moving. That's what she always did, she kept going– especially during difficult times.

"I can drive you home." Kangdae said, grabbing his keys.

"Don't worry about it Kangdae, I can walk. Enjoy time with your friends. I'll see you at school on Monday," Mingyue spoke fast so she could leave sooner. She didn't want to break down crying in front of people because of her mom.

It was only a matter of time until she was put back into foster care with a lovely woman named Kang Jiah. She was a younger woman who loved taking in kids and helping them through their traumas. At this point, Kang Jiah was the only genuine caring adult in Mingyue's life. She treated Mingyue like a little sister that always visited frequently.