Love, Betray & Crash (Jeonghan)

𝔸𝕔𝕥 𝕆𝕟𝕖 : 𝕊𝕔𝕖𝕟𝕖 𝟚𝟙

Emily has a complicated family dynamic. 

She has her father, her mother and her younger sister who is eight years younger than Emily. 

Her parents migrated to America when they were college students and eventually met each other, got married and got settled in America. Asian communities were still a large minority at the time, as they still are today, but even more minor that her father faced serious racism and bullying at his first job. But he stuck through and today he holds one of the top managerial positions at his workplace. 

Emily's father in simple words, is a hard working self-made man. 

Her mother, though highly educated, decided to be a stay at home mom when Emily was five and manage Emily's swimming career when it became clear she showed talent and spark for the sport. 

That single decision has perhaps been one of the worst decision for the family. 

Because not only did it eventually deteriorate Emily's relationship with her mother, but it also ruined her relationship between her and her father and her sister as well as effected her parent's marriage as well. Emily isn't blind to how strained her parent's relationship with each other is or how her father sometimes openly flirts with other women or the the time Emily walked in to her mother throwing a lamp at her father. 

When Emily's mother had made the decision to manage Emily's athletic life, she had also apparently decided to abandon the role of a mother and take on the role of a psychotic dictator in the form of a helicopter parent. 

Her entire childhood has been defined by swimming to the point she was not allowed to do anything unless it was related to swimming. 

Emily was not allowed to attend birthday parties of her friends because it took time away from training. 

Emily was not allowed to eat ice cream because that is processed sugar. 

Emily was not allowed to join extra curricular activities at school because they will take away her attention from swimming. 

Emily was not allowed to have cake on her birthday because who needs all that extra fat anyways. In fact, if Emily remebers correctly, she wasn't really even allowed to have a birthday because that means a day taken away from swimming. 

She couldn't join other kids on school trips or one day excursions, she couldn't go on a vacation, she couldn't  go watch a movie with her friends, she couldn't go to prom, she wasn't allowed to date, wasn't allowed to talk to boys and the list goes on. 

At least she was still allowed to physically go to school. Emily knows her mother wanted to pull her out and get her homeschooled but that was where her father drew the line. Probably the only time that man has actually ever acted as a father. 

When she was still in elementary and middle school, Emily didn't really realize how isolated she is growing up compared to other children. She enjoyed swimming and frankly she enjoyed wining every time she swam. Everyone had told her she is one day going to be one of the greatest female swimmers to ever live and she admits it did get to her head and evidently her mother's as well. 

It wasn't until she turned fifteen and had her very first major loss in a competition that she realized the fragility of being an athlete. Her body was changing as she grew into a young adult and it wasn't as light and feather-like as it has always been. She did begin to have doubts about her swimming career. She wasn't sure if she wanted this for the rest of her life anymore. 

Emily realized that the friends she had created from childhood weren't really her best friends and she didn't blame them either. After all, who would want to continue to be friends with someone who never bothered to show up. It wasn't long until she had stopped receiving invitations to parties, lunches or even a simple hangout such as watching a movie.