hyejin
i was just playing barbie dreamhouse tycoon in my room, when the door suddenly burst open and-
"aunt b!" azi squeals before rushing to hug me, making me go in shock. it's been months since the last time i've actually seen this little one.
my older sister moved out of seoul after getting married with her longtime boyfriend, which meant they no longer lived with us. it was a bummer, i really enjoyed having them around the house.
when they left, the house suddenly felt even bigger than it already was.
"i missed you!" she says before letting out an infectious giggle. she leapt into my embrace, wrapping her tiny arms around my neck.
"i missed you too ashianna." i say, hugging her back as i suddenly feel the need to cry. but nooo, how could i? she's already right here.
"look at my new dress." she says right after breaking off the hug. she steps back to show off her new summer dress. i've gotta say, there's a lot of flowers.
she starts spinning around to make her dress flare out.
"aww, it's so pretty! you look like a little princess." i say, causing her to start flirtatiously blink her eyes nonstop.
"wanna have chocolate chip cookies and milk with me?" i offer, making her smile wide and jump oh so excitedly. just as expected, she still loves having them.
i lead her towards the kitchen, since i brought some chocolate chip cookies from the café for myself. i'm really happy that i get to share this with my niece.
"hopefully her sippy cup's still here-" i start rummaging through the cabinets for it. oh thank god, it's still here.
"azi, look!" i happily say before showing her the sippy cup she'd use for everything. ashianna looks so relieved to see that we still have her beloved cup. i'd have to remind my sister to bring it for her by the time they go back.
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yoonji
"why call us all of the sudden?" ken asked, trying to mask his curiosity.
"we have something important to discuss with you both." my mother starts, causing me to start glancing towards everyone, just to get a hint of what my mom's about to say.
"no." i say, feeling like my assumption's right.
"do you even know what i'm about to say?" my mom asks, giving me the look. it angers me so much.
"you really want us to get married." i say, causing ken to tug onto my shirt, which was probably his way of telling me to calm my ass down.
"wha-" my mom starts looking around before going back to me in confusion.
"you guys suck at keeping your voices low whenever you're talking about us." i start before crossing my arms together.
"kenken? you knew about this?" ken's mother asks, to which he hesitantly nods to.
"what we have is all platonic. it shouldn't be up to you who i should-"
"you're not just marrying each other for you, you're doing it for all of us here." my mom adds, causing me to roll my eyes and let out a forced laugh.
"i do not appreciate that attitude, especially when we're in someone else's home." my dad says, making me let out a sigh.
"if yoonji really doesn't feel comfortable having our son, they don't have to." ken's mom says, looking at me with a reassuring smile. she's always been so nice to me.
"no, alma."
"it's the least she could do for us, given everything that we've ever done for her." my mom adds, making my blood start boiling, and my eyes sting.
i'm not just marrying for myself, but for everyone else in here? that kind of mindset seems to lack a certain level of rational thought and coherence.
"i'm sorry." ken mutters, making me look at him with a forced smile. he has nothing to apologize for.
"you two wanna go get some outside air first? dinner will be served in a few." ken's dad asks, causing me to nod and hurry out, with my best friend tailing behind me.
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eunjin
"mom, i need your help." i say, as i'm arranging some flowers in the counter.
she seems distracted watching jake expertly arranging a bouquet. that or she just didn't hear me.
"mommy, come here please." i say, finally able to make her notice me.
"did you see how jake handled those peonies? he's really got a knack for it, don't you think?" she says, going back to look at him do his work, like it's the first time she's ever seen anyone do that.
I. DO. THAT. EVERY. FUCKING. DAY. what's so amazing seeing jake do it?
"yeah he's good and all, but do you remember that one time a bride fully trusted me to do all the flower arrangements based on my guts? she even-" but before i could finish, i end up noticing that she wasn't even listening to me in the first place. yawa!
"jake's fresh ideas are really bringing in something new around here. it's very invigorating." she says, making my brows furrow in confusion.
"i have fresh ideas too, you know. why do you think this kept its success after i took over?" i annoyingly say, before going back to the flowers i was just taking care of.
"you barely notice what i do, even when i was just daddy's little assistant." i mumble, before removing some thorns from the roses.
"what are you talking about? i do appreciate what you do." she says, making me gulp. i didn't expect her to hear that, but oh well.
"you know, you've been complimenting every damn move jake's been doing ever since he started working here ..."
"i'm pretty sure he got more compliments in a couple of days working here than i did in years!" i start, feeling the need to cry. as much as i hate saying this: i did not lie, nor did i exaggerate about that.
"are you actually jealous of jake?" she asks, making me even more frustrated with this situation i'm unfortunately heavily involved in.
"why does it sound like you're putting the blame on me? i-it's you, mom ..."
"you only ever see me when i make mistakes." i say, earning me a flabbergasted look from my mother.
"you're overreacting." she says before letting out a laugh, making me get confused all over again.
"get back to work, you still have a lot to do." she adds, suddenly taking off her gloves and apron before going inside the staff only room.
"here." jake says before handing me a packet of tissues, causing me to look up and face him with a forced smile.
"thank you." i say to him, smiling right back at me. no ill intentions, just pure goodwill.
