inseparable︱𝐉𝐉𝐊

❥ 𝐢𝐧𝐭𝐫𝐮𝐝𝐞𝐫

꧁‿︵‿︵♥‿︵‿︵꧂

JJ - 5

It was a rainy day when my parents brought her home. I remember standing in the living room, clutching my toy dinosaur, watching this girl who was supposed to be my new sister. She was small, her hair dark and short, her face showing signs of shyness, and holding a rather ugly and worn-out teddy bear like it was her lifeline.

My mom kneeled behind me, her hand warm on my shoulders. "Jungkook, this is Jieun," she said gently. "She's going to be living with us now."

I didn't say anything. I just stared at her, this intruder who was supposed to fill the void left by my baby sister. It didn't make sense to me. She was gone, and this girl wasn't her. She never could be.

My five-year-old mind couldn't grasp the complexities of loss and replacement. All I knew was that I missed her terribly, and now, suddenly, there was this new girl standing in our hallway.

It felt like a betrayal, like my sister's memory was being pushed aside to make room for someone else. I had questions I couldn't articulate.

Without a word, I turned and ran to the living room, desperate to escape. "Baby—" I heard Mom calling.

I flopped back onto the couch and kept watching TV, trying to lose myself in the bright colors and silly voices of my favorite cartoons.

"Jungkook!" Dad added, more commanding. "Come and say hello properly."

But I pretended not to hear them, my eyes glued to the screen. I knew I was being rude, but I didn't care. All I wanted was for everything to go back to the way it was before Jieun came into our lives

"Let him, darling," Mom whispered. He needs time—come, Jieun. How about we show you your new room?"

Days turned into weeks, and this Jieun girl was always there, shadowing me, trying to get my attention. It was annoying. She followed me around the house, like she was waiting for me to accept her. But I couldn't. I wouldn't. Every time she tried to join in my games or talk to me, I felt a strange kind of irritation rising up, tightening my chest. It felt like she was invading my space, my life, without permission.

One evening, as I was playing with my toys in the living room, she came over, holding a crayon and a piece of paper in her small hands. "Do you want to color with me?" she asked, hopeful.

"No," I snapped, not even looking up from my toys.

She stood there for a moment, then quietly walked away. I felt a small pang of guilt but pushed it aside. She wasn't my sister. She didn't belong here.

The tension finally boiled over a month later. We were in the living room again, and she was coloring at the coffee table, her favorite hobby, while I built a tower with my blocks. Spongebob was quietly playing in the background even though we weren't watching.

Jieun then looked up at me and smiled. "Jungkook, look! I drew a picture of us," she said, holding up the paper. It had Mom, Dad, our dog, and the little kids were supposed to be the two of us, I guess. It was a terrible drawing.

I glanced at it, annoyed. "That doesn't look like me," I muttered, turning back to my blocks.

She frowned sadly, lowering the paper down. "But..."

"You're not good at it."

"You want me to draw something else?" she suggested, picking up her crayons.

I rolled my eyes. "I don't care. Stop trying to be my sister. You're not."

Her face instantly crumpled, and she started to cry, which made my parents rush in from the kitchen, alarmed by the noise. "What's going on?" Dad asked, looking between us.

Jieun sniffled, wiping her eyes. "I just wanted to draw a picture for Jungkook, but he hates it."

Mom sighed, kneeling down beside her. "It's a lovely picture, darling. Is that us right here?" she pointed at it, and Jieun nodded. "I'll put it on the fridge, okay?—Jungkook, you need to be nicer to your sister."

"She's not my sister!" I yelled, throwing my blocks across the room. "She'll never be my sister!"

Dad stepped forward, not looking too happy with my tantrum. "Jungkook, that's enough. Go to your room."

I didn't care. I stomped upstairs, slamming the door behind me, and threw myself onto my bed, fuming. How could they expect me to accept her just like that?

Later that evening, right before dinner, my parents came in. They sat on the edge of my bed, looking serious. I didn't even glance at them and continued to play with my dinosaur.

"Honey," Mom started, "we need to talk about Jieun."

I clicked my tongue, glaring at the wall. "I don't want to talk about her."

Dad sighed, but his voice was gentle. "Buddy, we know this is really hard for you. Losing Nari was very painful for all of us too. Jieun is not the one to blame. You can't keep treating her this way."

Mom nodded, her eyes sad. "We miss your sister every day, just like you do. But Jieun needs us. She needs a family to love her, just like we love you."

"But why her?" I asked, my eyes filling with tears. "Why does she have to be here?"

Mom brushed my dark hair back gently. "Jieun doesn't have a mommy or daddy anymore. She was all alone, and we thought we could help her. We thought maybe she could help us feel a little less sad too."

I looked at them, confusion and anger swirling in my mind. "She's not my sister."

Dad took my hand. "You're right, she's not your sister by blood. But we can choose to be her family. We can choose to give her a home and love her. We would want someone to do it for us if we were alone, right? How do you feel when Taehyung or Hoseok are absent from school? Don't you feel sad?"

"Yeah..."

"That's how Jieun felt before coming here. She's not trying to replace your sister," Mom added tenderly. "We know how much you loved her, and we would never try to take that away. Jieun is just another little girl who needs someone to care for her."

I sniffled, looking down at my hands. "I don't know if I can do it."

"We're not asking you to do it all at once," Dad said. "Just try to be a little nicer one day at a time, okay? Be kind to her. Show her your toys, and share them sometimes. Let her come here inside your room to play."

"You don't have to love her right away, baby. With time, who knows, you can get to know her and see that she's just a little girl looking for a big brother."

I was silent for a long time, thinking about what they said. Maybe they were right. Maybe I could try.

I nodded slowly. "Okay. I'll try."

Mom smiled and hugged me, brushing my hair away. "That's all we ask, sweetheart."

Dad patted my back. "We're proud of you, buddy. It's a big thing to do, but we believe you can do it."

As they left the room, I lay back on my bed, staring at the ceiling. It wasn't going to be easy, but someday... I could find a way to accept this girl into my family and stop seeing her as less of an intruder and more like a... sister.