Hana had her hands clapped on her ears as she rocked back and forth in a dark corner. The tears streaming down her face intensified with every crash she heard. They were fighting again. But this time, it was worse than before. The two months Hana stayed with her aunt's family after her parents' accident, she had witnessed them arguing over and over again. What was worse that the arguments were mainly because of her. Youngmin never liked Hana, or any of Junmi's family. So when Junmi took over the guardianship of the sixteen year old and brought her into their house, Youngmin wasn't delighted. He'd always pick on her, as immature as that sounds, make hurtful comments, and Junmi, who treasured the last trace of her sister's existence, couldn't bear it.
Things in their household weren't smooth to begin with. Sehun's parents would always fight even before Hana came into the picture. There was a secret the kids didn't know about, their father's perfidy. It wasn't a complete secret, Junmi wasn't stupid, but she was too afraid to confront. She kept telling herself that maybe it was just a misunderstanding, that maybe it was just her imagination running wild. However, she knew she was fooling herself. Junmi retorted to unhealthy ways of dealing with the building stress and anxiety. Hana had once caught a glimpse of smoke, and Sehun constantly used to complain about the weird smell surrounding his mother. The elders always shushed him, and he being clueless, stopped mentioning the odor. Haera, Hana's mother, worried constantly over her sister, especially after a thirteen year old Hana told her she saw holding a 'white stick that released smoke'. Haera was relieved and confused as to why Hana didn't figure out the object but didn't dwell into the fact.
Junmi never shared her problems with her sister. Haera disliked Youngmin even when he and her sister were dating. Haera didn't keep her dislike hidden, which is why after Junmi made the mistake of marrying him, she kept all her issues to herself. Despite Junmi not mentioning her worries Haera was always aware of her sister's condition. The frown lines, the eye bags, her frail appearance, Haera saw it all but kept quiet. Instead, despite her distaste for the man, she began visiting her sister often, and although the kids of both the sisters were already good friends, they got to spend more and more time with each other. They were the reason Hana didn't find it necessary to make more friends, she was content with them and Yuri by her side.
The arguments between the couple back then weren't pretty. Her sons were aware that their parents weren't on good terms, and they also knew why. Not entirely sure but they still had a hunch. They had seen their father around with a woman and they weren't idiots. Ever since Junmi took Hana in, the fights got worse. Their words got nastier, comments became more and more penetrative, and voices grew louder and louder.
It started at the dinner table, Junmi once again had too much to drink, and Youngmin was late yet again saying he was busy with 'work'. The air in the house was always tense when the husband and wife were together in one room. The kids tried their best not to make any unnecessary noise and remained quiet while the couple made no efforts to start a normal conversation. It wasn't the snide comments they passed at each other every once in a while that triggered the bomb. It was the uncalled for rude and extremely offensive comment that he made addressing Hana when she accidentally smeared some sauce on the table cloth.
In one sentence he had managed to call Hana a brat with no manners, a burden and a nuisance, and that her parents were probably happy in hell that they didn't have to deal with a daughter like her anymore. Hana never understood how a man could be so......deplorable. Her father was a gentle person, and never in her life had she imagined someone speaking such vile words to a child, especially to an orphan. Hana bit back her tears but the Junmi didn't hold back on her words. The alcohol in her system didn't allow her to think before she spoke, and before they knew it another fight broke out.
