N.O

Chapter 4

We arrived at the Section Hall, where the Attending Ceremony was held, early the next morning. When we walked in, there were tables filled with food and pastries that I couldn't even imagine. I looked down at Yeonhwa and saw that her eyes were just as big as mine.

"Welcome," said a woman with a sweet smile. She bowed to the three of us with her hands in front of her waist before moving one of them gracefully toward the tables and said, "Make yourself at home."

I furrowed my eyebrows in confusion. "Excuse me?"

Her hand returned to the front of her waist as she said, "This food is for the Attending Ceremony's children and their families." She then eyed me up and down in a sympathetic way and said, "From the looks of it, surely you must be hungry."

I looked down at myself and saw that I wore a more tattered blue dress shirt without a suit coat, not to mention the pants I wore had so many stitches from accidentally ripping it over the past year.

I then looked at my sister and my mother, both having the same expression; hungry.

Letting go of Yeonhwa's hand, I made my way over to the table not even thinking about bowing in front of the lady as a thank you. Rather quickly, I grabbed three plates and filled them with potatoes, corn, chicken, carrots, apples, salad, and some dressings. After piling each plate, I handed one to Yeonhwa then Mother and kept one for myself as we each grabbed some silverware. We quickly found a spot to sit at and ate up the food like there was no tomorrow.

If there was such a place as heaven, this is what it tasted like.

When we first came in, there were some Section Two and Section Three families scattered about, gobbling up their food, so we didn't even think about how humiliating we looked.

After a few minuets, more people came in laughing and talking to each other in pure white suits, obviously Section One teenagers. A couple had glanced over at us and saw how we were practically pigging out on the food and looked disgusted. I scoffed at them before I felt Yeonhwa tug on my sleeve.

As I looked down at her, I chuckled at how messy she looked with five star kimchi and bulbogi sauce smeared all over her cheeks and lips.

"Can we get some cake, Big Brother?"

I smiled with my mouth closed, not wanting to show the food stuffed in my cheeks. I quickly swallowed the food then wiped my mouth with my napkin and said, "Of course."

I glanced at my mother as she looked at both of us. We exchanged soft smiles as Yeonhwa started dragging me to the dessert table.

Cookies, cakes, chocolate-covered strawberries, and pies filled the table. I grabbed a small plate and asked Yeonhwa what she wanted. She then started pointing to various small desserts, and with each one she pointed to, I picked one up and put it on her plate.

After she was finished choosing, I gave her her plate and told her to wait for me at the table. She nodded in excitement and ran back to her chair. I smiled at her and then glanced over at Mother once more. Almost immediately my smile disappeared.

I remembered when I was younger she told me about her favorite things before the change of the government. Before all of this she loved to listen to music, play piano, dance, sing, and eat raspberry cheesecake.

Cheesecake....

I turned around and noticed a medium sized pink pie that had streaks of purple and drizzled with fresh raspberry syrup.

I quickly grabbed two more plates and got two pieces of the cream cheese pie, one on each plate. I walked over to our table and set the plate in front her. "You once told me that this was your favorite thing to eat."

She looked up at me and for a split second, I saw her face light up before she wrapped her delicate arms around me. After setting down my plate, I hugged her back. God, how she was missed.

She broke the hug and looked at me with water in her eyes. "You are special, Boyeon. Everyday I see more of your father in your eyes. You keep that alive. That drive, keep it alive, and never let anyone take it away from you no matter what."

For some reason, that meant more than it probably should've.

I told her thank you and gave her another hug before grabing my plate and taking my seat next to Yeonhwa. After that moment, all I could do was smile. It was the first time in almost five years that I actually saw my mother truly happy.

As some time passed, the hall was filled with teenagers and families from various Sections. Many talked to each other while most Section Four's and Three's just stayed with their families.

While glancing around, a group of Section One boys came in and started pointing and snickering at me like I was some sort of funny looking dog. Not wanting to use up my energy, I rolled my eyes and went back to eating with my family.

A few minutes later, the lady that greeted us at the door went to the front of the room and announced that the Attending Ceremony was about to begin. "Please make your way to the auditorium and sit with the rest of your Section. The Section Leaders will be there shortly."

We all stood while some just looked at each other. I knew that this was the last time I was going to have a conversation with my family, so I took the time to say the things that needed to be said.

I held my mother's hand and looked into her sad eyes. "You do everything you can for her. I'm not going to be here for a long time, so don't turn your back on her like how you did when Father died. She needs you now."

She looked back into my eyes while I told her everything. She then nodded her head with the sweet smile I missed so much. Her eyes started to water once more as she pulled me into her warm embrace. "I promise," she whispered before she let go of me.

Yeonhwa then lightly tugged on my sleeve once more. "Big Brother," she said with tears flooding out of her eyes.

I knelt down and hugged her tightly. "Oh, hush-hush. I'll come back, Little Girl. I'll play whatever games you want me to play when I come back."

She hesitantly pulled away and looked at me with her pinky held out. "Do you promise?"

"I promise," I said while locking her pinky with mine and touched thumbs to form a small triangle.

While holding her tightly again, I kissed her forehead and picked her up. Once I stood up straight, Mother was smiling like never before. While smiling back, I said, "Keep smiling for my little sister." Then it was Yeonhwa's turn. "And you keep smiling for our mother."

I let Mother take Yeonhwa into her arms while I leaned toward my sister to kiss her cheek.

"I love you both," I said choking back my tears.

Slowly, I turned around and started walking away, hearing Yeonhwa's cries for me not to go. Once I reached the auditorium doors, I turned around and looked at them one last time. Yeonhwa's cries have calmed down slightly and Mother kept smiling at me.

Keep smiling, Mother. While I'm gone, don't lose your confidence. Please don't ignore Yeonhwa again. Don't leave her behind like before. All you have to do is keep smiling. If you don't, I don't think I'll be able to forgive you again.

As soon as I stepped through the threshold, that pesty ringing haunted me once more.