FAMILY | on hold

one ✔

IMPORTANT NOTE (applies to all chapters): [kor] before the first speech mark = all speech in that dialogue paragraph is spoken in korean. [kor] after the speech mark = only the sentence/s in between the pair of speech marks are spoken in korean.
examples:
[kor] "hi," he says. "how are you?" = both sentences are spoken in korean
"[kor] hi," he says. "how are you?" = only the "hi" is spoken in korean
"hi," he says. "[kor] how are you?" = only the "how are you?" is spoken in korean
i hope this made sense!

tw: bullying and body-shaming

It's a typical weekday for Kim Seokjin. His loud voice sounds through the tight-spaced two-bedroom apartment at seven thirty in the morning as he yells at his sons to hurry and get dressed for school. While they're taking turns in the shower, he prepares three lunch boxes with a ham, cheese, lettuce, tomato, and mayonnaise sandwich; a resealable bag containing sliced apples with a sprinkle of salt; a mini tub of sultanas; and a juice box. He makes sure there's an equal portion of every item in each lunch box before he packs them in his sons' school bags.

"Appa, did you sign the permission slip for the science excursion?" Eunho, the second oldest, asks as he enters the living room.

Seokjin grabs a small resealable bag off the kitchen counter, which contains a $5 note and a signed permission slip, and hands it to Eunho.

"Appa, do you know if any of my singlets are dry yet?" Taeyoung, the youngest, asks as he approaches his father.

Seokjin goes to the balcony, grabs a dry singlet from the clothing rack, and hands it to Taeyoung. 

"Appa, have you seen my myki?" Jaemin, the oldest, asks as he rummages his bag for his transit pass.

Seokjin unzips the small pocket of Jaemin's bag and pulls out the travel card.

"I literally just looked in there..." Jaemin says, scratching his head in confusion.

"[Kor] You didn't look properly," Seokjin says, and gently flicks Jaemin's forehead.

A small pout forms on Jaemin's face and he puts his myki back where it was before he slings his backpack over his shoulder. Seokjin smiles in amusement and does some last minute cleaning.

As a single parent of three kids, Seokjin had to and continues to make three times the sacrifices in order to fulfil and satisfy his sons' needs. He has shed countless tears due to distress and agony but he endured his suffering and he overcame his greatest struggle which was a battle within himself. Now, the only struggles he faces are associated with money but he manages to settle all his bills. The trick to that is by weighing out cost differences between deals, refraining from careless and excessive spending, and making a Centrelink claim since he's a low income earner so he's eligible for fortnightly payments of a couple hundred dollars from the government.  

Since his sons attend a government school, the standard curriculum is taught for free; however, he has to make "voluntary contributions" of approximately $150 per child, per year. In other words, he still has to pay for his sons' schooling but the payments aren't considered school fees. Other payments include school uniforms, textbooks, stationery, excursions, extracurricular activities, and so on. Transport fees are approximately $2500 per year if he combines his sons' student passes and his own travel costs; rent is $295 per week for a crappy apartment; electricity, gas, water, internet, and phone bills total to approximately $500 per month; and grocery shopping never exceeds $800 per month. So much to do but so little money and he's desperate to move into a better house but the rent is ridiculously expensive.

However, despite these financial stresses, Seokjin is happy. He has three sons that he cherishes with every cell in his body and though they may cause a ruckus every so often, his life would not be the same without them. They love him as much as he loves them and he could never ask for anything more.