LOVE SHOTS - JENLISA ADAPTATIONS

Aunt

She had known that woman for as long as she could remember. Aunt Lili, she called her.

When she entered middle school, she began calling her Aunt Lisa just because it sounded less childish according to her adolescent mind.

The woman never protested. She once told her that she could call her whatever she wanted and it wouldn't have made any difference. They might not be related by blood but the love she felt from her was sometimes more and better than that from her real relatives.

Needless to say, Aunt Lisa was her favorite aunt. She was the coolest and nicest aunt she had, one who understood and listened. Even more than her parents did.

She once asked her mother why this aunt was so nice to her and the reaction she got was confusing at best.

Her mother gave her a smile and said that it was because they had been best friends since they were her age. But she was sure she saw tears in her mother's eyes and that was the confusing part.

As she grew older, she began to notice how her favorite aunt rarely stayed when her parents were home. She would come, take her somewhere fun, bring her back home then leave without setting foot inside the house.

The only times her Aunt Lili ever stayed for longer than a few minutes were during her birthday parties.

Aunt Lisa never married.

When she was young, it meant that her aunt only had her full attention on her and she loved it. But as she also began to date, she began to wonder why.

Her aunt was pretty, talented and successful. It didn't make sense to her why no man would want her.

"Why don't you have a boyfriend, Auntie?" she once asked.

The woman chuckled. "Haven't met the right person, I guess."

"But you have dated in the past, right?"

"Well, duh? I'm not a nun, you know."

"Then why didn't any of them stick?"

Lisa shrugged. "I don't know. But I can't wait to see you get married one day."

She pouted when her hair was ruffled then fixed straight after. "Don't change the subject. We're talking about you here, not me."

"I've told you why."

"But I don't get it. You're pretty, smart, attractive and very kind." In her seventeen-year-old mind, that was reason enough to have suitors lining up from Seoul to Busan.

Lisa chuckled again. "Love isn't that simple but that talk is for later. You're barely in high school, kid. Stop worrying about my life and just get better grades or your parents would be furious. I'm happy. I have a good life."

That was ten years ago. Now she was 27 and she began to understand why her aunt had said that. Love was indeed not as simple as she thought it would be.

And as she stood in front of her raging father with tears streaming down her face, she realized that love hurt.

Her Aunt Lisa was the person who took her in, gave her a roof over her head when she ran away that night after the confrontation.

She thanked her through her sobs on her shoulder, after she was done lamenting about her situation and calling her father names Lisa said shouldn't come out of her mouth ever again.

Her Aunt Lisa understood, accepted. She smiled kindly and patted her head with that look in her eyes afterwards. A look she had accidentally seen in her own mother's eyes once, when she found the woman standing at the open door, staring after her Aunt Lisa who had just left the house.