The girl rolled her eyes at him and asked again he if would take her home. The boy laughed and agreed. On the drive back the radio played in the background as Jackson made sure to maintain a conversation. Once they pulled into the girl’s driveway she had to convince Jackson that walking her to the front door was unneeded. Yejin thanked him for driving her home and hopped out of the car. The boy waited and made sure she was inside the house before driving away. The girl walked in the living room and saw her sister lounging on the couch watching tv. She was headed for her room when Areum unexpectedly spoke up.

      “Hey, come here,” Areum said as she looked at her little sister. Yejin turned and saw the girl sit up on the couch, creating room for Yejin to sit. The younger took soft nervous steps towards the spot before sitting down.

   “Do you know what tomorrow is?” Areum asked. Yejin gulped as she knew exactly what her sister was talking about. It was the thing that rested in the back of her mind every time she came home and she wished so hard that Areum would leave it alone this year.

“I’m not going to yell at you. Look,” Areum paused herself to grab the remote and turn off the tv, leaving the room in silence. The older girl sighed as she stared ahead at the blank screen, not wanting to look at her sister’s face.

“I was talking to dad earlier about it and I realized it wasn’t your fault. I mean, I always knew it was never really your fault,” Areum said. Yejin felt her eyes water at remembering the incident. Areum looked at her sister and had to gulp back the urge to cry.

“I just wanted someone to blame, so did Mom and Dad,” Areum said with a hiccup. Yejin looked at the carpet as she sniffed back tears threatening to fall. “We were so mean to you and I never even realized it until now,” Areum said in a thick voice before covering with her hand. Yejin closed her eyes and shook her head.

“I’ve been such a horrible sister when I should have been helping you. I never thought about how you felt,” the older girl said through tears. Yejin opened her eyes and looked at her, wanting to comfort her but unsure how. Areum blinked hard, trying to stop her