It seems like I can touch you.

When Ae Sook was about 4, she started attending a daycare center. It was a little bright colored building close to her home, and even closer to her parents’ work. Usually, when toddlers are dropped off, they tend to cry about it, but Ae Sook rushed in and immediately started greeting everyone. She was outgoing and happy, and incredibly loud and talkative. She had no problems assimilating into the class.

But, by the end of the week, Ae Sook found something that she wanted, and that everyone else had: a sibling.

Ae Sook was born an only child, and she never thought about it before because her parents paid more than enough attention to her; playing games, running around in the backyard, and making pretend with her. However, one day, when everyone sat around to talk about their families, Ae Sook began to think differently. Each of the children in her class shared stories about their favorite things that their brothers and sisters did and how they always got to play together. After a while, Ae Sook began to get jealous. She wanted someone who was always with her, even when her parents weren’t.

This was the only conversation that Ae Sook was completely silent throughout. And as the day progressed, she began to say less and less. Then, when her parents came to pick her up, she gave up on her words. She was angry, annoyed, and sad all at the same time. How come she couldn’t have a brother or a sister? It was just unfair.

In turn, Mr. and Mrs. Kim were shocked, to say the least. They kept glancing back at their daughter during the whole car ride home, who was staring intently out the window, all the while trying to figure out what happened in hushed whispers. Because if the normal Ae Sook was there, she would’ve spoken what was on her mind the moment they were in the car.

Once they arrived at the house, Ae Sook unbuckled herself and ran towards the house before slamming the door shut. Mr. Kim found her 5 minutes later, hiding in her closet. Trying to make his daughter feel better, he offered to play with her.

And that’s when she burst into a tantrum. She screamed and cried that she wanted a sibling, not her parents that were old and cranky. Astonished, Mr. Kim went to get Mrs. Kim, who ended up calming her daughter down. The next day, the matter was forgotten.

But Mr. and Mrs. Kim didn’t forget. So, they reached out to the closest person they knew could solve the problem. A month later, they arrived.

It was about June, and a break at that, so Ae Sook was at home, entertaining herself with a new coloring book when suddenly two noisy whirls of color bursted through the door, along with an older woman around her mom’s age.

They were bickering over something in a weird language, and one that Ae Sook definitely wouldn’t classify as Korean. They were completely absorbed in their argument, and as they continued, Ae Sook sat and watched.

The taller one, who Ae Sook assumed was older based on her height, was regal and composed, with her eyes lazily watching the younger one who around one her in circles, full of energy. They seemed so different, but their large presence competed with each other. Ae Sook immediately liked them.

That was the day that she met her cousins, Wang Hu and Lihwa, and that was the same day that they became closer than sisters ever would be.

<> <> <> <> <> <>

Now, 17 years later, Ae Sook immediately senses their presence just as a loud ensemble of noises begins to echo down the hallway outside of Ae Sook’s room. Ae Sook relaxes at the sound of their arrival, but the officer and Da Bin both become vigilant, perched on the end of their seats.

Then, when the same whirls of color burst through the door with their mom following behind, a smile settles over Ae Sook’s lips. Within seconds of their entrance, they have Ae Sook tackled, completely ignorant of her injuries. She hisses in pain, and the two sisters seem to realize their actions before tentatively pulling away. Ae Sook laughs at their reaction, before pulling them back in for a hug.

“I’m not that weak, you know.”

Ae Sook expects a witty response, but instead, she gets silence. Suddenly, the atmosphere of the room turns dark as the two sisters let their tears run over Ae Sook’s shirt. Ae Sook turns her eyes up to ceiling so that the brightness of the fluorescent lights can dry any chances of tears in her eyes.

If she cries now, if she lets any tear slip, she’ll be acknowledging that her parents are gone, and Ae Sook isn’t ready for that.

After, she averts her eyes to her aunt standing by the door. Just as her daughters, her mom’s older sister has tears streaming down her cheeks as she stares into Ae Sook’s eyes. Ae Sook smiles grimly before jostling the sobbing duo.

“Come on guys, save it for the…” Ae Sook gulps, “funeral. Stop being so sad. We haven’t seen each other in 2 years!”

The older sister, Lihwa, deattaches first. She gives Ae Sook a silent look, then moves to pull the back of Hu’s shirt so that she can get off of Ae Sook. Ever the emotional, Hu clings on to Ae Sook before releasing her after sniffling a few times at her sister’s signal.

Ae Sook feels bad for them because just like Da Bin, they were close to her parents, and it must be shocking to just be sitting in a classroom in China one second, then bound on a flight to Korea to attend a funeral for your murdered aunt and uncle and tend to your scarred cousin.

Ae Sook pats Hu’s arm before settling back into her nest of pillows. She lazily glances to her cop, knowing what would make her cousin feel better.

“Hey, Hu. I want you to meet the cop that’s on my case: Hwan.”

Hu only lifts her head up a bit to look into Ae Sook’s eyes. Ae Sook nudges her head towards Hwan, trying to get her cousin take the bait. Hu tries to resist before she finally gives in to look at the handsome officer. Ae Sook can almost see the hearts in Hu’s eyes as she stares at Hwan, who most likely fulfils her fantasies of Hot Korean Detective.

While Hu entertains herself with a terrified Hwan, Lihwa walks over to Da Bin to say her greetings and their mother walks over to Ae Sook.

With kind eyes and a soft expression, the woman lifts Ae Sook’s chin with the pads of her fingertips. As she pulls her hand back, she sits down on the edge of the mattress. Ae Sook’s eyes follow her aunt’s movements.

“Long time no see, Imo.”

Ae Sook’s aunt smiles, and in that moment, with her crescent eyes and smile lines

surrounding , she looks so much like her mother that it hurts. But Ae Sook doesn’t reveal that, and instead, covers it up with a pained smile.

“Well these aren’t exactly the best circumstances to be visiting under, little one,” Imo says in slightly accented tone. Even though she's a native Korean, the 20 years spent in China can't go unnoticed.

“Yeah, but I guess you could say tragedies bring about happy events.”

Her aunt just sighs, lifting her hand to smooth down Ae Sook’s bed hair. “I guess.” After a moment of silence, she speaks up again. “Are you okay?”

Those words that Ae Sook was so scared would pass someone’s lips have finally broken her bubble of denial; and they were just the beginning of her pain. Ae Sook is forced to bring her eyes to the fluorescent lights again. It’s almost like looking at the sun through sunglasses because it can only temporarily hurt your eyes, but if you take them off, the sun will work it's full effect and blind you--in Ae Sook’s case, blind by tears.

Ae Sook rips her eyes from