“How are your classes, Irene?” their father asked, slicing into his egg benedict

“They’re good, Dad,” the girl replied sweetly

“Made any new friends yet?”

“Mhm,” the girl nodded

“That’s good,” their dad smiled, “A lovely girl like you must be very popular”

“Tch,” Seulgi couldn’t help but click her tongue when she heard that. She suddenly felt three pair of eyes boring into her skull. But she didn’t care.

“How about you, Seulgi?” her stepmother turned to her, noticing her solemn expression “how are classes, dear?” she asked softly.  

“Fine.” Seulgi replied flatly. She stabbed her scrambled eggs ; irked at Irene’s mellifluous tone, irked at her father, but irked more at herself for being rude.  

“I’m glad, made any new frien-”

“Yeah, a ton, I’m finished, may I be excused?” Seulgi interrupted. She got up from her seat without waiting for a response and started walking to her room, ignoring the calls of her father.  She slammed her door, crawled onto her bed into a fetal position and  tightly clenched onto her pillow as she angrily cursed her misfortune.

“Stupid Dad,” she grumbled as she thought about her father

She gritted her teeth

“Stupid Irene,” she cursed as she thought about her stepsister

She swallowed the knot in .

“Stupid marriage” she muttered as she thought about the three of them together

She blinked away the tears  

“Stupid! Stupid! Stupid!” she screamed into her pillow as she thought about herself

“Why! Why! Why! Whyyy…”.

Her screams then turned into sobs, as she allowed the welling tears to flow freely. Her father just had to remarry didn’t he? He just had to fall in love with Irene’s mom didn't he? Of all people, why must it have been her? Why did he have to fall in love with a kind lady who had been nothing but nice to her? She couldn’t stop her tears, she didn’t want to stop them. After putting up a tough mask for the last two months, she finally allowed herself to be vulnerable in her room.  

------

“This disrespectful child,” her stepfather angrily tossed his napkin harshly onto the table.

“Honey, it’s okay,” her mother tried to soothe her husband but to no prevail.

“No, it’s not. She disrespected me, disrespected Irene, and disrespected you” her stepfather barked. “It’s unacceptable! What has gotten into that child?!”

Irene shifted slightly at the mention of her name; she was uncomfortable with the tension. She felt a stomach twist, knowing that she was the cause of Seulgi’s rudeness.  She kept mum as she tried to focus on her breakfast; her eyes occasionally darted back and forth between her stepfather and mother.

“She needs time,” her mother softly reasoned, her husband’s back  

“What she needs is a lesson!”

When Irene saw her stepfather getting up, she quickly pushed her chair back and stood up.

“I’ll talk to her,” she offered

“Irene-”

“Don’t worry Dad,” she softly smiled, “you stay with mom.”

“I’ll talk to her.”

------

“Seulgi?” Irene knocked softly.

Seulgi’s ears perked when she heard the girl’s voice. Irene’s mellow tone irked her. She didn’t respond and just hugged her pillow tighter.

When Irene didn’t hear a response, she knocked again.

“Seulgi, are you okay?” she asked carefully, knowing the answer  

Seulgi quietly scoffed when she heard that. That wrench knew the answer and still dared to ask.

“May I come in?”

Seulgi’s ears twitched at her stepsister’s polite tone. Besides kissing up to their parents, Irene never used that tone when she was around her

She continued to stay quiet but flinched a little bit when she heard the doorknob turn and whe