Mina walked out of the classroom first, heading directly for the car park. A car was already there and she got in eagerly, not waiting to see Momo leave. She ordered her driver not to return home but instead drive her to her uncle’s house. She hated the idea of being alone in her house and she knew that her uncle, Shiro, would always welcome her. A while later, they arrived and Mina got out and looked at the modest house on the outskirts of Songpa. Her uncle was the younger brother of her mother and he was married with a daughter who Mina often visited. She told the driver that he could return home and knocked on the front door there was a pattering of feet before the door opened to reveal a little girl wearing a paint spattered apron.

Mina smiled and bent down to greet her cousin, a bubbly child who had just begun elementary school. She straightened up as her uncle, a middle-aged man, came to answer the door. He smiled at her and let her in, hugging her and asking her about her health. Mina managed to take off her shoes before she was attacked by her cousin who began hugging her leg. She looked down and patted her cousin’s head. “How have you been Ritsu?” she asked. “Have you been good?” Ritsu beamed at her with a full set of teeth and rubbed her face against her thigh.

‘I’ve missed you unnie. And I’ve been good. I haven’t broken anything recently and yesterday my teacher gave me a gold star for being good. So I’ve been good.’

Mina took a seat and her cousin cuddled with her for a moment before running off and returning to whatever she had been doing before. Her uncle chuckled at his daughter’s behaviour and turned back to Mina. “Her favourite program is playing at the moment,” he explained. He led the way to the lounge room and informed her that dinner would be soon and insisted that she stay for it. Mina took a seat and her cousin joined her on the couch, telling her everything about the TV show.

‘Look, that’s my favourite character. She can fly and her best friends are really strong as well. They are in a group called I.N.K. It stands for Invisible Network of Kids. And the teacher is really mean. But my teacher is really nice. She gave our whole class lollies yesterday.’

Mina listened absentmindedly as her cousin chattered on and looked around the room. The walls were decorated lavishly with a few paintings but the cream coloured walls felt warm in comparison to the wooden ones that were common in her own home. A door opened and Mina’s aunt, Mayumi, walked out, her hair tousled and she yawned, covering with a hand. She scratched her hair absentmindedly before realising that there was someone watching. She smiled embarrassed and greeted her niece, “Hello Mina. How have you been? I got home early from work so I took a nap.” Mina nodded at her aunt then felt a tug on her sleeve and looked down to see Ritsu pouting.

‘You’re not listening to me.’

‘Sorry. Keep going.’

‘I don’t want to anymore.’

Mina pinched her cousin’s cheeks and stood up to let her run to her mother. Mayumi picked up Ritsu and swirled her around in the air before a call came from the kitchen announcing that dinner was ready. They sat down at the kitchen table and started eating accompanied with Ritsu’s chatter. Mina ate silently, happy to let the family talk in her place. It reminded her of the times when her own family had done the same; eating in happiness. She tried not to show her sadness but some of it must have seeped through as her uncle was washing the dishes with her and he tried to get her to talk.

‘So how have you been handling things? I know it must have been a surprise for your father to leave the country so suddenly.’

Mina didn’t really want to talk, thinking that the topic was too annoying before conceding that her uncle was only trying to help her. “Yea. I just feel that he’s been neglecting me a bit,” she began. “He always seems to be putting business ahead of me.” Her uncle nodded his head slowly and continued rinsing the bowl in his hands.

‘Have you tried talking to him about this?’

Mina shook her head, using the towel to dry off the wet dishes.

‘There’s no point. He wouldn’t listen.’

‘Well you’ll never know if you don’t try. I’m sure he cares about you more than anything else. It’s probably just that he feels you need a bit of independence right now.’

Mina fell silent, considering her uncle’s words. Would it really help to talk to her father? His gruff face came to mind and she sighed. She really did miss him.

‘I’ll try. When he comes back, that’ll be the first thing I do.’

Shiro smiled at her and patted her shoulder. “It’ll all work out,” he said then returned to the unfinished dishes. “I think I can handle everything here. Can you cut one of the oranges and bring it out to your aunt?” Mina nodded and took the plate of orange slices to the lounge room. Her aunt was watching a Korean drama on the TV while her cousin played with an action figure. They shared around the oranges, on them. There was a companionable silence and Mina was very much engrossed in the drama herself, only moving when the show finally ended. She went to the bathroom and got out to see her uncle cleaning up the lounge area. Ritsu was fast asleep on the couch and Mina grabbed her schoolbag. Her uncle walked over and hugged her.

‘I’ve already called your driver and he should be here soon. Thanks for coming over and spending time with Ritsu. Come visit again soon.’

Mina returned the hug and waved to her aunt before walking out of the house where a car was just pulling up. She waved once more to her uncle who was on the doorstep and got into the car to go home. Although it was a short drive home, Mina managed to fall asleep in the car watching the street lights