Apartment after apartment. Room after room. Kitchen after Kitchen. Bathroom after bathroom. By the end of the day though, they all seemed the same. By the end of the day, I couldn’t determine if I liked any of them. I’m just not sure of anything anymore these days.

‘So you didn’t like a single one?’ I asked Daehwi who sat in my passenger seat. I decided to drag Daehwi along with me apartment hunting. I didn’t really want to go on my own, also having a second opinion could prove to be really useful.

I guess the biggest reason why I made him come along with me, although he complained about it the entire time, is that I missed him. It’s been a while since I’ve seen him and in that amount of time, life has just proceeded at speeds I just couldn’t imagine. I just sometimes wish I could slow down time and catch up on all the things I’ve missed.

‘I guess they were all liveable, but not my first choice,’ he shrugged, ‘But seriously Noona, anywhere is better than that dump.’

‘I know, but I need to pick an apartment before I can move anywhere though. ‘ I sighed, ‘How’s everything at home?’

Our mother isn’t the most calm and logical person, especially when things don’t go according to her perfect plan. She has her narrative written up, and that’s not a bad thing to want the best things for your children but sometimes, she can be a little too much with it.

‘Not too happy, she’s just been complaining most of the time. Oh, and congrats for being the worst daughter in the world. She called up grandma,’ he informs me. Calling my grandmother can only mean one thing; my mother is trying to get her to persuade me into aborting the baby. My mother tends to call her own mother when she can’t get through to me – it occurred when I got married.

After being informed that I was newly married and moved out of the family house to an apartment with Minhyun, my mother was outraged. Her one and only daughter wedded a man she did not like nor trust, but not only did she do that, she did it all in secret. She didn’t have the wedding she dreamed off, no she and her broom headed off to city hall to just sign a piece of paper – no wedding magic involved, and no white dress either.

The next morning after informing my family, I was awoken to sounds of fists banging on our then new apartment door. Standing there with her luggage in tow at the crack of dawn was my grandmother, looking as furious as my mother. The both of them truly do look alike though. I can’t quite recall the exact words she yelled, but she screamed them loud enough to garner complaints from our next-door neighbour. I sat through the lecture of irresponsibility for the next week before she decided that she wasn’t getting through to me. I wonder how long she’ll be sticking around for this time.

‘Well I guess it’s lucky for you that she can sleep in my old room, saves your back from dying on the couch, “ I attempted to lift the atmosphere up. Anytime my grandmother makes her trip all the way from the mountain she lives at, it means trouble has occurred. She came down before Daehwi left to study as well, but I’m not actually what that trouble was though – I’d assume it had something to do with my parents fighting to be honest.

‘That’s if she’s staying here,’ Daehwi spoke, earning a questioning look from me. ‘I overheard mum saying that she should stay with you instead of at the house. She thinks that will get through to you better,’ he clarified for me.

My grandmother, at my red light district cheap motel? The average life expectancy of a Korean person is a bit over 80 years currently, but I’m sure mine will but cut down by approximately 75%. I need to move out of there almost immediately now.

‘Thanks for the heads up, Dae.’ I said, pulling up to the family house. ‘You’d better run in before I become a bad influence on you,’ I laughed.

‘I doubt you could be any worse than me,’ he also laughed before leaving.

I need to make a decision on the apartment, and I need to do it soon.

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The sun shined bright, sending warm rays down to earth. A welcomed and pleasant warmth from the colder and chilly days that had just passed. To have beautiful sun shine has been a rare site, and not one that I would want to miss, and the best way to not miss this opportunity is to walk in it. I’ve been needing to go to the grocery store to pick up a few items – living in a motel room leaves very few options for meals. Everything I’ve been eating is either microwavable or can be cooking using boiling water from a kettle – not exactly the most nutritional items. Maybe I’ll actually buy a few apples or oranges, something for some vitamins and fibre.

The local store here isn’t fancy, but it’s serviceable. It has the necessities. You won’t find the department for technological items or clothing and Manchester, but you will find the instant noodles and microwaveable rice packets.

Buzz. Buzz. Buzz.

From my pocket, I could feel my phone vibrating.

Incoming Call: Kim Sejeong.

In the commotion of all that’s occurred in the past few days, I’ve managed to forget to tell Sejeong or Mina a single thing. First the worst daughter, next worst wife and finally the worst friend – this list seems to be growing. Major life decisions being made and I just somehow neglect to tell my two closest friends a single thing about them.

‘Kyung Mi, where are you?’ She demands to know the second I accept her call, not even letting me utter a greeting to her.

‘I’m currently doing my grocery shopping, I’ve got a lot to tell you,’ I inform her, readying her for the long story I’ve to share.

‘You’re mum has been abusing my voice mail. What happened?’

‘It’s a long story really,’ I begin to recall the events for her. Somehow when you recall them though, they don’t seem real. They don’t seem like events that can even happen anymore. It’s not like I’m a child anymore, I’m a grown adult with my own life but it still seems like I still need approval from my parents regarding every single step I make. Not to mention that I’ll now need approval from my very opinionated grandmother, who I’