JINHAE

It’s an ordinary Friday. At least that’s the case for everyone. For me and my sister, it was our birthday. It’s not ordinary at all, but apparently, it was also the day when we will be homeless. We might as well call ourselves hobos. This is just so annoying. Maybe we were wicked people in our past life to deserve this kind of ordeal. As Shinhye and I packed, cried more and cried again, I couldn’t help but wonder if our mother was really dead. I didn’t really doubt our father, but he seemed to be keeping things from us from the beginning. He didn’t talk about our mother nor did he show us any photograph of her so we would at least know how she looked like. He never told us about our origin from our mother’s side of the family. 

I’ve always thought that we were biracial, but he kept insisting that we were pure Koreans. The irony was that our eyes, green with bright specs of amber, didn’t look Korean at all, not even close. Father’s eyes were dark, almost coal-black, and for some reason, I think we were adopted. We probably were adopted or he wouldn’t have left us without leaving anything.

I glanced at myself through the dresser mirror and caught sight of the crystal necklace he had given us, shining against the setting sun. He asked us not to remove it ever. I was itching to sell it so we could pay for the rent, but Shinhye said, it’s wrong. We owed him a lot and it was the least we can do for him. Though he obviously kept things from us, he had been a really good father who encouraged us to pursue our dreams and supported us all the way except for the matter with our strange abilities. He didn’t like talking about it nor did he like hearing us talking about such ‘nonsense’ as he had termed it. It’s quite weird why it upsets him that we had such ‘problems’. It wasn’t really serious since we didn’t get into trouble because of it, but in the mundane world, it wasn’t normal at all. Others can’t do it so it’s weird. I wonder if our mother was some magical person. Maybe he didn’t like talking about it because it reminded him of her. Maybe we’ve inherited it from her, but what was she?

I turned my head to where Shinhye was standing, frowning as I voiced out my thoughts. “Do you think of our mother?” I asked.

“At times like this, yes.” Her sarcasm was on overdrive again.

Oh well. “Do you think she’s really dead?”

She shrugged. “She is to me.”

I pouted. “How can you say that?”

“Father told us.” Shinhye arched a brow at me then. “Don’t tell me you feel for a person we’ve never met.”

“What do you think is she?” I asked, dropping her cold comment. It’s not really like her to be emotional or sentimental.

She stopped what she was doing and sat down at the edge of the bed. “Uh…human?” she answered, sounding thoughtful. I flashed her a weird look and she sighed. “I’m sorry, Jinhae, but I don’t think we should be thinking about her now. We have bigger things to worry about.”

“Well, you’re right.” I shrugged. “Do you think she’s magical?”

That took her aback. “M-magical? Jinhae, what are you –”

I interrupted her in midsentence. “I know it sounds ridiculous, but maybe we got our insane abilities from her. Just thinking.”

Ever cynical, Shinhye snorted. “Our mother is a lot of things, but magical. I mean, if she’s alive, what’s magical about leaving your children behind just like that? She’d know better than to show herself to us if that’s the case.”

I pouted. She’s really cold. “That’s mean.”

“Mean? How am I mean?”

“Maybe she had a reason why she did it.”

“Reason or no reason, she left us. That is, if she’s alive. It doesn’t matter.”

I didn’t answer anymore. I knew how Shinhye felt about our parents. She had accepted that our mother was dead and she doesn’t wonder about it like I do. She didn’t even shed a tear when our father died. I knew how unemotional she could get and that she had to be strong for the both of us,  but considering her attitude towards what our father viewed as good, it’s a different story altogether.

Our father made us learn a lot of things including foreign languages, combat sports and some music. It’s as if he’s preparing us for something else when he insisted that we should be able to defend ourselves in whatever aspect. I went ahead with everything. I enjoyed it and didn’t think of the reasons, but Shinhye, she was smart as hell. She was too smart that sometimes it’s annoying. The downside was that she found everything boring and she always sticks to the rational side of things even after she saw furniture moving on their own one time. She learned, but she didn’t enjoy everything the way she enjoyed her kendo lessons. It was a fierce kind of hobby, at odds to the ballet lessons I took. 

I knew she hated what our father was making us do and that often leads to their numerous arguments. Of course, neither of us won against him, but I’ve always felt that he was proud of us, especially Shinhye. I wasn’t dumb or anything, but I guess she’s just meant to be the rational twin while I’m the artistic one. We complement each other that way since I’m always bouncing off the wall due to being high-strung. She keeps me grounded. 

As to our abilities, it’s a plague to her, but for me, it’s something exciting, something to look forward to when everything just too much to wake up in the morning. As much as she could, she ignored it. I told her I was, too, but I lied. I wonder how she was managing when it comes on and off at the wrong place and time. I just knew it had everything to do with what our father was keeping from us.

“I’m done packing,” I heard her say from behind me.

I nodded. “I’m done as well.” Just then, I remembered my duffel bag at the yoga studio. “Uh…Shinhye?”

“Yes?” she answered as she set down her suitcase on the floor. She proceeded to checking her DSLR camera after that.

“Can I leave you for a while?” I glanced outside. It was getting dark. We’ve been packing the whole day that I haven’t even noticed the time passing.

“Why?” she asked without looking up from the lens of the camera. 

“I just have to pick something up at the yoga studio. I’ll be back in a jiffy.”

“Sure, but be back because we still have to look for a pla