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Life isn’t easy for us.

Apart from having to raise our two children, I too have to worry about MinKyeong’s medical bills. Even so, I try to not let MinKyeong worry so much about financial issues because she already has a lot on her mind, and if she knew how much we spent on her treatments she DEFINITELY wouldn’t go for them anymore. So I try, by hook or by crook, to stop her from knowing exactly how much we are spending each month on expenses.

Similarly today, as of every first Monday of the month, bills are being sent to our house all at once.

I rubbed my eyes and checked my watch, ensuring that there was sufficient amount of time for me to go downstairs, get the letters, bring it back up and pretend to sleep like nothing ever happened. I turned and wave my hand in front of MinKyeong’s face to make sure she wasn’t awake before heaving a sigh of relief. I pushed the blanket away and pulled a sweater over my body. Carefully, I turned the knob of the bedroom door and snuck out as though I’ve done it a million times, successfully leaving the room without waking MinKyeong up. Creeping out of the house, I started down the corridor towards the lift and finally made my way to the letter box. As soon as I retrieved the white envelopes from the letter box, I glanced around and hid the letter in my sweater before silently mocking myself for being overly suspicious. Once again, I headed in the direction from where I first came and made my way up to my apartment quickly, avoiding the harsh cold wind piercing on my skin.

Stuffing the letters into my personal bag, I crept back into bed, only to be startled by a cold touch. “AIGOO!” I exclaimed, wide-eyed, causing the half-awake MinKyeong to giggle.

“Why are you so shocked? I just wanted to ask why you are up so early. It’s barely even 7 yet, and you usually never get up till I tell you to.”

“I-uh, couldn’t sleep so I went outside but decided I was tired so I came back again.” I lied. MinKyeong nodded her head and pulled the covers open for me, telling me to snuggle in before I caught a cold. I hid under the covers with her and wrapped my arm around her. Shutting my eyes, I tried to go back to sleep again, only to be disrupted by MinKyeong’s question.

“How is the spending like this month?” I shrugged, saying it was affordable. “You know, the kids are our priority now, if we are spending too much on my medication, we could tell doctor Kwon I could cut down-“,  I shushed her immediately, knowing where this conversation was leading to.

“Yah, I told you it was affordable. Now don’t you ever say those things again. Just focus on your treatment and leave the money to me.” MinKyeong sighed, obviously giving up retaliating. She patted my chest a couple of times, indicating for me to go to sleep again, before she, too, went back to sleep.

The music stopped and instantly, my arms dropped to my side. Lumbering, I headed for where my bag was in the corner of the studio and slumped down onto the floor. My hands automatically dug around my bag and I took out the white envelope from before. Still panting, I skimmed through the title on the envelope before deciding to open the first one regarding MinKyeong’s medical bills. My eyes ran down the list of prices for her treatment before landing on the final cost for everything. It was as usual, without any increase or decrease in spending. I breathed out heavily. Many thoughts ran through my mind at once. I knew I still had the capability to support the family but how long more? We aren’t struggling but as the children grow older the expenses will keep increasing. Will I be able to provide for the children while keeping MinKyeong alive by ensuring she has proper treatment for as long as she could? I really didn’t know. But one thing I felt comforted, was the fact that my children were well-behaved, which made everything easier.

Just then, Youngmin sat down beside me, sipping on his energy drink. Casting a glance at the paper I was holding, he roughly made out what it was about. “If you need help, you can always ask me you know. After all we are brothers.” I smiled at that and thanked him for his offer but quickly rejected, telling him that I could still afford our way of living as long as both the café and our music business carried on as it does now. Youngmin just nodded his head knowingly. Extending his hand out for me to take, he suggested that we continued practicing to make our comeback together a perfect one. With a smile on my face, I took it and pulled myself up, only to be stopped by my phone ringing.

“Hello?” I answered, unaware of what awaits me. “What? How is that possible?” I asked over and over again. Hearing the stressed up voice from the other side of the phone, I puffed out wearily and ran my fingers through my hair. “Alright I’ll be there now.” I hung up and turned to look at my brother apologetically. “I have to go, sorry. MinKyeong just called and said that JunHyun’s teacher complained about JunHyun hitting his friend.” I apologized as Youngmin looked at me empathetically. He nodded his head and shooed me out of the room, comforting me that it was nothing to worry about. Jogging off, I quickly offered to pick up KyuJung as well, to which Youngmin accepted. And with that, I sped off towards JunHyun’s school.

I supported MinKyeong with one arm as she trudged along. Knocking on the door, I entered upon being told to do so. Setting ourselves on seats across from JunHyun’s teacher and the furious parents of the boy who JunHyun supposedly bullied, I took MinKyeong’s hands into mine and rubbed them gently.

“First off,” I said, before anyone even said anything, “We would like to apologize for our son’s behavior. He doesn’t usually behave like this so we don’t know what got into him.”

The mother of the boy was a prim lady with an unusually straight body and proud face. Her lips bright red as though someone smacked her there and her cheeks tinted a shocking shade of pink. His father, too, was dressed in a tie and suit, and wore a smug look. His hair neatly parted and stuck with hairspray. Both, obviously lead a charmed life.

Us, on the other hand, were dressed in casual clothes. MinKyeong in a casual dress she grabbed out of the closet the moment she heard the news, and for me, needless to say, a sweaty top and jeans for I just came from practice. We aren’t shabbily dressed, to be honest, just not as fancy as the two across from us. As though they have never seen anyone of our status, middle class, they scanned us from head to toe before the woman snickered.

“Well, I wouldn’t be shocked if he usually does behave like that. What does a boy from an average family know other than fool around and beat people up when they felt like it.” She replied to my statement from before, making an unreasonable comparison.

I felt my blood boil but suppressing my anger, I apologized once again. They looked away, showing that they were uninterested in what we had to say, so helpless, I looked to the teacher. She sighed before explaining to the boy’s parents that there probably was some misunderstanding between the children, and although it was wrong of Junhyun but her son was not hurt severely aside from a small scratch on his cheek. The parents of the boy looked at us in disgust after hearing that and agitatedly, the father slapped his palm on the table and stood up. Opening his mouth for the first time that meeting, he spat, “Don’t find excuses for your inability to bring up your son well. We will not let things end like this. That boy deserves to be punished.”

 Upon hearing that, MinKyeong stood up quickly and placed her hands before her. Bowing to a full 90 degrees, she apologize, however, anger filled her eyes. MinKyeong could easily be read for she had expressive eyes and despite her remorseful look on her face, I could tell she was holding her anger in.

“I’m sorry for my son’s behavior.” MinKyeong started. “We will definitely punish him for his wrongdoings. Being children, I hope you would forgive my son’s actions.” She said humbly, and at that, I, too, stood up and bowed at them.

They did not respond to our apology, and so, annoyed, MinKyeong tugged on my shirt indicating for us to leave. I turned to leave, pushing aside the chairs that stuck out from under the tables while MinKyeong limped on slowly behind. Just then, we heard the lady remark, “So what I heard is true, that boy has a handicapped mother. No wonder you can’t teach him well. Don’t you ever feel bad for him that he has to live with this for the rest of his life?” She said rudely.

To which, MinKyeong calmly replied, “I don’t see the link between being handicapped and raising my son well. I may be physically incapable, but my heart and mind is still clear. And as long as I still am, my husband and I will teach our son well. Thank you for your concern, but I believe it is our own family life and we have the rights to decide what we want to do.” With that, I held onto MinKyeong’s hand and led her out of the room before they had a chance to insult us further.

We sat on a nearby bench near the school gate while waiting for JunHyun and KyuJung to come out. We watched as the children ran out of school excitedly and dashed into their parents’ embrace. I was attracted to a group of children playing at the playground while running and laughing happily. Unknowingly, my lips cracked into a smile. My mind wandered to the day we brought the kids to the amusement park. I haven’t heard my children laugh like that in a long time, running around and genuinely having fun. The fact that my JunHyun had hit someone in school showed that for a boy his age there was something or someone bothering him and it was definitely wrong for him to do that. I could not figure out why he had done that. JunHyun was an active child, always on the go, cheerful and happy. He was also a patient and kind person. It really wasn’t like him to hit someone even if they irritated him a lot.

On the other hand, I thought, could it also have been possible that after spending so much time focusing on getting MinKyeong well again, that I missed out these little changes happening to my children? I sighed and hung my head low, before noting to myself that I must pay more attention to my children from now on, and that I felt sorry towards them. Just then, I saw JunHyun being escorted out by his teacher, KyuJung tailing closely behind.  MinKyeong and I quickly brushed off the frown that had overtaken our faces and replaced it with smiles almost immediately. Waving to the kids, I greeted the boys as they jogged towards us. Wrapping his arms around my thighs, JunHyun gave me a big smile and greeted me. Looking to his right, he noticed his mother waving at him.

“Annyeong JunHyun uh! Did you have fun in school today?” MinKyeong tried to be lively as she extended her arm out for a hug. JunHyun, however, gingerly avoided her gaze and walked out of the gate without saying a word, towards our car. I squeezed MinKyeong’s shoulder, explaining that he probably felt bad about what happened, but I know she felt otherwise, especially since JunHyun greeted me so enthusiastically before. Shocked, she shook her head and trod out of the gate after him. Something definitely isn’t right…

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