Chapter One
My Macchiato, His Black Coffee
Chapter One
nothing nothing nothing My Dear Sister (We Meet Again) nothing nothing nothing
♥
I stood behind the door of the kitchen, occasionally peeking out to see what had so callously woke me from my sleep. I caught only glimpses of my mother and father, both screaming at an unknown entity. Their screams were infused with a plea of forgiveness. "Stop! Just calm down! Please!" They repeated. The third party was relentless. Dishes flew from the counter onto the hard linoleum. They continued to argue and beg for whoever it was to stop. They continued to throw anything they could. Each word spat seemed to be fueled by anger and bitterness. "Why! Why! Are you afraid your precious Hei Lin will hear?" I peeked one last time. I knew that voice anywhere. My mother turned to look at me. Her eyes pleaded. She didn't want me to be there. I didn't want her to be there either. My father's eyes followed the agresser. Then he looked at me.
The unknown voice grew louder, closer. Instantly, I realized I had made a mistake. Another plate hit the floor. I held my breath and stepped back into the corner of the dining room. A large shard of glass grazed the skin of my cheek. Ae Sook. I could see every wrinkle and blemish on her sleep deprived face. She opened to say something, but almost immediately closed it. I wanted her to say something, anything to tell me she still had a sense of humanity. Nothing came. She grabbed the nearest tangible object. My father managed to grab hold of her before she could throw anything more. I tried my best to avoid any form of eye contact. The entirety face was engulfed by a heap of mascara and eyeliner. She looked absolutely devestated and destroyed. The total opposite of the confident woman who walked out of this very place years ago. She looked at me with regret. Her jaw tightened, her teeth clenched together in effort to keep her from saying anything further. Father grabbed hold of her shoulders and ushered her to the door. They shuffled passed me with mom following not too far after. I shuddered.
"Ae Sook-ah!" I screamed at her. Tears streamed down my face. She ignored me. "Ae Sook!" This time it was just a whisper, or the whimper of a hungry puppy.
"M-m-mom." I whispered, my voice cracking. She turned around to look at me before turning around and following them. Her eyes were filled with tears. So were Ae Sook's. I tried to rationalize her sudden break down and return. She practically disowned herself! Why was she here? Did she really have to comeback? My mind flooded with questions. But there was only one thing that was horribly true. I didn't want her back. Not after all this time. And definitely not this way.
After everyone left, I had time to investigate the crime scene. The kitchen was an absolute mess. Dish fragments were strewed across the floor. Glasses, new glasses, were left in pieces all along the counter. I glanced at the clock on the wall. It was already too late to go back to sleep. Might as well clean up. I tiptoed between the glass shards, carefully stepping around each piece. A pair of abandoned yellow gloves were draped over the kitchen sink. I grabbed them and piece by piece, I picked up every fragment.
In the next room over, mom and dad tried to calm Ae Sook down. Her cries proved to be louder than her screaming. Just lock her in a room. Send her to a shrink. Just get her out. I was shocked by the cruel twist in my thoughts. But whatever evil I had thought was no match for the evil she had done. As quietly as possible, I snuck back to my room. This was a family reunioun I wanted to opt out of.
For the next few hours I drifted off to sleep, this time, fully uninterrupted. In my brief moments of conciousness, I had time to think of the mystery man at the cafe and of course, Ae Sook. But, they were brief. Too short to remember and too unwanted to want to be remembered.
* * *
My alarm blared. Only two hours. I winced. The smell of chicken stew drifted into my room, tempting me to face "the nightmare" once again. Mother called from the kitchen. "Soo Jin-ah! Come eat something! I know you aren't sleep!" I wiped the remainders of sleep from my eyes, my feet dragging against the floor. All I could think of was her, that wreck of a woman I called my sister.
Before entering the kitchen, I peeked for any sight of Sook. Mom continued to yell, oblivious to the fact that I was standing right behind her. "SOO JIN-Ah- O-oh! You almost killed me! Make noise before you enter a room!" She swatted at the top of my head.
I inched closer to her. "Is Ae Sook still here?" I whispered, my hands nervously fondling the rouge piece of yarn on my sweater.
Her eyes pleaded. "W-well..." Her voice dragged on. "Yes. She's here and she has a suprise for you!" She answered defeated. I noticed her try at making the news happy by adding the word "suprise". Any "suprise" she had for me couldn't be any more suprising than her sudden visit. I shuddered at the flashbacks of our early encounter. It still baffled me how someone who practically killed themselves to try to get of this family would even attempt to come back. And for what? She burned any bridges she had back home and yet she's still here.
Mom gestured towards the dining room. Her fingers were stained with leftover kimchi she had decided to reuse. "In there." She nudged me with her elbow.
"Where's dad?" Stalling seemed the best technique for avoiding this situation. I intended to drag out this conversation for as long as I could. I needed as much time as I could have before I could face her and her so called surprise.
"Downstairs. Stop stalling and go talk to your sister." This time, instead of a nudge she pushed me all the way into the dining room.
Immediately, I was greeted with the overbearing affectionate exchange of two people. I recognized the first person as my sister. Her head was completely burried into the neck of a strange man. He looked vaguely familiar. He stared at me as if he knew who I was too. A smirk spread on his face. Mother looked at them lovingly. Blind to the fact, they we were in the prescence of a crazy woman and a stranger who could've been just as crazier.
I gaped at her. Did last night not happen? Did I not spend almost an hour picking up pieces of plates and glasses? I coughed. She nudged me for the second time and started to speak. "How about we eat?" She clasped her hands together and smiled. Her feet pivoted to make a complete 180 degree turn. She remembered. She had to remember.
Ae Sook brushed past me, barely knocking me over. I could almost harldy hear her mutter the word, "". Such a loving sister, isn't she? She pulled her "suprise" close behind her. I stared at her face for a brief second. The woman from last night was still here. This time, she was polite enough to hide behind a more tolerable facade. But, she was still here.
Her suprise stopped directly beside me and began to whisper. Its lips grazed the tip of my ear. I felt each breath as he spoke, "Thanks for the coffee."
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