“Unniiiiiiie,” you whined, not for the first time. You rubbed your arms and pouted to her. You had no choice but to resort to aegyo. That was how bad it was.

“Hey, you’re the one who asked me for help,” Nunji dribbled the ball once getting ready to spike it at you and you froze, not ready for it. Mercy was not in her vocabulary as she threw the ball into the air and timed her jump as she swung her hand back. The ball sailed through the air in your direction and you had no choice but to receive it. You quickly positioned your arms out and the ball hit the skin before bouncing back in a perfect arch into your sister’s hand. The pain increased by a fraction and you winced. This had been going on for a few days and you cursed yourself for choosing volleyball. “That was perfect Mikyungie!”

You grimaced at her enthusiasm. That was a bad sign.

As quick as lightning, another fast ball came at you and you automatically got ready. The ball slapped your forearms and you watched as that spot became an angry red. You had to pull out your long sleeve uniform shirts and sweaters in order to cover your arms at school these days. But winter had decided to come early and the weather had been getting colder so you didn’t stand out much. People were dressing according to the weather as well except a few crazy girls and you rolled your eyes at the thought of them.

“Hey, are you rolling your eyes at me?” Nunji hit the ball towards you but it almost flew over your head. You spiked the ball back at her, catching her mistake just as the volleyball was about to zoom by you. You noted she sometimes lost her focus as she let her emotions out. She bumped it back to you and it floated in the air for a second before coming down. You took the opportunity to spike it again but your form was messy and the ball hit the patio table. It bounced off of it and landed in the bushes.

You shook your head and sighed. You watched as your breath became visible and floated away. You two were in your backyard and you caught your mom peeking out one of the windows with Mieun in her arms before disappearing. You quickly jogged to the bushes and reached into them to get the ball. The memory of Ken pulling out his younger friends from the bushes popped up in your head before you dismissed it.

Things at school were becoming a little rowdy with the competitive spirits of all of the classes increasing as the days of the competition dwindled down. Because of this, you tended to stay away from the main crowd and found solace in the library since your classmates stayed in the classroom strategizing. You didn’t bother participating in that since they were more concerned about the soccer game of the competition.

Thinking about soccer, led you to think about Taekwoon. You scoffed as you stood up from your position with the volleyball in hand. You sister was impatiently tapping her foot and you quickly made your way back to your spot. She cast a look over her shoulder at the house and you knew she was worried about her daughter. Mieun had been a little sick in the past few days since this was her first time experiencing cold weather. She had been born late spring so she was constantly bundled up in multiple layers of blankets.

You tried to set the ball to her and your sister did the same. Your fingers were feeling a little sore and there was a slight ache in your shoulder from that day at school. You sighed again as he came back in your thoughts. When the ball came back to you, you spiked it with all your might and your sister had to scramble a little to receive the ball.

“Where did that come from?” your sister asked as she missed the ball. She raised her eyebrows at you and you shrugged your shoulders. Nunji stared at you for a few seconds before shrugging her shoulders too. “Oh well, if you don’t want to tell me.” All of a sudden she spiked the ball at you and you winced as it made contact with your upper arm. You knew that was her form of revenge.

“Okay let’s stop now. It’s getting too cold out here,” she abruptly said. You nodded at her words in relief and followed her inside the house. She took her daughter out of your mom’s arms in the living room and cooed to her. “My beautiful baby. Guess what?” she swayed a little and pulled the pink blanket away from Mieun’s face, “Your mommy destroyed your auntie. Yes she did,” she smiled at Mieun and you scowled at her while you rubbed your red arms. She smiled at you as she rocked her baby in her arms that were their normal color.

“Now, girls be nice.” You mom stretched a little and made her way to the kitchen. You could smell the fresh kimchi and your stomach rumbled. You slumped in the couch and groaned. “Dinner should be ready in five minutes Mikyung,” your mom called out to you.

Mieun began to fuss and your sister motioned for you to scoot over. You sat up properly and laid your head against the back cushion of the couch while closing your eyes. Your arms throbbed and you tried not to move them.

You both settled in a comfortable silence before she asked, “Is your match open to the public?” Nunji was feeding her daughter and you shook your head. “Aww really?” you shook your head again. “Yah! Is it or isn’t it?”

“It’s only for the school,” you had no choice but to speak up. Nunji suspiciously stared at you and you met her eyes. She nodded and you yawned. Your mom called you both to eat dinner and you stood up. Mieun had quieted and was gurgling in her chair beside her mom in the kitchen. Her nose was red and her complexion was pale. All three of you were worried about her and had set up an appointment for her in the coming week which coincided with your volleyball game so you couldn’t be there. You remembered what your teacher said about being absent during the competition and you frowned.

“Mikyung? Is something wrong with the food?” your mom asked.

You looked up surprised, “No, of course not, mom.” You shook your head.

“Oh, then what is it?”

“Nothing, I’m just thinking about school.”

“Are you sure it’s not just school?” you caught the look in your sister’s eye. “Or is it a boy?” You refused to dignify that with an answer but you lightly kicked your sister’s foot under the table. “What? I was just asking.” She giggled a little.

After you finished eating you rinsed your plate and cleaned up after yourself. You smiled to your mom a little for the meal and headed to your room to finish up your homework.

You had already gone through math when you picked up your English folder. A face flashed in your mind and you groaned. You were getting tired of all of these moments.

You quickly went through the worksheets, wanting to get it over with. Afterwards, you shoved the folder into your bag and headed out of your room down the stairs. Nunji was laying on the couch while Mieun was on her belly wriggling around. The TV was off and you looked for your mom. You walked down the hall and saw a slit of light peeking out from the door that led to her mini office. You turned around and walked back to the living room just to see Mieun sneeze.

“Awww my baby,” your sister picked her up and cuddled her. You grabbed a tissue and wiped her nose while Mieun blinked up at you. Her sweet smile appeared and you couldn’t resist her any longer so you sna