Chapter 14: Saehee

They were like a frozen tableau; everything was still and their eyes all bore holes through me. I walked towards them. “Mom, Dad, who’s the guest?”

Dad cleared his throat, “He’s someone unimportant. Besides, he was just about to leave.” 

Mom shook her head; her face was red, showing clear frustration. “This is your uncle, dear. His company went bankrupt a few weeks ago so he’s living with us until he can find a stable job.” She looked at my dad and pointed at him with a grim look, “Junhan is going to live here and that’s final. Whatever he did in the past needs to be forgotten.” With that, Mom marched back to the kitchen. 

Looking at Uncle, Dad gave him a look before sighing, “This isn’t the end Junhan. Yuna may agree to this but I don’t. You better watch yourself.” Returning to his office with a grouchy face, Dad slammed the door. Dumbfounded, I turned towards my uncle whom I have never met before and gave him a crooked smile. 

“It has been so long Saehee. I don’t think you remember me but I'm your uncle Junhan. You were really young when we met.” He flashed a smile with his right hand out. I glanced at it skeptically before lightly shaking his hand. 

“So what happened to your company?” I asked.

“Long story short, the company wasn’t making enough money to pay off monthly debt obligations. The company was a Korean company located in New York so bankruptcy was foreseen anyways.” 

I had no idea what he had just said so I politely nodded, excused myself, and ran up the stairs to my room where I texted Yugyeom.

Don’t come home yet. Something’s really fishy at home.

-Sis

Exhaling, I leaned against the wall and wondered. Why was he here? Why did he suddenly appear after so long? It seemed like Dad did not like Uncle Junhan based on the yelling from earlier. I felt like my so-called “uncle” had a reason for coming here and it wasn’t because of bankruptcy. Whoever he was, I had to keep a close eye on him. A soft knock on the door returned me back to reality as I went to go open it. My brother walked in wearing all black; his eyebrows knotted together and his lips pursed. “Who is he? I already don’t like that guy.”

I sighed, “Apparently he’s our uncle, Mom’s older brother.”

“What?” his eyes widened, “I thought Mom was an only child.”

“I don’t know… He’s living here for a few weeks. His company went bankrupt. I just don’t know how long he’ll be here for. There’s already some bad blood going on between him and Dad.”

“Mom seemed mad too when I went to go greet her.” He came over and sat on my bed, “I hope nothing bad happens.” It was dead silent for a few minutes. The room, dimly lit, casted long and narrow shadows from various objects around my room. They flickered as if they were dancing. My brother shifted around the bed until he spoke, “Noona… What do you do when you like someone?”

Immediately, I stood up from the bed and looked at him, “Kim Yugyeom likes someone?” I approached him and smiled, “Who is it?”

“Noona,” he said firmly, “I only asked what to do, I didn’t say if I liked someone or not.”

“Nu-uh,” I wagged a finger, “Who is she Gyeom? As your older sister, you are required to tell me everything about your lovelife.”

Rolling his eyes, he got up and made his way towards the door, “Whatever. I’ll just figure it out myself.”

“That brat,” I mumbled before turning off the lights.

Breakfast was awkward. Dad was endlessly glaring at Uncle who was chatting with Mom while my brother and I ate in silence. We observed them like curious meerkats, watching the silent one-sided war. It was ten minutes later when Dad slammed his chopsticks on top of his bowl and excused himself from the dinner table; leaving with steam coming out of his ears. 

“Well,” Yugyeom spoke, “it’s time for Noona and I to go to catch the bus.” Both of us stood up, excused ourselves from the table and went to put on our shoes.

“I can drive the two of you,” offered Junhan. He’s practically poor. Why is he offering to drive us to school instead of finding a job?

We were about to decline when we heard the sound of a car horn. Opening the door, a familiar dark blue Scion TC 2015 was parked on our driveway. In the driver’s side was the redhead who waved at us. 

"Sorry uncle Junhan, our friend is here," grinned Yugyeom and walked out the door. Quickly, I bowed to him and followed in suit.  

Mark tilted his head when we got in, "who's he?"

"Our uncle apparently," I replied. 

He handed me a green tea latté and Yugyeom his hot chocolate before pulling out of the driveway. "He looks kind of sketchy. I mean, its only first glance. He might be really nice." He looked around, "Anyways, Sora asked me to pick her up."

I glanced back at Yugyeom who was grinning at his phone. "Sounds good. Thanks for the drink by the way." Shyly, Mark smiled and stepped on the gas.

"I hope you studied for that math test," the older grinned and immediately I cursed at myself.  

Groaning, I leaned against the door, "I can't believe I forgot!"

After failing my math test and miserably bombing my social test, the second last bell of the day rang. Sluggishly, I walked to English class with my feet trailing behind me. When I entered, I found a cute note on my desk stuck to a strawberry yogurt drink.

Cheer up! I'll meet you at your locker after school.

-Dimsum

Smiling, I tucked the note away and opened the drink; taking a sip with satisfaction. This guy is so unpredictable. 

We learned how to write compound sentences for the whole class but my mind wandered to somewhere else. I was daydreaming for the rest of the class until someone passed by the classroom. A dark figure with short curly brown hair walked past the glass window. For the first time, I wanted to know his number.

The bell rang and everyone started to pack their things. Slowly, I started to put away my books while glancing back at the window. Whoever he was, he intrigued me. Stepping out of the class and advancing towards my locker, my heart started to accelerate. The teenage boy really was unpredictable. Leaning beside my locker, he ran a hand through his freshly dyed light pink hair. Girls around him were checking him out but he paid no attention since he was on his phone. I went up to him and smiled, "Did Bam Bam dare you to dye it pink?"

Mark jumped in surprise, scratching the back of his head, "H-Hey..."

"It looks nice," I smiled, "like cotton candy."

"It was either pink or green," he huffed, "Bam Bam only gave me two choices and I definitely didn't want seaweed hair."

Laughing, we left the school and walked towards his car in the student/guest parking lot.

"Hey," he pointed, "isn't that your uncle?"

I looked at his direction and squinted. Indeed, the man was in a white Sunfire car. Then, I suddenly remembered the man from English class and compared the two. What is he doing here? Junhan stared in my direction and our eyes came in contact. Pain struck my head but I couldn't keep my eyes off of him.

"Saehee, are you alright?" Mark's concerned voice made me worry. 

"I'm alright," I replied, staring at him with a small smile. My head pounded and I grew confused. Uncle has a blank timer as well... but why does it hurt to look at him compared to Mark? Why is Mark so comforting to stare at?

"Saehee?" he asked and I shook my head.

"I'm alright."

He took my hand and a blush crept onto my cheeks. "I... I want to ask you something." I looked at him. "Sae...

What are we?"