Irene felt guilty, that was the end of it, no more discussion about it. Guilty that she had perhaps been a bit too harsh, but there was no more use on beating herself up. Now, she quietly made everyone a very american but equally delicious breakfast, making sure the oatmeal is exceptional since the oatmeal was for the elder of the house… and Dongho, who was in love with it. One time, Irene had put a spoonful of salt on accident. If you must know, you only put a pinch of salt on the oatmeal if you’re making it for yourself. You don’t ever put a spoonful no matter how many servings you’re making, and if you ever need it then it must be a big bowl. It was so disgusting to taste that even Grandma Kang could taste the salt--and she can barely taste it nowadays!

Learning from that mistake, Irene made sure to test the oatmeal and taste it before she even considered serving it to anyone.

The first one to come down the stairs was Joonhyung, who wished to help with breakfast right away. Irene and Joonhyung were great at teamwork, only giving each other quick short words to let the other one know what was to happen. But then, suddenly there were more words to say than just ‘salt’ or ‘pepper’ or any other condiment.

“So, you and Seulgi fought?” Joonhyung asked, cracking an egg and gently letting it fall on a plate to check if it was still in good shape before putting it in the pan. “Already?”

“Not exactly,” Irene said, sounding a lot smaller than anything. “We just didn’t… direct each other’s words nicely at all.”

Fancy way to put it, but Joonhyung caught it right away.

“So, you fought.”

“I guess…”

Joonhyung hummed thoughtfully before he looked around. “Where is she, anyways?”

Oh boy. Irene had to tell him, otherwise he’d question her to the bank and back about her teary eyes, puffy and red, her slouchy demeanor or what else. But, at the same time, she didn’t want to tell him, but why ponder about it any longer? Has being dishonest to Joonhyung served of any good ever?

“I heard her in the bathroom crying, I think she's still in there,” Irene said in a small voice again, partly worried that Grandma would hear and partly because she doesn’t feel proud of anything.

“But why?” Joonhyung suddenly crossed his arms and turned to lean against the counter. “What did you say, Joohyun?”

Oh good, the real name came out. Irene instantly defended herself and got straight to the heart of the matter as she saw it. “I didn’t say anything unnecessary--except that she was just a brat making excuses about not checking up on her family. But I think she’s crying because of…”

Joonhyung was about to question what it was until he saw the elder coming out of the room in her slow and steady pace, slower than before it seemed. It dawned on him immediately, he nodded and understood it. Seulgi had perhaps realized how short time was for the old woman, or maybe was just pained or felt guilty at how little care she had given to her family, to her roots, in all these years.

He definitely didn’t know that she was not aware of it at all to begin with, even if what he thought was partially true. Acting like nothing happened, Joonhyung went to fix the elder her breakfast first than anyone. The day must go on no matter what, it’s a busy day.

In a moment, Seulgi rearranged herself and quickly composed her personality and charm--also made sure her clothes were on the right way this time. 

While Joy was still laughing her off, the bear-faced girl went out of her room to relieve herself from hearing such maniacal cackling. Standing right at the beginning of the steps, Seulgi stopped to see the morning scenario in this household; she was starting to see the house getting more and more lively with Jay getting into the bathroom before Minseok can even get out of his room--then having Minseok turning back to his territory once the bathroom door has been shut closed--, Luna going into Joy’s room to borrow something and wondering why she was in hysterics and Dongho… nowhere to be seen, probably still sleeping like a rock. No one dared to bother him and, as a tradition, they left the job to the very firm woman named Irene.

The image was quite fascinating but she needed to get moving to the kitchen. Right away she saw the elderly lady at the dinner table slowly having her breakfast while Joonhyung was helping Irene fix up the breakfast for the rest of the people. Cheerfully saying her good mornings as if nothing happened, Joonhyung responded with the same enthusiasm and ed his breakfast to Seulgi, telling her to go speak to Grandma alone while they were getting all their plates ready.

It was a minimal time alone, just about as much time as they deduced Seulgi would behave before they came into the rescue.

Seulgi gulped and slowly walked to the dining table, awkwardly sitting down next to her Grandma. 

The old lady looked up from her plate with a faint smile, her already small eyes closing a little. “Good morning, Seulgi.”

“G-good morning,” Seulgi stammered in response, bowing her head a little before making sure the elder was eating her breakfast first. Now, she could begin to eat, but instead began to prod her food with the fork, unsure and uncomfortable.

They haven’t spoken to one another in years, not like this. Could the old lady, with her fading sight, even notice Seulgi’s slightly puffy eyes? Did Joonhyung noticed? He did, but after being debriefed by Irene he tactfully chose to not mention it and let the topic die alone. Maybe with luck the elder would not notice either? But grandmothers are grandmothers after all. If mothers could notice anything, grandmothers were no exception to this rule. After all, their senses had been trained with both their own children AND grandchildren. Seulgi could only hope and pray that she made not comments about it, or at least veered the conversation to something that made it easier for her to communicate.

Also, why was it so difficult to talk to her?

“Did you sleep well?” Grandma Kang asked softly as she continued to eat her breakfast, a little slower but definitely steadily.

Her hands looked a bit frail, but she seemed to keep her grip and movement just fine. Seulgi gulped and nodded a bit, doing her best to keep composed. “I could do with a few more hours but I have to help as soon as possible,” she managed to speak out clearly and without hesitation, which greatly pleased Dohee. “Did you?”

Grandma Kang nodded. “I did, now that all my grandchildren are with me.”

Seulgi’s body shook briefly at the statement. It hurt, in a way. She didn’t know why, but it did. Seulgi smiled regardless, slightly tight lipped but still somehow genuine in a curious way. But then, silence; she ran out of conversation. What could she tell her grandmother?

Could she tell her about the time one of her friend partied over at a criminal’s house only to wake up and find out that the cops raided the spot and said criminal (and his goons) have all gone to jail after years of outsmarting the cops? Could she tell her about the time one of her socialite friends got high and started a stupid giveaway on instagram? Could she tell her about the time she went to a party where her friends did all kinds of drugs and substances at once, waking up to find a dear old friend dead and stone cold right next to her? Definitely not, especially because Seulgi was still partially traumatized by such events. Then, she started to think about more family oriented topics and she arrived to the same conclusions. There was nothing to tell Grandma Kang. Could she tell her about Rokhyun appearing in her room? No, definitely not. She’d look like she’s out of her mind and high on country air already. Could she tell her about the time Enzo started sleep talking in the car on the way to set and how she then discovered that he has nightmares about serving disgusting spaghetti to his guests by accident?

Wait, it then hit her. Did she even remember Enzo?

“How’s Enzo?” Grandma Kang asked.

Well, she can read minds apparently. No, of course not, but Seulgi truly wondered it for a second. 

She would NEVER forget Enzo Mancini no matter how hard she tried to. Out of all the people that stuck with Hyunwoo through thick and thin, Enzo is the one Dohee has seen grow the most. Once a very poor boy with dirty clothes and on the edge of becoming a criminal himself, now a very successful and responsible manager providing an honest living for his wife and his boy, which his then-girlfriend gave birth to when he was too young to be a responsible adult. 

Hyunwoo and Enzo were inseparable, as strange as that sounded. Two men from different places of the world, brought together in America, two men in complete ease with each other’s cultural differences and contrasting personalities. It was quite something now that Seulgi suddenly realized it. She wondered if she’d ever meet someone who she would call her best friend in the world.

“Enzo’s doing good!” Seulgi answered quite cheerfully now, happy to have her mind wandering off to better subjects to talk about. “He and his wife are very happy, Vinnie is about to have his second child, I believe.”

Now that’s a soul Seulgi had not seen in years. Vincenzo Mancini was the only boy the italian man had. Naturally, this was against the tradition that italians should have large families of more than five children but Enzo was not in the shape for it. To begin with, he could not beget children, so when he was just a nineteen year old boy discovering the world, his girlfriend then hit him with the strongest news for a lost man to handle. He was going to have a child, and so Enzo started to live and take life seriously as he had  never done before. Thirty-five years later, Vincenzo is an equally successful man, married and having lived his life at the fullest. He’s also like another cousin to Seulgi and the rest, and even if he doesn’t come to all the reunions he always sends his warmest regards from his end of the world. Ironically, he is far more present than Seulgi.

At the thought, Seulgi's small smile fades and her expression sombers a little.

Dohee nodded happily, before sighing. “That’s good… but he sounded very serious on the phone when I spoke to him about your incident.”

Oh no, not this. Seulgi had almost forgotten about it already. Couldn’t they just have a normal breakfast for once? It’s been a day already! Forget it, people. 

“Oh… yeah, he wasn’t happy.”

Grandma Kang shook her head in disappointment as she averted her gaze back to her oatmeal. “I do not understand Seulgi, really. Just don’t do it again, please?”

No scolding, no angry shouting, nothing, and Seulgi didn’t know if that was even good or not. Was the elder not scolding her like she would’ve years ago because she was simply too tired and old to do that? Seulgi’s lip trembled a little bit, perhaps feeling guilty about her actions but also--most likely--saddened at the sudden fact. 

Irene, who had been watching from afar, decided to tactfully retreat from the kitchen and into the dinning table with her quiet and easy demeanor, which somehow managed to smoothly change the mood to something a little lighter before Joonhyung’s more explosive energy came right by. It was a necessary change, making both Seulgi and Grandma Kang smile a bit more. Perhaps their little chat was not all productive, but it was something at least. After all, the first few conversations between two family members that did not spoke to one another were bound to be awkward (at best, catastrophic at worst).

Soon, the conversation got more and more lively as more of the Parks woke up and got down to have their breakfast. Eunji ran down the schedule for today just in case someone forgot and Dongho (whose mohawk was messy, fresh out of bed) excitedly wiggled in his chair at being given errand duties again. Seulgi could not understand why he was so excited, having to deal with her and all, but little did she know that Dongho was a social butterfly despite being so… eccentric. 

And despite the good atmosphere in the dining room, Seulgi said virtually nothing of importance and Joonhyung did not mind. Maybe she was still a little shaken up, upset at the fight. Irene knew that she did not say a thing because of her, probably.

Truth was, Seulgi was a little shaken but also still thinking about Rokhyun appearing in her room. Still trying to make any sense of it, but it was hard to when there was nothing to make sense of.

Soon breakfast was done and all the other Parks got ready to work around the farm right away with an unmatched energy and enthusiasm to life that Seulgi once shared. She wondered what was the magic that kept them going, what kind of drugs they did in under the table like some sort of secret society. She had half a mind of asking Grandma Kang, but it seemed that while she was quietly in her rocking chair, she had lost some of that enthusiasm herself. No use to ask the blind about what they can see. Little does Seulgi know that she was, in fact, way worse before she arrived.

The less she thought about it the better. So, she waited in the couch of the living room, just pondering about Dongho and how much he’d grown. He was once a young boy who looked very frail and shy, but now he looks bulky and muscular, very much like Rokhyun and now he really can catch anyone’s attention and make a conversation last hours without it getting boring. Well, mostly because he just asked all kinds of things, no matter how absurd.

Seulgi can’t stop remembering the time she caught Dongho shaking his in a weird way on the doorway to the kitchen, his back facing everyone that walked his way. When Seulgi asked what on earth was he doing, he turned his torso around a bit and posed with hands on his hips. With a lot of confidence, he said, “Being skeptical, eh.”

For no particular reason, and that was that and then he continued to wiggle the night away, forbidding the entrance to anyone who wished to enter the kitchen for the time being. He was… rather special, but not in a bad way at all! You just couldn’t predict him as much as you could the next person. Somehow, that was his most endearing feature, he was just always having a good time. 

Seulgi smiled, unable to say that the memory didn’t make her laugh still. 

Dongho was ready to go out in the blink of an eye and walked into the living room now analyzing the list. With a cackle, he showed to Seulgi the back of the paper, which Irene specified to Dongho to record every reaction. Seulgi rolled her eyes. Playfully, he nudged her. “I think she just wants to see your face.”

“As if,” Seulgi shook her head. “I think she hates me to guts.”

“Maybe she just wants to have a video she can sell to the world after you become even more famous,” Dongho shrugged as he slipped the note into his pocket, then putting on his favorite white tiger hoodie. “She’s got a brain for all this business stuff,” he continued, now making sure his mohawk was perfectly in place.

Right then, Seulgi only wanted to mess that mohawk up. “She’s a business woman?”

He shook his head and grinned. “She’s sneaky, eh.”

Seulgi figured as much. Despite being very quiet, very polite and respectful with the adults near her, she seemed to be very y and not at all what Seulgi would expect of that lovely smile. It was usually her kind of people that you’d have to be very careful of when you want to lie to keep a surprise for them--or just lie in general, truthfully. 

Quiet and deadly in a way, never missing a beat and always alert on things. Seulgi had known quite a few people like this in her line of work, in college as well, but this rang a special bell back when she was in middle school. A young girl named Ada who was quiet and never uttered a word but somehow figured that one of Seulgi’s classmate suffered some learning condition. When the parents were informed, the young boy turned out to suffer from mild dyslexia and began to be helped immediately. If not for Ada, no one would’ve known until much later on.

Seulgi was amazed, but her father put it best. “There’s much to see when you keep quiet and look around.”

Irene was going to either be a pain in the or observant enough to figure a way to deal with Seulgi, perhaps to make people understand how to deal with her. Maybe she’d find a way to understand the pressure Seulgi deals with.

But then, Seulgi brushed the thought away. Why would a woman that does not care about her even begin to bother trying to figure her out? It was certainly hopeless, so no hope could be had.

Finally, Dongho had finished getting ready. He had merely slipped on his sneakers and grabbed his bag. He was on his way to grab two helmets when he stopped short. Upon analyzing the helmets for a while, Seulgi squinted and asked. “Why the helmets?”

Dongho shrugged with a chuckle. “I have a scooter, but I forgot it broke down a few weeks ago and I was going to use my summer time to fix it. Guess I’ll do that later, huh?”

It suddenly dawned on Seulgi. With a sigh, she spoke. “Wait, are we going to walk all the way into town?”

“Yeah, that’s the idea,” Dongho laughed and patted her cheek. “Cheer up, it’s good exercise!”

Seulgi sighed and only prayed to god that she would not pass out.