BaekHo

I got home around 6:30pm. As soon as I opened the door, I heard my old brother call out my name.

“Kang Dong Ho, Where have you been?” He yelled, his voice bouncing off the marble walls.

“Daddy, don’t yell at uncle like that” I heard my little niece, Yuki say. I chuckled to myself as I walked towards the voices. It led me to the kitchen where I found my brother, SaeRyun, standing at the stove, stirring something in a pot. Sitting on counter was a bowl of spaghetti. My niece was sitting on the counter, chatting with her Dad.

“Uncle Poodle!” My niece yelled, her voice filled with excitement. She used to call me blond poodle because of my blond hair. I put down my book bag on the floor and went over to my niece. I picked her up from the counter and lifted her up in air. She shrieked in delight, with her arms thrown high up in the air and her long black hair going around in circles as I spun her around.   I finally lowered her down because my arms were feeling tired.

“Poodle how was your day?” She asked, as I carried her and placed her on the counter.

“Pretty good, nothing new because it’s the first day of school. Got to meet new teachers and crap like that” I replied, opening the fridge.

“Yah! Don’t use that type of language” My brother snapped at me, turning around. I mumbled sorry and took out a bottle of water. He hated it when I used such words as jerk or crap because he doesn’t want Yuki picking up bad language since she was only 5 years old.

“Dong Ho, where were you?” He asked, turning off the stove.

“I went to the playground near here. That place has an awesome jungle gym” I reponded, moving the bowl of spaghetti to the dining room. I set it down in the center of the table and quickly returned to the kitchen in time to see my brother putting the sauce in a clear bowl.

“Well next time call home if you’re going to be staying out late” He said, picking up the bowl.

“Ok”

I got to the drawer and got the utensils for our meal. I carried Yuki off the counter and walked toward the dining room. I set her down and placed the utensils next to each plate.

I sat in the chair across from Yuki while SaeRyun sat at the head since he was the oldest of the house hold. I said my thanks and began eating. You’re probably wondering why I live with my brother and also wondering where the heck Yuki’s mother was. Our parents send me to live with my 30 year old brother as soon as they hit the age of 60. They are travelling the world, enjoying their retirement. SaeRyun met and married a girl named Yasmin, a Chilean girl who he had met when he went to the states to study. My parents opposed of him being with her but they didn’t stop him and let him live his life. They knew that the only reason why she married him was to get money from him. He was 24 years old at the time. Yasmin got pregnant but she didn’t want the baby and wanted to abort the baby but my brother stopped her. When she gave birth to Yuki, she signed away her parental rights and divorced my brother. She demanded millions of money from my brother and he paid her just to save his daughter from being placed into adoption. He moved back to Korea and began teaching her the Korean language, but he always told Yuki about her mother.

"Hyung this food is awesome!" I compliamented him. The food tasted much better than what he usually made.

"Oh I got the recipe for the sauce online" He said, taking a gulp of water. Hmmm, no wonder.

"Hey does that girl still go to your school?" He asked.

"Minki?" I asked, uncertain.

"Yeah her. How's her transition going?"

"Oh yeah she is still going to our school except for the fact that she now has s" I answered, blushing a bit. It felt weird talking about her. I had told my brother about Ren when I was in the 8th grade about him wanting to be a girl and he told me to stay out when JR picked on her and to treat her kindly because she too was a human being with flesh and blood running through her viens. He was a phsycologist who studied the behavior of the human mind. I listened to his advice but I felt bad because I was part of the problem and I wasn't sticking up for her.

"Hmmm, interesting" He sighed

"Daddy, who is MinKi?" Yuki asked, chewing with opened.

"MinKi is a very special friend of your uncle Dong Ho" My brother said.

"Oh okay" She said as she twirled more pasta into .

"Yuki, when do you start kindergarten?" I asked.

"I start tomorrow" She answered, smiling proudly. She thinks that going to kindergarten automatically made her an adult.

"That's cool" SaeRyun said, putting his fork down. He stood up and walked away with his plate and fork. Yuki followed a moment later, closely following her father. I looked at them as they walked away. Yuki was the opposite of SaeRyun. Yuki was loud and outgoing while SaeRyun was reserved and quiet. I picked up my plate and walked towards the kitchen. I set it down on the counter and went back to get the rest of the things. Yuki went to the living room to watch T.V while SaeRyun and I washed the dishes. I excused myself after we were done and made my way to my bedroom, on the 2nd floor. I changed out of my school uniform and wore an old black shorts and an old shirt. I picked out my clothes(School Uniform) for the next day, not forgetting to get my Gym clothes. I set them aside and collapsed onto my bed. I stared up at the ceiling, imaging how my parents were doing and how JR's mother was doing.

It still confused me how JR's mother could be so sweet and caring while JR was so cold and cruel. We've known JR's mother since the 6th grade when we all got invited to his house for his birthday. He later told us how his mother was dying and I could see that it had taken a really big toll on him. To top it off, his father of all people was out there banging some 20 year old girl instead of staying by his dying wife.

I now knew why JR was so cold. He took out his anger on other people instead of taking it out on his father, who was the problem behind it. I slowly got up and got my laptop off my desk and scooted back onto my bed. I logged on and checked my email. No new emails except for some spam. I put it away and turned in for the night.