sibling rivalry











Both parents look up from their individual activities when they heard shrill cries coming from upstairs. They look at each other, eyes wide, silently asking each other what could have happened.

Suddenly, the doors of the parlor burst open and two little tykes come running in. They both had tear streaks on their chubby cheeks.

“Omma~!” cries Kim Eunjeong. She makes her way to the woman who lays the violin she has been tuning on the table beside her. She lets the child climb to her lap and coos at her.

“Appa!” cries Kim Sarang, in turn. She slumps on the floor in front of the man who takes his reading glasses off and rests atop the music sheets he has been studying, on the coffee table. He takes their first born into his arms and onto his lap.

Mr. and Mrs. Kim wait for their children to calm down before finally asking about what has happened.

“Unnie –“ Eunjeong starts, earning protests form Sarang which are quieted by their father. “Unnie said that you don’t love me – that you love her the most. That’s why you – you named her Sarang. She’s Sarang and I’m only Eunjeong.” The younger of the two forces her words out in between sobs and heaves. She finishes and burries her face into their mother’s bossom. “Is that true, Omma? Don’t you love me just the same?”

The couple sighs, simultaneously. They eye their older daughter and shake their heads. She has done bad, they tell her silently, and she cowers in her Appa’s arms.

“Eunjeong-ah,” the Omma begins, hands caressing the still sobbing child’s back. “And you, too, Sarang-ah. Haven’t your Appa and I told you about this before? Why are you still quarreling about it?” she asks.

The Appa clears his throat, to ready himself for his explanation and to get the attention of his beautiful children.

“Both your names refer to us,” he starts. He turns a bit nervous because their reasons suddenly seem too narcissistic. “Unnie’s name is love because Omma loves Appa and Appa loves Omma.”

“And Eunjeongie is Eunjeong because Omma and Appa are blessed to have you both,” the Omma added. “Between the two of you, neither is love more nor less.”

“Do you understand?” the man questions, his head turning between his daughters. He waits until they nod.

Their hesitation makes him let out a sigh. He looks at his wife who stands and walks towards them. He moves Sarang to one of his legs as the mother of his children settles on his other leg, Eunjeong still in her arms.

“Come here, Sarang-ah,” she whispers. The toddler scrambles closer, balancing herself on her Appa. “Omma loves you.” Then she turns to Eunjeong, “and you, I love you, too,” she plants a kiss on the younger’s forehead and then, also on the older’s. “And I love Appa, too.”

“Omma, I love you, too,” Eunjeong murmurs into her ear. She goes back to burrying her face into the woman’s neck.

“How about Appa?”

“I love Appa, too,” the child answers.

“And Unnie?”

With a soft hmmmph, “Yes, I love her, too.”

“And this Unnie on my lap, who does she love?” he asks.

Sarang pouts but she answers, “I love Appa, Omma, and Eunjeongie.”

She kisses her sisters cheek, loud, making the younger one giggle. And then she kisses both their parents square on the lips. She whispers a soft I’m sorry to Eunjeong, to which the latter responds with the same words.

Mrs. Kim leans on her husband, and smiles. Mr. Kim lays a feather light kiss upon all three of them, all on the lips. And his wife starts humming a song, which he sings the lyrics to.