The young boy listened as the adults screamed and objects flew to the ground, shattering loudly. By now he was almost jaded, numb. He no longer cried at the curses and constant bangs, thuds, crashes. The two adults screamed words of lies and deceit through sobs and hacks. He sat quietly holding onto a stuffed bear he had named Gomi. As the screams became louder he pulled his knees up and put his head between them desperate to plug his ears and drown out the noise.

“Kevin…”

“Kevin!”

My body flew up quickly but my head clunked off something sending me back down onto the bed holding it in pain.

“Owww!” We whimpered in unison. My eyes pried open and I watched Dongho rub his forehead with a confused look on his face.

“Why did you do that!” He whined, pouting to himself.

“I didn’t mean to…why did you have to wake me up so urgently!”  He sneered and got up off the bed then proceeded to pull me up out of the sheets onto the cold floor. I wiggled wildly in protest as I tried to get myself back into the warm blankets.

“Nooo! We’re going to visit mom today!” Dongho exclaimed.

“Aunty?” I gasped, that was enough to get me up. My aunt was such an amazing woman I wish I could have seen her more often. After losing her husband when Dongho was 3 she became deeply depressed unbeknownst to Dongho and I. But after the death she valued the people around her so much more and loved us more than ever. Sometimes I thought she even loved me more than my own mom. Whenever my parents fought I would run away to their house and she would read us bed time stories until we fell asleep. She was like a breath of fresh air to me when I was younger. Because of the constant yelling and anger in my own house I didn’t know that there was such a thing as a happy family, but my aunt showed me that, even though she lacked a husband. She was a hero to me, and I couldn’t thank her enough for all that she had done for me.

After taking a shower and getting dressed we got in Alexander’s car and sped off to the countryside where my aunt was living. She had her own farm that she tended to with her new husband and their son who was around 13. I sat in the back of the car next to Dongho while Alexander drove and Kiseop sat in the front. When I asked Dongho why they came along, he said aunty urged that we all go for some reason. I looked out the window and watched as the large buildings slowly became more scarce and the scenery turned green and natural.  After an hour long ride we finally pulled up to a small farm in the middle of nowhere. A little red house sat in the front, chickens pecked at bits of feed scattered on the ground next to a couple of burlap sacks leaning against the side of it. As we all got out and stretched our legs out a small woman came out of the building and yelled at the chickens causing them to flee. Once she saw us her angered expression turned warm and happy, and even happier as she saw me. Her small almond shaped eyes nearly drew tears and she shrieked and ran to me, embracing me tightly.

“Oh, Kevin!” She cooed.

“Yah! What about me, you haven’t seen me in a week!” Dongho scoffed jealously.

“Shut up!” she replied, not letting go of me. Once she finally released me she pinched my cheeks and smiled up at me brightly. “My, my, you’ve grown! You look just like your mother.”

“Mom…why did you want all 4 of us here today?” Dongho asked curiously, I wanted the answer too. She clapped as if she remembered something then gestured us all into her house without answering the question.

“Come sit, I have tea!”

The house smelt of homemade food, spices, and fresh laundry. We all sat down at the small table in the living room and waited patiently.

“Dongho, you should ask her if we can have some of her kimchi to bring home. Her kimchi is seriously daebak.” Alexander gasped. When I looked up at Alexander, my eyes drifted to the right falling onto Kiseop who stared off into the house, his head turned away from us.

Why is his nose so straight…and his jaw so chiseled…YAH!

By the time I noticed myself gawking at him, he noticed too. Because his eyes were now daggers straight at me, making my palms sweat. I looked away nervously hoping I wasn’t too creepy looking.

“Here we are!” My aunt came in with a tray of small cups filled with green tea. She set it on the table along with some biscuits we all gladly took and stuffed into our mouths along with the tea. As far as I knew, none of us had eaten this morning so it satisfied my empty stomach.

“Alright. The reason I asked you all to come is because Yong-Ki and Jong-Yup are out fishing today and I need help here. I knew if I only had Kevin and Dongho here not much would get done. So…will you help? Please?” She pleaded, batting her eyelashes at all of us, Dongho and I slightly insulted however. But

Alexander flashed a brilliant smile and agreed.<