Chapter 9
Sweet & Sour (Hiatus)Lately, Henry had been acting strange. Donghae noticed that he had been ignoring him and their mom as well as Hyukjae. Their mom had been working more too, so she hasn’t realized the matter yet which concerned Donghae. As an older brother, of course he was worried. He only had one brother who he loved and cared deeply for.
Yeah… one brother… and one mom…
Whenever Donghae attempted to start a conversation or even asked a question, he would always receive a short, blunt answer back. And Donghae hated that.
“Yes.”
“No.”
“Maybe.”
“Sure.”
“Okay.”
“No thank you.”
“Thank you.”
“I don’t know.”
And Donghae especially hated, “I don’t care.”
Why don’t you give a crap?! Obviously, there is something wrong with you if you don’t give a damn about what flavor ice cream we buy you!
He knew that Henry was unhappy with the move to Seoul, but he just assumed that his little brother would just get over it once they’ve settled in. Two weeks and a few days had already gone by and Henry still refused to adapt and accept the changes. Donghae wanted to have a one on one talk with the younger, but he had been distracted lately with his grades. It hasn’t even been a month and Donghae was already failing math. He was never good with numbers anyway, so it didn’t surprise him too much.
Donghae had even asked Kyuhyun if he knew anyone in the same grade as Henry so that they could keep an eye on his little brother when he couldn’t himself. Since Kyuhyun skipped a few grades, he should know kids his age, which was about Henry’s age too. Kyuhyun introduced a small and thin kid to Donghae. He had to resist the urge to pinch the little boy’s cheeks because he was just so adorable.
His name was Lee Taemin, a freshmen just like Henry himself. Taemin would send Donghae honest and detailed text messages about his observations on how Henry seemed to be behaving at school.
TAEMIN AND DONGHAE’S TEXT MESSAGE CONVERSATION REGARDING HENRY:
DONGHAE: Hey. ^_^
TAEMIN: Hi. :)
DONGHAE: How is Henry doing in school?
TAEMIN: We share periods 2, 5, and 6 together and he’s always the same in each one; Expressionless and antisocial. I’ve also confirmed with my other friends who share the other periods with Henry and they’ve said the same thing. As always, he eats alone during lunch. Whenever people try to talk to him, he’d simply ignore them and he makes it almost impossible to get a conversation going. Occasionally, I see him talking with a boy in his senior year.
DONGHAE: Who is the boy? O.O
TAEMIN: Zhou Mi.
DONGHAE: I see. Thanks a lot, Taemin. I appreciate it. Keep up the great work. ;)
TAEMIN: No problem. :D
END OF TAEMIN AND DONGHAE’S TEXTING CONVERSATION REGARDING HENRY
Donghae didn’t want to wait anymore, he wanted to talk to him up front and personal and he was going to do it tonight. Unfortunately, what happened during dinner was not how Donghae expected it to be.
***
They and their mom ate in silence. It was a rare night, since their mother wasn’t usually home until they were both in bed. Only the sound of chewing or the picking up of a glass cup would resonate in the air. Their mom was tired and speaking a few words was even a bother to her. Donghae would talk mostly and would just be carrying out a whole conversation by himself. It was very seldom that he would receive comments and replies, but tonight, Henry had a conversation he wished to carry out, too.
“When are we going back to Mokpo?”
“We can visit Mokpo once I’ve acquired enough money, but at the moment-”
“I meant move back. When are we moving back to Mokpo?” Henry had an annoyed tone in his voice. His mother knew damn well what he meant, yet she pretended like she didn’t.
“We’re not moving back, Sweetie. We’re staying here in Seoul.” Their mother said gently. She was tired, yes, very tired. Donghae stayed quiet, he didn’t want to interfere.
“It’s because we don’t have enough money is it?” Tension was building up, Donghae could feel it.
“Well, even if we did have enough money to move back, it would be too much of a hassle back to Mokpo.”
“Why? Why should we stay in Seoul? Why did we even leave Mokpo in the first place if it's too much of a hassle to move back?” Henry’s started to raise his voice.
“I’ve told you already. They have a better environment here and more opportunities. I want you guys to have better lives”
“Well our lives were just fine in Mokpo!”
“Henry, don’t shout.” The weary, old woman said.
Henry didn’t listen.
“Our lives were just fine! There was no reason to move. If money is an issue in our family, then why did we spend so much money to buy a house in Seoul when we already had one in Mokpo! Ever since Appa died, you don’t tell us anything anymore! Ever since Appa died, you’re not even home anymore! EVER SINCE APPA DIED, I DON’T EVEN FEEL LIKE WE’RE A FAMILY ANYMORE!”
He had reached his limit. He finally cracked, and Donghae was there to witness it all. Their mother stayed silent. She had no words to say, which infuriated Henry more. The younger slammed his bowl and chopsticks on the table, got up, and left to go upstairs, saying on one word as he left.
“Goodnight.”
They heard the sound of a slamming door a few seconds later.
Donghae and their mother continued to eat in silence. Expressionless, he kept a fixed eye on his mother. He was absorbing what just went down at the dinner table and knew that it wasn’t the end. Their mom had finally cracked, too.
She put down her chopsticks and bowl and tears flooded from her eyes. Ashamed, she covered her face with her hands.
“I’m sorry,” she wept, “I’m sorry, I failed as an Omma. Henry, Donghae, I’m sorry.”
Donghae placed his bowl and chopsticks down too and got up to sit next to his mother to comfort her. He held her hand, not saying anything. He just listened.
“I know I’ve changed ever since your Appa has died, but that doesn’t mean I don’t think about him every day. I just hate it. Our house reeks of nothing but deaths. I’ve lost too many, I don’t want to lose you guys, too,” She paused to take a few deep breaths to calm down and continued, “Henry’s right, I’ve been consumed by my work that I’ve neglected our family. But someone has to make money to keep this house running. I-I just don’t know how to equally divide the time with family and work. I just can’t do it… I'm so tired, I can't think. And now I’ve failed to keep my children happy and you guys hate me for that…”
“I don’t hate you, Omma. Henry doesn't hate you either. I admire your hard work to keep a good, stable environment for us, but you know you’re not alone in this family.” The words came to Donghae and it continued to flow. It caught the mom’s attention, too.
“I can find a job here and help you out with financial issues. You don’t have to deal with everything alone, Omma. You can lean on your kids a bit, you know that right? I’m almost 18. I should already be responsible with helping out in this household. Even if Appa is not here, we still are. So please don’t cry, Omma.”
Donghae sounded liked he was begging almost, but he was surprised at how mature he sounded. It was times like these where he had to be a son and not a fish.
His mom had burst into tears once again, he couldn’t tell if it was from sadness or happiness, but his mother cried in his arms, and he held her, until her breathing had caught up.
“Omma?”
His mother sniffed. “What is it?”
“Why didn’t you tell us about when we were moving sooner?” Donghae wanted to know everything, he felt like his mother had been hiding a few things from Henry and him.
“I wanted it to be a surprise.” Donghae could see how people could easily misunderstand her intentions.
“And why did we move?”
“Like I said, better lives and opportunities. Henry wants to become a musician, right? I thought that he would have a better chance in Seoul than in Mokpo.”
Donghae’s heart felt touched, for that his mother had pure intentions for her kids’ futures.
“One last thing, you said our house ‘reeks of deaths’. What do you mean?”
His mom froze. He knew someone was up.
“Donghae,” She said, looking her eldest son straight in the eyes, “I have something to tell you.”
“What is it?” He could hear the intensity in her voice as she spoke as if it was something sacred or forbidden.
“Before Henry was born, you were about 3 years old at that time when he passed away and well… How should I put this?” His mom took a deep breath.
“You had an older brother.”
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