Coloring - Kim Yerim

Chapter One

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Cirrus clouds floating amidst the baby blue sky. Bright daylight coming from the scorching hot sun.

“Are you really sure you’re going to be fine by yourself?”

It was a rather peaceful day.

“You could just transfer here, like Kyungsoo, you know? Joonyoung could finance your studies.”

Too peaceful that even Juno found herself feeling suffocated—the all too familiar state she had been in ever since taking a leave from her university.

Taking a glance towards her father, Joonyoung, Juno swallowed hard, noticing the expressionless face the male wore. “It’s fine, Aunty Yoomi. It would be a waste if I don’t use the scholarship that I worked so hard to acquire.” she said calmly before letting out a strained chuckle. “And besides, I’ve always wanted to try living by myself… try to be independent and the like.”

“But you know, Joon will miss you so much.”

The four year old boy immediately nodded, struggling out  of his brother’s arms and latching on to his sister’s legs. “Noona, please don’t go!” the little boy whined with a small pout. “I still want to continue playing with you and Kyungsoo-hyung!”

Continue? We’ve never even played together… not even once.

“Uhm… well…” Juno stuttered, unsure of how to respond to her little brother’s request. “Actually… I—“

Before she could completely answer though, her father had already beaten her to it, saving her the trouble of speaking. On another note, Juno wasn’t entirely sure if it was something fortunate or not. “Joon, stop bothering your noona.” Joonyoung picked up Joon from the floor and rubbed his back, attempting to comfort him. But to no avail, as the little boy still cried.

Taking Joon from her husband, Yoomi shushed him before turning back to Juno. “See, even Joon doesn’t want you to leave.”

“Just let her be, Yoomi.” Joonyoung said, looking at the female with creased eyebrows. “Juno’s already twenty so she can do whatever she wants.” Hearing his commanding voice, Yoomi had no other choice but to stay quiet and pacify Joon, much to both Joonyoung and Kyungsoo’s reliefs. “I guess you better get going now too, lest you’ll miss your flight.” Joonyoung said, his face reverting back to its expressionless state as he eyed Juno. “I’ll send money to your bank account every month. If you need more, just tell me.”

Lips pressed into a thin line, Juno nodded. “Thanks, dad.”

Joonyoung only nodded dryly. “We’re going back now. Joon’s getting out of hand.” The said boy was indeed making things difficult for Yoomi, bawling loudly in front of everyone. Seeing this, Joonyoung sighed. “Just call once in a while. Take care there, Jun.” he patted Juno’s shoulder slightly before taking Joon away from his wife and leading the two back into the parking lot.

As she watched the three exiting the airport, Juno heaved a sigh. I couldn’t even say a proper goodbye.

“Don’t worry, it’s best if you don’t or else, Joon will only be worse.”

Turning to her right, Juno saw her stepbrother, Kyungsoo, and smiled. “I guess you’re right.”

“But do you really want this?” Kyungsoo questioned. “I mean, going back to Seoul and living there by yourself? We’re only sophomores so it’s not really much of a waste if you transfer now.” he reasoned out, hoping to convince Juno to stay. “It’ll be hard for you, you know.”

Unfortunately, his excuse wasn’t bought by Juno. “Is that your only reason in wanting me to stay?” Kyungsoo nodded innocently, causing for Juno to laugh. “I know that you’ll miss me and all, but I also know that you’re only jealous because I get to be independent while you, mister,” she nudged the male with her pointer finger and smirked. “are stuck here as Joon’s babysitter.”

“I won’t be… maybe.” Kyungsoo shook his head. Though after a few seconds, a deep frown appeared on his face, causing for Juno to laugh more. “Damn, I should’ve said no when mom told us about migrating.”

“Tough luck, bro.”

“But seriously, do you really have to leave?” he asked once more. “I should’ve just told them that I’ll stay and continue studying in Seoul too.” Kyungsoo smiled sadly. “I’ll miss having a same aged sister… and a friend, of course.”

“Even if dad didn’t say anything, I’m sure that this was what he wanted too.” Juno mumbled, biting her bottom lip as she avoided Kyungsoo’s gaze. Seeing the male looking at her worriedly, Juno decided that it wasn’t the time to get all depressed and just smiled. “But don’t worry, we could always video chat!” she chirped, grinning at Kyungsoo in hopes of lifting the mood up.

Fortunately, Kyungsoo understood her and asked no more. “We really should do that.” he nodded. “Tell Sehun I said hi when you get there.” Juno nodded as Kyungsoo hugged her one last time before patting her head. “Be safe, okay? Bye, sis.”

Exactly right after Kyungsoo let go of her, Juno’s flight number was called through the speakers. “I really should get going now, Kyung.” she said, running in place as Kyungsoo chuckled and pushed her away. Leaving no more words, she waved back at him with a wide smile before finally going to her respective gate with her brown satchel hopping against her.

It was a rather peaceful day. Compared to Seoul, the spring in California wasn’t as cold. It was just about the right temperature for going out, but for Juno, it was suffocating. During her stay there, she felt stuffed and lifeless. Probably because she was in an entirely new environment, but her three month long stay in California felt like three whole years. Therefore, the prospect of finally going back to Seoul and living there by herself made her feel so relieved—excited even. To an extent that despite hating noise, not even the loudly snoring person seating beside her on the plane was able to faze her.

I just need to it up and wait for 13 hours more if I want to reach Seoul peacefully.

Juno wasn’t really from Seoul. Up to the sixth grade of primary school, she lived in Busan together with his dad, Joonyoung. On another note, Joonyoung’s clothing line for children—Catherine—was based in Seoul. Travelling to and from Busan was quite of a hassle for him, so when Juno reached middle school, he decided that it was best if they just moved to Seoul for good. Being the obedient daughter that she was, Juno made no fuss about it and just followed his decision.

Even when her father suddenly told her about his and Yoomi’s wedding, Juno made no complaints. She knew of it only after she reached high school, but she wasn’t really surprised since she already expected for it to happen since the day that she first met Yoomi. Joonyoung never told her anything about their relationship, but she always saw Yoomi since she worked under him at that time.

Yoomi was six years older than Joonyoung, but she looked so very youthful that no one was able to notice. Even Juno initially thought that she was younger. She was also very kind and bright for someone who was already in her mid-forties, always taking care of Joonyoung and playing the mother role in Juno’s life that had remained empty ever since she was born.

Even though Juno had never met her real mother and had only seen her in pictures, Juno immediately saw her in Yoomi, causing her to like the older female more. Juno wasn’t trying to replace her real mother in her life, but she also wanted her father to be happy. Every time Joonyoung was together with Yoomi, Juno could see a smile that she had never seen before—a happy and sincere one. And witnessing it, Juno couldn’t possibly oppose to the wedding and forsake him of his happiness.

Her father’s marriage also managed to change Juno’s life in a slightly good way. She’d always been an only child and was always curious to how it felt like to have a sibling. In an unexpected way, her curiosity was fulfilled when Yoomi told her that she actually has a son from her previous husband who has the same age as her, a boy named Kyungsoo.

Juno felt uncertain about it at first, especially when they finally moved in to their house. Despite the prejudice however, Kyungsoo was just like his mother—kind and cheerful—so Juno eventually became good friends with him.

It wasn’t long after when a new member was added to their family. A year after Joonyoung and Yoomi’s marriage, Joon was born. He looked more like Joonyoung physically, but had the same personality as Yoomi. Despite being loveable though, Kyungsoo was much closer to him. Juno liked Joon as well, but for some reason, she couldn’t bring herself to like him as much as Kyungsoo did. Every time Joon would go to her, she would always end up being awkward and clumsy, to the point that her father had stopped Joon from coming closer to her anymore.

It was awful of her, she knew, but she couldn’t really force herself to do something that she didn’t like.