Hana brushed a strand of hair behind her ears and sent Tao a reproachful look. She wasn’t thrilled that he’d skipped his first day of school but he’d somehow managed to run into Oh Seryung and helped her through a lot. She took a seat beside him and he nudged her apologetically. Hana ignored him because the apology wasn’t something she should have been offered. Tao had always had his roundabout way of doing things despite being straightforward. She only imagined how hard it would be for him to pretend to fit into her school. Hana shuddered, school was becoming harder to like with each passing day. The struggle wasn’t something that could be voiced because no one would understand, maybe at another house but not at hers.

“How are things progressing with Sehun?”

Tao felt his appetite diminishing, ‘We just started eating. Did you have to bring that up?’ Tao glared at his plate imagining Mrs. Kim was the piece of boneless chicken in his food. He casually placed the morsel aside and pretended to enjoy his food.

“Things are going okay,” Hana replied meekly, she didn’t want to dwell on the topic and spied Tao boarding his plate with pieces of chicken. She arched an eyebrow at what she saw and warned him to stop in the form of a nudge. Tao grimaced and began to knock the pieces of chicken back into his plate. He wished he wasn’t present for when the conversations about Sehun took place. They weren’t something he could into for no apparent reason except comment on as a ‘brother.’

“It should be going better than okay because you’re meant to marry him.”

Hana didn’t respond because she knew better than to argue with her parents. Tao didn’t say anything both because these were internal family matters and it was up to Hana to stand up to her parents. Tao really wanted to say something about Sehun having a ‘personality disorder’ to stop the conversation about marriage but again, it wasn’t his place to intervene. He was living of Mr. & Mrs. Kim’s salary and there was nothing more unpleasant than quietly accepting it and watching as he was doing now. Tao just hoped a day would come when the cold war stopped but that was only wishful thinking.

“Hana, your teacher called to say your grades have been falling recently. I just don’t see why, you attend the best schools in the country, you have all the facilities you need to study in but you still get the worst grades ever. Just look at Oh Sehun! He doesn’t even attend tuition classes and he still tops every exam.”

“Oh honey, you don’t understand. Oh Sehun is the perfect child. He doesn’t need things like tuition. I bet if he tried he could get a scholarship in one of the SKY universities.”

“His sister too, she’s not lacking in any way. Her mother was boasting about her perfect grades while we were taking a tour of the Taj Mahal. Those two children have been getting A’s since they started school. Why is it just Hana who is just… different? She tries but still doesn’t score very high, is there something wrong with her? Should we take her to see someone?”

“Oh course not, she just doesn’t work hard enough, there’s a sowing machine distracting her in her room. Once we get rid of that, her grades should get better. She just likes to waste her time on it, making clothes, such a useless hobby! If she paid attention to it I’m sure she would do well like the other kids. This daughter of ours is just lazy.”

“I would have thought your competitive spirit might have sparkled when we set your engagement with Sehun. He’s competent enough, why don’t you ask him for study help? The two of you might even become closer like that.”

“She would waste Sehun’s time too and speaking of time wasting. Tao you should watch out for it too. Hana’s not the best example here for doing well in anything so I hope her laziness doesn’t rub off you too. We’re actually hoping for you to do really well, someone should at least do well and we both have faith in you. You’re the pride of the family.”

Hana continued to ignore her parents as they went on to talk about pride and how ones parents held their head up high when their children did well in school and how the other parents were ashamed of their poor grade children. She could feel Tao shift uncomfortable beside her and a small smirk made its way to her lips, ‘Welcome to the Kim family ‘brother,’ hope you get used ‘your parents’ quickly.’

Tao could feel irritation rising like a rash at this point. He’d heard enough, any more and he would have begun to yell, “I sorry but I’d like to be excused. The day was pretty long and I’m kind of tired.”

Hana sighed inwardly, her silent moral supporter was asking to leave and just like she’d expected, he’d been granted permission from her parents but of course very like her parents they wouldn’t let him off without a lecture too.

“You didn’t go to school today, Tao we got a call saying you never showed up. It was very embarrassing. You should have gone you don’t want to worry your parents who are expecting nothing but the best from you. If you were a girl it would be different, you could be married into a good family like Hana will be but you’re a guy. You’ll be supporting a family sometime in the future and hence you should be serious and pick yourself up.”

“We don’t blame you Tao everyone has their ups and downs and you were a little unfortunate before but you can climb back up the ladder. I know you can do it, you’ve done it before,” Mrs. Kim turned to her husband and shook her head, “Don’t stress out Tao, he’ll do just fine. I’m sure of it.”

Mr. Kim sighed and placed his fork onto the table, “I know Tao will do fine, all children are like that, they all do well to succeed. It’s just one who gives me headaches. If you sleep three hours a night, you may get into a top 'SKY university;' If you sleep four hours each night, you may get into another university, but Hana sleep’s about five or more hours each night, how will she get into any university?”

Mrs. Kim didn’t reply to that statement, instead she looked towards Hana questioningly. She didn’t think her daughter was capable of entering a university either. Both Mr. and Mrs. Kim had had high hopes in the beginning but now things only seemed gloomier and gloomier. They didn’t know what she would do in the future; it was shameful to face other parents. That’s why they’d had her engaged so quickly and now what they really needed to focus on was the marriage.

Mrs. Kim ran a hand through her long hair, she thought about trying to convince Mrs. Oh to forward the marriage. If Hana were married after high school she wouldn’t have to worry about university because she would work as a housewife. If Hana waited till after Sehun finished his university degree then there was a chance of a taller and prettier girl taking up Hana’s position. Mrs. Kim frowned, Hana had cut her long hair and Mrs. Kim had been the one feeling distraught, all those years of maintenance and love had been wasted.

“Hana, does Sehun like you?” Mrs. Kim asked. She was doubtful someone like Sehun would like someone like Hana but there was always a chance, but that hope dashed when Hana hesitated.

“Like me?” Hana repeated in wonder. She was hoping not to reach this side of the mountain and definitely not in front of Tao who would most likely take it worse than her.

She smiled nervously, “I haven’t asked him…” Hana prayed the topic would end there, she was sure Sehun had no romantic feelings towards her, he was sorry to her for a lot of things but that was it, that was where the line had been drawn and Hana was unable to cross it.

“Oh Hana! A girl should know when a guy likes her! He acts differently around her! He’s nice to her, he compliments her, he covers up her faults etc. Those kind of subtle actions.”

Hana smiled in return, she pretended to remain clueless and went back to her food. Sehun liked her, in her dreams, where he wasn’t real and so that didn’t count. Hana sensed Tao was sitting tensed. She nudged him with her foot and glanced at him from the corner of her eye. She gave him a brief smile to assure him she was fine but he still remained tense.

“This kid needs to at least be social for someone to take notice of her, she doesn’t study but she doesn’t party either. She doesn’t do anything, I bet the kids in her class don’t even know who she is.”

Hana crossed her legs under the table and took a sip of water, ‘Oh they know who I am, they even know where my seat is and even bothered to learn where my locker is. They know a lot more than you guys think,’ Hana thought darkly and listened to her parents sigh collectively. They went on to continue their conversation until they came to their favorite topic. Celebrations, Indian celebrations, Diwali to be exact!

“Let’s celebrate Diwali here in Korea for once!”

“It’s just not the same, Indians are much more festive than the boring bunch of people in our country.”

“But we could celebrate it as a family of four! Tao is here too, we should introduce him to Indian culture and heritage!”

Mr. Kim nodded absentmindedly to please his wife, he was rewarded by a peck on the cheek and continued his meal while his wife went on to explain the festival of lights to Tao.

Tao nodded politely every time Mrs. Kim mentioned how much she wanted to be in India for it. Tao wondered when Hana would care to remind them but Hana didn’t say anything so yet again Tao was forced to remain silent but the more he thought about it, the more he knew he would have to tell her parents what they were forgetting.

Mrs. Kim was excited, she planned a party in her head with the Oh family, and it was the perfect chance to bring Sehun close to Hana. Hana wasn’t a very good seductress but seeing her everywhere, including some of his classes, might make him warm up to her and if he did that he might even fall for her. Mrs. Kim was very hopeful that he did, she was banking so much on Hana’s marriage into the Oh family. The Oh’s were nice people in Mrs. Kim’s mind but they were also selective with the friends they made, they were very much in love with their countries history and were easily offended if someone were to criticize. Their work rendered them unable to stay home most of the time and Mrs. Kim wondered if that was the secret to having perfect children because no matter how hard Mrs. Kim worked on Hana, Hana was a stubborn mule who just didn’t change.

-

Tao was lying on his bed with his hands behind his head, knees slight bent, staring at the ceiling, he’d have to listen to that every day. Mr. & Mrs. Kim had been more lenient with their conversation today, they were taking note of Tao who was new to them but soon they would get used to having him around and the conversations at the dinner table would solely be about grades. Tao made a face, life had been easier when he was a child, he missed that time, every passing day was telling him he was growing up, one step closer to being a real adult. The law stated that twenty year olds were adults but in Tao’s mind adults were those with full-time jobs, you didn’t have to be twenty, you just had to be working, work made you somewhat mature and brought hardships like no other, that was what being an adult meant.

A quick rap on the door snapped Tao out of his reverie, he knew who it was without looking and he knew she wanted to talk about something else other than Diwali.

“Don’t tell them.”

Tao registered the words and sat up, he felt angry again like he had at the dinner table, “I won’t but you should.” Tao knew that Hana was upset about it and he also believed she had a right to be however the longer she was at war with her parents the longer Tao would be standing on middle ground and hence feel on edge. He didn’t want to choose sides, he wanted to get along with everyone in the Kim family house but it would be hard to please everyone.

“I’ll never forgive you if you tell them, it’s something they should know themselves and if they don’t you shouldn’t bother with it because it’s not important.”

Tao furrowed his brows and glared at the wall in front of him. ‘How can they forget that?’ Tao his dry lips and sighed, he thought of the chap stick he’d given away, ‘Why do you do the weirdest things?’ Tao ruffled his hair and lay on his back once again, he felt agitated and he had the Kim family to thank for it. On one corner stood Mr. & Mrs. Kim and in the other was Hana, it wasn’t even a boxing match but he felt like Hana had unflinchingly taken a massive blow. There was nothing wrong with Mr. and Mrs. Kim, they should have remembered, they remembered other useless stuff like who said what during a trip but to not remember that…. Hana was the sweetest person Tao knew but her parents brought out the worst in her, ‘That might have been the most ironic statement to grace the planet!’

-

“It’s such a beautiful country, rich with history, culture, meaningful traditions and the people are so mannered and sophisticated -”

“- The Kim family are lovely people too and if only we didn’t have to cut the trip short because of work, we would be celebrating Diwali there too. The Kim’s were hoping to buy tickets to go back. Do you think we’ll be invited?”

“Of course we will! I want to see this festival especially after the way Mrs. Kim described it, it sounds magical! If only Seryung could find a guy as charming as an Indian fellow…”

Seryung made a face and played with her rice, “But I can’t even speak Hindi!”

“It doesn’t matter because Indians speak such good English our people should really take note. I don’t think I’ve ever heard English being spoken that finely by a non-native western.”

Sehun scoffed inwardly and tried to catch his sisters eye for a mutual eye roll moment but Seryung never even glanced in his direction. Sehun used his finders to comb his hair back, ‘She’s still mad…’ Sehun hadn’t had a chance to confront her in private because their parents had cut their trip short. ‘Tssk, talking about private matters in front of them is like blasphemy.’

Seryung pouted, her left hand had never been trained to use chopsticks or even a spoon for that matter not as finely as her right hand. Using her right hand for anything just felt uncomfortable, there was a large plaster cast the size of Timbuktu just waiting for attention. Seryung had kept it under the table to hide its obviousness but using her left hand was suspicious enough.

“Seryung, what happened to your hand?”

Seryung smiled in response, her hand was fine but the arm attached to the hand was covered in ointment and plaster because it was bleeding. “ I fell and hurt it,” Seryung didn’t expect anyone to believe her statement nor did she expect them to question her obvious lie. Mr. & Mrs. Oh didn’t interrogate their daughter either, they suspected her brother would know and that meant that someone was looking out for her so they didn’t have to exhort energy that they didn’t need to exhort because she would never tell them anyway.

Mi Young stood a few feet away, where Sehun and Seryung couldn’t see her, she felt bitter about the ordeal. There was no venting to Seryung or even Sehun for the ghost so she left to find MAMA to pour her heart out.

“Their daughter became a wangta and came home with a giant bandage on her arm, she didn’t tell me anything else because they’ve taught her how to be secretive. Isn’t it about time they started acting like parents and confronted her? She’s their perfect daughter and Sehun’s their perfect son, they give everyone that impression but they don’t see it when their kids are hurt and they’ve never there for the kids when the kids need you. How long do they plan to have Sehun and Seryung raise each other? They need to wake up. Its not going to work out the way they want it, it would be abnormal if it did!”

MAMA sighed in exhaustion, Mi Young’s stories were too heavy to stomach for the owl especially since he was restricted when it came to hunting. The owl’s large glass-like eyes blinked, he didn’t know very much about the Oh siblings because he didn’t know the Oh siblings but hearing their story did make him sympathize however there wasn’t anything he could do for them.

Mi Young listened to the owl complain about Seryung’s fear of him. MAMA was an owl by nature and at night he desired to go hunting but he couldn’t and that made him restless in his cage. It disturbed Seryung in her sleep, the owl was aware but he couldn’t help himself, he was a predator and his instincts hated being depraved.

“I can help you if that’s the case,” Mi Young smiled mischievously. She’d never possessed a human before because she wasn’t permitted to but no one said anything about birds.

MAMA hooted to remind the ghost that Seryung was too scared of him, she couldn’t even hold his cage let alone dare to open it. Mi Young smiled knowingly, “That’s not a problem. The real problem is having Seryung agree to let me free you and avoiding future questions.” Mi Young knew Seryung would have questions about the world of ghosts once Mi Young uttered the word ‘possess.’

There were many strange things about the supernatural beings, they were capable of a lot but for that exact reason there existed rules that ghosts had to abide by. Failing to comply meant that the soul was vanquished, forever. There was a rumor about a book, a very old book in which all the abilities of ghosts were recorded, Mi Young had heard about it. It was a very popular wives tale.

Mi Young had never seen this book that was rumored to be in existence since the 16^th century, she believed it to be a rumor. How could a book survive for so long? Its pages weren’t made of anything special.

She heard the siblings’ footsteps as the both came upstairs. They would fight now, Mi Young knew, and she didn’t want to stay to watch the firecrackers.

Sehun blocked Seryung’s impeding escape, she wasn’t escaping so easily from him, he still hadn’t explained anything to her and he wasn’t going to spend the rest of his life fighting the only family he could get along with.

“I heard about the rumors, the wangta rumors I wasn’t the one who initiated those, I didn’t do anything yet everyone is pointing fingers at me saying I exchanged you for Hana when it’s not true! I wouldn’t exchange you. Especially after all the years I’ve spent spoiling you! All that effort would go to waste if I abandoned you.”

Seryung clenched her teeth, she’d gone to him when she had been desperate, he’d chased her away and now he was asking her for forgiveness. Seryung wondered if this was always how he’d gone about thing, he only paid attention when he wanted to and at other times he played the part of a cold, distant stranger. Seryung recalled how she’d spent her day since the alarm had awoken her nothing had gone well and she’d found some sort of mutual loyalty in someone who hated her. Seryung clicked her tongue, ‘It shouldn’t have gotten to that point. It would have just stopped if you had done something oppa but you acted like you didn’t want me around…’

“I’m in no mood to try and recall it because school was horrible. You shouldn’t talk to me anymore, you’ve got Hana, you should just stick to Hana because Hana will be your wife and it’s clear that you’re incapable of caring, about two people at the same time. Forget me because that’s exactly what I want to do. I don’t have a brother anymore just like you don’t have a sister. We’re just two strangers living under the same roof… Sehun. Don’t talk to me ever again and if you really want to you should, you should, hurt Hana.” Seryung knew he wouldn’t dare to hurt anyone because he was incapable of hurting people in general but she wanted him to hurt by hurting someone else because then the pain he’d given her. If he did hurt Hana, Seryung thought Hana was strong enough because Hana had survived as an outcast – she was stronger than both Sehun and Seryung.

Sehun emitted an estranged laugh. It seemed to him that everyone was expecting him to hurt Hana, including his sister. He didn’t like it, he had sworn he wouldn’t and especially not after the crazy ghost he’d had the displeasure of coming across. Seryung said stupid things sometimes but Sehun had a limit too, he wasn’t as stiff as everyone thought he was, Seryung knew that yet she was being bratty on purpose because she wanted to evoke his reaction so that was exactly what he’d give her, “You really shouldn’t spit acid every time you’re mad. Just because you’re angry doesn’t mean you’ve got permission to liquefy everything, you should try learning some self control because although I know about you crazy habit others don’t and you’ll regret letting your tongue loose one day. I can assure you, you will! And one more thing, I’ll tell you once and only once, I will not ‘hurt’ Hana not for you or anyone else, I will not hurt her! Unlike you Hana is nice even when I’m not nice to her she tries to understand the situation. You should learn that because it’s a useful trait to have.”

Seryung shook with humiliated anger, “So now you want to turn me into her?” Seryung laughed sarcastically, “Funny, you’re putting me through the same wangta pattern.”

Seryung brushed past Sehun, pushing him as she did. She left behind a speechless Sehun. He didn’t know how to respond to that because it really was the same pattern. Sehun clenched his fists, he wouldn’t let the kids of the glass room go, if he had to carry out a war, he would build an army. He wasn’t going to just let them go.