Kim Chaeji

After coming home from the supermarket, I felt that my mind was completely unstable. Grandma's convinced that I've matured, but I've obviously think otherwise. After seeing my parents once again, I feel that all that I've grown up with has been crumpled down. Slowly, I can feel my fears from my parents crawling under my skin while each and every hateful word spewing out of their mouths are violently being engraved in my head.

I sat on my bed and tightly hugged my pillow. As cliché as this may appear to be, it is actually very comforting in dire times like these.

"Chaeji? Are you alright? I finished putting the rest of the groceries away," Grandma exhaustedly says as she climbed up the stairs to then enter my room. She sat on the opposite edge of my bed, and took a deep breath, "Honestly, I was just as shocked as you were to see them..."

I looked up from my pillow to look her in the eye as she continued speaking, "For years, I knew we were going to eventually run into them, but I never thought that I'd see them at the supermarket...It hurts..." She paused for a moment before tears started forming in her eyes, "As a mother, it hurts me to the core to see them like that. Your mother was such a bright, young woman, and when she met your father, everything seemed to be perfect. He was also a bright young fellow, and everyone loved their company. They were like angels sent from above. As soon as they both started drinking in high school at that damn party, they slowly became a mess. They were at one of the biggest parties that were run by university students in that old warehouse near the gas station. The party got so wild that even two of your mother's best friends were killed. The party got so hectic that everyone there ruined their lives. They destroyed their future with just a sip of alcohol. I know this will never happen to you, but want you to steer away from that life, Chaeji."

"You know, it's strange. I've never asked about my parents..." I began to slowly trail off, "Would you mind telling me more about them? What they were like before they became that way, and why they abandoned me? I have so many questions about them, and I think it's the right time to know about them. I have a right to know...They're my parents after all."

She nodded her head, "I understand, dear. Right now, I believe that you do have the right to know. I've censored details about your parents from you for far too long...Now scoot over, this will definitely take a while, but I'll try to tell you what I can remember."

I excitedly patted the space on my bed next to me while my grandma maneuvered over to the spot.

"Ah, now, where was I?"

"You haven't started yet, grandma," I chuckled as I pulled a blanket over the both of us.

"Okay, so your parents did not necessarily go to college, but they were able to attain jobs that would allow them to live comfortably—just keep in mind that they still had these drinking habits at the time. Before you were born, they indeed tried to control their habits, but they couldn't do it..."

There was a slight pause in my grandma's voice befo