SHIN MI YEON

Ding. I rush to open the door. Now that the headache’s almost gone, I am back to my normal self, rushing around to clean up before Se Yeon arrives.

“Unnie!” Squeals Se Yeon as she attacks me with a tight hug around my legs. I grin at her and bend down slightly to carry her, situating her on my hip.

“Good morning halmoni. Are you leaving now or do you want to stay for breakfast?” I ask my grandma who is smiling at us. She passes me a bag of Se Yeon’s clothes and necessities.

“You cooked breakfast? Maybe another time,” She says warily. I pout at her for dissing my cooking.

Just then, Luhan walks out, greeting both my grandma and Se Yeon. Grandma raises her eyebrow but greets him back cheerfully. I give her a ‘don’t ask’ look, knowing how she’s trying to make it into a love story right about now. She just shakes her head at me before telling me she’s leaving.

“Be careful halmoni! See you tomorrow,” I say, giving her a tight hug. “I love you.”

“I love you too. Have a great time you guys. Se Yeon, listen to the adults.”

I poke Se Yeon. “Say goodbye to halmoni.”

“Bye-bye! I love you!” She grins while waving. Grandma beams and give her a peck on her cheek before leaving. I shut the door and walk into the kitchen, setting Se Yeon onto the chair before my arm falls off.

I help set the table and put Se Yeon’s rice into a cute bunny bowl that I bought just for her. She squeals at it, beaming brightly at me, clapping her hands. I return the smile and pass Luhan his rice bowl. We start eating after saying grace and I have to say this even if it’s the thousandth time – His cooking is the best, after my grandma’s of course.

Luhan peers at Se Yeon, who is feeding herself perfectly. She has started to feed herself since last year and both my grandma and I are proud of her. It may be a simple job but we are still happy. A development, big or small, is still a development.

“How do you find my cooking, Se Yeon?” Luhan asks her. She looks at him for a while before breaking into a grin, giving him two thumbs up.

“Jjang!”

I chuckle at how adorable she is. Luhan looks proud as he sits up straighter, beaming while inhaling his food. Aigoo, this guy. I mentally laugh at him, unable to deny that he is pretty adorable right now.

“Unnie!” Se Yeon calls and I turn to her, chopsticks still in my mouth.

“Hm?”

“I hope Luhan ahjussi can cook for me every day!”

Both Luhan and I freeze at that statement. Is it just me or does she actually sounded like she wants us to get married or something? Before I can reply, Luhan beats me to it.

“If your unnie allows, I can cook for you when I’m not busy. She will have to allow me to visit you with her though because if she doesn’t allow then I can’t,” Luhan answers. I reach over and thump his head. “Ow! Yah!”

“Are you trying to make me look like the bad guy? Just visit her if you want to,” I scoff. “It’s up to you anyway.”

Se Yeon looks at me, her face brightens at my words. “Really? Unnie you’re the best!”

“You like Luhan ahjussi more than me isn’t it? Aren’t I your favourite person in the world?” I ask her, pinching both her cheeks.

She laughs while swatting at my hands. “I love halmoni, I love unnie, I love Luhan ahjussi!”

Luhan looks touched as he puts his hand on his heart while I gawk at her. “How can you love him? You only met him twice!”

Se Yeon giggles, leaning her head on my shoulder and hugging my arm. “Don’t worry unnie! Unnie, I love you the most!”

This causes us to burst into laughter until Luhan asks, “Don’t you love your parents?”

Se Yeon her head to the side and look at him with open but before she can say anything, I cough. “Our parents are barely there for us, you see.”

Luhan nods and doesn’t probe any further, probably because he sensed that I don’t want to talk about it. We quickly finish our lunch and lie around the living room to decide on what to do. I opt staying in and watching a nice sappy drama. Luhan opts the zoo, and of course, Se Yeon chooses the zoo. I groan, not feeling up to going outdoors.

“How about watching the animal channel instead?” I ask with a hopeful smile.

Se Yeon puts her hands onto her hips, pouting. “I want the zoo! I don’t want tv!”

Sighing, I agree to it. I’d rather go out then have her throw a tantrum. When she runs to the kitchen to get some food, I glare at Luhan who suggested it and he just smirks at me.

“Don’t be lazy,” He says. I am about to flip him off when Se Yeon runs back in again, revealing three juice packs.

“One for unnie, one for me, and one for Luhan ahjussi!”

Luhan pouts. “Se Yeon-ah, why don’t you call me oppa? Ahjussi sounds old. You know, I'm not much older than your sister.”

Se Yeon thinks for a while before nodding her head. “Appa.” We freeze.

“No, no. Oppa,” He corrects, his lips pouting to form the ‘O’. “O-ppa.”

“Appa! Ah-ppa!”

I grab her arm and pull her in front of me. “Stop being naughty! It’s oppa. Oppa and appa is totally different and you know it. I don’t want to see you doing this again.” She looks down, upset that I got strict with her.

Luhan pulls her to him and gives her an awkward hug, trying to comfort her. He sends me a look. “You don’t have to be so fierce. She’s just five years old.”

I roll my eyes before standing up and going into the room. I look in my closet and try to find an appropriate outfit for a zoo outing. Since it is cold, I opt for a black pullover and black skinny jeans. Putting a black cap on my head, I walk out of the room.

“Se Yeon-ah, come and put on your coat,” I call. She turns to me slightly before turning back to the television. I sigh. “I’m counting to three. If you don’t come now, we won’t go to the zoo.”

Silence.

“One.”

“Two.”

“Three.” And she comes running over unhappily. I help her put on her coat and make sure she’s dressed warmly enough before standing up to get my tote bag and sunglasses. I reach for Se Yeon’s hand but she swings it away from me. Luhan walks over and Se Yeon goes to him, letting him hold her hand. He sends me an apologetic look and I shake my head, signalling that it’s okay. It isn’t his fault anyway, it’s mine for being short-tempered.

I quickly pack some food and the three juice packs into my tote bag. I also stuff some napkins in as well.

“Let’s go,” Luhan calls and we all exit my apartment in silence. Se Yeon still hasn’t forgiven me and I’m not really in the mood to appease her because the headache is coming back.

“Can we take your car?” I ask Luhan. He nods and we pile into his beautiful and sleek black car after he settles the child seat for Se Yeon. I look back from the passenger seat to see Se Yeon looking out of the window. She still doesn’t want to look at me, which really hurts but I don’t show it. I’m too good of an actress to show emotions like this. Luhan peers at me awkwardly and I too, look out of the window. He sighs and start driving.

LUHAN

Driving in a tense car proves to be a bad choice because I feel so uncomfortable. Somehow, I have a feeling that it’s my fault Se Yeon is ignoring Mi Yeon. Stopping over at a red light, I realise that the car is filled with steady breathing. I turn to my side to see Mi Yeon sleeping with her head against the window, her lips slightly parted. She looks at peace. I turn to the back to see Se Yeon in the exact same position, asleep, head against window, and lips also parted. My eyes travel back and forth, wondering how these two sisters can be so alike. Their noses are sharp and they both have oval face shape. They also have thick and long eyelashes that makes them even more feminine. They actually look more alike when they are asleep so I didn’t notice it before.

A honk sounds behind me, startling me and I pray that the two girls won’t wake up. I quickly drive and we reach the zoo after about five minutes. I put on my sunglasses as well as my cap because if people recognises me, they will know I’m with Mi Yeon. Everyone knows I’m her manager.

After unbuckling my seatbelt, I reach over to shake Mi Yeon gently. She opens her eyes slowly, her vision becoming clearer as she gives me a nod before yawning. I get out of the car to wake the other girl up. Se Yeon quickly clings onto me when I unbuckle her.

“Luhan ahjussi, please carry me,” She mumbles while rubbing her eyes.

“Sure,” I tell her. I carry her with her clinging on me like a little bear, her head burying into my neck. Although I haven’t really been in contact with kids much, I really like this feeling. She makes me feel… important. Mi Yeon looks at the two of us before walking ahead. “Yah, let’s go together!”

I quickly catch up to her. We get our tickets and enter, ready to have fun. Thank God there aren’t many people here today, just a few families here and there. Mi Yeon stops and turn to Se Yeon, who is still clinging onto me looking around at the foreign environment, to ask her where she wants to go first.

“Penguins,” She whispers into my ear. I notice Mi Yeon’s frown but she quickly recovers from it. I mouth to Mi Yeon and she nods before leading us while finding the way through signboards. I can’t help but feel the guilt that weighs me down. I feel responsible for the way Se Yeon treats Mi Yeon. I’m going to try and get them to patch up.

Se Yeon’s eyes are wide when she sees the penguin. Her face brightens up as she presses her nose against the protective glass. The trainer throws some fishes in and the penguins catch them expertly, causing the little girl to clap in awe.

“Uwah, I want to bring one home!”

Mi Yeon is busy taking pictures with her phone. She snaps some of the penguins, taking videos of them catching the fishes and then some photos of Se Yeon immersed with the animals.

After the penguins, we decide to go see the tigers, lions, zebras and then lastly, the giraffes. Se Yeon grabs my hand and drags me to the giraffe’s area. She looks in awe at the height of them. Although it is intimidating, she doesn’t seem to mind. Mi Yeon simply trails behind us.

“Se Yeon-ah, do you want to drink the juice now?” She asks. Se Yeon finally acknowledges her with a nod. Mi Yeon smiles and take out the juice packs, passing one to Se Yeon, one to me, then keeps one for herself.

“It’s not cold anymore,” Se Yeon grumbles. I sigh, getting a bad feeling from these two girls. Mi Yeon’s face changes as she frowns.

“We took it out from the fridge long ago, of course it’s not cold anymore,” Mi Yeon explains as patiently as she cans. Se Yeon passes the juice pack to me, refusing to drink it. “Yah, stop being a brat!”

“I hate you!” Mi Yeon’s face changes entirely. It is visible even if she has a cap and sunglasses covering her face. If she was angry before, she is now defeated.

“Se Yeon-ah, don’t say that,” I say, tapping her shoulders gently. Mi Yeon shakes her head at me, telling me to stay out of it.

She turns to Se Yeon. “Fine, if you hate me so much, then go with Luhan ahjussi.” Se Yeon is crying. I’m not sure if she’s guilty or upset but I think it’s both. I don’t think she meant to say it. Just as Mi Yeon turns around, a little kid runs past, causing her to lose balance and fall onto the ground, hard. Both Se Yeon and I gasp and I run forward to help her.

“Are you okay?” I ask her. She groans but nods. Her hands are scratched and is bleeding.

“Unnie!” Se Yeon screams, running forward as well, wrapping her arms around her sister’s neck. “I’m sorry! I’m sorry! I don’t hate you!”

“You two stay here okay? I’m going to go get first aid,” I tell them and rush off to a convenience store in the zoo. When I come back, both of them are sitting on a bench nearby, Se Yeon blowing at her sister’s wounds.

Mi Yeon looks a lot happier even though she’s injured. I guess nothing, not even physical pain, can compare to the hurt you feel inside. I sit by her side and pour some alcohol on her wounds, causing her to hiss in pain.

After wrapping her injuries up, we decide it’s time to leave. Even though it’s an extremely tiring day, what matters is that the two girls are now okay with each other.

Hi! Sooooo... I'm so sorry for the super late update. Tbh I actually wrote about seven chapters in advance which is the first seven chapters and I had like a writer's block for the rest so I wasn't sure if I should upload my last pre-written chapter (kind of like I have no more back up till I have to start writing again...) so yup. Anyway, I'll try to continue writing soon so please be patient with me! I'm having finals in about two weeks so it might take a while before the next update. ): Hope you guys enjoy this chapter and well..... bye :)

P.s. If you spot mistakes let me know! I read through it a few times but I may miss out on some.