CHAPTER TWO

“Living All Together”

I was packing my things when Gae In barged in my room. She just got home from work. I called her awhile ago, informing about my decision on accepting my brother’s terms so I could stay here in Korea at ease.

“Can you just work at your brother’s café and still live here with me? Come on, please talk to him again.” She pleaded as he wagged my arm.

“Ah, Gae In~ah! Believe me. I’ve tried to reason out many times already. If Minseok said no, it’s definitely a NO-NO.” I said pulling my arm away from her grip. Minseok is nice and all, but he’s very strict. He thinks even more mature than me. “You know I want to stay here. But, there’s nothing I could do anymore. I’m sorry.”

I don’t know if I could say that two days was long or short for making up my mind about my current dilemma. Two days had past since I talked to Minseok. It was also two days that my head became a battle field. My thoughts were at war. I really don’t like my brother’s conditions so our mother would stop tracking me down. He said it was for my freedom. His terms were:

First, I have to stay with them. Knowing Minseok~ah, he was the most over-protective among all my brothers. I’m actually older than him, but he can restrict me on doing things. I know… I know… I’ve asked myself sometimes how and why I was like that. I think I just don’t want arguments… Ah yeah, that’s not it… he can actually blackmail me. He knows a lot about me… my secrets… So, I just do what he wants. Even so, he was the one who spoiled me the most. He would always say that I am his most favorite sister. How stupid right? Obviously I was the only one sister they have. 

Second condition, I have to work at his shop…. worst thing about it? He won’t pay me for it… reason why? I was staying at their place for free. Slavery! What a cruel brother?! He wants me to stay with them and work for him just so they can monitor me 24/7.

And lastly, I have to report to him everything… from where I am, where I go, what I do, who I’m with… I have to tell him. I don’t know how he does his spying but he has ways on knowing what’s happening to me. Oh yeah, let me add up. This guy is unbelievable, he knows if I’m lying. Even my other brothers, they can read me like an open book. I can’t lie to them. Sigh… no… make it more a heavy sigh.

So, tell me… Is that freedom? Let me do another heavy, heavy sigh. That’s what he got from our mother’s genes. If I do a lot of violations of these, I’m dead! He’ll turn me in to our super nagger mother… and it is worst than Minseok’s conditions.

Actually, I still have another option. I could come home at our Dad’s place. Dad was lesser strict than Mom and Minseok. His wife was okay, too. But, something that she has a common with Mom was the blind date setups. I guess it’s the culture. It’s natural to Korean mothers doing that.  Both of them would say that I’m in the right age of thinking for my future to be a married woman. Excuse me but… Hello! Doesn’t it ever cross their minds that there are still things I want to experience, and do many things about my own life? Blind date issues just easily get in my nerves. I really don’t want to be rude at her since she was actually nice to me. If I could think about it more, the blind dates can be easily ditched. Most of my brothers are here, they can do something about it for sure. However, if I choose to stay with Dad I have to handle something — the reason why I voluntarily went to China. And right now, I don’t have the courage to do that.

I was still in battle with myself if I would accept my brother’s offer or runaway somewhere far from them. The latter was kinda hard to do because I don’t have enough money in me anymore. I was still inside the taxi which was park in the side street for thirty minutes now, thinking of what to do. The meter was running up so I don’t have any other choice but to step out.

So once again, I was standing in front of my brother’s coffee shop. I was observing it from the outside. There were more customers now than the first time I was here. Its weekend, I guess that’s why. There were some male customers yet the place was still dominated by girls. 

“Welcome back to our host club!” a familiar voice uttered beside me. I turned to my side and a guy was standing close to me and widely smiling. I know who he is now. This duck face was Chen, my brother Minseok’s college friend. The two of them own the shop. Minseok is the barista of this shop and Chen is the pastry chef.

Before I could say anything, he dragged my luggage as he strode his way back inside the shop. Ah, this guy is really annoying. “Hey, that’s mine!” I shouted to him.

He looked back at me, still with his wide smile. “Am I claiming it? Lady, I’m just helping you out.” And he continued walking into a pathway to the shop. I was actually holding a box with both of my hands. It was a bit heavy. I guess I should thank him at least. I followed him inside.

When I got inside, it was quiet in a way that there’s no one conversing and only a smooth and lovely voice was accompanied by a very melodic acoustic sound welcomed me. You could feel the emotion on that singing voice. Hearing it feels like being serenade. No wonder it was so quiet. Everyone was just listening. The voice was very familiar. I always heard it before. I look around to where it was coming. My eyes stopped at the center place of the café. There was a round flat-form where three people were positioned in there. One guy was sitting on a beat-box, tapping it to a beat. The other one was sitting on a high chair with an acoustic guitar which was plugged in an amplifier as he harmoniously plucking the strings on it. The last guy was sitting on a high chair too and a microphone stand was in front of him. There was a jamming session going on. I guess that’s why there were so many customers now. My face surely lightened up when I saw the boys who were performing. They were my brothers. The one that singing was Kyungsoo, Chanyeol was playing the guitar and Sehun on the beat-box. I looked around again to see if theirs an available chair I could seat on but there was nothing. Every table was occupied. There were other customers that were standing in some corner. So, I stood from where I am standing for I don’t know how long just watching. I think it was ten minutes passed since I came in.

“So I guess you are decided to live with us.” Minseok appeared at my side. His arm was around my shoulder. He was beaming a smile that any girl would fall for. Then, Chen suddenly popped out at my other side. I don’t know where did he put my luggage but it was not with him anymore. He took the box I’m carrying. I said thank you before he disappeared again upstairs.

“They perform here every weekend. And it was always full packed here because of them.” Minseok stated once again. “Kyungsoo and Sehun work here part-time along with Kai,” he pointed at a tall and looking y tan guy at the counter. “He’s Sehun’s classmate.”

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