Finding the Right Words

Chapter 28- You Really Don't Look Very Good

True to her word, Min Hee arrived at the dorm in less than two minutes, breathing hard. She looked less than happy, going straight to her brother. 

"What do you want?" she hissed icily.

"Can I not see my baby sister's new home?" Jay asked innocently.

"No. And I'm not your baby sister. I'm your only sister. Don't you have a business to run? Why are you here?"

"To visit, naturally. I was in the area and decided to drop by."

"Yeah, right. You were just on a pleasant stroll around London and just happened to pass by Korea. If you were going to visit, you should have called me beforehand."

"I was afraid that you'd lock the door and refuse to see me."

"You have good instinct."

Okay, I could be wrong, but I could have sworn that Min Hee had told me that she got along just fine with her brother. This did not look like getting along. 

"Mom sent you, didn't she?" Min Hee's voice was flat. 

"You caught me."

"I knew it.," Min Hee growled. This was the most emotion I'd seen from her. Even more than the blind fury she had shown me when we first met. This time it was more cold, boiling emotions, like there was something deep, dark, and unforgivable going on. "You always do exactly what she tells you. Momma's little baby."

Oooohhhh, I saw what was going on here. Classic, older-younger children conflict. Big brother's Mom's favorite, so little sister is jealous, and does whatever she can to get Momma's attention, even if it means getting in trouble. Defying Mom's wishes, doing exactly what she doesn't want you to do...

Wait, wait. I doubted it was that bad. It was impossible to picture Min Hee as some kind of pitiful juvenile delinquent. Still, I was pretty sure that I was on the right track.

"She wants you to come back. Come on, Min Hee, don't be crazy. How can you live like this? You barely have money for food. You can't get a job because your company won't let you, so you're living off of your roommate's family. You were brought up in a good home. You shouldn't be living in a dump like this."

"Hey! I resent that statement!" I exclaimed, "This place is not a dump! We fixed it up ourselves!"

Min Hee gave me this look, like "Stay out of it, Mel."

Realizing that I was interfering in brother-sister arguement time, I muttered something about having to go to the bathroom, and then escaped. I only lasted a few seconds before the curiousity got to me, though, so I sat on the bathroom floor and leaned against the door to hear what was going on in the other room. It wasn't too hard. The sound resistance of the walls was so bad that I would've been able to hear them, even if they were whispering. Which, of course, they weren't. Not even remotely.

"Performing is my dream! I'm willing to put up with anything if it means that I can achieve that!" Min Hee screeched.

"Your counter is a broken table! You share your bedroom with your kitchen! You can't possibly be happy here."

"I have never been happier. Being poor? Having nothing? It's just dust in the wind, because every day I go to SM and feel like I belong. Like I can be myself. I never felt like that at home, because Mom and Dad always wanted me to be you. I'm not you, Jay. I never will be. And you knew that. You never forced me. You were the one who bought me roller skates; who paid for my piano lessons, my dance classes. I loved you for that. Why would you do all of that, and then tell me to give it up?"