Calamity [✓] [EDITING]

14. Family

She remembers her mother's tips; it's to never add too much in a small capacity as it will break through and ruin the shape. 

She pinches the thin dry edges together as she attempts to move fast like her mother. 

Mrs. Jang glances once in a while. A small smile curls on her lips again and a soft warmth nuzzles in her chest. 

"You used to have clumsy fingers, you know? You cried when no one didn't want to eat your pieces of the dumplings,"

An awkward brief laugh comes out. MinYoung dips her fingers on the scattered flour. 

"Yeah, I'm not proud of that memory,"

"And now, my youngest daughter has grown up so fast. It's as if time decides to speed things up to make me sad,"

"Well, you could probably blame it on the gravitational force of the galaxy," MinYoung perks up, putting her completed dumpling on the plastic plate. 

"A what now?" Mrs. Jang asks with raised eyebrows. 

MinYoung picks up another one. She glances at the setting sun from the small window. 

"You're right, mother. Time passes by so fast without us knowing it, but we spent a lot of time making these dumplings from scratch in the afternoon. However, small moments like these matter, right?" she inquires, looking at her mother with a curved smile.

"Geez, you're making me blush now," Mrs. Jang returns a boxed smile, revealing her teeth. 

"Blame it on father. He's the smooth talker that got you hitched,"

Mrs. Jang chuckles before throwing a small amount of flour in MinYoung's direction. She exclaims in surprise. 

"Words, young lady. You still need to keep out for your language no matter where you are. Even in front of your husband,"

MinYoung's cheeks gradually warm up at the mention of SeokJin. Her phone hasn't been receiving any notifications from the man in particular. She made time to talk to her colleagues, to which she prayed she could start working again. 

She grabs for another wrapper and scoops a small amount of the chicken filling. 

"How is your husband? Are you two doing well?"

In truth, she does not really know what SeokJin is doing right now. She doesn't know what he works at specifically, let alone why he had to leave so early on the brink of dawn. MinYoung wonders if she should strike up the topic of work. 

"Well—" she trails off when the front door opens. 

"I'm home!" 

Hearing the familiar voice of the old man, Mrs. Jang quickly washes her hands and then wipes them on her apron. She sprints her way through the corridor to greet her husband. 

"Honey, look who came to visit us," 

MinYoung places the dumplings on top of the parchment paper. She does it quickly and quietly for the first batch before closing the bamboo steamer. 

"Really? Who?"

Mrs. Jang lightly slaps him on the shoulder. 

MinYoung washes her hands before walking out of the kitchen. 

Out of the blue, she bows a ninety-degree at her father. The old man briskly walks up to his daughter and grips his palms on her shoulder. He pulls her to stand up. 

"What are you doing, my daughter? Why are you bowing down to your father so suddenly?" he chuckles, pulling MinYoung into a hug. 

Mrs. Jang returns back to the kitchen and starts steaming the dumplings.