"Let's not fuck it up," Jia said to herself, tying up the laces of her boots.
She looked at herself one last time in the mirror and produced a smile, a smile she always had on herself, real or fake.
Jia came out of the airport washroom and sighted her little brother, Kang Hwan, who was patiently waiting for her outside. "Let's go, darling"
Even though from today, she was going to be all alone, with a 5-year-old brother to take care of, she didn't complain about anything. How could she? She always resented her life and wanted an escapism tool.
Now she has one. She just hoped it turned out in support of her.
Her brother beside her jumped happily as they made their way to the airplane, sipping on his soda can with his tiny hands.
"Are you happy, my love?" Jia asked him. Just looking at the little ball of sunshine made her heart fulfilled.
"Yes, Noona! This is the first time I'm seeing a real airplane!" Hwan said and Jia smiled at him.
The only playmate Hwan had in his five years of life was his older sister, Jia. He'd been sent to several playschools, but every time he tried to fit in, the meanies made fun of him.
"Noona, do you know how to fly a plane?" Hwan asked Jia.
"No, cupcake, do you?"
"Yes! I can teach you too if you want" the little guy said. "First the plane goes like this," he said, imitating a plane's takeoff with his hands. "Then the plane goes up in the air..." And he continued his flight lesson.
Jia and Hwan made their way to the seats they were assigned.
Jia let him sit on the window seat and she sat on the middle one, with a weird, quirky man sitting in the aisle seat.
Hwan was busy looking out of the window, swaying his legs back and forth. The weird man's eyes fell on Jia's thighs, as she cursed herself for wearing such a short skirt.
"Noona?" Hwan suddenly called out.
"Yes, Hwan?" Jia turned to him, ignoring the man beside her.
"Will Eomma and Appa come to visit us?"
That was the question Jia dreaded the most.
Their parents, who were divorced for a week now, sent them away to Seoul to live by themselves. Sending them away almost meant getting rid of them.
They promised they'd pay all their bills and for the education of the two siblings, but Jia doubted that.
They'd never been outside Busan. Living in a strange, big city was the last thing Jia had expected.
"We could ask them to" Jia finally answered him, but Hwan looked away, sad. She felt bad for her brother. He'd never known a parent's love. He was too young to watch his parents fight all day until they divorced.
"How about you sleep for a bit, honey?" She said, trying to distract his mind. Hwan simply nodded and rested his head on Jia's shoulders.
Suddenly, the man beside her shifted in his seat, and Jia thought he was five inches away a few seconds ago. His arms touched Jia's legs.
"Sorry sir, I am not free today," Jia said to him with a sharp glare, before he could lay his perverted hands on her.
The man grunted, getting up from his seat and he shifted to an empty seat behind Jia's.
-time skip-
Jia woke up to the sudden thud of the airplane landing. "Ugh, curse bad hair days," Jia mumbled, fixing her short, black hair while using her phone as a mirror.
Jia woke her brother up and started gathering their belongings.
"I wonder what our home will look like," Hwan said to himself, as they left the airport and were waiting for their cab.
"I'm pretty sure it'll be decent" Jia put in. "Eomma and Appa would've chosen a nice house for us"
Those jerks don't even know when I got my first period, Jia thought to herself. And I expect them to give us a proper goddamn house.
The taxi pulled up in front of Jia and they started loading their luggage inside the car. Jia gave the address to the cabbie and they took off.
Jia stared outside the window as big buildings passed by. Small drops of rain started hitting the window and in a few seconds, heavy droplets poured down, drenching Jia's window with water.
They drove for an hour before Hwan slept again. Jia chuckled at him. The little guy couldn't take in much stress.
She took out a shawl from her bag and wrapped him up since it was nighttime and it was getting chilly.
-
The car slowed down and the driver pulled up at a dark alley.
"Are you sure this is the place?" Jia asked him.
"Yes, this is the address you told me"
Jia looked at the street confusedly. Was this the place their parents had sent her to? Then she scoffed at herself. What was she even expecting?
She looked at her brother. He was still asleep which meant she'd have to carry him. She got out of the cab, with their luggage in one hand and her brother in another.
She carefully walked on the path that was now muddy because of the rain. Thank goodness she was wearing boots or her socks would've been drenched by now. Of course, she'd be more worried if her socks got wet.
Jia stood in front of a three-story building. The paint was cracking up all over the building. Gosh, how she hated when paints started cracking from the walls.
Until now, she had doubted such creepy places existed in the big, famous city of Seoul.
"Well," Jia said to herself. "Cheers to new beginnings!"
Just when she was about to open the creaky, rusted gates of the apartment building, she heard a boy crying from nearby.
Right by the end of the street, were a bunch of high school boys. They were gathered around an approximately ten-year-old boy, who was barely seen in between the tall, muscly guys.
"Hyungs, please let me go" the boy pleaded. "My mom is waiting for me at my house!"
"Well, tell your mama your dad should've pulled out faster, then maybe, you wouldn't have been stuck here," a guy with big, black eyes said, and the rest started laughing hysterically.
The high schoolers scattered the contents of the boy's bag and threw the bag away, laughing like maniacs.
Jia hated bullies. She wanted to stop them right now but then, she had her brother with her. What if they did something to him?
"Hwanie, wake up," Jia said as quietly as possible, so as to not gain any unwanted attention.
Hwan popped his head up from Jia's shoulders, rubbing his eyes. Jia put him down on the ground.
"Wait behind the gate for me, okay? I'll be back real quick," she said, hiding her brother inside the apartment.
Jia walked toward the boys, and her anger started raising with every step she took.
"Hey, losers!" She called out, gaining attention. "Leave the kid alone if you want to save your bloodline"
"Ooooh, look what we have here!" The guy with big, black eyes said, eyeing from top to bottom. "A hot trouble"
They were all dressed in black leather jackets and had huge shoes on them, which would've been pretty attractive if Jia wasn't in the middle of inviting trouble home.
"Go away from here," Jia said, crossing her arms. Everyone's eyes were on her now, and thankfully the ten-year-old boy had enough brains to take the chance to run away. Jia smirked at herself at her smartness.
"This place doesn't belong to you, darling," Mr. big eyes said. He looked like the leader of the gang, with his physique and exceptionally older look than the others.
"It doesn't to you, either," Jia said. "And my name's not darling"
"Then what is it, darling?"
"It's not relevant right now, the point is, you need to stop bullying week people," Jia said, eyeing every one of the boys.
"Are you trying to start a fight?" Leader Eyes said. At this point, Jia didn't even know why she was so attracted to his eyes. "Because you would be in great trouble if you did, hottie"
"I would love to, but that would be animal abuse," Jia said.
The guy gave out a 'tsk' and looked at his watch. "Unfortunately, I have someplace to be. Otherwise, we'd be having fun already. What a waste," he said. "And I see you've used your brains to set my game free"