"I can't believe I'm being forced on this stupid fuck trip so that dad can show off his wealth and family."
"Be glad it's only for three days. Mom talked him down from two weeks."
Kyler snapped his head in disbelief over towards his sister, almost dropping the luggage he was shoving into the over hang.
"Two we- what the fuck would we do in Korea for two weeks?!"
Jesse chuckled and took her seat gracefully by the window. She wouldn't have had a problem with the country itself, her Korean was much better than her brothers. However, it was listening that would be more difficult. She was around English more and therefore her brain had already decoded most of the language for processing.
Korean on the other hand was a language based off of nuances and sounds. An infliction of a vowel could mean two things depending on the lilt of your next sound, so she was mentally preparing herself for the horrors to come with language barriers.
And the questions.
"Just be happy we are in first class. Free champagne, no questions about our age." Jesse tried to make her brother feel better, bumping his shoulder as he sat down. "Just lay down and sleep."
"At least you can get rid of your hearing... I'm stuck with Old Man Roberts, the goblin baby cries, and stinky Tom over there."
"I'm deaf, not smell-less."
"What the fuck ever."
Jesse giggle at her brother's annoyance and removed her implants, setting them inside her embroidered case. She gave her brother a little nudge in comfort and Kyler gave in giving her one back. The rest of the flight was uneventful, calm and reminded her of the calm before a storm.
When the attendants came by, Kyler ordered for the both of them and Jesse didn't mind. They had similar tastes in food and ordering food while deaf to the world was hard.
The flight gave her time to think about what had went on this week - or rather this summer - with Demetri and her past. It really was only a matter of time before her identity came out as Kyler's twin, the bully from middle school, and the girl who drove Eli near mad with anxiety.
She really was a terrible person, wasn't she?
Neither twin was surprised at the driver who waited for them. With her implants back on and respectful bows lined up, the Park siblings were taken to their parents location. Obviously, it was a nice hotel probably one of the best in Seoul.
Their father would be near the top - if not at the top - while her and Kyler would share a room on the same floor or one below. They'd be well taken care of, given a spending budget, and they'd see their father at the dinner tonight.
"Man, why couldn't we have come yesterday?" Kyler grumbled more inside the room, setting out to get his suit ready. "No time to rest."
"Just how it worked out." Jesse shrugged, also annoyed at the time or lack there of. She already had her outfits hung up and lounged on the couch. Her phone sat in her hands waiting for a text. "Think we could go to a KPop concert before we leave?"
"Probably not. We're here as dad's dolls, not vacation." Kyler sneered. Jesse paused and looked over at the tight shoulders of her twin. Of the two of them, Kyler struggled with their relationship with father the most for reasons that Jesse tried to forget. "Look, Jesse. Don't worry about any of this shit. We'll get through it, eat some bomb sushi, and be back."
"Bows and smiles." Jesse said sarcastically, her brother's lips twitching into a small grin. "Think Ae-Ri will be there?"
A shiver ran down Kyler's spine at the familiar Korean name and sat down across from his twin on the soft chair. "Man, I hope not."
"Just waiting on the betrothal announcement." Jesse teased, dodging a pillow to the face after with a laugh. "You know grandad always wanted us back here someday. This could be it."
"Just not with her." Kyler barked out without any real aggression. The girl's father worked closely with their own for many years and they grew up going to company parties and birthdays together. It was always a running joke that Ae-Ri and Kyler would be married someday, something that Ae-Ri pursued.
Heavily.
"Whatever, bug. I'm takin' a nap. Wake me up when you're starting your makeup." An unceremonious hop onto his bed followed by a soft silence made Jesse sigh in content. She really did love her brother.
{Demetri}
How's South Korea?
11:06 am
{Jesse}
Cloudy, it's like 78 here
11:10 am
That sounds nice
11:11am
It was really hot today
11:11am
I don't miss the heat
but the rain during
the summer is 🤢
11:12am
No rain<lots of rain
Simple math.
11:12am
Uh... I don't think so
11:13am
Can't grow food without
The proper resources such
as water. Need water to live
therefore... watery place is
better.
11:14am
Ur logic and math is
Sun Amazing.
11:14 am
I think I had a stroke
typing that rip
11:14 am
Are you feeling numb??
Weakness in the legs or
arms? Weirdly confused?
11:15 am
Walk in a straight line
can you do that?
11:15 am
Jesse???
11:16 am
Are you okay? It's
usually abnormal to
have a stroke at your age
and health but not unheard
of. Please medsage back.
11:18 am
I meant: message
11:18 am
Jesse had walked away for a few minutes to go grab a water bottle and came back to her phone buzzing and her brother snoring. She faltered for a second, because she hadn't heard snoring in a while. But the buzzing of her phone drew her attention.
"...Demetri?" Jesse whispered in confusion, sneaking out onto the balcony. "What's up?"
"Are you okay?!" The voice on the other end was frantic and loved together with worry. Jesse frowned, not understanding. "Y-you said you had a stroke-"
"Oh!" Jesse realized with a bashful chuckle. "No, it was a joke because I messed up my letters and words on text."
There was a pause and on the other side of the world Demetri felt himself deflate and shoved his face in his hands. Of course she did. That would make a ton of sense. Why would she text she was having a stroke in the midst of having a stroke.
"Demetri?"
"Don't mind me. Just planning my escape from this universe and galaxy." Demetri groaned at the embarrassment and turned around his gaming chair to look out into his room.
"Thanks for being concerned." Jesse offered as she rested on the railing to lookout into the city with a soft smile. He was such a good ball. "Really. It's nice to know someone cares."
"I-I mean anyone would." Demetri stammered, his face hearing up. "I care about you, but l-like everyone does! Uh, care about you. That is."
"Well, I guess I should thank everyone." Jesse teased. She decided to spare the walking social anxiety commercial and changed he subject. "So, how are you doing? Miss me yet?"
"I literally just saw you 24 hours ago." Demetri pointed out, grateful for the change in subject. "And you said three days."
Fun fact: they both missed each other.
"You, uh, doing alright after the mall?"
"...yeah, I think so. What about you?"
"He's not my best friend." It was supposed to be a joke, perhaps a little more mean than she wanted, but there was a few seconds of silence before a response was given.
"... I don't think he's mine either." Demetri admitted quietly and Jesse winced, regretting the snark. It seemed old habits died hard.
"Hey, look. Underneath all that Hot Topic fake leather, tattoo, and weird colored hair is still a person. And, well... people can change." Jesse tried to explain to her friend to not lose hope. "Eli's gone through a lot. He just needs to feel heard and, I don't know, experiment."
Demetri scoffed and faced his computer once again, looking at the photo of him and Eli at a coding competition. "Most teens experiment with new APIs, Compilers, and anime."
"No, that's just you." Jesse corrected with a snicker. "That's a nerd thing not a normal teen thing."
"I take offense to that! I signed up for AP Computer Science this year, just so you know, and there will be plenty of other teens in there with me!"
"Nerds." Jesse coughed out without any real malice. For a while, the two teens enjoyed going back and forth on the verge of insulting but not quite reaching it.
They spoke for an hour and then One became two hours until Demetri had to go to sleep. It was already starting to trickle with the mid afternoon rain in South Korea in California was reaching a cool night air, Jessi didn't wanna hang up.
"Did you bring your laptop?"
"Yeah, it's in my bag!"
"Well, if you have time maybe we can get on my server and play some Minecraft?"
Jesse's lips twitched at the question and pushed down the excitement of hanging out with her friend even if they were so far away from each other. Maybe she could convince her mom to get him a flight here for the next two days?
Oh wait, her twins a bully.
Right.
"A-sure! Same time as now?"
Demetri fumbled with his phone to check his calendar and nodded. He gave himself a little smack when he realized she couldn't see him and opened his mouth. "I can do that."
"Great! It's a date, I'll see you-"
"Oi, bug. Who are you talking to?"