IT FELT LIKE ALL THE AIR had been sucked out of Alexander Choi's house with a vacuum the moment he walked in. It wasn't anything that was oddly unfamiliar to him, however. It was how the Choi's residence had been for the past several years, nothing other than quiet and dull. By now, you'd figure he'd be used to it. The harsh reality was that he is, but that didn't particularly mean that he liked it, though.
Without muttering out a single word, Alexander slipped off his new, twenty-five-dollar sneakers from TJ Maxx and placed them in the nearest shoe closet. He stood his backpack up at the side of the stairwell before entering the small restroom at the side of the lobby's corridor to wash his hands. Everything he's done since he entered his home were all for sanitary reasons, as no one in the house tolerated germs from elsewhere getting into the house. Even inside the washroom, where Alexander was thoroughly scrubbing his hands, was cleaned with a mix of citrus-scented cleaning products and Clorox bleach, which stung the hairs of his nose.
For his relief, he could also smell the sweet, yet spicy aroma of Korean-style fried chicken leftovers warming from the stove a mile a minute. After he was finished in the restroom, he followed the scent to the kitchen, where his father, Jason, and younger sister, Constance were sitting at the small kitchen table tucked away to the side, eating food of their own on individual glass plates. Well technically, Constance was the only one eating. Jason was just staring at a bunch of folded papers from envelopes, possibly bills that were piling up.
"Hey, I'm back," Alexander greeted before retrieving a glass plate from a cabinet.
"Alexander, how was your first day?" The boy's father questioned as he looked up at his son.
"It was good, yours?" Alexander said blandly before sitting down at the round kitchen table. His plate was filled with the rest of the fried chicken leftovers, alongside steamed vegetables for extra flavor. Even if he was about to eat leftovers, they sure were an upgrade from a bag of potato chips and a turkey sub sandwich he ate at school that day. Getting home was always a relief. Pretty much only for his hunger, at least.
"I'm about to head out to work," Jason informed before getting up to put a clear, glass cup into the sink, which was crammed with dirty dishes. "Can you please wash the dishes when you're finished eating?"
Alexander nodded without looking up from his emptying plate. "Okay, Dad, I will." He didn't want to wash the dishes, but he had to. It was one of his household responsibilities, which he had so much of. It wasn't for no reason, either. The truth was that his dad was completely behind on paying bills as he is trying his best to provide for his children. His salary was decent for him alone. Except it wasn't. He had two kids who depended on him for just about everything.
To worsen his situation, he didn't exactly have a wife by his side to help with his children. Technically, he did, but she wasn't alive. His wife and mother of his children, Ara, passed away seven years prior to the present, shortly after giving birth to her second daughter, Constance. Times were tough, but deep down in his wife's heart, she chose the newborn over herself. It was a big decision to make, but Ara wasn't hesitant. She'd always choose her loved ones over herself, like any decent mother would. The rest of the Choi family wished that Ara was still alive so she could watch both of her children grow right in front of her face, but they all knew that she was in heaven above, watching accordingly.
Whenever it was the young bundle of joy's birthday, both Alexander and his father couldn't help but think about what went down the night she was born. It saddened them how a loved one could go so quickly, but that was part of the cycle of life. Unfortunate events happen, regardless of if it is wanted or not.
With the death of Ara, Jason and his son, as well as Constance have learned it the hard way. Hence this, it saddened them to the point where their household was quiet, quieter than it should have been. They all missed Ara very much, and frankly, it was quiet without her.
But they were all used to the silence.
Even Constance, who tried to be a little positive, despite knowing the truth deep down. "Alex, is Mommy watching over us from heaven above?" She questioned innocently as her eyelashes fluttered.
"Yeah, she is. Mom is watching us right now, somewhere up there," Alexander answered briefly. He didn't want to say anything harmful to his little sister, considering that things weren't bad enough, but really, there wasn't another way to put things for a seven-year-old without causing potential emotional harm. But deep down, it was in the entire Choi family's hearts. It was nothing but everlasting pain and suffering, which made them all feel numb inside in a way. It felt weird, but they had to go through with it every single day, like a bug struggling to survive.
"Okay, I wonder what she's thinking about how things turned out," Constance blurted before planting a finger over her chin. "Dad is struggling to pay the bills while we're responsible for chores and stuff. Well, you are, actually."
"I'm sure that she wishes well for us and hopes that things get better," Alexander said in a way for a seven-year-old to comprehend — short and simple. One thing that he always noticed about his little sister is that she speaks to her mind, regardless of her age. Constance says what she believed, and frankly, she's always been like that. She is an intelligent and bright kid, which Alexander has grown to notice over the years.
Unlike his sister, Alexander wasn't much of a talker. He preferred to keep things to himself because he was more of a lowkey guy. He wasn't like this because of a particular incident or such — he was just not a guy of many words. Talking was not his way of expressing his feelings and emotions. Instead, singing was. Singing made mere words transform into harmonious melodies, all flowing together to form a beautiful sound.
With music, he could express any emotion possible, hence why he started taking choir as his Fine Arts elective all the way back in middle school. Singing alone may have been what he was used to at first but singing choral arrangements with the presence of others was even better. It wasn't lonely, dull, or quiet, like his life was. Choir allowed him to sing within the presence of others, awarding him joy and happiness. It was something that he knew deep down in his heart that he'd cherish forever.
Once Alexander's plate was empty, he hummed to himself as he took up both his and his sister's dishes to wash, just like his father commanded. Unlike most people, he didn't mind housework all that much because it helped pass time. But that didn't mean that he favored chores, either. Chores could get icky and disgusting, especially when it came to deep cleaning. Luckily, that wasn't what he was doing. That didn't stop him from complaining, however. Alexander groaned at all the dishes piling in the sink, but he didn't complain all that much. The dishes wouldn't wash themselves, so he had no choice but to wash them right at that moment.
As soon as he poured out the dish soap on a tattered, yellow and green layered sponge, the pleasant lavender aroma of the detergent spread in the air quickly, which was practically music to Alexander Choi's nose hairs, considering that the only soap he smelt for a majority of the day smelled like complete plastic. Lavender flavored dish detergent was surely an upgrade from what Alexander will smell on a daily basis this day coming forward. It didn't matter all that much, but he continued to think about it as he scrubbed the dishes, the foam of the soap attaching itself to his fingers. Within a matter of minutes, the dishes and utensils were clean, sitting on a rack beside the sink so they could naturally dry.
Alexander headed upstairs to his bedroom, closing the door shut behind him. His room was a simple room — beige walls, tan carpeted floors, and LED fairy lights strung across the top of his walls near the ceiling. The boy took a seat at his desk before he opened his laptop. As he waited for it to boot up, he retrieved his copies of the sheet music Dr. Terry gave him earlier that day. His plan was to listen again to the music so he could familiarize himself even more with it.
The songs were pleasant to him, especially Maybe I'm Amazed. The male part of the duet intrigued him. He thought it would be nice to get that role, but the decision was completely up to Dr. Terry. In that case, he would have to show that he was good enough for the position, which wouldn't be too difficult. Dr. Terry has worked with Alexander since freshman year for all sorts of singing fundamentals — like vocals and projection. By all means, she saw all of the potential possible in him and was willing to help him.
Speaking of Inez, Alexander's mind couldn't help but flash back to what went down in the choir room when class was dismissed. Without intention, he bumped into Inez because he paid more attention to his sheet music than where he was going. The encounter was hostile, even if words were barely said. It was only the first day, too.
The thing about the pair was that they were naturally competitive. It had nothing to do with their ego or pride. They were just rivals who didn't know how to solve their problems. Alexander knew that deep down, he just wanted to sing. To go along with his plan this year, he made a mental note to avoid Inez on all costs. Avoiding Inez meant cutting off all forms of communication, not being anywhere near her, and simply, doing his own thing with no problems. It's not that he didn't do these practices already. It just that they couldn't stand each other.
It was a fire that needed to be put out, not played with.
Dinnertime at the Choi residence was always lonely. Jason got home from his office, where he worked multiple shifts ranging from overtime, part-time, and regular time. His salary as an associate in a popular IT business in town was decent, but not decent enough where working regular hours would get his family and him by. Because of this, there were times where he'd miss dinner, leaving Alexander and Constance all by themselves. This night, however, that wasn't the case.
It was a little bit past eight o'clock in the evening. Alexander managed to cook up bulgogi beef alongside steamed white rice thirty minutes before his dad arrived. As the oldest sibling, whenever his father wasn't home on time, it was Alexander's responsibility to cook dinner or serve leftovers for his sister and him. He didn't mind all that much. Cooking wasn't much of a hobby of his, but it didn't feel like much of a chore either.
"Thank you for starting dinner, sori," Jason acknowledged as he took a look at the bulgogi beef in the pot, the savory, smoky smell pricking his nose. "It looks amazing."
Alexander nodded curtly as he handed a plate to his dad, keeping one for himself. After his dad arranged his plate, the boy did the exact same, making sure to add steamed vegetables along the sides for extra flavor. Once all three of them were situated at the table, Jason sighed before sawing a steak knife into his beef, poking his fork into it afterwards.
"How was work, Dad?" Alexander questioned before getting up. He awaited a response as he obtained three tall glass cups from a cabinet, placing them on the kitchen table afterwards. From there, he sauntered to the fridge, where he grabbed a gallon pitcher of homemade lemonade, pouring out the remainder into all three cups.
"Thank you," his father said, pulling a glass towards himself. "Work is fine."
Based on the bulky bags underneath Jason's eyes from a significant lack of sleep, work was not fine. Work shouldn't have to cost your sleeping schedule or basic self-care. Even Constance noticed it, and she wasn't having it one bit.
"If you're fine, then how come you look so tired, Dad?" The little girl questioned after spooning some rice into her mouth.
"I haven't been getting much sleep lately, but I promise that I'm going to be okay, sweetheart" Jason assured with a genuine smile.
Constance nodded her head with satisfaction before going back to eating her meal. Jason did, as well, the savory spices on the beef melting into his mouth.
"You cooked this really well, Alexander. Your cooking skills have improved," Jason nodded his head in approval as he mustered a smile to his son, who was seated right across from him.
"Thank you," Alexander said. It was like he put in the perfect amount of everything when he cooked dinner. He didn't measure anything, so for the next time he'd cook this exact meal, he would have to remember how much of everything he put into the food, specifically the beef to achieve the same success. But that probably wouldn't be for another week, maybe two.
Right at that moment, the table grew silent. The only sounds that rang through any of their ears were the light noises of silverware clashing against the colorful multi-patterned glass plates. It was awkwardly quiet, but it wasn't anything that the Choi's weren't used to hearing.
Normally every night would be like this. Every dinner with all three of them lacked any sort of communication. They'd ask how each other's day was prior to dinner, but that was just about it. There was nothing else to it.
Without Ara in their presence, none of the Choi's weren't particularly interested in a conversation, especially Jason. He learned how to manage, but with carrying a lot of weight on his shoulders, everything was difficult.
Alexander understood the pain his father was going through. It must've been difficult to pay taxes yearly, pay utility and other necessary bills monthly, and pay for groceries weekly — all under one salary. The fact that Jason had two kids to look after made matters worse. It all sounded painful, and frankly, Alexander felt sorry for his father that he had so much to handle.
But unfortunately, that's just how things had to be at the Choi residence, like it or not.
a/n: we've learned a lot more about Alexander when it comes to homelife and his past. any thoughts/feelings?
things are beginning to warm up, but i'm here for it all. for any possible spoilers, early bird news, or fun stuff regarding tms, make sure you check out my instagram, @sunshinefrombelow. the link is on my carrd, which is in my bio.
but going back to the story, it sounds like Alexander needs a break. so do i, if i'm being honest. where would y'all wanna get away to? i really want to go to Barcelona, Copenhagen, Buenos Aires, Rio, and the list goes on 💗