Sieun entered the dorm room and slumped against the closed door, the backpack landing on the floor. A mixture of rose and bergamot wafted in the air, and she sniffed, instantly relaxing in the familiar scent of her roommate's shampoo.
Home sweet home.
Kicking off the trainers off her feet, she beelined the comfortable single bed, falling face-first. She buried herself on the floral cushion and grumbled the list of inadequacies in her life: inadequate sleep, inadequate food, inadequate time, and most of all— blindly reaching for her phone, she extracted it from her back pocket and signed into online banking— inadequate funds.
"Fuck it," She groaned and tossed it aside.
Growing up in an average household with enough money to put a balanced meal on the dinner table, Sieun never complained about missing out on a trip to the sandy beaches of Votmer or the evergreen ranges of Mount Verde. She never threw a fit over a Sunday visit to the zoo or a fun day at the amusement park. Her parents comprised her whole world, and their little breakfast banters and occasional pizza nights by the TV filled her heart with enough contentment to last a lifetime. She had it all— loving parents, good friends, a happy life— before her father brought home Chanmi.
Sieun still vividly remembered the day when her world turned upside down two years ago. It was Halloween Night. The zombie decorations reflected the lights dangling around the living room and the smell of sugar candy wafted through the air. Tucked in her favorite pair of pajamas, she sprawled on the worn-out couch, letting her mother's mellifluous songs replace the stress and anxiety of approaching CSAT when the main door squeaked open.
Her father had returned home from a three-day business trip.
Only, he was not alone.
Bundled up in a layer of baby blankets to keep out the slight chill of October, little Chanmi, barely ten days old, lay warm and cozy in the folds of her father's arms. Long, dark lashes fanned out towards her chubby cheeks, and cherubic lips slightly parted. Her eyes were closed, but they were brown, the exactness of Sieun's and their father's, and she had straight black hair, and a beautiful warm tone that she had inherited from her mother.
Life's unexpectancies, such as premature death, could happen to anyone. But what of the arrival of a new life?
Sieun could not, for the life of her, comprehend the concept. No, she was not ready.
Not for her father's infidelity.
Not for her mother's heartbreak.
Not for a half-sister she never knew she had.
But tragedies seemed to come in waves.
A month after the arrival of Chanmi, Sieun's mother passed away from heartbreak. And her death changed the trajectory of her life.
Sieun didn't remember the moments after the funeral. It was one big blur. She remembered the anger she felt for her father, though. She was so angry. Devastated. Miserable.
She blamed him for pushing her mother until she was all worn out from the pain in her heart.
She blamed him for turning the loving woman into an anger-filled, hatred-fueled, and bitterness-consumed living corpse.
But dwelling on her anguish was a luxury.
Questioning why it happened the way it did was a dead end.
Chanmi had no one to fight for her because her only support system, her father, had abandoned her. That despicable man dumbed his wrongs on the baby. He blamed her for killing the love of his life. He blamed his dead mistress for giving birth to an abomination and ruining the happy family he had built.
Bastard.
Sieun was only a teenager when she became the unofficial guardian of a one-month-old Chanmi. Despite her own grieving heart, she had to stay strong for her half-sister. Albeit, she struggled to love her— she didn't know how to be a guardian or to care for that tiny human without doing it wrong. But, she couldn't break.
She couldn't break as hospital administrations and health insurance representatives hounded her day and night to make decisions, pay bills, and sign documents.
She couldn't break as her father drowned himself in alcohol to evade guilt and the people she called family refused to help.
She couldn't break because that little human needed her.
Chanmi needed her.
And as she fulfilled her duties, she learned to overlook the little one's reasons for being with her. She understood that her baby sister was there to stay, and she wouldn't have it any other way.
A smile blossomed on her lips at the thought of Miyu, a nickname she had instinctively associated Chanmi with— a beautiful truth.
Life was hard with all the problems burdening her shoulders, but Miyu's existence gave her the strength to do better. To dream of a happy future. She couldn't afford to be off her game throughout her academic career if she wanted to become her legal guardian and take the load of responsibility off her nana.
Her phone buzzed with a new text.
It was from her paternal grandmother, her nana, the boon of her and Chanmi's existence.
Nana: Me and Chanmi miss you. Eagerly waiting for your homecoming!
Impulsively, she FaceTimed her.
"Eun!" Nana held the phone close to her face, the least flattering angle possible. "How are you, sweetheart?"
Sieun turned onto her back. "I'm doing good. A little busy with school and work. How are you guys doing?"
Nana's face fell. "I'm so sorry, sweetheart."
She frowned. "What for?"
"You are at an age where you should be going to parties and making silly decisions instead of part-time jobs and caring for your nana and little sister." Nana was losing her voice from all the emotions clashing within her. "Only if I were a little abled. I'm sorry for burdening you with responsibilities at such a young age."
Sieun's eyes squinted. "You're making me mad, Nana. How can you say that you and Miyu are a burden to me? Why would you consider yourself a chore or some responsibility? I am working my ass off not because I have to provide for you but because I want to. I love you both so much. I want you to have all the best things in life."
Tears drizzled from Nana's eyes. "Please don't cry," Sieun smiled. "You'll make me cry too."
Nana knuckled the tears off her cheeks. "You're all grown up now, Sieun. I'm so proud of you."
Sieun chuckled. "Not yet, Nana. Not yet. I'm going to ace all my semesters and get my dream job. Then, I'll hand you the keys to a brand-new home without running rodents, empty kitchen cupboards, moldy walls, or broken furniture. Perhaps an Audi or a BMW too? What do you say?"
Nana laughed in mirthfulness. "I will be waiting for the keys."
"Yes, please." She smiled. "Where is Miyu?" She moved her head as though doing that would get her a better view of the house. "I don't see her?"
Nana waved her hand about. "That little devil has finally fallen asleep after running around the house all day. Would you like me to wake her up?"
Sieun immediately shook her head. "You know how fussy she becomes when you wake her halfway."
Nana chuckled. "Of course. How about a little peak, then?"
When Sieun nodded her head, Nana immediately moved to the bedroom. She held the phone camera towards Chanmi's crib. Her baby sister was sound asleep in her swaddle.
Warmth built in the depths of her belly, slowly spreading and encasing her body in emotions too potent to express. Her jaw clenched and unclenched with the onslaught of love and affection steaming for the little human, and then her lips stretched into the world's biggest smile.
She was beautiful.
"I know," Nana whispered, turning the focus back on her. "I know, sweetheart."
Sieun's lips wobbled. "She is the most beautiful human in the entire world, Nana."
Nana nodded in agreement. "I wish your father could see this—" She momentarily hesitated, noticing the change in countenance on Sieun. "Have you tried to reach out to him, Eun?"
Sieun smiled tightly. "Who?"
"Your father."
A hard gleam veiled Sieun's eyes. "I don't have a father, Nana."
"But, Sieun, he's your father—" The sound of the bathroom door clicking open reverberated through the silence of her dorm room. "I should go, Nana. Thanks for everything."
Nana looked torn. "Oh, alright. Take care of yourself."
"I will. I love you."
"I love you more, sweetheart—"
Daiyu emerged with one towel wrapped around her body and another swaddled atop her head. "Hey, Hon. How—" She noticed the red rim around Sieun's eyes and immediately changed her question. "How was work? Did that Jace bail out on you again? I swear to God, I'll slap him to death one day."
Sieun pretended to type on her phone. "Then I better start looking for a place to hide his body."
Daiyu's brow arched in humor. "Shouldn't you be discouraging me from manslaughter instead of helping me bury him?"
Sieun shrugged. "I could, but I don't want to."
"Oh, shit." She gasped. "I am a bad influence on you."
A moment of silence before loud laughter surrounded the four walls of the dorm room.
Sieun's shoulders relaxed.
Despite conflicting schedules and contrasting departments with one an engineering student and the other with a passion for social work, Daiyu and Sieun had been inseparable since they got shoved into a double in the freshman dorms. Now that they were sophomores, they had gotten good at understanding each other's moods and respecting each other's boundaries.
Hence, Daiyu understood Sieun's tendency to speak of her worries only when she wanted to. Her roommate knew if she forced her to disclose the reasons behind the redness in her eyes, she'd only evade the topic entirely and run away.
"Thankfully, Jace didn't bail out today." She settled onto her stomach again and rested her hands on folded arms. "And the diner had a more tolerable atmosphere— no loud-mouthed Karens or perverted millionaires. It was a paradise."
Sieun's dramatic analogy earned her a chuckle. "Lucky. Wasn't so fortunate with my day, though."
"Why?"
Daiyu perched on the edge of her bed with a discounted bottle of body lotion, and sighed, preparing for a speech. "I was late to Thermodynamics by five minutes this morning."
"How?" Sieun pulled the blanket across her legs. "I woke you up before I left for CDC. You had one hour to move your ass to Cruella's class, woman."
Daiyu shrugged. "I fell back asleep."
Sieun's lips meshed together. "You are incorrigible."
"That's still no reason to chew my head off until the end of class."
"Sure," Sieun's eyes rolled to the back of her head. "Only this wasn't your first time being late."
"Hey!" Daiyu raised her arms. "You're not supposed to call me out like that."
"You're right. I should just let you wake up with the alarm blaring in your ears."
Daiyu immediately jumped onto her feet. Hauling the lotion aside, she dived onto Sieun's bed, wrapped her arms around her shoulders, and blinked rapidly. "You know I love you, right?"
Sieun scrunched her nose. "Get your hands off me, you monster."
Daiyu didn't comply. Instead, she leaned her head on Sieun's shoulder and purred like a demanding feline.
Sieun laughed. "I'm straight."
Daiyu deadpanned. "And I love Chris Hemsworth, but that's beside the point." Her fluttering intensified. "Sieun..." Her singsong voice tickled Sieun's ears. "I love you..."
She squirmed in her hold. "Alright, alright. I'll wake you up tomorrow morning."
Daiyu placed a kiss on her cheek. "Yay! You're the best, Eun."
"Please, take this love to Chris Hemsworth. I don't think I can handle—" Raw, heart-wrenching wails of a baby filled the small room, the loud sound drifting in from the half-open double window between her and he roommate's desk.
"What the hell?" Daiyu's feet sunk into the carpet as she stood. "Is that what I think it is?" Tilting the curtain slightly, she peered into the communal garden. "Oh my God!"
Sieun climbed off the bed to stand next to her. "What is it?"
Daiyu's bewildered gaze slowly turned to her. "Your husband is raising a ruckus with your child downstairs."
Frowning, she peered from behind the curtain. Renjun, dressed in an inside-out hoodie and a pair of mismatched slippers, argued vehemently with the dorm's security guard.
"Daiyu," Sieun whispered, "You can see him, right?"
"Yes."
"Fuck."
I made a few changes to the timeline to better the storyline. You can check out the previous chapters for more info. Enjoy :)