2016
The full moon shone up brightly in the autumn sky. The winds were blowing whistles throughout the neighbourhood. As the grandfather clock struck exactly at midnight, a man appeared in front of the Kwak Residence.
He went inside through the back door with his ton of luggage trailing behind him. He settled his things in the living room, and then proceeded to climb the stairs sneakily. The man stopped in front of a crimson red door that has the family's crest stuck onto it.
He banged on the door loudly, but the lady that was residing inside that room didn't stir up even once. He banged on the door harder and the lady fell off the bed with a thud.
The lady went to answer the door and she was attacked with a bone-crushing hug.
"Kenji! It's been a while," he said as he released the little lady. The poor little girl scrunched her nose up as she scanned the man in front of her while rubbing her eyes.
"It's me~ Youngminnie~," he said in a sing-song voice.
"Aron?" She exclaimed. He grinned like a Cheshire cat and hugged her again.
"What took you so long," she asked quietly as he hugged her tightly.
"Well, my company was being strict with my group for the past years and I got busy too," he reasoned out, looking at his dear sister.
"Wait I just realized, why on earth are you looking like a potato?" he asked as he cocked his right brow.
She blushed and turned around to walk towards her bed. She plopped on her bed with her face buried on the sheets.
"Aw sissy, you have rolls now, daebak," he said playfully as he poked her sides.
"A-Aron, stop it," she said as she held her laugh in. She muffled her giggles on her pillow as Aron tickled her until she was wheezing and coughing out.
"Inhaler—" she wheezed out, as she clenched her chest. He looked at his sister in horror and panicked.
"Why are y'all so loud in the middle of the night?" A voice said, sleepily.
"She's having some kind of attack, DO SOMETHING!" Aron yelled as he squatted down with his hands trembling.
"Oh muchacho, she's having an asthma attack, go calm her down a bit," she said and dashed down the hallway.
"Bae, it's gonna be alright, oppa is here," He said as he wiped her tears with his thumb. The girl came back with a nebulizer in one hand, and an inhaler in one hand.
"Here, catch," she said as she threw the inhaler to Aron and began to set up the machine. She breathed in the Salbutamol mist and began to breathe normally. Her hands were shaking as she held onto his brother.
Tears were welling up in her eyes as she hugged her brother. She sat up straight, then leaned on the headboard of her bed and stared at a distance.
"Do you feel better now?" her brother asked as he removed the stray hairs off of her face. She nodded curtly and smiled at him.
"I'm really glad you're actually here now," she said as her eyes gleamed at the sight of him.
"Yeah, I'm sorry 'bout that," he apologized as he scratched the back of his head. "I didn't know that you have asthma," he continued.
"Hey, ya might wanna be careful around her next time," the little lady standing behind him said, "she's as fragile as an egg shell, I'm tellin' ya."
He chuckled at her statement.
"Mari, I am not, okay?" Machenzie said defensively, "don't listen to her, Aron," she said as she glared at her.
"By the way, who is she again? I haven't seen her before," Aron asked as he pointed at the lady.
"Oh, that's Mari, our cousin, silly," Machenzie said as she playfully slapped her brother on his shoulder.
"Ohkay then, nutterbutter," he said in a playful tone and then pinched Machenzie's cheeks.
"By the way, Mari, meet Aron," she said cheerfully, "he's the brother that I was talking about."
"Nice to finally meet 'ya," she said as she smiled at him.
"But yeah, imma go head back to bed now 'cuz it's like, 1:30 A.M. so... Nighty~" Mari said as she walked out of the room, waving her hand.
"I think we should go to sleep now," Machenzie said as she yawned and rubbed her eyes.
"Yeah sure, do you want me to sleep with you?" Aron asked, his eyes gleaming with hope.
"Nah fam, I'm old enough to sleep by myself," she said jokingly while Aron pouted. "Just kidding, let's go sleep, ne?" she said amiably and scooched over to the left side of the king-sized bed. They laid side by side and slept peacefully—sort of, because Machenzie snored loudly.
~
The rays of sunlight seeped through the seemingly dark room. Autumn leaves were rustling around the balcony as the short lady slept soundly on her velvety bed. The alarm clock rang and disturbed the lady from her sleep.
Machenzie sat up and scanned her room for a minute, then looked at her side to find out that Aron wasn't where he was supposed to be. She stood up and went to the bathroom to wash up for a bit.
After she took a shower, she looked at the mirror. "Pew, pew, pew, how did you get here," she childishly said as she pinched her sides with both of her hands. She went out of her room and slid down on one of the enormous staircases that cascades on both sides of the quasi lobby.
The scent of sweet vanilla and cinnamon filled up the dining room as she entered. As soon as she entered the kitchen, she was greeted with the sight of her brother cooking stacks of hotcakes.
"Good morning, peachy butt," Machenzie said as she sat beside on the countertop where Aron was cooking. He rolled his eyes at the nickname and replied, "good morning to you too, chipper," as he flipped the hotcake on the pan.
Mari suddenly appeared and got herself a carton of chocolate milk and some fruits from the refrigerator and walked towards the dining room.
"Hey, about Mari," he started. "Is she our cousin from mum's side?" he said as he walked towards the dining room with a stack-full of pancakes on his plate.
"Yeah, she is, why?" Machenzie said.
"I was just curious okay," he said as he sat down. "Good mornin' Mari," he greeted with an eyesmile. "Mornin' to you all," she said as she walked towards the dining room to get more food.
"Anyways, I haven't seen mum around," Aron said as he chomped down his food. "Does she have a business meeting out of town?" he asked and then took a huge bite off the hotcake.
"About that..." she trailed off.
"She's in a mental healthcare centre right now," Mari said as she sat on her chair.
"Wait what?" Aron said with his food sputtering out of his mouth.
"Yeah, it kinda happened while you were away," she said as she munched down her hotcakes. Machenzie just stared off through space and her lips were set in a straight line.
"Do you guys visit her often?" Aron asked, "Just curious, y'know."
"We don't really go there now 'cuz she doesn't remember me," Machenzie said monotonously, her eyes fixed on the window.
"She might remember you though, because you're the blood-related child and not an adopted pup," she said, then walked towards the arcade room.
"Oh well, to be honest, I'd rather not," he said, following her to the game room, and leaving the half stack of hotcakes behind.
"Why's that?" Mari asked, following them.
"Well for one, I don't wanna see her in that state right now," he said as he plopped himself down on the couch. "True, I'd do the same too," she replied back.
Time passed by quickly and the last thing they knew, the sun was setting.
"Hey, why don't we shop for new clothes?" Mari suggested.
"Yaaaasss let's go then," Aron replied back then ran towards his room to get dressed.
"Should we also go to a samgyeopsal place for dinner?" Machenzie suggested as she played Tekken 7 while lying on the floor.
"Ne~~" Mari replied back.
After they all got dressed, they headed out to their matte black Range Rover to go to the mall. The car ride was fun and short. The two girls sang their hearts out as they sang OPM songs, while Aron was listening to whatever they were singing.
Aron left the two girls in front of the mall's entrance to park the car. He told them to wait for him at the H&M store inside the mall.
While they were walking and navigating their way towards the meeting place, they saw an oh-so-familiar figure.
Lee Felix