seventeen
Make It Count
17.
Ga Eul squints at the feast served on the table, she made an unamused face, lips parting and shoulders dropping before another bowl of stew arrives, the bottom of the glassware makes a clunking sound with the wooden table. And the lady’s eyes follow the movement of the hand that placed the food – from in front of her, up and back to the side of where it belongs – then she meets her mother’s wide grin; which actually looks scary at the moment. The face is smiling but somehow those curling lips screams ‘If you don’t eat this, I’d make sure to kill you before the malnutrition did.’
“Ma…” She chuckles timidly, “I understand that you’re angry…” And her eyes trails to every dish that is laid right in front of her bowl, there are seven of them at least, “…but isn’t this too much?”
“Noona.” Haneul who sits across the table whispers, leaning in after stealing a glance at Mom. “Do you think you have rights to comment anything on this now?” His eyes squinting then rolls to their mother’s direction, showing his sister the obviously tensed and straight look on the old lady’s face.
“But, still…”
“Shut it and start eating.” Madam Lee shoots a death glare as she commands and her daughter could not help but to let out a wincing puppy sound before picking up the chopstick on the side of the younger’s rice bowl. Upon the sight, she smiles quietly whilst Haneul makes the sound of suppressed laugh. He covers his mouth with one hand then slowly starts stuffing in his mouth with his mom’s cooking.
All three of them start munching their food quietly, as if there are words left unuttered between them that leads to the tense of that space. Ga Eul notices her brother’s eyes that constantly flickering between herself and their mother and that helps a lot in annoying her, however still, the things that she was supposed to say and tell remain stuck somewhere in . And so the mother, she looks like she is waiting for Ga Eul to say something as she eats her meal in silence.
“Shixun and I broke up.” And that doesn’t surprise any of them, most probably because Haneul has already told their mother what happened that day they went to the mall together. It does not bother Ga Eul either, as she is more concern on another thing she is bounded to do. “I’m sorry, Mom.” The young lady puts down her chopstick then turns to her mother’s direction, eyes on the floor, “I handled it stupidly, could’ve done better. Then I ended up making you guys worry. I know you’re mad at me, you deserve to do so.”
Again, silence conquers the room. Haneul stops eating as well, his eyes quietly glance to his mother, patiently waits for the elder’s reaction. And the one whom those two people are focusing on has finally stop chewing, she doesn’t seem surprised by the news, but quite taken aback that her daughter has finally decided to be honest with her. She sensed that something must have happened that day, since Ga Eul looks strangely exhausted when they came back from the department store.
Thus the mother lightly drops her utensils to the table’s flat shiny surface, her shoulders slumps, a heavy sigh comes from as she extends her arms to reach her daughter’s before patting them lightly, “Why are you hurting by your own? Was it that hard to simply be honest?”
“Ma, I…”
“I never told you to be strong, because you don’t need to. There’s no point of doing it for us if you’re hurting yourself as the result of it, you’re still breaking my heart for that.”
“So…” Jongdae takes a deep breath as his legs swinging playfully while we walk along the roadside to Haneul’s school, “…is Aunty okay now?”
“If nagging me every time we have a meal is considered as ‘okay’ then hell yes, absolutely fine,” I blurt as I think of how my mother keeps on picking on me though it has been almost a month since I was discharged, earning chuckles from the guy as he shakes his head lightly, “Is me getting scolded sounds funny to you?”
“Considering your age, yes. Well you deserve it though…!” I am annoyed that Jongdae is being a little bit too honest to answer that question of mine yet the guy seems unbothered by the glare I’m giving him at the moment. Instead, he continues, “But that must’ve feel good too. I miss my mom.”
Realizing that the topic has now take its turn, my head pivots to his direction, “You miss her?”
“So much.”
He sounds like he is sighing to the sky, a side which I hardly see on him that’d make me wonder, “Jongdae, I’ve come to realise something.” He hums and glances in order for me to proceed and so I do, “You know a bunch of things about me, you’ve witnessed a lot of my…embarrassing moment.” I smile sheepishly as I peek at him through my lashes, thinking of everything that have happened in the past. Jongdae was always there. “But I’ve never really…”
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