Yooji: Love is War [Winrina]

02: Proposition

          I woke up earlier than what I originally planned the following day even though it was the weekend. Since the maids in our house do general cleaning every Saturday, it was impossible to stay asleep to my heart’s content because of the annoying sound of the vacuum cleaner.

          I got out of my room to see how long it would take for them to finish so I could go back to sleep.

          I was surprised to see my older sister, Jisoo, holding the hose of the vacuum while she was dancing to a certain tune.

          Since when was she home?

          “Oh, you’re finally up,” she said once she noticed my presence.

          I rubbed the sleep off my eyes. “Why are you the one doing the household chores? Where are the maids?”

          “I made them take the day off.” She momentarily stopped what she’s doing to look at me. “Since I have no work today, I decided it was best to spend the day with my little sister who is probably getting lonely by now since she was all by herself for the whole weekdays.”

          “You have no work today?” I yawned. “That’s surprising considering our hospital never lets its employees to have it easy. What made the old hags change their minds?”

          “Hey, don’t speak like that about Mom and Dad,” she chastised only to fall on deaf ears because I could not really be bothered. “Anyway, go fix yourself up. We will be going to the mall.”

          “What?” I frowned. “I don’t want to. Let’s just watch Netflix or something. Weekends are supposed to be lazy days.”

          She regarded me disapprovingly. “We will go to the mall whether you like or not,” she said with finality, much to my annoyance. “Now, get your ass moving.”

          That was how I found myself strolling around the mall with my sister rambling about her work as if I give even the slightest damn.

          That was the reason why I was not on good terms with my parents.

          Medicine there, medicine here, medicine everywhere—fuck medicine. Why would I pursue a career I have no interest in? Apparently, because we were a family of Doctors. Screw that.

          When I told them I want to pursue music instead, they didn’t take it well and went on about how I have no future in that field.

          That was the start of my ongoing cold war with them. Well, it’s not like I was close with them in the first place. They were rarely even home. I doubt they were even aware of my well-being.

          They only care about their careers, the embodiment of a pathetic excuse for parents.

          “Do you want some coffee?” I heard her say after a while. I looked up and saw a coffee shop right in front of us, bustling with patrons.

          Now, this brought back memories.

          “As long as you’re paying, why not?”

          She rolled her eyes jokingly before pulling me inside the shop.

          We settled on the nearest vacant table we could find and since this was her idea, I forced her to be the one to go to the counter to place our orders. That was where she’s good at anyway. Talking to people.

          While waiting, I fished out my phone to send Aeri a message. That girl usually goes to the mall every Saturday. There was a good chance she was here as well.