Yooji: Love is War [Winrina]

08.5: Extra

          I grew up in a household wherein comparing one person to another was the norm. Where insults were viewed as some sort of a trigger to do better, and where small achievements were considered a disgrace.

          It wasn’t always like that.

         Our home used to be peaceful and free from any kind of negativity.

          It only changed drastically when I made the biggest decision in my life that would dictate what my future was going to be.

          As an only child, my parents had huge expectations of me. They expect me to excel in the field of architecture so I could inherit our company and continue our clan’s long-standing legacy.

          Unfortunately, I was born as someone who had no interest in what they wanted me to be nor do I thought I was even meant to be one.

          Even though I forced myself several times to listen attentively every time my parents would talk about their jobs, I would always find myself zoning out halfway and end up not having a single clue about what they had just said.

          So, I gave up.

          Instead of a t-square, my hand preferred holding a game controller, and be amazed at how it fits perfectly in my small hands. Instead of planning the construction of some buildings I would never step a foot on, my mind preferred to come up with a plan on how to defeat the final boss of a game effectively. Instead of designing buildings, I preferred designing my character to my own satisfaction.

          It was just a hobby and never a passion.

          Nevertheless, I enjoyed the times that I had spent in front of my PS3 playing video games more than the times I spent reading through the books about the art of Architecture.

          I may hadn’t figured out what exactly do I want to pursue as a career as of yet, but that was fine since I still had a lot of time to do that. I’m still a child, after all. What mattered to me was I was sure it wasn’t what my parents wanted.

          That’s why one evening, I decided to tell my parents about it. I was nervous because I knew they would be extremely disappointed, but it was better than prolonging their dream for me that would never be fulfilled.
         
         “Mom, Dad, I don’t think I want to be an architect like you two.”

          They were all wearing the same expression on their faces. The one that clearly said they weren’t taking me seriously. That it was only empty words that were uttered by an eight year old child.

          “Aeri, just eat your food,” my mom said, her attention obviously not on me while my dad was just silently consuming the food on his plate.

          “No!” I whined. “I’m serious! I don’t want to be an architect!”

          “You’re just confused, Aeri.” My dad gave me a stern look. “You are only a child. You can’t make decisions for yourself yet.”

          “I’m not confused!” I tried to argue. “I’m sure of it!”

          I was starting to feel hopeless as I wasn’t getting through them at all.

          Why weren’t they believing me?

          That was so unfair!