untouchable | park seonghwa

-13

       I shrugged off my bag and took my shoes off as I entered my warm apartment. Inside felt so cramped and messy like we hadn't left the house in forever, but in reality it was really just like I'm never home and my mom and brother don't know how to clean anything. It does bother me from time to time, but I've learned to really love and appreciate the comforting feel of my home. Until I saw my mom was sitting on the couch with her arms crossed as she stared forward. Not as comforting as I expected.

         "Whoa, you look scary." I gave a dry chuckle at her appearance.

         "Is something funny?" She asked, I felt the air in the room grow thick.

          "No, Ma'am, I guess not." I stood still in the doorway waiting for the information she's going to tell me.

           She stood up, "Your older brother is going overseas for business for a few months."

           "Overseas? Where?" I asked, mixed emotions flooding me. My brother has been living with us since he graduated high school, he works at a small idol agency as a talent booker, I knew he'd have to go back and forth between overseas, but a few months? That's a long time.

            "America, he'll be in LA for at least a month. I'm going on the plane with him to make sure he gets everything he needs. I'm going to be gone from next Wednesday for a full week." My mom said despite looking a little hesitant, but I knew it wasn't the thing she really wanted to talk about.

           "Okay, I'll make sure to tell him he owes me a souvenir." I smiled, trying to move past her.

           "I called your homeroom teacher." And there it is.

           "Your grades have dropped nearly 10% in all your subjects?" She said,

           "I'm doing really well in English.." I said in defense.

           "Yeah? Not well enough to make up for the rest of your subjects. I mean, 79% in history? How are you going to work that back up to an A?" My mom followed me.

            "I will! Things are just really busy right now with the festival, plus the semester just started, I have plenty of time to catch up!" I deflected her nagging.

             "Just started? You're nearly halfway! This is exactly why I said to not bother with these leadership positions, you want to be a teacher. It's more important to focus on your grades than these extracurricular activities. You promise you'll bring it up? You said that all last year but you lost 2% overall on the last 3 report cards.." She said, slapping the door back open when I tried to shut it.

               "I like it! And it'll look really good to universities that I am Vice President. Anyone can be a good student, I need to be different." I replied.

               "Well, you're in it now so you need to take responsibility for these positions you wanted. I already asked your teacher to match you with a good tutor for you. So when they introduce you to them, be nice." My mom shut the door behind her.

              I heard my brother walk out and ask my mom what was wrong. I heard her tell him all about how I'm so "fussy" and "not acting like myself." Because I grew up a bit and started defending myself I guess I'm not her favorite anymore.

             I laid down on my bed and kicked a few times, I already knew I probably needed a tutor right now, someone to force me to focus on my own work would definitely help me. But being forced like this feels like a cruel and unusual punishment.

             I got back up to put on my sweats and wash up before bed, I looked out my window for a second, just to feel a bit of calm before the night ended. When I opened my window, I looked down to see Seonghwa still standing out there. He was pacing back and forth in front of my apartment building, glancing at his phone.