Monochromatic

Day 1

"The circus is in town." Mrs. Yoo informed her daughter after barging into her room without knocking first. Jimin looked up from her laptop where she was scrolling mindlessly through Tumblr, eyebrow raised. Mrs. Yoo took the expression as a sign to continue. "I think you should take Yeoreum."

Jimin rolled her eyes. "The circus is stupid and a total con act to get people to believe in things that aren't true. It's a waste of money." She replied to her mother before averting her attention back to the laptop.

Mrs. Yoo crossed her arms and sat down on the bed, looking directly at her daughter. "Honey, you're leaving in a month to college... you should go out there and spend time with your friends and with us before you go." The older woman advised.

Jimin rolled her eyes. "I have no friends." She mumbled.

"Okay, how about spending time with your father and I? With Yeoreum?" Mrs. Yoo retorted.

Jimin looked up to meet her mother's eyes. "I spend time with Yeoreum." Jimin argued.

Mrs. Yoo raised an eyebrow. "Sitting in the same couch as her and watching whatever's on TV and making small talk is not spending time with her."

"I let her stay in my room sometimes."

"While you're reading one of your books or on your laptop. You don't even acknowledge she's there." Mrs. Yoo retorted with a sigh. "You're leaving, Jimin. Soon, you won't get much of a chance spend time with Yeoreum. You're going to regret not spending time with your sister while you had the chance. Take her to the circus dear, she's been talking about it ever since she saw the poster at the grocery store yesterday." Mrs. Yoo pleaded her eldest daughter.

Jimin sighed. "Well I'll take her anywhere but the damn circus. It's a waste of money, mom." Jimin shrugged. "I'll take her to the park or the mall, I don't know."

"I'll give you the money to take her, don't even worry about that. Just... bond with her, please." Mrs. Yoo begged, giving her daughter a pleading look. "Yeoreum asks me why her friend's big sisters spend time with their little sisters but not her own. Jimin, this is your chance to turn things around. You don't need to be so reserved and isolated. This is your first chance to branch out and discover things you never found yourself discovering.

"Jimin hummed, her attention on the photograph she had just reblogged. "Well I'm sure not going to find that going to a circus where I'll be bored and Yeoreum will wind up being disappointed."

"The circus cannot be that bad. It's quite a long-running circus I heard. It's been passed down by generations from this one family. It's been running for 80 years, so it must be good if it's still running." Mrs. Yoo told the girl.

"Circuses just give false illusions and terrible comedy." Jimin said simply as she reblogged a quote that appeared on her dashboard.

"Circuses give magic and fun and wonder... don't you want to experience that with your sister?"

"We can watch a movie about the circus, it'll be close enough and we'll be in a nice, cozy, and warm environment that is our home. Oh! And we don't have to pay ₩53,500 won for junk food because we'll have it here, conveniently." Jimin exclaimed, sarcasm laced in her voice.

Mrs. Yoo shook her head, unamused. "There is nothing wrong with going outside and bonding with your sister, Jimin."

"The outside world hurts you, mother." Jimin said as she kept scrolling through Tumblr, her eyes fixated on the lit up computer screen.

Mrs. Yoo sighed. "Listen, dear... not everyone is a bully in this world. Not everyone is after you. There are good people." Mrs. Yoo's face turned to a more empathetic one. "I wish with all my heart I could've protected you from the cruelty you had to endure at school, but I couldn't." she frowned. "But that chapter of your life, it's over Jimin. You don't have to worry about people attacking you for being you, because you have a voice, skills, and you are allowed to be loud with it.

"Jimin's face grimaced. "I don't want to talk about this.

"Mrs. Yoo nodded. "Fine, I won't make you." She paused. "But I will make you take Yeoreum to the circus.

"Jimin groaned, turning to her mother. "Mom, come on! Don't make me go!" she whined. Jimin really didn't want to go spend two hours watching a stupid show where she'd just be bored out of her mind as ordinary people tried to fake doing extraordinary things and blatantly lying to the audience of things they couldn't do in a million years. She would rather much stay at home in her bed where nothing could hurt her.

"No," Mrs. Yoo shook her head. "I will not let you stay cooped up in your room for the rest of the summer! You have plenty of time to do that when you're in your dorm." Mrs. Yoo told her. "But for now, you will do something this summer.

"Jimin groaned even louder. "But mom!" Jimin protested.

Mrs. Yoo looked at the girl sternly, meaning she meant business. "You will take Yeoreum to the circus tomorrow. Understood?" the woman raised an eyebrow at Jimin.

Jimin crossed her arms and huffed. "Whatever." She mumbled.

Mrs. Yoo smiled in satisfaction. "Who knows?" she stood up. "Maybe you'll find something you're looking for in the circus."

"Yes, boredom.

"Mrs. Yoo rolled her eyes. "Have fun tomorrow, okay?"

"How can you have fun at the circus?"

"By keeping an open mind." Mrs. Yoo told her. "And reminding yourself that you're doing it for Yeoreum who's going to be very excited about this."

Jimin sighed. "Okay..."

"Be excited! You're going to the circus!" Mrs. Yoo exclaimed, shaking her daughter to excite something out of her.

Jimin rolled her eyes as her mother tried to excite her but failed with Jimin's scowl at her obvious discontentment at having to go out. "I'm not six, mom. There is absolutely nothing exciting about the circus."