High on You (Choi Do Il x Oh In Joo - Little Women 작은 아씨들)

8

29 DAYS UNTIL THE GRAND GALA BALL

As promised, that Friday afternoon after work, In-joo headed to the supermarket to buy some eggs for In-kyung and her special ramyeon. She still had no idea what the secret ingredient was, but it was delicious. She still remembered how both she and In-hye would ask for it on the day of their birthdays. She'd missed it quite a lot and was going to fully enjoy it that night. No intrusive thoughts were allowed. It had to be a reunion night, a merry night, just the lot of them enjoying each other's company.
"Hi, just these, thank you, sir." In-joo told the old man at the cash register. She paid for the eggs and walked to the bus station. More than once, her colleagues at the hotel had asked her why she'd kept on taking the bus when she had a perfectly functional car. Her answer had always been the same. When you're poor and then get rich all of a sudden, you tend to be rather cautious. She didn't want to grow too accustomed to things that one day she could easily lose. Hence, why she'd use the car only for longer trips or when she had to pick up somebody.
The bus arrived shortly after, she stepped in and saw that every seat was already occupied, so she hung on to the handrail with one hand and blindly searched the inside of her bag for her earphones with the other. She connected them to her phone and lost herself in music.

***

"In-kyung-ah, I'm home!" she boomed as soon as she had set foot inside.
"Good, bring the eggs here, please, we're almost ready!" What? Already? She thought. Was she really the last one to arrive home? She took off her suit jacket and shoes and wore her slippers. The corridor was shining. Either Jong-ho or her sister had made sure the entire floor of the apartment was cleaned to flawlessness. She removed the little cardboard box from her bag and made her way up the three steps that separated the sitting room from the kitchen.
"Here they are," In-joo said, extending her arm, so her sister could take the box. In doing so, the scars on her hand were exposed, and she soon pulled back and turned to face the dining table, already impeccably laid out.
"I don't see any wine. Should I have bought a bottle?" she asked, trying to sound as nonchalant as possible. In-kyung had watched her every move and had a sorry look on her face that she tried to hide from her sister. To this day, she still couldn't even begin to imagine what her unni had gone through the day the orchid room at General Won's house had turned into a cloud of steam and hydrochloric acid, but it wasn't the right night to look sad. Family dinner had to be joyful, even more so since the sisters had not seen each other in years.
"No, unni, Jong-ho bought some, it's in the fridge." In-joo nodded and neared her sister again to watch her as she added the fresh eggs to the ramyeon.
"I thought In-hye and Hyo-rin were already here," she said while leaning on the kitchen counter.
"They are. They wanted to freshen up a little bit after the trip back here. They're in the guest room beside ours."
Jong-ho then made his appearance into the living room, "Ah, Jong-ho-ah. Where were you? Have you just arrived? " In-joo asked him.
"Hey. No, I've been here all day. I was just throwing away some rubbish. Your sister can be extremely messy when she cooks. Especially when there are so many people."
In-joo laughed and looked at her sister, who was carefully mixing the broth. On the table there was an impressive amount of food already, from cooked fish to both seasoned and freshly cut vegetables and bowls of white rice.
"She has always been, and she always refused to do the dishes afterward. I wonder why..." at that, In-kyung shoved her with her hip and put on a sheepish smile.
"Ok, it's ready!" she announced loud enough for the two other girls to hear. Twenty seconds later, the cherry wood panel opened, and In-hye and Hyo-rin came out, their eyes puffy as if they had just woken up.
"In-hye-ah," said In-joo throwing herself in her direction to hug her, "how are you?"
"I'm fine, unni. Just very, very, tired." In-joo released her and turned to face Hyo-rin. She had grown to be a gorgeous woman. Her hair, still black as onyx and straight, was now shoulder-length, and her eyes had a new light to them – a more peaceful and happy light.
Park Hyo-rin, daughter of Park Jae-sang and Won Sang-a, had lost both her parents towards the end of the Jeongran process. Her father had thrown himself off a building, and shortly after, her mother had been in the same room as In-joo when the pool had turned into a deadly pond.
It had been hard, In-hye knew that better than all of them combined, since they had fled together and never left each other's sides ever again.
"Hyo-rin-ah, you look beautiful." In-joo caressed the girl's face like she had done many times during those weeks she had worked for her mother.
"Thank you, unni, you too look as radiant as usual," she beamed. Oh boy, this woman needed some training in faking her words. In-joo hadn't looked this tired since... well, those days, indeed. Regardless, she smiled at her kind words, appreciating the compliment.
"C'mon, everyone, sit down. It's time to eat."