Egocentric [Book I]

Apologize

“So, how was school? Did you have fun?”

Minah came home a minute right before her father, just in time for the early dinner that her mother prepared for them all. Minjae was already sat and was sneakily pinching bits of the pickled radish off the plate when no one was looking. Minah noticed and hit his small hand with a chopstick.

“Ouch!” Minjae screamed at her. “Umma, noona is being mean to me again.”

“No, I’m not.” Minah stuck her tongue out, taunting her little brother. “School was great, umma. I already have two people I could talk to.”

“Don’t you mean friends?” Appa laughed, sitting beside her.

“I’ve only known Eunri and Nara today. Should I consider them friends already?” Minah asked, raising an eyebrow at her father. The man sighed and shook his head, tapping his daughter’s nose with a finger.

“Sometimes I wonder how I’m supposed to answer your questions.”

“Really? Umma says you ask weird things sometimes and that I inherited that character from you.” Minah snorted. Her mother finally came out of the kitchen with a large bowl of rice, cutting the shouting of words they were doing earlier.

“You said that?” Appa asked, seemingly unbelieving of her mother’s claims.

“Yes.” The woman said straightforwardly with a grin, before bowing her head down to initiate a short prayer before their meal. As expected, Minjae was the first one to dig into the food after saying grace, as if he’d been working a shift as laborious as their father’s to be that hungry.

“How about you, kid? Did you have fun today?” Her father turned to the boy, who automatically had a bright expression on his face. Everybody thought of Minjae as a cute youngster, but Minah thought otherwise. He’s stinky, messy, loud and too hyperactive... these are words coming from his own sister.

“Mr. Jeon let us play football after all our subjects at the back field.” Minjae narrated quite enthusiastically, and Minah swore she saw his eyes twinkle in delight. “He said that if we finish our school work early tomorrow, he’d let us play again!”

“Well, it’s nice to know you’re both enjoying your new schools.” Umma smiled sweetly, moving a stray strand of Minjae’s long hair away from his face. Minah was annoyed with his hair and she never fails to remind him everyday – very ruthlessly, but out of love – that he should cut his hair like normal kids do.

Minjae scowled at his sister and bit her arm or leg whenever she tried to touch the precious nest on his head.

They finished eating with smiles, thanking their mother for cooking them a lovely dinner. Appa and Umma cleared the table, Minjae watched cartoons, and Minah proceeded to her room to do her homework.

***

“Here, let me handle it.” Eunri said, taking the math and science textbooks from Minah to share the load. She had three more in her own hands and was thankful for her classmate’s help, other than assisting her on borrowing it from the library for the semester. Eunri was really nice, and Minah thought that they’d be close real quick.

“Thank you for this.” Minah smiled as they make their way back to their homeroom. They went straight to the library from lunch instead of doing it after class so she could go home early. “Where are your books?”

“Oh, I had Nara put it under my desk already. She didn’t want to come because she hates the smell of old paper in the library.”

“I understand. I hate that too.” Minah laughed. They turned to a corridor away from the cafeteria which was still filled with people despite the time. A few students loitered around the hallways, but most of them were still either eating or chatting inside the cafeteria.