THREE

Dara gazed at the white ceiling of Bom’s bedroom. She just had a tiring and stressful day on her first day back, all thanks to Kwonzilla. She has never met such a rude man in her 26 years of existence. “If he dares cross my path again and make me mad I’ll give him a kick that would make the future Kwonzilla’s nothing but a dreadful bedtime story.” She threatened the imaginary Kwon Jiyong as she gave the air a playful kick. “Like this! Take that!” She was laughing and bouncing on her cousin’s bed. Meeting Kwon Jiyong was turning her into a sadist. Dara arched her back and bounced energetically off the bed and unto her feet. She assumed into a fighting position that she has seen countless time on TV and gave the air one last kick that ought to finish Kwonzilla’s dreams of producing little Kwon monsters with a pealing laughter. She wiped the thin veil of sweat on her forehead then heaved her suitcase into the bed, unzipped it and groaned. She had forgotten that her evil step mother burned all of her decent pajamas and replaced them with this nightgowns made of silk and lace. Even looking at them makes her feel embarrassed. She could have put on a fight for her cotton pajamas but that would just make them suspicious about her supposed to be vacation at the most romantic city in the world – Paris.

She missed the days when she would sleep in her big tee and her brother’s boxers together with her siblings in one bed, the days when her family was still complete. It felt like a distant memory now. Because she perfectly knows that she can’t expect her parents to be together again. And she can’t turn back the time. She missed 10 years of her siblings’ lives. Sanghyun must be the campus heartthrob now. There’s no doubt about it especially because he looked just like her. And baby Dorami’s all grown up now – a little lady. She cleared the growing lump in her throat and proceeded on placing her clothes inside Bom’s empty drawer. After she’d hung up some of her dresses inside Bom’s closet she turned to look back at her suitcase. A small smile appeared on her face.