#im so worried for those people. life shouldnt be about how hot or young or desirable you look

[couriwaytown]

Im so so so so glad im not on tiktok anymore what the fuck is going on over there. luckily when i was there i mostly stayed on like the queer side of the app and saw particularly a lot of aro content, but oh my GOD the "beauty" side is SO ugly wdym you trained your face muscles to not move that's what they're supposed to do.???? i feel so sorry for all the people that are stuck there it must be hell :(

[nightfayre]

hi im the anon ! i dont remember what i said >

and I’m alarmed by the fandom mentality. Maybe HT means good - but how would we know? we don’t have access to his thoughts - but we must judge his actions, and his actions are for the least very troubling. It’s always abt coercing Mo and not respecting his boundaries. I see the trope “when she says no, she means yes” here and once again, the fact the fandom swallows it uncritically (bc HT is a poor, hot tortured boy) is alarming. Forcing Mo to wear his gift stinks of “this is my possession, don’t mess wt him” 2/5

Maybe im pessimistic n its actually to protect him by distance, but once again he totally disregards Mo’s will. What if he doesnt want to be protected ? what if he doesnt want to be an object to be pass around between self-entitled psychos ? The first step to protect and help someone is by listening to them. I hope Mo will react strongly and will tell HT that by saying this, he’s no different from She Li. And i hope that would provoke HT to self-reflect a lot - smth he lacks tremendously. 3/5

That being said i love HT and tianshan! And what i love is how realistic and flawed they are. Theyre both hyper violent, distrustful, and severly lacking in communication skills. Im thrilled to see how theyre going to evolve -for the better or the worse, both is good for me. But i’m very disappointed by the fandom reaction like “ooh how cute hes possessive it means love!” or “actually its not bad doing HT doing that bc his intentions are good”. 4/5

And I will be vry, vry disappointed if OX decides to follow this trend and to not show how this kind of actions is detrimental to their reliationship and use the tired and dangerous trope of “being violent means that you care”. I trust them to be more nuanced than that bc until now they are great at drawing grey relationship. So yea i hope next chapter, tianshan plunges (before being better). Anw sry for the rant, and plz continue the good work !! 5/5

phew. there’s a lot to unpack here – but I agree wholeheartedly with you. since this post is already kinda long, I will put my answer/explanation under the cut!

the parts that I bolded in your asks are what I intend to focus on in this answer. strap in, because this is going to be a long one. 

before anything, let me put a disclaimer: I love He Tian. I love Guan Shan. I love Old Xian. I love tianshan, and I love where they are headed in the manhua. does that mean I also love where tianshan are right now? no, it doesn’t. and I’m here to explain why I look forward to their potential rather than their current relationship’s dynamics.  

one of the hardest parts about being in a fandom is being able to separate fiction, reality, and morality. this is especially hard when a fandom is as old and endearing as 19 Days, and when you fall in love with & are rooting for all the characters. furthermore, 19 Days is not a tragedy. of course, when Jian Yi disappears, it will be tragic. but otherwise the majority of the manhua is a comical, romantic slice-of-life plot. as such, it’s easier for what would usually be seen as blaring issues/problems in tragedies to be disregarded for comedy or, in some cases, romance in a comedic, romantic slice-of-life. 

this is exactly the case with tianshan. I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again: He Tian’s current relationship with Guan Shan is not healthy. he doesn’t listen to Guan Shan. he doesn’t respect his personal space. he doesn’t know where to draw the line. he doesn’t know how to properly communicate with him, and thus resorts to violence or threats. tianshan just have a problem with communication. and, sure, maybe it can be chalked up to the fact that they’re young and stressed and don’t know any better. but that excuse is almost as bad as the “boys will be boys” excuse, and that doesn’t make it any better nor does it justify their actions. 

He Tian’s idea of relationships is so twisted, and as I talked about in a previous answer, it can probably be stemmed back to his trauma with the puppy Cheng took away from him. I won’t get too deep into that since I explained it in detail in that answer, but keep this in mind nonetheless: He Tian grew up in a family of violence, distance, miscommunication, and lies. it’s all he’s ever known, and that’s what he’s applying to his relationship with Guan Shan. does that make it right? no, absolutely not. but he’s learning. 

when Guan Shan had a panic attack at the restaurant, He Tian learned that people aren’t robots/pawns to use at his disposal and rather have their own strong emotions/backgrounds that shape them. thus, he brought Guan Shan home without a word. when he had his night terror and woke up to Guan Shan holding his hands, He Tian realized that there are parts of Guan Shan he still doesn’t know and, potentially, an aspect of their relationship that they’ve only started to uncover. thus, he thanked him without preamble and with a bowed head. 

what I’m trying to say is that He Tian does have good intentions at times, but not always. he’s learning as he goes, because god knows he didn’t have a family to teach him how healthy relationships should be. there probably is a part of He Tian that only wants to protect Guan Shan against She Li, but he certainly doesn’t show it in the right way. he acts possessive because he knows that if he doesn’t, he’ll lose what he loves (*insert flashback to the puppy*). again, does that make it right? hell no. jealousy and possessiveness are not cute and are entirely unhealthy in a relationship. the fandom should view them as such, but should also keep an open mind when considering He Tian’s background. 

and honestly, the reason why I’m focusing so much on He Tian right now rather than Guan Shan is because if it were up to Guan Shan, he would’ve dropped He Tian within the first few days (maybe even hours) of meeting him. but because of He Tian’s persistence, Guan Shan has no choice but to be involved with him and retaliate when He Tian verbally/physically/emotionally attacks him. nonetheless, Guan Shan has tried to walk away from He Tian on multiple occasions when He Tian’s teasing became too much, and on those occasions, He Tian has given in. (ex. I can’t find the exact chapter, but there is a chapter in which Guan Shan refuses to use He Tian’s fork to eat He Tian’s leftovers, and he gets up and says, “I’m going home,” to which He Tian replies, “Fine, fine, I’ll buy you new food.”)

so yes – tianshan certainly have flaws. He Tian holds too much power, and Guan Shan can’t catch a break. the fandom romanticizes their interactions, but if you take a moment to think realistically and recognize that character flaws are essentially bad but also critical for character development, then there is an even balance in the readers’ relationship with the manhua. don’t support He Tian’s violent interactions with Guan Shan and claim “omg He Tian loves Guan Shan sooooo much when he forces Guan Shan to do XYZ,” but rather support the fact that he hasn’t physically manhandled/harmed Guan Shan in many chapters. support and celebrate He Tian’s development, not his flaws. 

and as for what you said about Guan Shan telling He Tian that he’s “no better than She Li”? while I don’t think He Tian is truly as bad as She Li, I actually think that would be a painful, great, and pivotal moment in their relationship. after all, the most consequential scene in tianshan’s relationship thus far has been the kiss. at that moment, Guan Shan had told He Tian outright that he disgusted him and to leave him alone. since then, I don’t think He Tian has ever looked so… taken aback. unsettled. 

and guess what? their relationship has only gotten better since then, and He Tian hasn’t touched him like that again. 

I don’t know, anon. it’s a tough call. I think tianshan have a lot more chapters ahead of them, and I don’t think Old Xian will allow them to end on bad terms. actually, I don’t think Old Xian will allow them to end on the terms that they’re on right now. they can only improve from here on out, but how Old Xian will go about showing that improvement is unknown to us. there are many paths this story can take, but rather than worrying about what might happen, let’s focus on the here and now. let’s focus on the problems at hand, and let’s focus on the development the characters are undergoing. 

don’t ignore the wrongness/cruelty of characters’ actions, but don’t romanticize them either. if you do, you’re only doing a disservice to the character’s personality, existence, and the author’s intentions.

(and as for this newest chapter specifically: I see why people can get excited about He Tian telling Guan Shan to wear the earrings. He Tian wants to verify to both himself and She Li that Guan Shan is with him now. that Guan Shan is no longer under She Li’s control. who doesn’t love a little verification of their OTP’s relationship, especially when it involves an enemy?

but at the same time, it’s unhealthy. Guan Shan doesn’t have a say. he’s being handed around like an object. I don’t think this is pessimistic thinking; I think it’s the truth that no one wants to acknowledge/hear. but I’m not saying that tianshan is wrong in this chapter; I’m saying that He Tian has good intentions, but he’s not showing them correctly. and there will be a chapter in which he does show them correctly, but we must travel this rocky road before we get to that point. patience is key, and I cannot wait until He Tian and Guan Shan reach that moment of clarity. you can’t have light without the dark.)

[strawberryspeachy]

I wonder if im about to get fired again

Last year i got fired because a teacher who acted like he wanted to be my friend hated when I reciprocated that want.

Ive worked with about 55 other teachers since him and none of them

Ask about my weekend every week. Ask about my friends. Ask about my personal life. Stare at me in the office. Lean over me and touch me. Come look through my folder that im holding to just point out the paper im looking for (they just offer me a new one if they think i dont have it)

But. I was totally stalking him. And got fired.

Now im working at 2 schools

One with 4/5 horrible teachers

The other with 4/5 wonderful teachers

At the horrible teacher school one has been (and i dont say this about people often. Actually ever. I assume ppl hate me... but this woman has bee - well)

K so i made a newsletter for the schools. The good school put it out for the students and that was that. The bad school told me i could distribute it. So i asked this teacher where

She took me into the hallway and showed me a board. She told me to put the papers on those walls. And then she gave me pins. So i did.

Then she told my company i put papers up without permission

Ive worn the same clothes to all 7 schools ive worked at plus two camps. Never got a complaint. Until now. She complained about my skirt and socks

She said in a fly away statement when i started that because were teachers we cant travel because of corona and must stay home - it irriated me because i clearly understood that she was telling me that i need to stay home when im not working. Fuck that! But i just agreed with her. Her first question after my summer break was “you had a long vacation, did you go anywhere”

She asked in a happy voice - pretending that was wanted to hear about something exciting. But. Bitch i have a good memory. I told her i mostly stayed home and only went to a nearby town.

K so like. Thing is. She knows im probably lying (cause im young and not from this country. No one would stay home for a month) so the way she responded was kinda pissed off that she cant prove me wrong or report me or anything - then in the middle of class she asked about my housemates

1) i have no control over them

2) your first question was already invasive and this is stupid

3) youve asked me a question that i cant answer correctly. If i say i dont know youll say i might have corona because my housemates probably brought it home. If i say they went out - same thing. If i say they stayed home - another obvious lie. I told her that they are all students and had class so I think they were home. Again. She was annoyed by this answer

She constantly makes side remarks about “foregners”

She wont translate the questions that students ask her to ask me - and when i understand them and answer she acts flustered and annoyed

Shes bad at english and writes shit incorrectly - gives it to me to cold read - then gets mad when i trip over shit thats written incorrectly

She changed the song early last month because I liked it

She talks to me like im a clown hindering the class - walking over and telling me (a person standing quietly waiting for instruction) that now the students must study - the way a parent would tell a 7 year old not to bother the sleeping dog.

I TRIED to have a normal conversation with her because she seemed to be trying and i felt bad. She said it was hot and cold off and on and told me what temperature it would he the next day in celcius. I just said oh. And felt the tention. So i tried to ease it by chuckling and telling her “sorry. You know how america uses Fahrenheit? I dont really understand celcius.” She immediately —- wait hold on

This school makes us write down our temperature in the morning as though that does ANYTHING to stop corona - they dont even check - she harrassed me upon walking in the door to WRITE DOWN MY TEMPERATURE

—- k so no. No easy conversation. She immediately got serious and went how do you understand celcius for your body temperate then??? I told her i convert it.

A couple periods late she inturrupted another teacher talking to me about class and stopped me from going to class to ask me ‘if you dont know celcius how do you write your temperature down in the morning?!?’’ I told her i have a japanese thermometer and just write down what it says. Then she tried to play if off and chuckled like - oh ha i was just wondering. Whats the difference (her face was like enraged before that btw) she asked what the average temperature in Fahrenheit is and i quickly spit out 98.6 while grabbing my book to leave for the class i was now running late for

Shes full on feuding with a boy who “CANT SPEAK JAPANESE” and is “NOT JAPANESE” she tried not to bitch but also bitch about him to me - through this i learned that his mom is Australian. He was born in Japan. Also if her english didnt suck so much she would know that hes not fluent in english

She like the other teachers ask me questions that they dont want answers to. And sometimes is not even just - i wanna write this sentence wrong - does it make sense

No. It doesnt (correct answer- anything you write is correct. Dont worry. Dont ask me. Your perfect)

A couple weeks ago she told me that the song the other teacher chose is a japanese song that was translated into english. She asked it its gramattically correct. I told her that songs dont need to be grammatically correct so its fine. Then she asked me if it makes sense. I told her that its a bit vague but its fine.

She didnt know what vague meant. She asked me to write it down so she could look it up later. Not sure how she took that as an insult but Im sure she did.

And the song is vague. Id figured out that it was a song that was either written for a weird tv show or translated from something else before she even told me

Shes always late for class. She doesnt even leave for class until the bell rings. If she walks in and i was talking with the students - she looks highly uncomfortable - so ive stopped talking to them before she arrives

She wont let them ask me questions. Only her (these past two points go for the other crappy teachers too)

She cant make up her mind whether she wants me to say hello first or her. She cant make up her mind on what she wants me to read or whether she wants me to stop at commas or read full paragraphs or what - and she gets annoyed when i cant read her mind avout it —the others do this too

She reads sentences she wrote (incorrectly) out loud even more wrong - but apparently (going from her face) even though she doesnt know the word for fucking SENTENCES - and calls them “englishes” she heard me add the s to a word that should have been plural but she wrote as singular. She never says the fucking plurals or adds them where they shouldnt - but of course she heard my quick slip of adding an s onto a fucking word

- which really just shows thats she pays way more attention trying to find me doing something wrong than literally ANYTHING ELSE she does

Theres more. Im tired. And so very stressed. Tomorrow i have a meeting after school which i told my company rhat if they want my time they should pay me for it and told them theyre welcome to come to my schools (the one i like and normally can he stress free and get home early from) station

They made up bs as to why they can pay others but not me but did say theyre gonna come to the station

Last tome with the fucking “hanging stuff up without permission” i was of couse told i was in the wrong (BECAUSE JAPANESE CAN DO NO WRONG) and forced to say that i need to communicate better 3 times

Howd i start this? Watch me get fired? Yea i was fired on like the 23rd last year. Watch me get fucking fired again - for again. One racist ass peice of shit teacher

“Well you just gotta suck it up and accept where you are on the food chain” k look. Do you know how much easier and less stressed id be if i was able to do that?! I just. CANT ok. I refuse to think that i am less of a person than any other person. People can treat me that wat and do all they want. But i refuse to think that i am lesser. I am a person. And if i have to respect them they should respect me. Its a reciprocal fucking thing i cant fucking kiss ass

I lived in a house with a woman who wanted me to kiss her ass - and i basically chose not to be treated like a dormat and pike she was my lord. And thus got mentally and emptionally abused for 24 years.

I cant fucking kiss ass. I can be polite. But i cant kiss fucking ass dude. I just cant

[yepjugotdatright]

Chapter 1

“Jisuk-ah, put the drinks into the fridge after you are finished with the cigarettes” the manager called out through the half opened door while she was busy sorting in the different sorts of cigarettes into the displayer behind the counter. “Yep, will do!” she replied simply and pushed the last pack of Marlboros into their row. This was the life she was living: part timing the hell out of it. At that moment she was even willing to sell her soul for money. Money was the key to a comfortable life – something Jisuk was not necessarily lacking but what she wanted to have nonetheless. She moved the empty boxes to the small stock room and got out another few with the labels of famous soft and beer drinks companies. A TV was running in the back; as always MBC was turned on and as the current music show came to an end the news started. “Good evening. My name is Bae Hyun Jin and here are the news from today” Jisuk listened only with half of her ear as she cut open the box and got out a few drinks to refill the cooler. “Titanic IT reaches a much higher share value with its new program ruling the market of intelligent technology…” The door opened and two customers walked in. “Good evening”, Jisuk said as she moved behind the counter and waited for them to check their things out. They came back with a few things and placed them in front of her. They turned away from her and watched the news. “No wonder… Titanic is everywhere.” “I heard their son is so stupid they had to pay a huge sum so he could graduate from Jeguk High.” “Oh really? I thought he was one of the best to graduate” “Just shows how much money Titanic’s Chairman has” he shrugged and snorted as the pictures of the family were shown as they happily boarded a plane. “They are treated like royalty here – I guess that’s why they are leaving Thailand…” Jisuk didn’t really listen to them as she scanned their things – she caught a few phrases but most of the time she didn’t really care for gossip. However, she was all ears for any kind of drama her costumers talk about. It was better than any television series she had ever watched. “24,600 Won, please”, Jisuk said and got their attention. “What do you think about those Kumatis or whatever their name was…?” one of them asked as his friend got out his wallet. Jisuk just shrugged receiving the money and got the change together in the blink of an eye. They were just about to pull an answer out of her as luckily her cell phone started ringing. She slightly lowered her head saying her quiet goodbyes before answering the phone. The number wasn’t saved – but she knew it all so well. “Hello? Bak Jisuk speaking”, she turned around until the two exited the store and listened to the other side of the call. “Yes, I am. Yes… No, I’ll be right there. Yes, thank you for the call… Ye- Goodbye”, she hung up again and sighed. “Jo-Manager, something urgent came up. I have to leave” she came into his office and took of the apron she was wearing. “What is going on? Then who is going to do your work?” “I am sorry. But there is a situation…” He was hesitating, “F- fine. But you’ll have to come earlier next weekend.” “Of course. Thank you” she bowed quickly and hurried outside throwing on her jacket over the store’s uniform. Her motorbike was standing just outside and after wearing her helmet she was on riding her bike on the street.

Jisuk arrived at the police station, hurried through the corridor and arrived at the huge office room where quite a lot of desks were lined next to each other. She saw some officers interviewing middle aged men in terrible patterned shirts, a few drunkards lying in some cells in the back and a few high scholars sat at a desk on the end of the room. She recognized the terrible brown school uniform and walked towards them determined. “Hello, are you Bak Jisuk-ssi?” the officer stood up and looked a little surprised seeing that Jisuk was not much older than Hyun Woo. “Yes, what happened?” she asked and looked at the three high scholars next to her. Her gaze wandered to Hyunwoo, saw his right black eye and him having a nosebleed while the other two were completely unharmed. “Noona!” Hyun Woo whined as he saw her and the other two chuckled spiteful. “These three were fighting near the school. Son Hyunwoo claims being attacked while these two are claiming to have been unnecessarily provoked which resulted in a fight.” The officer explained the situation and handed Jisuk a piece of paper which was a form for a written apology. “Officer, this can’t be. My brother is clearly the one who suffered from the attack! Why does he need to apologize?” Jisuk pleaded. “Didn’t you listen, Noona? Your whiny brother provoked us!” one of the attackers said brazenly and Jisuk glared at him. “Call me Noona one more time... Wait till I get my hands on you, you ****” Jisuk hissed back and the boys eyes widened in shock. “Miss Bak, please watch your language. You are still at the police station…” the officer reminded her but had to suppress his chuckle seeing the boy being shocked from that curse word. “All three have to fill out this form. This is just to avoid this matter getting bigger than it already is. It is just a simple boys fight”, the officer explained, “Except you want to sue for physical injury”. In Jisuk heads the sums of the lawyers wage and the legal costs were aggregated and put into the relation with the most likely compensation sum… She shook her head and pushed the piece of paper together with a pen into Hyunwoo’s hands and urged him to write the apology. At first his face looked betrayed and hurt, but then it eased up again as Jisuk squeezed his shoulder and motioned him that it was okay. The two left the police station and two women rushed past them into the building mumbling something about their poor sons. Jisuk guided Hyunwoo to the motorbike and made him lean against it so she could examine his eye. “Oh, Father will kill you…” she smiled in malicious glee and proceeded to wear her helmet again which she had just left at the bike in her hurry. “Please, Noona! Save me!” Hyunwoo rubbed his hands together begging for mercy. She halted as she was about to answer and pulled out her vibrating phone.   After reading the message she sighed; “Seems like we have to stop somewhere on our way back…” She mounted the bike and turned the key into the ignition. “What about me?” “I think I still have one in the trunk” she offers and watched amused as Hyunwoo opened it to find a pink helmet. Jisuk snickered as Hyunwoo wore the –for his taste too feminine – helmet. They arrived at a Soju tent, moved the curtain out of the way and stepped inside. Hot, humid air hit him straight into the face and the smell of alcohol and grilled fish filled every inch of this closed tent. It was raining like hell outside and while Jisuk patted the remaining drops from her coat she spotted a woman sitting alone at a table. “Yah~ I am still underage. You know that, right?” Hyunwoo hissed towards the older girl and only got a smirk in return. “Don’t worry – you look like a delinquent anyway” She motioned around her own eye and walked to her acquaintance. Hyunwoo sighed and followed her, hiding his black eye with his one hand. “Aren’t you busy?” Jisuk sat down stealing one of the shrimp snacks the woman was eating. “Speak for yourself” she raised her eyebrow as she looked at the young boy following Jisuk and poured herself one glass just to gulp it down in one shot. “I’m unemployed…” Jisuk shot back unimpressed and continued: “You shouldn’t drink during the weekdays”. Hyunwoo sat down as well and looked awkwardly from the one to the other woman. “What did you call me here for?” Jisuk moved the plate with the snacks in Hyunwoo’s reach. The woman flipped her long dark hair over her shoulders and after side eying Hyunwoo once again she said: “Drinking solo makes me sad… and people started looking weirdly at me.” She waved her hand around unnoticeably pointing at the other people in the tent. She offered Jisuk a spare glass, but she shook her head: “Still need to drive”. “And your friend here?” She moved the glass to the boy sitting there, his head resting on his hand to cover the dark shadow around his eye. “He’s a high schooler” Jisuk stated. “Didn’t stop you, though”, the woman chuckled. Hyunwoo gaped at the two raising his head. “You did what?” he stifled his laugh, “Does mum know?” Jisuk regretted even getting him out of the police station. “Don’t forget that you aren’t that innocent either”. Hyunwoo’s grin disappeared and he rested his head on his hand again. “By the way… it seems like I’ll be accompanying you to Daegu. Let me share the room with you”, she said casually emptying the bottle. “What? No – get your own room” Jisuk complained, shoving another shrimp snack into her mouth. “Ah, come on~ I even got you a present” she grabbed a black plastic bag from the ground and raised it to their eye level. “What’s that? Did you empty a convenience store?” She took the bag and dared to peek inside.  “What’s this?” she grabbed a few of the samples and read: “Tony Moly? Changing Magic Foot?” “I collected a lot of free samples. There are even two or three luxury brands as well. I really had to lower my pride for this. You better appreciate this” Jisuk looked from all the concealer, perfume and lipstick samples back to her and huffed. “Yeah, thanks. I’ll try them”, she said dryly and placed the bag on her lap. The woman looked at her empty bottle and shrugged. “I’ve finished my drink. I’m gonna go now. See you at the weekend”, she took her handbag, left an adequate high bill on the table and walked away after patting Jisuk’s shoulder. “Well, that was worthwhile…” Jisuk sighed and grabbed the plastic bag on her lap signing the bored Hyunwoo to leave as well. “Noona~” he whined as they had reached her bike. “Mum will kill me if she sees me like this”, he realized as he examined his black eye in one of the motorbike’s rear mirror. It looked worse than it hurt. Jisuk chuckled. “And why would that concern me?” she raised an eyebrow at him and snickered at his suffering grimace. However, shortly after his eyes lit up in hope and a mischievous smile spread over his lips. “Because maybe Mum would interest your underage activities very much”. He stared him dead in the eye only the sound of the passing cars resonating between them. “Okay, fine. Get over here” Jisuk got the plastic bag out of her bag and searched through the samples. Hyunwoo looked at the collection astonished. “Who was she?” He grabbed a random sample and ended up looking at a mud-facemask in his hand. “She’s Jinah - a good friend of mine”, Jisuk smiled. Hyunwoo looked at her strangely: “You don’t have any friends”. Jisuk sighed and looked at her brother with a dry expression. “You want my help now, or not?” “Do you even know how to apply makeup?” She raised her fist and threatened to hit him. “How hard can it be…” she found a sample of concealer and applied it on his black eye. He flinched in pain as she started spreading the beige-colored paste. She finished the cover up and looked at her achievement. “Not bad!” Hyunwoo took his phone and looked at himself through the face-cam. He sighed at the bad work and started to fix it. “I should have done it myself from the start…” “Then why ask for help?” Jisuk snapped back donning the helmet on her head.

Some time later they reached home. Jisuk parked the bike in the garage and walked the few steps to the door. Hyunwoo unlocked the door into their house – a two story building with a little wooden sign next to the door swinging in the wind saying: Shincheon Boarding House.

As Hyunwoo entered through the door Jisuk expected him to hold the door until she also passed through – however, Hyunwoo let the door slip through his fingers and cascade towards Jisuk. She growled annoyed as she caught the door right before it thudded closed and chased after him.

“How can you be such a brat at home and such a weakling at school at the same time?” she threw one of the slippers lying around in the small foyer after him and it hit his face as he turned around to laugh at her face.

“I was not beaten up because I am weak”, he defended himself. “You are a weakling… crying for Noona at the station”, she teased him.

“Yah!” he threw the slipper back at her but she caught it easily. “Then I want to see you fight against two martial arts experienced people while being unsporty yourself”, he pouted. “Martial arts experienced? You make it sound as if they have the black belt or something”.

“I don’t know about their belts but they are in the Taekwondo – Club”.

“Why were they beating you up anyways?” she asked while the two slowly make their way into the living room. Hyunwoo hesitated telling her. “I will find it out anyways”, she shrugged.

“Fine, it was because of Chaerin”.

“Chaerin?”

Jisuk wiggled her eyebrows and halted in her steps to look at him excitedly.

“Yes, Ahn Chaerin, the class president. She is very popular at my school” Hyunwoo explained and walked past Jisuk to end the conversation.

Jisuk’s smile grew wider as she realized the situation. “Aww, my dongsaeng is in love!” she teased him and ruffled through his hair as she passed him.

“Ah, Jisuk. Where have you been the whole afternoon?”

Aejin appeared in the doorframe, spatula in hand and an apron wrapped around her body spelling in pink, crooked letters: BeST MoM.  

It was no secret that this was the bad work of Hyunwoo who in Elementary School had took part in the handcraft lessons instead of choosing the soccer team – as all the other boys in his class had done back then. Jisuk still teased him with that – though he had a lot of female friends back then because of that; probably more than he might ever have again.

“I was out working… fetching up Hyunwoo on my way back”, Jisuk casually nudged towards the younger boy who shuffled through the dining room into the living room.

Aejin crossed her arms and looked after her son shaking her head. “This boy… did he ask you again? Too lazy to take the bus home.”

Jisuk chuckled and scratched the back of her head before heading up the stairs into her room to change into something comfortable.

The stairs ended in another room, empty except for a few flowerpots and a carpet spread generously on the parquet. She walked straight to her room and closed the door behind her.

She fetched her most beloved sweat pants and a random shirt and changed.

Downstairs Aejin was stirring the stew one last time before moving to the stairs and yelling: “Dinner is ready! Get down before it gets cold!” She heard something moving upstairs and walked back into the kitchen to finish setting the table. Her feet moved over the stone floor through the opened wooden door and stopped at the cook top to take the pot with two embroidered pot holder from the heat. With hasty steps she brought the stew into the dining room next door on the long table.

Six plates and sets of cutlery were set at every chair and a tablet with enough glasses and a water bottle was put right next to the pot.

“Hyunwoo-ya, come and eat!” she said to the teenager who was watching the end of a music show. He reluctantly got up and was about to turn off the TV, but Aejin stopped him upon hearing the announcement of the beginning of the news.

“Aigoo, what a sight”, Aejin commented spiteful at the sight of the Chairman of Titanic IT appearing on an official event with his younger wife and son. “

Chairman Khunchati Bhuwakul announced the relocation of the Titanic Headquarters to Seoul confirming the enrollment of his son Kunpimook Bhuwakul into Yonsei University. His Wife Deok Seo Hwa showed herself delightful and looked forward to being back in her hometown”.

“Tch, Deok Seo Hwa knows how to lie in public”, Aejin turned away from the TV back to the dinner table. “What do you mean by that? She isn’t from Seoul…?” Hyunwoo said and sat down at his usual seat. Aejin looked like she wanted to deepen this topic, however, on second thought she just nodded. “No... I just thought she looked like a Daegu – person.”

“Who looks like a Daegu – person?” Jisuk came into the room and looked from Aejin over Hyunwoo to the TV playing in the back.

“You do!” Hyunwoo said teasingly.

“Screw this accent…” Jisuk groaned and sank into the chair next to him. “Does it still show?”

“Yes – most of the time I can’t understand you…” he gestured around his ear.

“You don’t listen anyway” Jisuk shot back and Aejin sighed.

With confident steps the next inhabitant of the boarding house came into the room and sat down in front of Hyunwoo. Her short hair was hold back by a black headband and a bandage covered her nasal bridge. She wore an oversize and visibly often worn baseball tricot of the Doosan Bears with a huge 50 on the back.

She yawned extensive and glanced into the pot pulling her eyebrows together skeptical.

“What’s that?” she pointed at the yellow, thick soup with a few meat and vegetable pieces swimming in it.

“That is Creamy Stew – a Japanese recipe” Aejin explained and nodded satisfied with her work. Hyunwoo pulled his mouth to a flat line and glanced not really happy at Jisuk next to him who dared a short look into the small kettle.

Even though Aejin was an average good cook she was too fixated on trying out new exotic recipes she found on the internet – and without exception she always fails these. She seemed to be only made for simple Korean cuisine.

“Ahhh, what is this delightful scent?” a man in his beginning fifties entered the room. His black adidas-pants were rolled up to three quarters of its length revealing his white tennis socks in his slippers. He, too, risked a glance into the pot and furrowed his forehead.

“Honey, I thought you’d make Kimchi Stew today” he sat down at the head of the table and looked shortly over his shoulder at the TV still broadcasting the news.

“Did the young Mister Choi still not come out of his cave?”

The short-haired girl snickered.

“Yunhee, you aren’t one to talk” Aejin noticed making Yunhee shrug.

“It’s semester break. Training starts not until next week…” she defended herself.

They heard upstairs a door being opened and closed again followed by heavy footsteps shuffling down the stairs ending with the appearance of a young man in the doorframe. He wore his sleeping shirt and sweat pants; dark circles underlined his brown eyes and his light brown, nearly blonde dyed hair strands pointed wildly into different directions. He ran his hand through the mess on his head and blinked tired into the round before sitting down on the last empty chair.

Ignoring the half-asleep addition to the table Aejin took the ladle and started sharing the stew with everyone. She was visibly exited to taste her new creation and gave everyone a generous portion.

With round eyes she signed them to dig in and took her own spoon to start eating. A little unsure of the situation the younger generation looked at each other and then glanced hardly seeable at the man of the house who had already took one spoonful of the questionable dish. His frown was answer enough.

“So?” Aejin was impatiently waiting for their reaction. “You… cooked something very extraordinary, Honey”, Hyunshik raised his eyes to meet hers and sugar coated his words with a wink. Yunhee nodded supportive and offered a cramped smile.

“Youngjae, do you like it?” Aejin asked the half-sleeping half-awake boy who stared at the food with a blank expression and slowly moves the spoon to his mouth not realizing what he was even eating. “Mmh?” he raised his gaze and let the spoon sink back to the plate. Yunhee stepped on his foot to make him look at her and carefully shook her head.

“Is it bad?”

Youngjae’s reaction was delayed because of his fatigue. Then he suddenly raised his hand and waved it denying synchronal to his head shaking while laughing awkwardly.

“That’s called Creamy Stew”, Hyunwoo mentioned to save his Hyung from saying something stupid, making Aejin grin satisfied. “If you all seem to like it I can cook this more often”.

Their faces froze and turned slowly to her.

“Again?” Hyunshik laughed sweating nervously. She normally would cast them aside because the normal rice dishes were easier to make and not as complicated as the ones she was always trying out.

“Yes, because Creamy Stew is the favorite dish of our new boarder” she announced proudly.

“I never got my favorite dish cooked” Yunhee pouted and Jisuk nodded supportive. “That’s because you aren’t our first international student” Aejin raised her chin and saw her husband with mixed expressions.

“Really? From where? America? France?” Hyunwoo laid his spoon out of his hand excitedly.

“Or… Africa?” Jisuk chimed in the country quiz but their excitement was soon cut off by Aejin who said: “She is from Japan”.

“Oh…” Jisuk sighed.

“Why so disappointed?”

“An Englishman could have helped with his poor English grades” she ruffled through his hair. “Look who is talking!” he shot back.

“But you said she… so we get another girl. Is she pretty?” Hyunwoo looked at his mother excited, “Since the other females here are not that much…” he waved in front of his face.

“Yah!” Yunhee and Jisuk yelled simultaneously.

Hyunshik gave his son a dismissing look and turned his attention back to his wife: “Honey, maybe we should discuss this later…”.

“What is there to discuss? It’s all set and ready.” She shot him her brightest smile she had to offer, which she knew was his weakness. At the time he had confessed to her he already said he wasn’t in love with her – but with her smile.

He averted his gaze and coughed – he saw the other four people at the table watching the married couple with raised eyebrows. They didn’t dare to move during their very short controversy; Yunhee’s spoon was still hovering over her portion of Stew and Hyunwoo furrowed his brows grossed out by his parents’ romantic moment.

“By the way, how was school today?” Hyunshik looked at him and noticed the weird shadow around his right eye. “What is with your eye?” he tried to touch his son’s face but he backed away quickly and Jisuk coughed seeking Hyunshik’s attention.

“It is probably just the bad lightning in this room”, Jisuk explains with a hoarse voice after drinking some water. “You think so? Maybe I should exchange the light bulbs in this room”, he thought out aloud. “You don’t need to do that” Hyunwoo said quickly, “They still work – so I guess it’s okay”.

They continued eating with only the TV talking in the background. They all listened to it from time to time and Aejin could not refrain from commenting on the newest gossip.

“Hallyu Star Ji Areum is confirmed to play the leading role in tvn’s new time-travel drama. The male lead is still unknown but her fans are already anticipating the drama coming out this year’s winter. Ji Areum said: …”

The gossip show broadcasted a short clip of a young woman in her early twenties talking about the role. She had hazelnut brown hair and beautiful shining caramel eyes. She was on an official event – thus wearing heavy makeup and a beautiful long red dress.

“This poor girl – they should let her rest. She is still a child” Aejin said and moved her glass to her lips.

“Have you seen her last drama? She was amazing in it!” Hyunwoo fanboyed and waved about with his spoon making Jisuk evade his sweeping gestures.

“She is indeed very talented… but it is like the media only talks about her the whole day. Isn’t she tired?”

Yunhee leaned back and rocked her chair backwards to glance at the smiling white face of the young actress.

While women in their thirties aspired to look like Kim Taehee the younger generation all set Ji Areum as the standard for beauty. Her face was printed on nearly everything – from Make-Up advertisements to big billboards in Myeongdeong.

And she was one of the actresses who played a few of her favorite dramas. Between Korea’s Nation’s little Sisters IU and Suzy, Areum was the Nation’s cute girl next door kind of celebrity.

“So, have you packed your things already?” Aejin asked Jisuk who just shrugged. “I am about to”.

“You are going the day after tomorrow…”

“Where are you going?” Yunhee asked. “She is going back to where she came from – leaving us in our misery and living her life as though she was never part of ours” Hyunwoo closed his eyes looking as sorrowful as possible.

Jisuk eyed him up with scrutinized brows and explained: “I am visiting family”.

“You are taking your bike with you?”

Jisuk shook her head and shot a sharp glare at Aejin. “I was forbidden to drive the bike on the fast ways.”

“I can’t blame Ahjumma”, Yunhee snickered. “With your racing skills you are going to get yourself killed in an accident”. Jisuk nodded absentmindedly.

Aejin and Hyunshik exchanged glances and coughed; “Yeah, but we don’t want to call that upon ourselves… so let’s not talk about that” Hyunshik called out.

“Oh, you are going to miss the welcoming party for her”, Aejin said regretful.

“Ugh… another party”, Yunhee said exhausted. “I don’t think my liver will survive this”.

“I don’t think you have any liver left to worry about”, Hyunwoo chuckled. “I remember Hyung’s whole stock of liquor being emptied by you”.

Youngjae looked up upon hearing him being mentioned – but was too tired to engage into the conversation.

“Youngjae, if you have finished eating you can go back into your room and rest. You look terribly tired”, Hyunshik nudged his head to the stairs and the bright haired man nodded thankful as he pushed the chair back shuffled out of the room after wishing everyone a good night.

“The youth of today and their video games. I wonder how he got accepted at Yonsei when all he does is playing games” Aejin sighed and side eyed Jisuk. “While others at this table don’t seem to even think about trying it out”.

Jisuk sighed and emptied her glass of water; however, didn’t give any reaction except for a simple nod.

Hyunshik coughed and Hyunwoo leaned back glancing at his noona - there was this topic again... Jisuk glanced at her watch - trying to act oblivious to the needle-dropping-atmosphere - and got up lazily running a hand through her hair.  “Where you going?” “From the wind starts any minute - and i won’t miss the intro again” she moved to the TV next room and lazed about on the huge couch changing the chanel - that had always proved to be the best way to escape any unnecessary talk about future plans.