by Zhu Hsia
Apparently having had enough, he grabbed Hyeon Jin's foot just as she was about to give him a kick to the face and yanked it with such great strength that she did a full backflip before hitting the floor loud and hard. By the time Mun Oh got to his feet, Hyeon Jin was already screaming for help.
"Shut up! Who the hell are you?" Mun Oh asked, massaging his left arm.
Hyeon Jin stopped screaming at once and stared up at him in bewilderment. "What? That's my line!" she yelled, slowly getting up. "Oww..." she groaned, massaging her lower back.
"Who are you and what're you doing here?" Mun Oh repeated, assessing her from head to foot.
"Okay, you have got to stop stealing my lines, you know!" Hyeon Jin replied, taking one step toward him. "This is MY room. I live here, so you don't have any right at all to question my presence!"
Just then, the door opened and Kim Junjin ran inside, followed by Ji Sun, who was still holding a teacup in her right hand. Kim Junjin looked around frantically, ignoring the two people in the middle of the room. After making sure "nothing" was wrong, he faced an irate Mun Oh and a perplexed Hyeon Jin.
"What did you scream for?" he asked his daughter calmly.
"DUH! Intruder—in MY room—in my BED! Hello?!" Hyeon Jin exclaimed irritably, pointing a finger at Mun Oh, who merely rolled his eyes.
Instead of explaining, Kim Junjin decided it was a good time to snicker, but immediately stopped when his daughter flashed him her "shut up" look. Ji Sun stepped in to explain.
"I'm sorry. I thought your dad already told you about him," she said nervously. "Hyeon Jin, this is Mun Oh, my younger brother. Mun Oh, this is Hyeon Jin… my stepdaughter."
"You have a brother?!" blurted out Hyeon Jin. At the same time, Mun Oh said, "You have a stepdaughter?!"
Kim Junjin nodded, while Ji Sun offered a nervous smile.
"Dad... can we talk outside for a bit?" Hyeon Jin said, striding to the door even before Kim Junjin could give a reply.
The moment they were alone inside, Mun Oh grabbed his sister's arm and dragged her to the corner of the room.
"We need to talk," he said. "How come you never told me about that brat?"
"Well... I was trying to find the right time to tell you," Ji Sun said.
"Yeah, right. Now is the right time to explain," Mun Oh said sarcastically. "You did not just marry a man ten years older than you... you also adopted his insane daughter!"
"Shusshhh! Be quiet. She's not insane, okay? She's just..." She paused to think for a second, and then said, "Well, she's something else. But she's a nice girl once you get to know her."
Mun Oh rolled his eyes dramatically. "I highly doubt it. Besides, I do not have any intentions whatsoever of getting to know her."
•••
"Okay. Lemme get this straight," Hyeon Jin said after hearing her father's brief explanation. "You've been together for almost three years now and she never even once mentioned something about having a brother to you. But now, you actually believed that he IS indeed her brother?" she asked, suspicious.
Kim Junjin raised an eyebrow. "What are you implying?"
"I'm saying that you don't just give your trust to anyone right away! Especially nowadays! Are you going insane?" Hyeon Jin said.
"Listen here, young lady,” he said. "Ji Sun is not just anyone—she's your stepmother. And for the last three years that we've been together, she has never lied to me, not even once. You, however, have lied to me more times than anyone I've ever known."
Hyeon Jin's expression showed that her father had clearly struck a nerve.
"You told me you'd stop bullying other people if I bought you a cell phone," Kim Junjin continued, sounding disappointed. "But you didn't stop and I don't even know if you have any intentions of ever stopping that pathetic habit of yours… ever."
I did stop… Jin thought bitterly. I stopped bullying five losers a day. Now I only bully one or two losers in a day…
"You assured me that your grades would go up once I bought you that laptop, but your grades are still dismal. And you always sleep in class, your teacher told me."
Hyeon Jin looked away innocently. Well, you didn't buy me the laptop that I wanted, she thought, still bitter. You bought me a cheap, second-hand laptop that was slower than a freaking turtle!
Although her mind was reeling with thoughts and counter arguments, she knew it was unwise to voice them during a moment like this.
"I like sleeping when I'm bored," she finally said defensively. "You of all people know that."
"That's not the point. The point is—" Kim Junjin started to say. "I almost forgot: you never told me that Park Juno already dumped you!"
Hyeon Jin's jaw dropped and Kim Junjin shook his head; it was hard to tell whether he was shaking it in a disapproving or teasing manner.
"I wasn't— He didn't dump me, okay?" she stammered. "It was a mutual decision, you know, to cool things off for a while... so I could focus on other stuff like my studies."
"Hmm..." Kim Junjin said, nodding, but he was clearly unconvinced.
Hyeon Jin swore under her breath. "I'm so gonna kill that dork."
"He never told me about it, either," he informed her.
"Huh?"
"Shin Erin told me."
Another curse escaped her mouth and she pouted. Shin Erin was her best friend. Or at least she was supposed to be her best friend. Why would Shin Erin tell her father about this?
"We're getting off the subject here," Kim Junjin said. "The point is that Ji Sun was just as surprised as you and I regarding this matter. So the least we could do is to make her feel at ease."
"Which means...?" Hyeon Jin asked.
"Mun Oh will be staying here with us. At least, until he and Ji Sun have settled everything," he stated in a business-like tone. "I think they have some personal issues and I don't really wanna meddle," he added in reply to Jin's questioning look.
"So... how long will it take for them to 'settle' whatever it is they need to settle?"
He shrugged. "Dunno. Two weeks... a month or so..."
Her eyes widened. "What?! Couldn't you just step in and settle it for them? Or at least tell them to resolve it quickly?"
“Why are you in such a hurry? I think having him around here would be good for you. He's the same age as you, and I personally think he's a well-mannered young lad."
"What, is he your son? You never talk about me that way." Hyeon Jin muttered grudgingly. "Honestly, I don't like him."
"There you go again with your 'quick judging,'" he said. Hyeon Jin rolled her eyes. "I bet you two will get along just fine in a matter of days," he assured her.
"Impossible."
"You know, he's a smart and friendly guy—your exact opposite, and they say opposites attract, right?" he said. Hyeon Jin stared at him in disbelief. "Trust me; I'm an excellent judge of character."
Hyeon Jin didn't say a word, but kept rolling her eyes in vexation.
"Oh, and he could even tutor you in all your failing subjects—especially English! You know, he's been studying in different countries all around the world ever since he was a kid! And he told me that he can speak eight different languages!" Kim Junjin went on excitedly, like a proud parent talking about his own child's achievements. "Eight languages! You can't even speak our language well!"
"OKAY! ENOUGH!" Hyeon Jin snapped. "You can do whatever you want with him as long as he stays out of my way."
"Great!" he said. "Oh, and there's one more thing. He's gonna be using your room."
"Wait—what?"
"You know, same as always... You share your room with our visitors."
•••
Inside Hyeon Jin's room, Mun Oh yelled, "WHAT!" at his sister.
"See, we don't have a guest room, so... you're gonna have to share this room with her. It's always been like that when we have visitors," Ji Sun explained. "And Hyeon Jin's ok with it," she added upon seeing Mun Oh's confused expression.
"No... No, no, no..." Mun Oh repeated over and
over again, shaking his head. "There is no WAY that I'm gonna share a room with that— that lunatic!"
"You don't have a choice," Ji Sun declared firmly. "If you want to stay here, you're gonna have to play by the rules. Unless you want to stay outside—in the living room."
Irked, Mun Oh clicked his tongue. "Who says I want to stay here longer than I already have? I would’ve gone now if you had just—" he stopped and lowered his voice to a whisper. "If you had just done the ritual right there and then, I wouldn't even be caught up in the middle of all this."
Ji Sun appeared to be highly offended, and Mun Oh suddenly knew why.
He looked away. "Sorry. I just have to do this," he said. "I wasn't given a choice. If you think I'm doing this because I like it, then you're wrong."
There was a moment of awkward silence, during which Mun Oh stared at his feet intently, as though they were the most interesting things he'd ever seen, while Ji Sun stroked the teacup still in her hand.
"I know you weren't given a choice," Ji Sun mumbled. "But please don't put me in that same position.”
Just then, the door opened and the father and daughter came walking in; the former beaming from ear to ear while the latter looked as though she had swallowed a tube of toothpaste.
"So! Everything's all right now," Kim Junjin proclaimed in a booming voice. Ji Sun walked over to his side, forcing a smile. Mun Oh and Hyeon Jin were deliberately trying to avoid each other's eyes.
"Mun Oh will sleep on the mattress here. You can have the bed to yourself, Hyeon Jin," Ji Sun said.
Mun Oh glared at his sister while Hyeon Jin smirked. "Of course. It's my room so I should have the bed to myself," she said.
"I think we should eat. It's getting late," Kim Junjin said, and he led the way out of the room. Ji Sun followed him shortly afterward, and Mun Oh did, too, sneering at Hyeon Jin as he passed by her.
The first few minutes of dinner went smoothly. Everyone was preoccupied with the sumptuous meal that Ji Sun prepared, and it seemed like they had all momentarily forgot everything that transpired within the last hour. It would've gone on peacefully if Hyeon Jin hadn't opened her mouth to speak.
"So..." she began in a loud voice, causing the three other people at the table to look up from their plates.
“So... if you are Ji Sun’s brother... then that makes you—" she looked directly at Mun Oh, "my uncle?"
An awkward moment of silence ensued. Kim Junjin and Ji Sun exchanged questioning looks, Mun Oh's expression was unfathomable, while Hyeon Jin cheerfully went back to her food.
"How old are you again?" Hyeon Jin continued after swallowing a piece of egg roll.
"Fifteen... and a half," Mun Oh replied flatly.
Hyeon Jin chuckled. "You're younger than me and you're supposed to be my uncle."
Mun Oh raised an eyebrow.
"He's turning 16 this coming month," Ji Sun said.
Mun Oh threw her a look but she avoided it.
"Oh, really? When?" Hyeon Jin asked.
Ji Sun opened her mouth, glanced at Mun Oh, and then closed it again.
"Hmm..." Hyeon Jin said, nodding slowly, her expression victorious.
Kim Junjin finally realized that it was time for him to say something.
"We can celebrate his birthday—" he started to say in a jovial tone, but then he caught a glimpse of Ji Sun's reproving expression. "...Err... if you want," he ended in a small and somewhat embarrassed voice.
Hyeon Jin sipped from her glass of kiwi juice. "What country did you say you were from?" she asked, acting as though her father had never spoken.
Ji Sun was now as red as the slices of tomato on her plate.
Mun Oh finished chewing a small piece of steak before replying, in a highly amused manner, "Ouagadougou."
Hyeon Jin was about to nod but then, as the word sank in, she blinked.
The young bloodsucker grinned from ear to ear; his grin redolent with sweet retaliation. He silently counted to three, basking in his looming victory, before continuing.
"Oh... I forgot!" he exclaimed dramatically, carefully establishing eye contact with Hyeon Jin. "Your father told me that you're not that good in geography. You probably have no idea where Ouagadougou is..." he said, shaking his head ruefully.
“Tsk, tsk," he said. “What a shame. It's a wonderful place, you know," he said in a feigned sympathetic tone.
Being a gentleman, Mun Oh waited for her to recuperate, gather her thoughts and come up with a witty reply. He had anticipated the blank look on her face. What he hadn't expected, however, was the frog-like smile slowly spreading on her face right before she spoke.
“How would I know where that damned place is?” She smirked. “I bet you’re the only one at this table who knows about it. It’s not even worth knowing about.”
She looked at her father, hoping to get some hints of assent. But Kim Junjin bit his lip, signaling an “uh-oh” moment for her. Ji Sun quickly concentrated on her food, apparently not wanting to join in the disastrous conversation.
Kim Junjin scratched his head. “Actually, I… I kinda know about Ouagadougou.”
“What?” Hyeon Jin snapped.
“Errmm… it’s the capital of Burkina Faso, in the central part,” he explained nervously. He glanced at a grinning Mun Oh. “Right?”
Mun Oh slowly nodded. “Right you are… Ouagadougou is the capital of Burkina Faso.”
“And Burkina Faso was called the Republic of Upper Volta when it gained independence from France in 1960!” Kim Junjin added excitedly.
Mun Oh’s grin was like that of a Cheshire cat. “It is actually the country's largest city, with a population of 960,116, I think, as of 2000.”
Hyeon Jin was now positively livid, but it wasn’t enough for the relentless Mun Oh. He gazed at his sister, who was observing the exchange of ideas like a tennis game.
“Umm… I like it how they often shorten its name to Ouaga,” she commented shyly.
Mun Oh returned his gaze to Hyeon Jin, who swallowed a large chunk of pineapple, annoyed.
“Hmm… Seems like you’re the only one in this table who doesn’t know where Ouagadougou is, huh?”
Hyeon Jin dropped her fork with a loud clatter. “Did you know that your name means OCTOPUS in Korean?!” she blurted out, the vein in her forehead throbbing madly. “Ha! What kind of name is that? Maybe your parents think you look like one!” She laughed aloud maniacally.
An embarrassing silence ensued. Nobody joined in her laughter.
Ji Sun cleared her throat loudly, catching Kim Junjin’s attention. The latter blinked twice and then cleared his throat, too.
“You know what? I think you should tutor my daughter. I mean, you’re such a smart boy. I’m quite impressed! Maybe you could help her with a few of her subjects—” he said to Mun Oh, carefully glancing at Hyeon Jin before adding “especially English.”
“What?” Jin snapped at her father, who jumped in his seat, startled. “Why do I need a tutor all of a sudden?”
“Well… It’s not really ‘all of a sudden,’” Kim Junjin pointed out. “You already needed a tutor badly, even before Mun Oh came here.”
“I can accept anyone but him.”
“I can tutor her for free,” Mun Oh offered earnestly.
“Really?”
“What?” Hyeon Jin snapped again, this time at Mun Oh.
“That’s great!” Kim Junjin remarked cheerfully, ignoring Hyeon Jin’s piercing glare. “It’s all settled, then! You can tutor her in English, geography, history, math, science…” he paused to think. “Well, I think you need to cover almost everything… Is that okay with you?”
“What?!” Hyeon Jin exclaimed, her eyes widening in shock upon hearing her own father bash her in front of this total stranger.
Mun Oh shrugged and sipped some water. “It’s totally fine with me.”
“I’m not cool with it—”
“Okay, then! Let’s all take a rest for now and have a good start tomorrow!” Kim Junjin said,
drowning out Jin’s objections.
“Hey! I’m talking here! I said—” Hyeon Jin started to say, but everyone seemed to be in such a hurry to leave the table that no one paid her any heed.
Kim Junjin helped Ji Sun clean the table and wash the dishes while Mun Oh strode over to Hyeon Jin’s room, humming to himself.
“You little jerk!” Hyeon Jin hissed, getting up from the table and beating Mun Oh to her room.
“HEY! Where do you think you’re going?” she yelled at him.
Mun Oh yawned widely. “I’m going to take a rest now… I’m kinda tired from the trip. Ouagadougou’s a long way from here, you know.”
Jin gritted her teeth. “Ouadogaogou, my ass! Do you think I’m just gonna let you sleep in MY room after what you did you— you little SUCK UP!”
“It’s Oua-ga-dou-gou,” he corrected slowly. “And I can’t remember doing anything to piss you off.”
“Ha! You—”
“You guys, turn off the lights in the hallway before you go to sleep, okay?” Kim Junjin called out as he passed them, overlooking the fact that the two were clearly not yet finished getting on each other’s nerves. Ji Sun came after him without a single word.
Mun Oh stretched his arms upward. “Could you move out of the way? I’m kinda sleepy now.”
Hyeon Jin opened the door and quickly locked it behind her before Mun Oh could react. The latter started banging on the door.
“Open up, you twit! I don’t have time to play an immature game with you!”
“Sleep on the couch,” Hyeon Jin called out. “I bet there are no beds in Ouadoogadoug…”