Uhhh…Was she? Ruyul hadn’t thought of that at all, in all honesty, from the moment she made the decision to come back home right down to the flight, nothing had occupied her mind at all. It had to be a record. Someone coming home, and not planning where they were going to stay.
“ Am I?” She tilts her head slightly as she considers her older sibling’s words. “ Aren’t you like..staying with them or something?” She half snorts, not appreciating the thought of moving back into their childhood home. “Tell me, are they still the same old? You know–” Her eyes drift towards the windows ever so slightly. “Controlling, wanting a perfect family sort of thing?”
Ruyul finds her eyes sliding back towards the young boy seated right next to her.
“Hi. Benny.” Ruyul smiled what she hoped was a pleasantly amiable smile towards the young boy. Clearly–that wasn’t the case when the tot started to shy backwards into his car seat. “Okay. Great.” Ruyul felt her arms tense, and almost immediately, her eyes were back towards the side, glancing in the side mirrors, peering at the front row seat–as long as it was anywhere not near the boy named Benny.
“Also.” Her voice sharpened, clearly terse and more than just nervous. “Why is he here?” She waves her hands around a little haplessly. “I don’t know, aren’t like tots supposed to be in toddler preschool or something?” Ryu Hye never went to preschool. Living almost in a warzone meant homeschooling, something that Ruyul herself deeply encouraged, since it helped create a bond with her daughter. Suddenly moving to a place where everything was so peaceful…was not what she was deeply used to.
Half the time Ruyul expected her sister to turn into some sort of accident down the road, where she would have to run out of the car, and start emergency rescue. But unfortunately–the road as smooth as butter milk, and Ruyul’s stomach cramped even further.
She wasn’t looking forward to going back home. Not at all.
her lips press together as she tries to figure out the best way to explain the situation. “ i moved out a few months before benny was born. we don’t ... talk much, anymore. ” an understatement, to say the least. “ but no, they haven’t changed. not enough to want to spend time with their grandson, anyway. ”
she can tell ruyul isn’t exactly thrilled at the idea of staying with their parents, but she hesitates a moment longer, unsure if she should make the offer she’d been thinking about. things are different now, after all, for both of them, and she isn’t quite sure how ruyul fits into the equation just yet. still, they are sisters, and that should be enough — shouldn’t it? — so she makes up her mind and returns to the conversation. “ if you’d rather, you can crash at my place until you find somewhere else. my couch is pretty comfy, so that’s one idea, and i’m still in the process of converting the second room from an office into a room for benny, but he hasn’t stopped sleeping with me yet so it’ll be open for a bit longer. though if you just want to stay in your old room for a while, i understand that too.”
katherine chuckles lightly at ruyul’s attempted greeting, amused at how awkward her sister seemed to be. “ i remember kids loving you, but i guess you’re out of practice. don’t worry ; he’ll warm up to you soon enough. somehow he got my ‘i don’t like talking to people i don’t know’ gene, but he’s a sweetheart — aren’t you? ” she scrunches her nose up while looking at her son in the rearview mirror, and smiles at his giggle a moment later. “ he’s here because his preschool let out early today, and his normal babysitter is busy. ”