[ 𝑺𝑬𝑶𝑳𝑳𝑨𝑳 ]
𝐀𝐔𝐍𝐓'𝐒 𝐀𝐏𝐀𝐑𝐓𝐌𝐄𝐍𝐓, Seoul, SK Feb 10th (Seollal), 2024 w. 𝐓𝐘𝐒𝐎𝐍 𝐁𝐀𝐈𝐋𝐄𝐘
When Barbie was a child, they hadn't celebrated Seollal. Despite her mother being very proudly Korean, somehow she'd let go of a lot of Korean traditions upon moving to America. It wasn't until Barbie moved to Seoul that she'd experienced a proper Chuseok and Seollal, and she'd found little to complain about at first. She'd never been one to enjoy holidays, since it meant an awkward sit-down dinner with the family, wherein she had to answer questions about her life in Paris, and figure out how to answer the question 'But don't you miss your family?' with something other than 'Not really'. She hated the Christmas music they played in stores, and the only good part was the fairy lights strung up in the trees, and the seasonal snacks and coffees. Even now, thousands of miles away from the orignal source of her holiday-anguish, she finds herself invited to yet another awkward sit-down family dinner. This time, it's with her aunt and brother. She almost declines, prepared to mak up some excuse about being busy at work, but she can't help but feel guilty. She isn't entirely heartless, after all.
It's a Saturday night, and she'd spent a good few hours getting ready. She didn't need to, it wasn't like she couldn't put together a stunning outfit and makeup look in less than half an hour these days, but she'd decided to treat herself to a laidback pampering session. She was going to need it to get through the night. There wasn't anything particularly wrong with her aunt. In fact, she'd taken Barbie in when her ballet career had ended and she'd been directionless for a while. She hadn't coddled her, or smothered her, or pitied her, and Barbie was forever grateful for that. She hated feeling pitied. But Tyson... Well, he and Barbie were nothing alike, and while she didn't dislike him, she had to silently admit to herself that she was terrified of people finding out what her brother was like. It would ruin her image entirely.
But, she hadn't seen him in many months, and the last time they'd talked what when he'd sent her a birthday text message, and she'd sent back a rather brief message thanking him. In all honesty, she didn't like to think about her broken relatinship with him. It made something uncomfortable squirm in her belly. A feeling she most certainly didn't want to spend a prolonged amount of time studying. He looks older than when she last saw him, or perhaps she'd simply forgotten how much he'd grown, and changed in the past few years. It was hard to keep up when she saw him so little. "So... How's life?" She asks, cringing inwardly. While their aunt finishes up cooking and bringing dishes to the table, Barbie and Tyson set out plates and chopsticks, glasses and a jug of water, along with the bottle of wine Barbie had brought as a present for her aunt, though she'd insisted they all enjoy it together. Barbie didn't have to know Tyson well to guess that wine probably wasn't his drink of choice.