Chapter 29
Ever since I could remember, my parents were hardly ever home.
They devoted almost all their lives to drug research and medical experimentation.
They would be gone for a year or more at a time.
Besides the maid who took care of me for money, the ones who raised me from a young age were my two brothers, who are eight years older than
- me.
When I was six and started elementary school, my teacher said there was going to be a parents‘ meeting for the new students.
My parents were far, far away, and I went home and cried, hiding under my blanket.
Ruben, who was fourteen then, came into my bedroom late at night to check if I had kicked off the blanket.
When he pulled back the covers, he saw my face all wet with tears.
He held me and wiped away my tears the way my mom used to.
Then he patted my back and comforted me. “It’s okay
“I will go to the meeting for you.
“Our parents are busy, but I will never be too busy.”
The next day, Ruben skipped school to go to the parents‘ meeting for me.
My teacher got mad and called him out for making a fuss.
He rushed back to his middle school, but his headteacher made him stand for the whole afternoon as punishment.
When I didn’t see him waiting for me after school, I went to his school nearby to look for him and found him still standing there.
The sun was shining brightly, and I was so worried he’d get sunburned that my eyes turned red.
Ruben ran over with a big smile.
“It’s nothing. The sun is warm. I like basking in it.”
We ate street food and walked home under the moonlight.
The maid had left for her day off, so Mason cooked.
As soon as we opened the door, the aroma wafted toward us.
While fetching the cutlery in the kitchen, he poked his head out and said. “Wash your hands. Dinner’s ready.”
He had been introverted and gentle since he was young.
Once, I accidentally scraped my arm while playing. I sneaked back home, too scared to tell anyone.
Mason quietly rolled up my sleeve, cleaned the wound with iodine, and then bandaged it up.
After he was done, he looked at me, like he wanted to say something.
Seeing me biting my lip nervously, he let out a soft sigh.
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Chaper 29
He reached out, patted my head, and said. “You need to be more careful
next time.”
When I was little, I was always running around and getting into trouble–I just couldn’t learn to be well–behaved.
So Mason kept bandaging me up, over and over again.
And each time, looking into my worried eyes, he would sigh and tell me. “You need to be more careful next time.”
For many years that our parents were often not around, it was Mason and Ruben who accompanied me in the roles of both brothers and fathers until I turned twelve.
That year, I saw the aurora on TV.
Ruben promised to take me to see it during Christmas, and Mason had booked tickets for the three of us.
But the next day, our parents suddenly passed away.
