Korean hanboks are beautiful. Seriously, google one right now! Anyway. A jeogori is the top piece of the hanbok, like a jacket. The chima is a long wrap around skirt that the women wear. Men wear baggy pants called baji. AND THEY'RE ALL SO PRETTY-
By the way, the guy who murdered Emil's parents isn't Izaya Orihara. XD Speaking of him, WATCH DURARARA! WATCH IT NOW!
Chapter 9-
"Welcome to our Halloween Special. However, since Heta High is unawesome, today has been renamed 'Culture Day' for educational purposes. This is your awesome lederhosen-clad host, Brandon, speaking!"
When Brandon removed his hand from the screen, Gilbert popped up in a navy, ragged military uniform that looked three sizes bigger than it should have been. An iron cross hung on his tie and various other medals hung on his jacket. "Dude," he began, seemingly in shock, "I think 'Tonio actually looks hotter than Francis today." Gilbert slapped his hand over his mouth as soon as the words had snuck out. "Darn it," he muttered, quickly moving out of the camcorder's range. Brandon's laugh sounded from behind the camcorder.
It instantly cut off however. "By the way, anyone who calls mein bruder a Nazi is getting their face violently ripped off. Thought I'd mention that."
"It's our grandpa's old World War I uniform. It was before Nazis, thank you very much," Gilbert sourly put in, momentarily leaning into view once more.
The camcorder next swung to face Aria, openly gaping. Upon noticing she was being taped, she quickly shut her mouth. She huffily gathered up her flowery skirts and readjusted the cloth over her head. "Say a word," she threatened, "and I'll throw that thing out a window."
"But you look pretty, too!" Antonio burst, gaining the screen's attention at last. From head to toe, he was dressed in a golden and deep red matador's costume. To complete the amazing look, he also had a crimson sheet and a bull toy tucked under his arm. He beamed at Aria. "I didn't know that was how Italian girls used to dress! Really, it looks muy hermosa."
Surprisingly enough, Aria's cheeks were suddenly the color of Antonio's jacket. Brandon snickered, and she reached out to smack him. Antonio acquired control of the camcorder, turning it to him. He winced at the angry Italian spewing from Aria's mouth. "I do not think this is a nice thing to tape," he observed, twisting the thing around so it viewed the other students, each dressed in the clothing of a different nationality. "Ooh!" Antonio suddenly burst, taking off towards a young woman in a dark green qipao. "Tohko! You look very pretty! You too, Yao!"
Yao's demeanor instantly soured. Tohko, beside him, gave the camcorder a friendly wave. Antonio was met with a bland glare as he gushed over how fancy their clothes were. Despite Yao's best efforts to hide himself behind Tohko, Antonio refused to let him leave the spotlight.
"A-Antonio-san? Perhaps you should go a little easy on him?"
A Japanese girl came into view next, hands neatly folded in front of her pastel colored kimono. A yellow obi was wrapped around her waist, striped with blue. Cherry blossoms rained down on the soft silk of her robes.
"Umeko," Antonio, Yao, and nearly every other young man in hallway awed.
She gave a short wave. "Hello, infamous camcorder. I have heard many stories about you."
"We're taping the best parts of our lives to show future… people," Antonio awkwardly ended, unable to remember the correct word. He reverted back to his happy self almost immediately. "Anyway, do you have any words for them?"
"Watch out for Arthur-san and Francis-san," she said seriously, worriedly looking over her shoulder. "You too, Antonio-san. Apparently they are celebrating Culture Day by reenacting every single war fought between Great Britain and France. I believe they are on the Hundred Years' War right now. Arthur-san brought foam swords. He is also dressed as a pirate, for whatever reason. Francis-san has been asking every pretty girl he sees to be his Joan of Arc. I think he's been slapped at least fifty times by now."
"Only fifty? Must be an off day for him."
As he gave his goodbyes, declaring to find Arthur and Francis in the middle of a duel, he caught a fleeting kiss between Yao and Umeko. "They're so cute," Antonio gushed. "Alright, future people! I think the bell is about to ring, and Mr. McAvoy will be angry if I am late again. Always remember your culture, sí? When you get to dress up, it's a lot of fun! Adios!"
((((()))))
Emil had been stumbling along until night fell, with each step growing more and more convinced he was going to get kidnapped or murdered. He wanted to punch himself for listening to his flawed rationality and leaving. Who cares if Ivan was crazy? At least Katyusha was normal, and so was Natalya, as long as he kept his distance and didn't make eye-contact. Emil was only grateful his headache had finally subsided.
He stuck close to the street lamps as he walked along, trying his best to not look like he had earlier been in a motorcycle accident. Since no one bothered to stop and offer help, Emil supposed he was doing a good job of it.
Hands up!
The man once again forced his way into his mind. For what felt like an hour now, Emil had been fighting with himself to forget about him. Remembering that jerk was the last thing he needed right now. But still, almost insistently, he kept coming back. Emil could almost completely remember him now. The man was definitely Asian, and definitely hadn't bathed in a while. He wore a thick fur coat and spoke in the strangest accent. Whatever it was, it immediately pointed him out as a foreigner. Even now Emil remembered all the normal accents of New York.
For a moment, Emil stopped. He looked away from the pavement to meet the ostentatious lights of the mall.
He narrowed his eyes. Thinking about that man had curiously led him straight to the hangout of the Asians he knew. Emil let out a sigh and pushed his creaky arm to comb his hair a little. His clothes were grass stained, but his face seemed clean. Probably thanks to Katyusha. Swallowing the guilt of running off like that, he made his legs carry him across the road and into the parking lot. Kiku wouldn't ask questions and would let him use his phone. Emil had stupidly left his at home.
"I really hope Ivan didn't decide to come in for work," he muttered to himself as he walked inside.
((((()))))
"No, you're tying your jeogori wrong. Here, turn around for me."
Yong Soo complied, handing the jacket's ribbons behind him to Bong Chung. She hastily tied the Hanbok correctly, softly smiling the entire way. Yong Soo himself was fighting to keep from bouncing in excitement. This was the happiest day of his life, he was sure. Everything was perfect for once. New spring leaves met the perfectly blue sky, shining brightly with the sun. Everyone he knew milled about, marveling at the temples surrounding them. Songkwang was as beautiful as Bong Chung had told him- a jewel temple indeed.
He was most amazed they had gotten to come to Korea for the Sol Nal festival. His very first Korean New Year, celebrated the way it should be! No more stupid Chinese lanterns or random dragon toys sailing through the air! Kids were flying kites and playing games, music was playing in the distance, and Kiku wasn't wasting rice by throwing it out the door at bad spirits!
When he turned back to her, he felt like he was looking at a manifested dream. The jeogori of her hanbok was a nearly blinding white and a softer, more elegant pink colored the chima. Her dark hair was braided and twisted into a bun kept together with a golden flower comb. Actually, it was almost like the white lotus comb his mother wore on occasion. Yao had gotten in for her a few years ago from some Chinese eBay-like thing. Since his mother had loved it, Yong Soo resolved to buy Bong Chung one some day.
"This is wonderful," Bong Chung told him, taking his hand. Yong Soo completely blocked out the rest of the marvelous scene to look at her face, surely the most wonderful thing there. She sighed and started leading him off. "I've really missed home, Yong Soo. I hated that we had to move to America. My mother just couldn't keep a job. We had to do something. She's always been sickly, you know. We were poor, because we had to give all we had to pay her hospital bills. But it's okay now. We're here in Heta, and I don't have to worry anymore."
"Why is that?" Yong Soo asked.
She came to a stop. With a grateful smile, Bong Chung said, "I have you now, Yong Soo. I'm not alone anymore, my mother is getting better, and you're all I need. Don't worry about what your brother says. We're perfect for each other, and that is all."
The scene was just right, so he leaned forward to kiss her-
-and took a slap to the face.
Yong Soo's eyes snapped wide open as a cry escaped his mouth. His chin fell off his hand and he faceplanted into the counter beside the cash register. The noise from the dining area and usual racket from the kitchen bombarded his ears, pulling away any remnant of his dream. He was back in a boring t-shirt and blue jeans instead of the elegant navy and white hanbok Bong Chung had personally fixed.
Reality was stupid.
"Kieu! Why'd you hit him?" Lam burst, anxiously wringing his hands. "I didn't mean for you to wake him up that way!"
Yong Soo peeked a look at the two siblings, a massive pout on his face from having to miss not only the most romantic kiss ever, but also the coolest festival ever. Kieu hopelessly shrugged, embarrassment causing her to bite at her lip. "He was making kissy-faces at me! What was I supposed to do?"
"Not smack him?"
With another mighty groan, Yong Soo covered his reddening face. Making kissy-faces? Ugh, someone needed to come right away and drop him in a hole. The shame would never end now!
Not one to be very patient, Kieu shook his shoulder. "You fell asleep up here, so I took the liberty of waking you up before Yao realized you were asleep."
Yong Soo's eyes went wide. That was right- he was supposed to be on guard duty! "Jegil! Appa is going to kill me!" In a flurry, Yong Soo worriedly examined the cash register for any tampering. He then checked their stocked fortune cookies (and absolutely did not snitch one for himself). Upon finding all seemingly normal, he let out a sigh of relief.
Apparently, almost all of Yong Soo's paranoia had somehow transferred over to Yao, who was now afraid someone was walking up to their check-out counter and taking money for the heck of it. Thus, he had someone posted near the money at all times to ensure all was well. Yong Soo thought he was just being crazy, but after Yao swore to ban the internet from him for a month if he didn't go along with it….
He grabbed Kieu's shoulders, making the girl flinch. "I owe you my life," he awed, shaking her to express his point. "However, since you both have blackmail on me, I cannot be held responsible for any attempted assassinations. By the way, the only reason I have doubt of these assassinations is because ninjas are Japanese, not Korean. If ninjas were Korean, you'd already be dead."
Kieu calmly pulled his fingers away from her, taking a step back out of his reach. Yong Soo suddenly blinked, taking in her appearance. Rosy blush graced her cheeks, and her lips shined with a cherry blossom color. "Whoa," he intelligently started, "you're pretty and stuff."
Face blazing, Kieu next covered her face, hiding the makeup. "Your sister tied me to a chair," she miserably ground out. Lam comfortingly patted her back. "It was torture! And… and Tao just stood there, handing her stuff to her! I swear, Yong Soo, they're out to kill me!"
Yong Soo rolled his eyes. She was such a drama queen. But, with a smirk, Yong Soo wondered how she would react to Feliks and one of his infamous makeovers! Mentally planning to turn her over to him sometime soon, Yong Soo feigned innocence and shrugged. "Tao is in on it to be evil. Xiao Mei's just trying to be helpful."
"By holding me hostage?"
Okay, so maybe Xiao Mei was in it to be evil too. Yong Soo wasn't even going to pretend his sister was as nice as she seemed. She was constantly picking at him, too, trying to fix his hair all the time! He liked it this way, annoying hair that stuck up and all!
Kieu miserably sighed, spinning away to mope in the dining room. Lam skipped after her, repeatedly assuring her it wasn't even that noticeable, and that it would wash right off!
Yong Soo felt a hand land on his shoulder. "'You're pretty and stuff'?" his mother intoned behind him.
He nervously laughed, whipping around to face her. His eyes landed on the lotus comb in her hair, the very same he had been thinking of in his dream. A girl in a hanbok popped into his mind, almost bringing a frown to his face. Bong Chung had been smiling all throughout his dream, and everything had just been… perfect. No stupid restaurants, no dumb, irrational fears that Yong Soo now found silly. Leave it to Kiku to completely throw him off balance like that.
Umeko theatrically sighed, placing her hands on her hips, ripping him away from his thoughts. "Whatever am I going to do with you? Falling asleep on the job, getting your cousin flustered…."
"I was only telling her the truth. She was pretty," Yong Soo said defensively. "I was doing a good deed, complimenting her."
"And falling asleep?"
"Psh. I have no idea what you're talking about, Eomeoni. I would never do something like that!"
Umeko chuckled, and slipped an apron he hadn't seen before over his head. "Go make some kimchi, chiisana senshi. I'll take over."
Despite being slightly insulted upon having a new Japanese nickname, Yong Soo gave her a crushing hug. Perhaps his mother wasn't completely evil, even if she was Japanese. Kiku needed to learn to be like her.
Yao grabbed his sleeve before he could even hope to step foot towards the fridge. Yong Soo let out a groan. He waited as patiently as he could for Yao to hang up the phone. Umeko frowned at the two.
"That was Ivan," Yao sighed at long last. "I need you to cover for me, Umeko. I'm sorry, Soo, but you'll have to wait on the kimchi."
Ivan. Of course. Off to ruin his hopes and dreams again. He was always hogging his appa! Yong Soo let out his best teenager sigh and propped his chin back on his palm. "What is it this time, Appa?"
"He lost track of that Vainamoinen boy," Yao explained, handing his apron over to Umeko. "Apparently he wrecked in front of their house. Katyusha was sobbing in the background, so I'd better hurry."
"What? Which one? There's, like, nine of them!" And none of them, Yong Soo knew for sure, would dare wreck in front of Ivan's house. Emil was scared stiff of him, and Tino avoided him like the plague. Yong Soo didn't know about the other three, but he assumed they too were wary of him. Everyone with a brain tried to keep their distance, except poor, delusional Matthew and Feliks, who spent most of his time prank calling him. Toris didn't count, because Ivan kept trying to hang out with him. Poor guy.
Kiku next popped up, surprising them all. Lately he had been completely unresponsive, face glued to a book or his laptop. Yong Soo watched his brother nervously clasp his hands. "Um, you mentioned one of the Vainamoinen's running off? Well, Emil came here. He sought me out and asked to call his brothers."
Yong Soo peeked over his shoulder to see the aforementioned boy slumped over a table, head on his arms. He looked to be in terrible shape, shirt ripped and pants muddy. People were already staring. Before Yong Soo could even process the action, he found himself marching over to him. "Hey," he said softly. Emil groggily lifted his head. "Want to hang out in the back? I've got a Chinese Dragon Beard candy stash."
"Uh…-"
"Come on!" Yong Soo resisted the urge to pull him out of the chair and drag him away. He at least had the decency to help him up, however. "So, anyway, what were you doing at Ivan's house? I'd have crawled away to the next house."
A faint grin popped up on his face. "I was more concerned about Nikolaus's bike. You don't want to see him angry."
"No, you don't want to see my dad get angry. He throws a major tantrum and usually ends up hurting his back. He's really old, you know." Yong Soo practically skipped over to the back room door, bursting in on Tao and Xiao Mei's cleaning. Powder coated Xiao Mei's dress, and a lovely pink shade of lipstick was smeared on Tao's face. Yong Soo didn't even ask. He led Emil over to a chair, and spun back to his siblings, still frozen.
"Kieu," they explained at once.
Yong Soo snickered. Without either sibling noticing, he quickly took out his phone and snapped a nice picture of them. Oh, the delicious blackmail…. He then cleared his throat and got down to business, explaining the situation. Xiao Mei was all over Emil, shoving candy and ice packs at him. Tao eventually had to drag her away before Emil passed out from the shock of her hysteria. Not long after Xiao Mei had been sentenced to dish duty, the back room was silent. Yong Soo and Tao kept guard by the door, munching on the pocky Kiku had unfortunately left behind. Emil had went right back to sleep as soon as he could, yawning out to wake him only when Nikolaus came by.
"I have a feeling Dad will give us a lecture later," Tao said, breaking through the quiet.
Yong Soo stuffed an entire stick into his mouth. Even though they were Japanese and thus inherently evil, he had a weakness for strawberry pocky. Not that he would ever admit that. He shrugged. "'Family is important!'" he burst in his best Yao voice. "'Even if you don't like them and want to run away from them, Family is the most important thing to you! Now, who wants a fortune cookie?'"
"You're a brat," Tao deadpanned. However, the betraying smirk was on his face. "You forgot the part where he goes, 'You must honor your brothers and sister! You must honor me and your mother! After all, when the time comes when I can finally shove this business onto one of you so I can retire to a nice tea shop in Beijing, you will need them to bring you nice things so you don't shrivel up and turn into a bitter old man like me! Aiyaa!'"
"Stupid Kiku already got out of getting this place. I want to have a heart-to-heart, so I won't have to get the restaurant!"
"You had that the other day," Tao reminded him, tossing the empty pocky box into the trash. He reached over to the pillow Kiku claimed for himself to sit on and dragged out another box. "Huh. That must have been the last strawberry."
Tao knew as well as Yong Soo that Kiku had more hidden somewhere. He even had cappuccino-flavored pocky! That particular stash was kept under his futon at home. Crazy Kiku had to sleep on the floor because he wanted to prepare himself for life in Japan. He was sure he was going to move to Tokyo and attend school in some place called Ikebukuro, all because of an anime. Honestly, who actually bases their future on the events of a fictional anime? Sometimes Yong Soo wanted to smack some sense into him. After all, his obsession with Korea was completely normal as opposed to his obsession with Japan.
Silly Kiku.
"But I kinda wonder," Tao began again, ripping open the pocky box with no qualms whatsoever. Kiku wouldn't miss it anyway. "Dad hates it here, right? So why did he take it? You know Tohko would have if she had no other choice."
"Maybe Mom talked him into it. She can make him do anything."
Yong Soo frowned a bit at his pause. He wouldn't admit this either, but Tao was actually pretty smart. Tao had his own kind of ancient Chinese wisdom, and Yong Soo knew he would do well to listen to him. Tao jadedly munched on a pocky stick. "Okay, let me ask you this, Soo. If Bong Chung, like, asked you to go to Japan and stay there until the day you die, would you do it?"
"No way!" he yelled. Yong Soo winced, whipping his head around to Emil. Thankfully, he was still asleep. "Okay, so maybe Mom didn't do it. Do you think Grandpa bullied him into it?"
"That's more likely to happen, but no. Dad hates Grandpa almost as much as he hates Red Flower. I just don't get it."
"You could always ask him."
Tao sighed, staring intently at the now empty pocky box. "I don't think he'll tell me. I know Kiku knows. He's known for three years now. If he won't tell us, I doubt Dad will. Family is important, Soo. But I don't think that means you can use them as a crutch. Some things we have to deal with on our own. Dad doesn't want us to know because he thinks we'll think bad of him for it. That's a stupid thing to think, but you know how he is."
Yong Soo did know. Yao was more childish than any of his children- even Yong Soo himself!- but he knew when to grow up and take responsibility. He thought it was his duty to keep them safe from anything and everything.
"…Maybe he did it because he wanted to let Tohko act," Yong Soo said after a long while. "He's serious about all that family stuff. Maybe he really did give it all to let his sis be happy."
Tao shrugged. "Who knows. Maybe he did. When you love someone a lot, you do crazy things."
An evil giggle flew from Yong Soo's mouth. "Like when you let Michelle give you a makeover when she was sick last year?"
"Shut up," Tao muttered, jumping out of his seat. He shoved Yong Soo halfway out of his seat and slipped out the door. Before slamming it after him, he glared, "I'm telling Kiku you went through his stuff and trashed it all in the name of Korea."
"You're a jerk!" he replied.
Ugh. Twins were the worst.
((((()))))
"Don't give me that crap!" Abel yelled, voice echoing through their flat. Emil's head jerked up at the sound. His eyes met the living room ceiling, and everything came flying back at him. Last night, his parents were murdered. Abel didn't run away with them. Berwald left him, Nikolaus, and Tino alone at home to go find him. For hours, their was nothing but silence offered from his brothers. Not that Emil had much to say either- he found it funny how his throat was so tight, and how everything he tried to say came out strangled.
Emil sat up on the couch, where he must have fallen asleep sometime in the early hours of morning. Nikolaus and Tino were gone, but he now heard Berwald's low voice attempting to calm Abel down. Quietly, the boy slipped over to the kitchen door. Inside sat his brothers and several policemen. Everyone looked miserable in their own right. The police looked as though they were having second thoughts about coming to talk, and his brothers either looked ready to kill or ready to go back to sleep and hope everything would be normal when they woke up.
"Berwald and I are legal adults!" Abel continued despite Berwald's best attempts to quiet him. "I don't care what protocol calls for. You are not taking my brothers away from me!"
To say the least, Emil was stunned. Of course he knew Abel loved him and everyone else. Emil loved them all too. But Abel also called Berwald a grouch and talked about how he couldn't wait to move away and get some breathing room. He had already planned to have parties every night, and to come and visit only for Christmas and maybe their birthdays.
"You two can't support your brothers," one of the officers argued. Emil narrowed his eyes at the fat man. He seemed sincere, but Emil hated the blandness of his voice. Anyone who really cared wouldn't be arguing with Abel. "Nicky here might be able to get a job already, but nothing that would put food on the table. You'd at least have to give one of them up. I'd suggest the youngest one. He needs a stable home and-"
"Shut up! He has a freaking stable home! And, mark my words, that little kid would run away from any stupid house you put him into. We're the only ones who know him well enough to really take care of him, you hear? And my brother's name is Nikolaus. No one calls him 'Nicky' unless they want their head ripped off."
That was true. Abel, being obnoxious, had called him "Nicky" for an entire week. Over the course of that week, all of his underwear shockingly turned pink and every ounce of hair gel in the bathroom was found scattered all over the subway stations. With all the elbowing he'd received, Abel found he had a cracked rib.
Emil lightly smiled as the officer floundered for a moment, trying to find the right words to say that would cool Abel's anger. Unfortunately, nothing he said could do the trick. Abel didn't get angry easily, but once he did, it was like trying to fend off a mother bear. And, right now, he sort of was a mother bear.
This whole spectacle was just a waste of time. Abel would yell at them until his face turned blue. Berwald would take over in time, and Emil knew Tino would side with him. Nikolaus wouldn't dare let these losers take him away. Not even New York policemen could survive a fight with five Nordics.
He sat down at the door and rested his head against the wall. They guys had no idea what they were getting themselves into. Abel would likely chase them out of their flat with one of the axes from his collection.
They would be okay. Even if they didn't have a lot of money and they all had to get jobs, somehow, they would be fine without Mom and Dad.
Without….
((((()))))
"When you love someone a lot, you do crazy things."
Emil squeezed his eyes shut. Crazy things. Oh, they had all been crazy back then. Nikolaus literally locked himself in his room, looking day and night for a new house they could move into. Tino and Berwald personally carried out all the furniture they could stuff into Abel's pickup truck, since paying actual movers was out of the question. Abel worked three jobs. On a good day, he got four hours of sleep. Emil helped out as best as could, keeping them distracted with silly stories about his imaginary pet puffin. No one would get sad on his watch.
It made him think. What if that man had loved someone so much that he'd murder two people and take their money, just to take care of them? Not that that was the case, most likely. People like him usually didn't have families. And even if he did, was the person he loved more important than letting five kids keep their parents?
Nikolaus and Abel would probably ground him for the rest of his life. But he had some money saved up. It wasn't much, but it would be enough to get him back to New York.
He didn't know why, but he knew he had to find that man. To take revenge? To see if the man would recognize him and feel remorse?
Emil let out in audible sigh. This was crazy. He was crazy.
…But they still hadn't decided where they were going on that roadtrip.
Translations-
Spanish
Muy hermosa- very beautiful
Korean
Jegil- Darn it
Eomeoni- mother
Japanese
Chiisana senshi- little warrior
