Geunyeoreul Gochida!

For every girl with shameful American-looking eyebrows.

• Short story

								
“But we never see them.”

“I know,” Mom replies. She doesn’t even look at me as she opens my dresser drawers and pulls out my nicest shirts. “But it’s your eighteenth birthday. Family comes first.” 

I stay quiet for a moment longer, hoping my silence will send over my thoughts, but she pretends not to notice. She just continues to rummage through my clothes without my consent, and I notice she’s moved on from my shirts to sweaters. I sigh.

“Who’s going to be there?” 

I see her sly smile, as she knows I’ve forfeited my argument. 

“All of your aunts,” she answers, putting down my favorite blue sweater and walking over to my bed. I move over a little to give her some room. “And Min-Kyung.” 

I sit up after hearing my cousin’s name. Mom knows how close I am to Min-Kyung since she’s the only relative close to my age, and therefore, the only one who talks to me. 

“Wait, really?” I ask, excitedly. “She’s going to be there?” 

“Yes, she is,” Mom says, putting her arm around my shoulder and giving it a little squeeze. “Aunt Jae says Min is very excited to see you. They’ve been awaiting our visit for quite some time.” The mention of Aunt Jae pulls a sudden groan out of my mouth. I’ve hated Aunt Jae ever since she forced me to pluck my “shameful American-looking” eyebrows. It wasn’t until that day I ever considered something could be wrong with my face. Mom continues, “Oh, and I forgot that Min also just turned eighteen. Remind me to buy her a present to bring with us tomorrow.” 

I nod. “Got it.” 

“You’ll have a great time with your Aunts tomorrow, Min-a.”

“Doubtful.”

Mom rolls her eyes. “Try and have a good time, okay? It’s your eighteenth birthday, after all.” 

I sigh. “I’ll try.”

“That’s my girl.”

“But no promises.”

Mom laughs as if I’m making a joke. “Oh, Min-a…” She drops her head onto my shoulder, but it’s back up before I can even put mine against hers. “You’re growing up.”

“I guess,” I reply with a shrug. “Eighteen isn’t that different from seventeen.”

“No, it is,” Mom answers. I almost trick myself into hearing a hint of sadness in her voice. “You’ll look older too.”

“I sure hope so.”

Mom laughs again, but it’s a strained, painful laugh that seems to get caught in her throat. I don’t ask her what it means because I know she won’t answer anyway, but she keeps her arm around me a second longer and continues to squeeze my shoulder. She breathes out loud, and for a moment I think she’s about to get up, but her bony hand lingers on my shoulder as she turns her head over to face me.

“Min-a…” 

“Yeah?” 

She squeezes my shoulder again. “You have too much fat.” 

I just stare at her, my face expressionless. She gets up from my bed and heads to the door while motioning to the pile of clothes on my dresser. 

“When you’re done packing, come down for some ginseng.” 

The door shuts before I even have time to respond. 

My mouth still has the aftertaste of our last ginseng. 

-

“Min-a! You’ve gotten so big!”

“Oh, thank—“ I start to respond to Aunt Jin, but her arms are already engulfing me in a suffocating hug. It’s never until I feel her ribs against my body that I remember Aunt Jin is a hugger. “Um…” 

“Jin, please!” Mom says, walking over to pry her sister’s hands off me. “At least let her make it to nineteen!” 

I can feel Mom’s fingers slowly releasing Aunt Jin’s grip on me, but I don’t even have time to breathe once she lets go. Aunt Ji-Hye has already come over to hug me too.
 
“Oh, Jang-Mi…” Aunt Ji-Hye starts, giving me a much softer hug compared to Aunt Jin. “Min-a looks so much older now.”

Mom nods her head. “She does…”

“Jang-Mi!” Aunt Jin exclaims. She walks back over to me as Aunt Ji-Hye steps away, and she puts her hands on my cheeks, inspecting my features. She clicks her tongue as her fingers brush over the lines and blemishes on my face. Aunt Jin smiles. “She looks so much like you!”
 
“I do?” I ask, raising a confused eyebrow. I glance over at Mom, who’s staring at Aunt Jin with an expression I can’t decode. My eyes glance up and down Mom’s slender figure and narrow jawline. “No one’s ever told me that before.”

“You don’t,” Mom interjects. “Jin is just saying that since you look older now.” 

“Oh…”

“Come! Come inside!” Aunt Jin says, picking up our suitcases and hauling them up the porch stairs. “Jae and Min-Kyung are waiting inside.” 

I follow Aunt Jin up the steps and walk into her narrow foyer, which almost touches the sides of my hips. I look ahead of me, where Aunt Jin is carrying my bags by her hips with ease. 

We arrive in the living room, and I notice Aunt Jae is sitting on the couch. She looks over at the noise and immediately comes over to me, squeezing in between the small space between the couch and the coffee table. I suck in my stomach as she walks over. 

“Min-a.”

“It’s good to see you again.”

She nods. “It’s very good to see you again.” She puts her slender fingers onto my chin and looks down at my nose. Her stare is almost as chilling as her hand. 

“Yes?” I ask, not daring to move. 

“Your nose…” she says, her voice is soft and tense at the same time, and her eyes are still fixated on my nose. I don’t know where to look, so my eyes settle on the glassiness of her skin. It’s like staring into a pool of porcelain.

“Um…”

Suddenly, her eyes meet mine. “You’ve grown into it.”

“Uh, thanks,” I answer, still confused. “I guess.” 

She smiles again and walks over to her sisters, who are all conversing in the kitchen. I watch her leave until my eyes float over to the pictures lining the living room walls.

I’ve stared at these pictures my whole life, all of my aunts and cousins smiling at high school graduations and eighteenth birthday parties. There are some weddings and parties, but only ones where champagne glasses can be seen in their hands. I smile when I spot my mother at her eighteenth birthday party, as I can see my reflection in the frame. My face aligns perfectly with hers, but it’s shaped and formed embarrassingly different. She looks as beautiful as always.

I lean a little closer to get a better look, but I notice something interesting. I raise my eyebrow. Huh. We actually have the same nose. 

“Min-a?”

Hearing my name pulls me out of my thoughts. I turn around to see a teenage girl standing in front of me, who has a small, almost forced, smile painted on her face. I stare at her for a second, observing her long black hair and loosely fitted jeans. Her sweater seems to be falling off her shoulders too. 

“Oh, hi?” It’s more of a question than a reply. She must be a friend of Aunt Jin—she always used to invite random people to her house. 

She smiles at me and laughs, but her mouth doesn’t open all the way. 

“Min-a.” She walks a little closer to me and points at herself. Now that she’s occupied the space between us, I notice she has stitches lining her jawline. It’s clearly affecting her speech, as her words come out stiff. I guess her smile wasn’t forced. She just can’t open her mouth. “It’s me.”

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