Shin Yi walked into the living room to see his host family sitting on the ground around a small table filled with lots of bowls of food waiting for him.
His eyes got stuck on the plenty of food displayed on the table. A huge bowl of rice, bowl of vegetables, soups, fishes. It felt as if they were celebrating a feast.
Growing up without a mother meant that he had never had a meal prepared by his mother, he doesn't know how that feels, but it seems that he is about to experience it now.
He felt moved inside that his eyes clouded but he blinked back his tears and went to join his host family.
He settled down across from the two women, and his host mother hastily served his food putting a lot of meat on it.
"You need to eat to regain your health," the older woman fussed without looking at him in the eyes. She feels very guilty at what happened to her son, and blames herself for not taking care of her children properly.
Shin Yi blushed at his host mother's attentiveness. No woman has ever cared for his needs like this and it makes him a little self conscious. "Thank you," he said politely, a little shy.
"No need to thank me, I am your mother, it is my duty to take care of you," the older woman answered with no emotions in her voice. She went ahead to take her own food, but took very little so her kids could have enough for themselves.
Shin Yi noticed that and took some of the rice in his bowl and put it in his host mother's bowl. The woman was so skinny that he could see the outline of her bones. She probably starved herself so her kids could could eat. He took meat from the bowl and placed on top of her rice.
"You need to eat too, Umma," he said with a soft smile on his face. His action touched the older woman's heart that her eyes immediately filled with tears. She looked away to avoid her children seeing her weakness. When she looked back at her son there was a bright expression on her face.
"Thank you," she said softly, noting that there was something different about her son. Maybe it is the accident. Her son before never cared if she ate or not. He only eats and then disappears into his room not saying a word to anyone. His isolation got worse when his father died, but today for the first time in a long while she saw light in her son's eyes she hasn't seen since he was a child.
The family of three continued their meal in silence until Sa-rang noticed something strange with her brother. They have eating together all her life and she has never seen him do that.
"Oppa! What are you doing?!" She screeched looking at her brother's bowl.
Shin Yi had no clue as to what the little girl was talking about, so he looked up at her confused.
"What?" He asked picking up carrot from his bowl with his chop stick and returning it back to the carrot bowl. He distaste their taste ever since he was a child and has never been able to tolerate it.
"Since when do you not like carrots?" The older woman asked picking up what her daughter had seen.
Shin Yi gaped at the two women like a deer caught in a headlight when he realised his blunder.How will play this out without giving himself away, or making them think that he has lost his mind?
"I don't know, maybe it is the accident," he answered with a bit of apprehension, hoping that they will buy his words. His hand was frozen over his bowl as he waited for this to pass. The two females were watching him intently making his apprehension worst.
"Oh, the doctor never said anything about any changes in your behaviour," the woman mumbled softly with a worried look on her face.
Her worried tone made Shin Yi deflect with guilt. It wasn't his intention, to worry the poor woman who seems to already have a lot on her plate.
"I am sure it is nothing," he tried to dismiss, but the older woman wasn't having none of it. Her lack of attention have nearly cost her child, she is not letting it happen again.
"Even though it is nothing, I would like to check it out tomorrow," she said with a note of finality.
Shin Yi nodded his head knowing there is no point arguing, and resumed his food. It was delicious and he was ravenous. He wasn't worried about the hospital thing, because physically the doctor is not going to find anything wrong with him, and that will help calm the older woman's mind.
Sa-rang felt a sudden tension at the table and blamed herself for it. If she hadn't said anything they would have been eating their meal happily.
"I am sorry Oppa! I didn't mean to get you into trouble," she said remorsefully.
"Is okay Sa-rang, you didn't get me in trouble, Umma, is just being careful," Shin Yi smiled at the little girl to put her at ease, and when he felt his host mother watching him, looked in her direction but she quickly looked away.
When they finished eating Shin Yi stood up to help clear the plates but the older woman wasn't having it.
"Go and rest you just returned from the hospital," she waved him away.
Shin Yi could see the tiredness in the older woman's face and knew she too needed her rest. She had stayed with him at night in the hospital, leaving again in the money to take care of her other child. She must be so exhausted, and this is the little Shin Yi can do to say thank you for all her care.
"I am fine, Umma," he insisted gently. His behaviour without his awareness surprised the older woman who isn't used to such consideration from her son. Something is very different in her son. His is behaving unlike the boy she has raised for seventeen years.
Even though it pains her to accept this little help from him when he is still weak she was dead on her feet and needs a little sleep. Commuting between the hospital and the house and still open the shop everyday has taken its toll on her. It was a testament of how tired she was that she let go without much of a fight.
The woman was brought up in an old fashion way where she was thought that house work is for females alone, and that is why she never bothered her son to help out.
Shin Yi watched the woman leave the room with pity in his eyes. The instinct to protect and provide for her filled him. He has never had a mother, but if this woman was to be his mother he knows he will never allow her to suffer.
"Oppa, do you need help," Sa-rang offered, wanting to spend more time with her brother. She had been so scared that she has lost him but now that he is back she wants to be around him all the time.
Shin Yi wanted to say no, because he wants an alone time for his thoughts, but then he saw the need in the little girl's brown eyes and nodded his head.
Among the two of them they were able to carry the dishes to their modest kitchen and while they cleaned it Sa-rang kept the room from succumbing into an awkward silence with her incessant chatter.
She told her brother everything that has happened in the neighbourhood since his absence. About one of their neighbours whose wife caught him cheating with another woman that works in a bar, and all the drama that followed.
It didn't take long for Shin Yi to come to the conclusion that his host sister was a chatter box, oddly enough he didn't mind. Her stories even though he doesn't know most of the people she is talking about is entertaining, and the way her eyes light up as she tells her story makes her look so cute.
The girl will make a great entertainer, be it telling stories in diners or on the street. His mind took him back to his era when he was younger and will stop for few minutes on his way to the market to hear the towns storytellers weave captivating tales about the past heros of their kingdom.
"Can I come with you?" Sa-rang asked when they were done with the plates.
Shin Yi not wanting to disappoint the girl nodded his head. Together they went into his room.