Page 8 of Somewhere Only We Know
I scooped them up in my palm, my long peach nails scraping the plate, and tossed them back with some water.
After setting up my dinner of salad greens with a light olive oil dressing and a side of almonds, Ji-Yeon went into her own room off my suite. Although I coveted my privacy, I also had a terrible time falling asleep alone. Having Ji-Yeon close was comforting, and it was one of the few diva cards I pulled.
But, tonight, as I fretted about my impending American debut, I needed a little more comfort than usual.
I pushed my salad aside and FaceTimed my mom. It was early in the morning for my family, but they could deal. My parents always made time for my calls since they were so few and far between lately on my tour.
On the third ring, my mom answered—the screen dark and fuzzy for a moment before it adjusted on her face, eyes set far apart from her button nose, strands of wavy hair framing her smooth face.
She squinted into the screen. “Is something wrong?” My mom’s typical greeting.
“Hi, Umma. No, nothing’s wrong. I’m just calling,” I said, my voice choking up. It had been three weeks since we talked, and I hadn’t felt the distance untilrightthis moment. Seeing and hearing my mom’s voice instantly stripped me bare of my pop star confidence. I was normal me again.
My dad’s face popped into the screen then, shoving hers out of the way. His salt-and-pepper hair was disheveled, and he pulled hisblack-framed glasses on. “Oh! Why are you still awake?!” My dad always looked like a flustered professor at a wizarding school.
“It’s only like, ten o’clock here,” I said with a laugh, watching my parents jostle for prime screen space. “Did I wake you?”
My mom waved her hand dismissively. “Not me. I wake up earlier than your dad now.”
“Yah, in what world?” my dad said, mixing Korean and English as he always did. “Only this week because—”
“He’s watching thatGame of Thrones,” my mom interrupted. “I don’t know how he can watch that before bed.” She shuddered. “Horrible.”
“You’re watching that?” I asked with my eyebrows raised. “Appa, that is like, so violent. Also, can you even follow the storyline?”
My mom burst out laughing and my dad pushed up his glasses in agitation. “Wow, wow. Okay, you think your appa is a total babo.” The Korean word for “fool” never failed to make me giggle.
“No, I don’t!” I protested. “It has so many characters and like, complicated fantasy world-building—” I stopped talking when a puff of cream with black eyes suddenly obscured the screen. Fern, their Pomeranian. She yelped loudly, and then it was chaos for a few seconds as my mom tried to hold her up to the phone while in selfie mode. Her nose pushed into the camera and I started laughing when I heard a voice screech in the background.
“Oh myGod! Why are you guys being so loud this early?”
Ah, the unmistakable sounds of an irate fifteen-year-old.
“Your sister’s on the phone! Say hi!” my dad said, moving the phone around until I was staring at my sister’s face. It was like mine, but not—fuller cheeks, wider mouth, bigger eyes.
“Hey, Vivian,” I said.
“Hi,” she muttered. “I hate FaceTime.”
“What are you up to today?” I asked, fully knowing what her answer would be.
“Nothing.” She avoided looking at me, but I saw her shoot me a furtive glance. “Did you microblade?”
I touched my naturally full eyebrow. “No.”
“Hm. Looks weird.”
Nothing like a younger sister to bring you down a peg.
My parents interjected, talking about their plans for the weekend. The regularness of it was so nice—a conversation separate from my job, my schedule, my fans.
When I yawned, my mom frowned. “Hey, you should go to sleep now. You had a long tour and now you have to prepare forThe Later Tonight Show, right?”
I nodded. “Yeah. Monday. You’re going to come watch, right?” They would be waiting for me in the greenroom right after the taping.
“Of course!” my dad said. “We’ll make sure you eat well so you have lots of energy.”
The worried expressions that crossed their faces made me teary again. I pasted on a bright smile. “Oh, I’ve been eatingso wellon this tour. A lot of dumplings and noodles and stuff.”
