#w. seong jiwon 001.

[littlemarie]

maybe mother was right.

bae sumi should not be around her siblings for the very simple fact that she is a danger to everyone she meets. her mother doesn’t quite say it in that way, of course. she just never really sees them again. subin’s a pixelated, barely-moving lump of mass when she sees him through a phone screen, and suyeon lives in low-quality pictures mother remembers to send her every now and then. the fewer times she gets to see them in person are fleeting, like visitors of a criminal where they only speak to each other through soundproof glass and an old telephone. no longer than an hour and always supervised, lest she leaves a mark they can’t just rub off.

“7pm and we’re still here? ew,” sumi’s staring out the window and she’s watching the sunset. they’re in the lab and she’s meant to be supervising, but jiwon’s a fast learner so she trusts her. mostly. there’s a smile blossoming at the corner of her lips, lifts in the way that resembles the devil, and she looks back at jiwon, “or… just in time for our next experiment?”

there are ways in which people will always try to get what they want, particularly if they’ve been deprived. it’s selfishness or maybe it’s just survival, like an adolescent sneaking out of their bedroom window when they’ve been barred from a party. in this way, sumi projects her sister onto jiwon. they’re the same age, same height, and they’ve even got the same nose. sumi pulls the plastic carton of absolute ethanol from its cabinet and places it in front of jiwon. “fill this up to 400,” she instructs, grabs a measuring cylinder from the sink and places it next to the ethanol carton, “i’m teaching you an age-old trick,” she leans forward and whispers, “trust me.”

she goes to the fridge and pulls out the large bottle of coke she brought in the morning of. maybe mother was right. sumi would’ve ruined suyeon, so mother sends her away in the same way that mothers only care for their own children. jiwon, in this instance, is fair game.

“it’s time to party! we’ve slaved enough.” to her credit, sumi jiggles the coke bottle for jiwon to see, a devious smile pulling at her lips as she leaves space for the latter to back out. a second passes and she’s sliding the bottle an inch towards jiwon, “fill this up to one litre.” she sings, “i’ll even let you have the first sip.”

maternal instinct  /  @absolutezeros