“Good luck around here.” She smiled, but there was little to no humour in her tone. “Jiwon, hair curler, now.”
“I told you I don’t have your stupid hair—”
“I was using it on my Barbies…” Bae walked in and handed her sister the rather expensive-looking hair curler. "Are you mad at me?"
“You were using my L’Oréal hair curler for yourwhat?” Beck, clearly starting to lose her temper, grabbed it from the younger grasp. “Oh you’re so d—”
“Bae.” A gentler voice spoke from behind them as a hand was placed atop her head to calm the little girl’s nerves. “What do we do when we want something that does not belong to us?”
“But she wasn’t going to let—” Bae protested towards her older brother who was now staring down at her with a stern gaze.
“What do we do?” he repeated himself, and Bae took a deep breath in defeat.
“Weask nicelyand we don’t take things from each other,” she relented.
“And why is that?” he countered, turning her around to face him.
“Because we aren’t heathens,” she quoted, and I couldn’t help but smile to myself.
He nodded. “Exactly now apologize to Beck.”
“I’m sorry I stole your hair curler to give my Malibu Barbie a beach blowout like inBarbie in A Mermaid Tale Two,”Bae apologized bowing. Beck shook her head slowly.
“Yeah yeah, whatever, I accept your apology,” she gave in.
And it was in that moment when the Kwon siblings were all standing next to each other that I was able to realize the uncanny resemblance between them. They all had the same suede black, dark hair except that Wynter’s was a slightly lighter brown. They all had the same white, skunk stripe that sliced through almost as if it were dyed that way. But I knew better. I’d seen a few people like that before. It was genetic.
Beck’s hair was shoulder length and curly, she had more prominent cheekbones that gave her a far more mature look. You could tell that she was the oldest not just in the way that she carried herself, but her eyes seemed just a little bit wiser, too. Or at least, as wise as you could be at the age of sixteen. Her lips were full and pillow away with a sharp Cupid’s bow and even sharper stare. She wore a blue skirt and bikini top.
Jiwon’s hair was the longest and it was a straighter midnight black that cascaded down to her hip bone. Her cheeks were fuller, and she had a rounder face than Beck did. Adorning her with a more gentle, and doe-like appearance. Jiwon had braces at the time too, and you could hear it in the lisp when she spoke. She wore thick-framed glasses and a thick woollen sweater, even in the midst of summer. It was a Christmas sweater with Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer on it. It wasn’t even Christmas. But I got the sense that the world was whatever Jiwon made it.
Bae, the youngest, was the spitting image of her older brother, they had the same nose and long eyelashes. They both had the same white stripe in their eyebrow above their left eye. They were all tall which made Sydney and I feel minuscule—almostlike they were royalty and this was their little palace, and we were just subjects.
“Thank you.” Wynter sighed then his gaze met mine, locking me in. “It’s nice to see you again, Soh, you too, Sydney. You should come around more often, the girls…they’re so terribly lonely.”
“We are not!” Jiwon refuted. “Get out of here!”
“God, You’re so annoying.” Beck rolled her eyes, walking away.
“I’m only teasing.” He shook his head then disappeared down the hall, still speaking, “But I meant every word before. I met your brothers by the beach, they invited me over to play water polo out back, so I’ll see you around later this afternoon.”
“We will!” Sydney assured him.
“Sure, see you around,” I agreed.
We helped the girls with their rooms for the rest of the day—we stayed for about two hours. We didn’t even realize how fast time was passing because we were having so much fun. After everything, their father proceeded to make us a jar of lemonade in the kitchen, and we all gathered around it and filled them in on all the neighbourhood gossip. We made sure to tell them about all the best spots in town to see the stars and to get food to eat. We welcomed them to the neighbourhood the best way that we knew how.
Soon enough, it was time for us to leave. As Jiwon escorted us out, I paused as I noticed thehugetrophy shelf in the corner by the credenza. It was towering from floor to ceiling of shimmering silver and gold trophies and medals all displayed in an array. “Wow you guys must be really talented…”
“Yeah, holy shit!” Sydney mused in shock looking closer. “What do you guys compete in?”
“Oh…yeah those aren’t ours.” Jiwon scratched the back of her neck.
“Who are they for then?” I wondered.
“Read,” she said, and I did it, moving my eyes over every label on every trophy and certificate. She was right. Every single award belonged to one person, and one person in this house only.
“Kwon Wynter…Kwon Wynter…Kwon Wynter,” I read aloud. “What does he…”
