[62.2] Cyrus POV: The Childhood of Reika

[Disclaimer: This chapter includes mention of child neglect, death, suicidality, and violence.]

I was suddenly thrown out of the painting and into a new one without warning. Before I could get a sense of my surroundings I covered my ears from a shout beside me.

"YOU'RE SUPPOSED TO BE STUDYING!"

I opened my eyes and saw Reika in a room that looked like a dining room. The woman who shouted at her resembled her so closely, I knew right away the identity of this woman.

Reika held out a piece of paper proudly, "Look! I drew us! I made Baobao a cat!"

Her mother ignored her picture and flipped it around, "I knew it! Honey! Look at what our unambitious daughter did now! She actually DREW on her homework instead of doing it!!!"

A man sat at the other end of the table reading. After being acknowledged, he finally put the book down and let out a sigh, "Darling. Go easier on her. She's only 10 years old."

"Exactly! She's 10 and is still acting like a child! She should be more mature by now! Just look at her brother. At this age, he was already solving university-level math!"

Reika spit out her tongue, "I'm going to go give my picture to Baobao! He will appreciate it! He will probably put it on his fridge just like Min Jee's momma does!"

"Urgh! DO YOUR HOMEWORK! Don't give it away!!!" As Reika ran away, her mother shouted, "Why can't she see I am doing this for HER sake!? She won't have a future if she doesn't work hard!"

Her father spoke up, "She can always take over my business."

"Urgh! Stop going easy on her already!! If you don't start being strict, she's going to waste away her life! And what about Baobao? If she keeps this up, she's going to bring him down as well! She's always running into his room and distracting him when he tries to study-"

"Relax. He already got into XXXX University. Let him have a break already."

The room faded away and I was dragged into the next painting. I was getting so used to the sudden hands that I allowed them to drag me away without a fight.

I appeared back in Reika's bedroom who was clearly avoiding studying yet again. There was a knock on the door and her brother poked her head in and whispered, "Reika."

"Baobao!"

She ran over to him and let him inside where he bent down and whispered, "Do you think you could do me a favor?"

"Hm? Sure!"

His cheeks flushed, "I made some new friends… And they want to go out drinking with me…"

She gasped, "But Baobao. Mother forbids-"

He blushed more, "-I know! But just this once… I want to do what the other students do. I'm an adult and yet Mother keeps treating me like a child. All these years I've been studying and wasting away my life... Just this once, I want to have fun. Do you think you can cover for me?"

She thought deeply for a moment, "Well… I've certainly gotten better at predicting Mother's check-ins… And she will never think you snuck out… Okay! I guess I can help you."

He hugged her tightly, "Thanks, Reika! You're the best!"

As he went to climb out of the window, Reika shouted after him, "Bring me back some fried chicken!"

He laughed and gave a thumbs up, slipping off the roof and into the night.

Reika closed her window and pretended to study, closely listening to the footsteps outside of her door. When she heard her mother coming, she rushed out and nearly collided with her on the stairs. She looked at the tray her mother was carrying, "Lemon bars?"

Her mother scowled, "They are for your brother. He needs a snack to keep his mind focused."

Reika quickly took them from her, "I will give them to him."

Her mother glared, "You're just trying to avoid studying, aren't you!?"

Reika trotted off to her brother's room, "Nope!"

Her mother scoffed, "Ugh! Just don't bother him for long… And DON'T eat all the lemon bars again! They are for your brother!"

Reika muttered under her breath as she put the tray down on her brother's desk, "He doesn't even like lemon bars. He always gives them to me!"

Reika walked back out of his room, pretending that she was following her mother's orders. She flashed her hands at her mom to reveal she hadn't taken any lemon bars, then shut her own door behind her. She waited at the door for her mother to walk back downstairs before sliding open her window and climbing out. I followed her into her brother's room where she quickly put a lemon bar in her mouth and sat down on his bed. She kicked her feet, looking around the room looking bored.

She muttered, "There's not even any manhwa I can read… But maybe-"

She pushed the rest of the lemon bar into her mouth and turned around to look under her brother's bed. She soon disappeared underneath it and I could hear her ruffling and pushing things around. Eventually, she emerged covered in dust and held out a book with a victorious expression.

"Aha! Min Jee was right! Boys really do keep these things under their beds!" She sat back down on the bed humming as she flipped the pages. She studied it closely, "Huh… Do boys really like these things?"

I couldn't tell what book she had in her hands, so I peered around her shoulder in curiosity. Once I saw the drawing on the page, my face turned bright red.

What kind of trash is she looking at!?

Reika hummed, "I wonder if I will ever get big like this girl when I'm older."

I rubbed my nose with a flushed expression, "Well… The Reika I know certainly had better ones than that girl."

The page flipped out and Reika gasped, "Ew!!!"

I covered my eyes in embarrassment, "C-Can we not do this?"

As if listening to me, Reika slipped the book back and started putting pillows under the sheets to make it look as if someone was sleeping in the bed. She took the empty tray and put it on the opposite side of the door and turned off the light. Then, she returned back to her room and crawled into her bed, holding her stomach as she did.

"Ugh… I ate too many… I might puke."

I stood beside her, staring as I heard her mother open the door to check if she was sleeping. Then her mother went to the room beside hers and checked for her brother. Reika was still awake and held her breath, when she heard her mom leave, she let out a sigh of relief.

I sat on her bed watching her as she quickly fell asleep. I expected the hands to grab me and drag me out, but they never did. As I waited beside her, the sun was starting to rise when there was a knock downstairs. I heard the door open and her mother speak, "Yes? How can I help you?"

"Miss Kang?"

"Y-Yes?"

"I am here regarding your son… It appears last night… I'm sorry to say…"

Reika sat up at the sounds of her mother sobbing and left her room. She peered over the railing and looked down at her father who was holding her distraught mother while a man in a strange uniform stood in the doorway.

The man spoke, "I'm sorry. I just need one of you to come identify the body."

Reika called down, "W-What's happening?"

Her mother looked up at her with vicious, unrecognizable eyes, "Where is your brother?!"

Reika shrank back in fear, "H-He's-"

She collapsed on the ground, screaming as she held her face. Her father turned to look up at Reika, "Go to your room. Now."

Reika anxiously ran back inside, the area around her slowly fading to black. I could only see her face full of anxiety and panic as she stared off into space.