I took a moment to take in the scenery as my Brother prepared the meal on the picnic table we were currently occupying. Not because it was beautiful or anything, but because it was awfully... nostalgic.
The park wasn't anything big or flashy compared to the ones you see nowadays. It was a space defined by its age: a small play structure with paint scraped off the metal, a set of swings made entirely of wood, and chains rusted to the bone that groaned with every movement.
It wasn't the wealthiest area, but with the setting sun painting the world in bleeding orange hues, it didn't feel that way.
Watching a few kids play and laugh in the background, I couldn't help but smile.
Maybe it was strange, but for some reason, this place felt like "home" more than our actual house did.
Yeah... it really does remind me of the old house.
Granted, if I thought back on it, most of the memories I had at the old house weren't pleasant. In fact, I could barely recall any good moments.
And yet, I found myself reminiscing anyway.
"Hey," a cold voice called out from behind me, snapping me out of my thoughts. "If you don't eat, I'll eat it all for you."
"What?!"
Before I could process the threat, my body already took action. I spun around, sat in the seat opposite my Brother, and pulled the meal boxes toward my chest—and as far away from him as possible.
"Don't even think about taking my food!" I shouted, my words echoing in the park. "And I don't know why you would even say that, you can't even eat avocados without feeling like throwing up!"
It took me a while to remember, but my Brother couldn't eat avocados—or fruits—without feeling like puking. And since we—or rather, he—got avocado rolls, of course, he wouldn't be able to eat those.
My Brother didn't respond right away. He just remained silent. It was then that I realized... he wasn't the only one who was silent. The entire world had gone silent as well. How could that be? Kids were just screaming a couple of minutes ago—
At that thought, my eyes widened, and I snapped my head around. The kids who had once been playing at the play structures all froze and stared directly at me. Some of their parents even rushed toward them, whispered something in their ear, and began trudging home with the occasional glance behind their backs.
No way...
Slowly, I turned to face my Brother once more. He still wore that same, irritatingly blank expression. But as his sister, I didn't fail to notice the slight smug curve tugging the corners of his lips.
I've... I've been played!
Embarrassed, I buried my head in my arms and crouched down, trying to make myself as small as possible while hiding from the world.
AHHHHHH!
I tried to remain still, but my legs kept stomping on the gravel, kicking sand everywhere as I vented my sheer embarrassment.
I CAN'T BELIEVE I JUST DID THAT—IN PUBLIC!
I CAN'T BELIEVE I LET MY BROTHER DO THAT TO ME!
I WANNA DIE!
I WANNA DIEEEEEE!!!!
Seeing me in the middle of practically pulling out my own hair, my Brother let out a small, mocking laugh. Quiet enough where he wouldn't disturb other people, but loud enough where I would hear it perfectly clearly.
I lifted my head from my arms and glared at him with seething, murderous intent.
"What do you think is so funny?!" I hissed under my breath. "Why would you do this to me? Do you know how embarrassing this is? I want to go home!"
He looked at me—then simply shrugged. "I dunno what you're talking about. To me—and everyone else—it just looked like I wanted to share a meal with my sister. But sadly, she selfishly hogged it all to herself and screamed at her poor Brother, who bought it for her."
Hearing him describe himself like some weak, feeble little thing made the anger inside me boil even further.
"Oh, zip it! I don't want to hear another thing from you!"
Not wanting to talk to him any further, I opened the first box of avocado rolls and began to eat. I kept my head down the entire time, doing my best to pretend he didn't even exist.
As I went in for my third bite, a foreign pair of chopsticks suddenly entered my field of view. They snatched a roll and pulled it away.
My head shot up, but it was already too late. My Brother was already in the process of chewing the roll. And worst of all—his face was scrunched up as if he were suffering through the experience.
I gripped my chopsticks tighter, the wood threatening to snap in half.
I knew I shouldn't. And I knew that he wanted me to react. But the words came flying out anyway.
"IF YOU HATE IT THAT MUCH, THEN WHY THE HELL ARE YOU EATING IT?!"
He put a finger up, demanding me to wait until he finished. His jaw moved exaggeratedly up and down, making sure I saw every chew. Eventually, a hard lump travelled down his throat, and he let out a disgusted groan.
"Yuck. That was terrible."
I slammed my hand onto the table and pointed my chopsticks at him.
"DON'T YOU CHANGE THE TOPIC! I SAID, WHY ARE YOU EATING IT IF YOU DON'T LIKE IT?!"
He calmly grabbed the tip of my chopsticks that had been pointing at him in the face and pushed them aside.
"Isn't it obvious? It's cause I'm hungry too."
My eye twitched.
You liar! It's because you want to spite me! I'm not stupid, you know!
We continued bickering for a while. So long in fact, that by the time we finished, we were the only two left in the park.
Even the sun—which had been quietly sitting in the background of our conversation the entire time—had run away, leaving it all up to the moon.
The sky was covered in a beautiful shade of indigo. And under the flickering light of the stars sat my Brother and me, still arguing over the last eggroll.
As much as he annoyed the hell out of me, it was an enjoyable one-on-one moment with him.
It had been a while since we last hung out together like this, after all.
We talked about random things—what anime/manga/novel/manhwa/manhua/dramas we've been into recently. Well... it was mainly me talking. He just listened and laughed or nodded along as I rambled.
We even talked about the more secretive things I probably shouldn't have been reading, to which he shot me a look of pure disgust and lightly hit me on the head.
The most notable part of our conversation, though, was the upcoming sports day, which was now only three days away.
I was glad that we could continue talking like this, just like before.
Little did I know at the time—the sports day would change everything.