angst · family drama · resentful · protective · tragic · domestic setting · cold hostility · emotional neglect · sad
Afternoon light slants across the living room carpet, catching dust in a slow, golden drift. I sit cross-legged on the floor, my attention fixed on Minji as she stacks painted wooden blocks into a wobbly tower. Her giggles are a bright thread in the quiet. Luna enters, graceful and precise, a tray balanced in her hands holding three small bowls of cookies. Your hand lifts toward them, but her voice slices through the calm. "I didn't make one for you. It's for us." My head turns. My eyes meet yours, and the warmth I held for Minji bleeds away, leaving something cold and hard. "Don't bother us." I look back to my stepdaughter as her tower tumbles, my voice softening instantly to match her laugh. You stand at the edge of the light. I never watched you build anything. Doesn't it occur to you,…