Sung-ho's Thanksgiving Gift

“I don’t want to be part of this family,” Sung-ho screamed at the top of his lungs as he slammed the door shut. He slumped backwards against the closed door and slid down it until he was hugging his arms around his knees. He rested his head on his knees and sighed. It wasn’t like this before that man came. Now, it was all Dave, Dave, Dave. He wasn’t even like them, and his daughter Amber was the worst. She would glide in and out of rooms where she didn’t belong, eavesdrop on him and his friends, and would even dare to come into his room. He hated her more than her father, Dave. 

There was a light knock on his door. 

“Go away,” He said, trying not to sound as if he were crying. 

“Sung-ho,” his mother’s voice whispered from the other side. “Please open the door.”

Angrily, Sung-ho stood up and violently opened the door. His mother stood looking at him with sadness in her eyes. 

“Come down,” She said. “No one wants you angry, and I know it’s hard, but just try… Please.”

“I don’t want to,” Sung-ho said, seeing Amber peeking out of the kitchen to look towards his room eavesdropping as always. Sung-ho switched to Korean so that Amber could not understand what he was saying.

“Mother,” Sung-Ho started in Korean. “I hate them. I hate this. Why can’t we go home? Why did we have to move in with baeg-in and why marry that man?”

Sung-ho’s mother came into his room and pulled the door closed, Sung-ho had no doubts that Amber was slinking up to it as soon as it was closed. He wanted to walk around his mother and pound on the door where he assumed her ear would be pressed to it. He thought better of it as his mother walked to his bed and sat down.

“Sung-ho, you would not believe how hard it was for me when your father died,” His mother inhaled a shuddering breath. “He was a good man, but he was bad with money. We had no savings, but we never thought he would die. We saved a little when we knew I was pregnant, but it was not enough. Even though he never could see you I know he would have been proud, but Sung-ho it has been fourteen years. It was time to move on. When I met Dave, I thought this is a very handsome and kind man.”

“Ugh,” Sung-ho turned away from his mother and walked to the door this time. He pounded on it a few times and sure enough from the other side came the resounding yelp of pain. His mother shook her head and let out a lingering sigh. 

“Do you see what she does?” Sung-ho asked his mother. “She is always trying to spy on me. She always wants to follow me and my friends! She is always in the way.”

“She only wants you to accept her. You are not the only one in a strange new place. Think of it, though. She is in a new country, and you are only in a new home.” Sung-ho’s mother stood up and smoothed the sheet of his bed before walking towards him and the door. She turned and smoothed his hair and patted his head before silently walking out of the room. 

Sung-ho peeked out of the door. There was no one in the kitchen aside from his mother walking towards the living room. He closed his door again. His mother had given him a lot to think about and she was right while he had only moved a few blocks away from his old home Amber had moved an entire continent away from her old home. He laid back on his bed with his laptop and thought to himself about how to make it right for himself and for his mother. His mother had worked so hard for him, and he never thought about it until now. He was acting selfishly and not helping his mother make the new house into a home.

Sung-ho had been secretive all week, keeping Amber out of his room and locking his door whenever he left the house. His friends had come over carrying boxes, and Amber had tried to follow them inside his room, but they closed the door before she could get a glimpse of what was going on inside. Sung-ho was sure that she would complain to her father or his mother about not being allowed into his room, but he needed to keep her out or it would ruin the surprise. It had been very hard to slip in and out of his room with the things he needed, but that night he knew it would all be worth it. 

The house was still and quiet as Sung-ho quietly crept out of his room. He walked box after box into the kitchen and opened them as quietly as possible. His mother and Dave’s room door was in the living room while Amber’s room was next to the front door. He held his breath and listened after unpacking each box carefully. He was trying to be as quiet as possible, but it was not as easy as he thought it would be. The last item he had brought had cost him nearly all his savings, and he was happy he had stored it in a bin instead of a cardboard box. The turkey was not nearly as large as he had hoped for the money he had spent. He had his friend store it for him so that his mother would not know about it. But now that it was here, he wasn’t sure how to cook it. He looked at the oven. Dave used it the most. His mother nearly always used the stovetop and rarely used the oven. He considered cutting it apart, but then pulled out his phone to search how to cook a turkey in the oven. He pushed the turkey aside after reading how long it would take and began pulling out decorations. As he finished hanging the last streamer, he heard a yawn from the doorway. He froze. 

“What are you doing?” His mother asked. Sung-ho opened and closed his mouth wordlessly. His mother looked around at the decorations and then at the tote where the thawed turkey was swimming in ice cubes. 

“I,” Sung-ho stammered. “I thought about what you said and then online Dave and Amber have a holiday called Thanksgiving. I wanted to give that to them.”

“What about this?” His mother asked, prodding the tote with her foot.

“They eat turkey on their holiday,” Sung-ho explained, and then pulled his phone back out to show her. She took his phone and looked up how to cook the turkey and together Sung-ho and his mother began cooking. 

“Boy, something sure smells good,” Dave said as he stepped into the kitchen Sung-ho looked away as Dave gave his mother a kiss. 

“We cooked a thanksgiving meal,” Sung-ho told him with his back still turned to them. 

“Wow! How did you ever get a turkey?” Dave asked.

“A turkey?!” The outburst came from the other door of the kitchen as Amber came in.

“I bought it,” Sung-ho told them proudly. 

“Set the table,” Dave told Amber as she tried to open the lid to the pan the turkey was in. Sung-ho was beaming because usually he was told to set the table. Dave turned and smiled at Sung-ho. Carving the turkey and serving everyone a slice became the highlight of Sung-ho’s day. Everyone was smiling and talking. He felt happy that he finally bridged the gap between himself and Dave and as everyone ate, talked, and laughed, Sung-ho realized he wasn’t losing his mother, but that he was gaining a family.