When my mom was just starting to get sick in 2019,
my family decided that we would move to a larger house that had fresh air, on the outskirts of Seoul.
After my mom started to get sick, she was unable to pay back the loan we had on the house.
Naturally, the debt came into my name, as my dad had a poor credit score at the time.
For me, I hated that all the “heavy work” was done on my end-
as a child, that’s not my responsibility I thought.
But what choice did I have, when my parents are broke and have nowhere to go unless I take the debt?
Being the person that I am, I was okay with it after a while.
As an only child of two curious and artistic souls, I matured both emotionally and financially at a young age.
That was the burden that I needed to carry.
I had promised myself year after year that I would leave that family as soon as I had the chance to-
to no avail.
I couldn’t leave my mother behind to suffer like that.
This week, that house becomes mine.
I feel bittersweet about it.
It isn’t the house of my dreams, and I have no intention of living there in the following 10 years to come.
Yet, it’s better than nothing I suppose.
My mom’s lifelong dream was to have a house.
I am living in someone else’s dream.
There is so much paperwork to be done, even for a small, cheap house-
Which the result we may find in a few months to come.
Ridia's Green Barley 