The Eyes Are the Best Part

by Monika Kim

There are some things that you can never truly escape. Not really. Maybe that’s why, even now, she’s stuck in the past, long after everyone else has moved on.

Lately, our mother has been trying to goad us into asinine conversations. She brings up crazy things, like conspiracy theories that she’s read about on the internet or news that no sane person could possibly believe is real. The other night, she insisted that the moon landing had been faked.

Well...

“Fine,” Umma snaps. “If neither of you care about me, I’ll go crawl in a hole and die. You’ll both wish you were nicer to me when I’m gone.”

Ugh this shit pisses me off to no end.

More than anything, he hated that everything in his life served as a reminder of his failures. I don’t blame him. Maybe because I know what it’s like, to live a life so defined by want. That’s why I was able to recognize it in him—it was what I had been feeling for so long.

I’M REPUBLICAN BECAUSE WE CAN’T ALL BE ON WELFARE.

Lool

the danger of hearing only one perspective on a topic and the generalizations and assumptions that come from that.

“Whoa, whoa. You guys having a pillow fight without me? At least let me watch!”

Ew

Fate can bring you together, but it can just as easily tear you apart.

Sarah turned to me, pleading. “Ji-won. You believe me, don’t you?” I shook my head. “You’re unbelievable. Why would you take the one thing that Han-byeol has? Grow up.” And with that, I left Sarah to cry on her own.

Woowwww

“I’m not saying that the choices you make are meaningless. You’re missing the point entirely,” Alexis said. “The choices you make absolutely matter. Put it this way: the major events in your life are predetermined, but the way you reach those events, the paths that you take? Those are shaped by your choices. Maybe your destiny is to become a doctor someday, Geoffrey, but the choices you make now determine whether it’s going to happen in ten years or thirty.”

What is it like to live freely, to live a life untethered, without having to be responsible for everyone around you?

It’s composed of the cornea, the iris, the lens, the macula, the pupil, and the retina.

How could you forget the sclera!? thats the part that "pops" in your mouth gf

I dig my fingernails into the palm of my hand. The pain brings me back to earth. “I’m fine. George, I’m sorry,” I say. “I shouldn’t have said those terrible things to you earlier.” George stands up and approaches me, lifting my chin with his finger. I feel like a mosquito stuck in amber. “That’s better,” he says, smirking.

Ew i do not like that.

She looks hurt. I should feel bad, but I don’t. If anything, I feel better—like I’ve transferred some of my pain to her.

“I didn’t mean to scare you.” “You? Scare me?” he scoffs. “What’s there to be afraid of? Little Oriental girls are nothing to worry about.” “Oriental? What am I, a rug?”

That is so funny

After all, why would he suspect docile, sweet, submissive Ji-won? What reason would I have for hurting him? Why would a woman, let alone an Asian woman, challenge his authority?

“I don’t agree with you,” the man said. “Why would you need to work if I’m making enough to support the family? Your job is the home. Having a baby. You know, the things that matter to women.”

The only power he has is the power you are willing to give him, and you’ve given him nothing. Not a scrap. By the time you’re done with him, he’ll be begging for mercy. Who is he if he can’t control you? Is he even a man anymore? It will seem like a relief when you give him a hand, even if that hand is holding a blade. And when you take everything from him, you can say what these men say about us: He was asking for it. He was begging for it. He must have wanted it, since he didn’t fight back.

Get down on your knees, you little worm.

How do I explain to her that the home I miss isn’t a place? It’s a time when my life made sense. When things made sense.

George babbles. “What’s wrong with me? What’s happening to me?” He digs his fingernails into his face, leaving a trail of crescent moons dotted across his cheeks. The tears in his eyes amplify their color.

I feel bad for him bc ji-won perspective is clearly an unreliable one. Like is george as bad as it seems? I really dont think so

It must be nice to be so assured of your safety that you don’t have to worry about being alone at night or getting in the wrong car.

“I know that the plant is pretty, but poison is everywhere, even in the places where you least expect it.”