“What are you doing here?”

“Just hanging out with friends.”

“You’re not old enough to buy alcohol.”

Daniel chuckled at the exchange between the two siblings, finally getting Meili to acknowledge his presence. 

“Hi, Dan.”

“Hey, long time no see. You’re getting prettier every year Mei.”

“I know.” The young woman smiled. “Would you please tell my brother to mind his business and let me be.”

She’d come with her friends, but to her bad luck, ended up in the same bar where her brother was.

“I’m sorry.” He shrugged and looked the other way.

The two kept arguing for a while, and in the end, the girl gave up and went back home, while his friend complained about the administration of the place. It was most likely Meili had a fake ID, but Daniel was too wise to mention this.

“Cut her some slack, she’s already 20.”

“Don’t.”

Long Wei’s glare warned him from even thinking about it, but how could he?

Daniel rolled his eyes. 

“I just complimented your sister on her new looks. You need to relax, man.”

He had known Meili since the girl was a crying baby, there was no way for him to look at her as any other than his friend’s sister. Gulping what was left of his glass, his thoughts drifted to the other little sister who was worrying him these days.

“... besides, I told her about this when I applied to the job. I don’t know why she didn’t say anything back then but it’s mad at me now.” Whatever Long Wei was babbling about his girlfriend, Daniel wasn’t really paying attention, and his friend realized it, stopping to frown at him. “What is it with you now?”

“Uh? What?”

“You have only had two shots so far.”

They had not seen each other since Christmas, and that was practically the only time they met since parting ways to go to college. Still, after growing up as playmates who lived next to each other, they remained friends who would meet up for drinks when they were in town. That was why Long Wei found it strange that Daniel wasn’t displaying his usual humor, or that he who was the king of holding his alcohol would not drink more than a couple of shots.

“Just family business” Daniel shook his head. “So, you have three tickets for the game on Sunday. How much for one?”

Even though he avoided talking about that, after walking back to his parents' house that concern was in the forefront of his mind, all he could worry about as the date for his trip approached. 

Family business. It wasn’t strictly true, because Valeria was not his family. He did not have siblings, and as the years went by she came to occupy that spot in his heart, meeting the pretty girl with dark curls that always welcomed him with enthusiasm was one of the things he looked forward to every time he visited his grandparents home.

However, contrary to Long Wei who’d always had to take care of his sister, he only reaped the benefits of having one.

From a young age, Daniel understood he was a lucky boy. 

Yes, there were a couple of times while living with his halmoni and haraboji that his mother would end up upset or crying, and his grandparents would make it a point that Daniel wasn’t brought up properly, but after moving houses it all seemed to be resolved and the five of them still had lunch together on the weekends.

He was an only child, and he was lucky. There was this time when Long Wei was punished a whole week for not even going to the backyard of his house for a very silly thing. “My sister ate my mom’s chocolates when I wasn’t watching over her.”

His parents had never punished him for something so insignificant. Even that one time he’d been rude and told his mother he didn’t need to speak Spanish better, the response to this was taking him to his grandparents' home to spend the rest of his summer break there. And at first, it really felt like some kind of punishment, but it was something he was really grateful for to this day.

Moreover, his father’s rage after he dropped out of college only lasted until Daniel showed him what he and Will were doing with their web development company. Now he received praises that made him feel a bit guilty because he had just been going along with the flow and not putting as much effort as his father thought...

Daniel did not consider himself a lazy person. He worked hard. He just… didn’t do things based on long term plans, but rather in his short-term interests.

His responsibility was mainly towards himself, and towards his parents when the time came. This was how it should be, after all one only lived once, and these were the best years in his life.

It should be like that for Valeria, too, but he worried about her unhappiness now.

He checked his phone. His messages from last month remained without a reply, although she had read them. This had never happened before, and if it wasn’t for Rosa, Daniel wouldn’t even know about what was going on with the girl.

‘But what can I do for her anyway?’

***

In the past, he’d never had a need to comfort others.

“Valeria looks up to you. I’m sure she’ll be very happy that you came to see her.” Mrs. Hernandez smiled, but her eyes gave away her true feelings.

“I’m just going to say hi.”

He’d come to visit Valeria’s home many times before, but he’d never stepped into her bedroom. This, her private space, she did not like sharing with others.

Knocking at the door, it only took a few seconds before hearing her muffled voice coming from the other said.

“What is it?”

“It’s me, Daniel.”

A moment later, the door opened and he encountered the sight of Valeria, her messy hair down and more skinny than he’d ever seen her before. Her eyes met his and she offered a smile that broke his heart.

“Come in.”

He opened his arms for a hug. “Hello Vale.”

She jumped into his embrace, and Daniel could feel her breathing deeply and shedding tears on his shirt.

‘You’ve had it rough lately.’

Inept as he was in a situation like this, this was all he could do for her. He’d agreed with his grandfather in his desire to find that son-of-a-bitch and kill him, but that was not the way to solve things (and what would it solve, really?) 

“I’m sorry.” She composed herself and gave a step back. “I am a fool, right?”

Was she expecting him to chastise her? For what exactly? Her mother, he knew, had been extremely upset when Valeria told her about the pregnancy, and more so because after she refused to help her daughter find a clinic, the girl attempted to abort with some kind of herbal infusion that some rubbish internet site told her to. It did not work, but Valeria had to be hospitalized and that was how Rosa learned of it and told him months ago.

If he were to be upset about something, it would be that his friend did not cherish her life enough. But he was also upset that she was forced to something she didn’t want to.

“You're not a fool, but you make us worry about you sometimes. Your mom says you have not been eating for days.”

“I’m eating enough.” She lowered her eyes.

A child’s crying sounds suddenly filled the house, but they came from some other room.

“Close the door,” Valeria asked, and then went back to bed, signaling him to occupy a free chair near the window.

The curtains were closed, and he took the liberty to drew them and let some sunlight in.

The child was still crying.

“That’s all he ever does.”

“Valeria…”

She stared at him, her puffy eyes once more glimmering with tears.

“What am I going to do with my life, Daniel? What am I going to do?”