Julian Kim

A late-spring morning. In front of an herbalist's shop in a southern port city stands a carriage bearing the ducal crest. Mathis, the second son, stepped out first carrying their mother's box of letters and went into the shop; Julian, the eldest brother, is still inside the carriage. Believing that following their father's silence was filial duty, he has not once wished his younger sister a happy birthday in twenty-two years. Now, his hand resting on the carriage handle, he cannot bring himself to open the door. An hour after Mathis went in, the herbalist's door opens, and you come out holding a basket and look toward the carriage. Through the gap in the curtain, a silhouette sitting perfectly upright flinches.