is love supposed to be hard or is it hard to love
My enigmatic cousins
The eldest male child, to my extended family, is regarded as somebody important because they quite literally become the face of the family. Inscribed in my grandfather's tomb was R's name. Despite the fact the eldest is not R. The eldest is a girl. She shed tears when the tomb was unveiled. At least that's what I heard from the stories.
I don't think growing up was easy for him. His father is a scary man (his look doesn't help), that's all I can say I think.
When I was a little kid, I disliked R. He was scary-looking and his demeanor didn't help too.
R was a step away from getting dropped out from his university. Barely paid attention to his classes to play basketball. I remember it being quite an event to the family.
As R became older, he became funny. Or I may have gotten it the other way around, he was funny in the first place. All the cousins love him for it.
I don't know how. But for some reason, he took a liking at me. We'd sleepover at his place; watch movies together.
He'd bring me to meet with his girlfriends (his relationships always lasted short) which he met from dating apps. I was quite young at the time, on the magician fever, so I'd perform card magic tricks to my cousin and his girl to kill time idk. These meetings were national secrets I must never speak of.
At some point, we stopped hanging around. It was bound to be; He could be cruel without him realizing. Not the diplomatic type.
In Asian standards, success is an and/either get rich be married. R does not fill any of the checkboxes.
I'd be genuinely surprised if he does get married. He sees other people as too stupid for him. And he's probably not wrong, he's a cunning asshole. In the most respectful way possible. But he's not the only one.
Enter K, R's little brother..
They are literally the exact opposite. In terms of social presence, R pales far in comparison to K. Everybody goes to talk to him. You'd forget the eldest was R because of how dependable K is.
K fulfills the first checkbox: being financially successful. But lacks the last checkbox: marriage.
If there's one thing R and K shares a similarity in, it'd be their egregious dating history.
I can't see them being married anytime soon, they think people are too stupid for them. But we'll see what the future holds.
Conclusion: I don't think my cousins are all alright. The eldest cousin marriage didn't work too. Countless family gatherings, as it turns out, were not enough for me to truly know my cousins.
I don't intend on fulfilling a self-prophecy but recognizing the family might not be alright makes you feel like the odds are stacked against you.