CHAPTER III

*****

“WHAT?!”

If Yerin were to describe herself, she might as well say she looked like a gaping fish as of the moment. She could feel her jaws almost dropping to the floor and her eyes threatening to fall out of their sockets.

“Your dad’s sister-in-law wanted to use the house for her business. We really couldn’t do anything since she owns the place,” her mom explained, hopeless of their current situation. Eunhye approached her from behind and she responded by hugging the little girl’s frame tightly to her side.

Yerin recovered from her shock as she noticed how tears were now forming from the corner of her eyes. She ignored it though. Crying right now will only worsen things. Yerin thinks Eunhye is a smart kid. She has an idea on what’s happening and letting her see her sister bawl her eyes out would break her heart even more. So, the best thing Yerin thought she could do was put on a brave face and act strong for all of them especially dear Eunhye.

She wiped whatever tears were in her eyes and walked over to where her mom, dad, and little sister where. As soon as she got there, she crouched to match Eunhye’s height and placed a hand on her head, ruffling her hair with a cheery smile, one she expertly knows how to fake after the past years’ worth of practice.

“Don’t you worry. Yerin-unnie will fix this. She’ll do something about this problem,” she assured her sister who could only give her a hesitant smile in return. Yerin looked up to meet her mother’s supportive look and she nodded before standing back up.

“Where are the twins?” she asked and her dad pointed over to a corner where both boys were sitting, busy with their phones. They didn’t even show a bit of concern over the fact that they were now homeless with nowhere to go for the night.

“Have you tried asking her for one more night? Just so we could look for a place to transfer.”

“She won’t even hear our plea,” her mother informed with a disheartened expression as she pulled Eunhye tighter which made Yerin realize that her mother was hugging her little sister not because she’s comforting her but because she’s comforting herself or she’s trying at least. That made Yerin feel her heart ache more as if it was squeezed tightly which made her chest feel heavy. Nothing felt worse to her than to see her family down in the dumps. That’s why she always finds ways to see them smile but right now, she doubts she could do anything to help their situation when she, herself, feels like she’s also losing much hope.

“We’ll get through this,” she whispered before a tear slid down her cheek, something she didn’t even realize was there before she felt the warmth of the liquid against her cold skin.

When he saw how dejected his daughter was, Minjun hurriedly ran to wrap his arms around his daughter and tried to comfort her by rubbing her back as she sobbed quietly.

“Shhh…don’t cry. I still have some small cash left from today’s sales. It’s enough to pay for one or two nights in a hotel. I heard there’s a cheap one near this area,” he said in an attempt to calm her daughter down. Contrary to his expectation, she wailed even more.

“First, I lost my job and now we’re losing our home, too. I’m so unfortunate!” Yerin wept while tugging her father’s shirt tightly, using it to wipe her tears. He’d have to deal with a wet shirt now.

“You what?!” Minjun yelled as soon as he took in what his daughter just said. He grabbed her by the shoulders and pushed her enough so that she was looking directly at him with puffy eyes. “You lost your job?!”

Yerin pouted and tried to stop herself from bawling her eyes out again before nodding hesistantly. Minjun, on the other hand, was left speechless.

“I…You…I thought…”

Yerin sobbed and removed herself from her father’s clutches, wiping her remaining tears with the back of her hand. “I broke some dishes and my evil ex co-workers made up false stories about me which made my boss upset. So, yeah. I’m currently jobless.”

Minjun exhaled deeply before saying, “We’ll talk about this later. Right now, let’s just get out of here.”

*****

“Yuna’s not coming?” Jimin, with a lollipop stuck in his mouth, asked the newly-entered Jungkook as soon as he saw that the lad was alone for tonight because usually, meaning all the time, he was with his girlfriend even during night-outs with the gang. The boys had no problem with it though given the fact that Yuna, for them, could pass off as boy with her weird boyish behavior.

“She has vocal practice ‘til ten and she told me I should just go on ahead. I’ll be picking her up though,” Jungkook answered impassively before slumping his form on the couch with a light thud. “Taehyung-hyung still not here?” he asked and looked around to see if the mentioned boy was present.

“He had to accompany his mom shopping. He left not long ago. He’ll be back soon,” Jimin replied and gave his companion a mischievous look. “You know what this means.” He raised his eyebrows up and down and put on a playful smirk. “We…”

Before he could even finish his sentence, a pillow came flying toward him, directly hitting his face.

“Shut up.”

*****

“Here are your keys, sir. Please enjoy your stay for the night,” the lady on the front desk said with a smile Yerin thinks is obviously forced.

“Let’s go,” her father exclaimed as he lifted two of the largest baggage they had with them like it weighed nothing. Now, Yerin knows where she got her strength from.

“I’ll just help carry the things upstairs then I’ll be off to have a breath of fresh air,” Yerin announced while also lifting two large bags with her before walking toward where the elevator was.

After delivering everything up to where they’ll be sleeping for the night, Yerin made her way back downstairs toward the exit of the old building of the area’s cheapest hotel which they were lucky enough to book the last room for two nights.

As soon as she went out the door, the cold night breeze greeted her and she felt herself shiver slightly. Her thin sweater was not entirely doing its job. She hugged herself to keep her warm as she treaded the path toward the nearest convenience store she saw while they were on the bus on the way to the hotel. She estimated it to be a five-minute walk. However, her quick steps made it so that she reached her destination in less than three minutes.

Yerin savored the warmth the store had to offer once she set foot inside. She could also feel salivating from the smell of the hotdogs not far from where she was standing. Only then did she realize she had not eaten dinner yet and the only thing she had for lunch was a piece of leftover French toast Youngjae gave her. Her stomach had long been growling and she realized it just now that she whiffed the smell of food.

Without much more in mind, Yerin made her way over to the hotdogs and grabbed one for her own before walking directly to the counter. Just as she was about to pay though, another girl went in line together with her.

“You go first,” the girl offered which Yerin accepted with no complaints. She was famished to the extent that civility slipped right out of her mind for a minute. She gave a small smile to the girl and nodded off to pay for her food.

“That will be 550 won.”

Yerin stuffed her hand into her pocket to fish out some cash. She wiggled her fingers inside the tight hollow of her jeans only to realize she hadn’t brought money with her. She feigned a laugh and gave the woman in the counter an apologetic look which she responded with an annoyed expression.

“Could this day get any worse?”

“Include this in the receipt. I’ll pay,” the girl who was behind her said while handing over a dozen cups of ramyun toward the cashier.

Yerin looked at the girl in surprise but stood aside anyway. She has just been blessed by a kind soul. She wasn’t just going to throw the opportunity away.

The girl gave her a sweet smile with her white teeth flashing against the light of the room. It was only then did Yerin see how pretty she was. Her jet-black