chapter 2 is up~

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"In the end, the coach can't do what the boss did that day." Umji said.

"Unbelievable. And I figured out, there are only two reasons." said SinB.

"One, the boss was lucky that day, second our coach is lousy." Yuju answered.

"Guys, can we change the topic? No more snooker please." Eunha pleaded.

"Eunha, can you lend me your cellphone? My battery is dead, and I need to call and ask what time Leisure Cue opens." SinB said as she opened Eunha's phone.

"Don't bother, their opening hours is 2pm - 12am daily." said Eunha as she took a sip from her drink.

"How do you know? Oh wait, who is this person on your wallpaper, she looks so familiar..." said SinB as Umji and Yuju gathered beside her to see who it is.

"Ah! The snooker lounge boss!" Yuju said.

"Why do you have this picture in your cellphone?" Umji asked.

"I..." but as Eunha tried to explain, Yuju cut in and said, "You went to Leisure Cue yesterday..."

"I just wanted to thank her in person but I went too early yesterday." said Eunha.

"Great! We will go after school, you can thank her for all you want and we can get her to teach us some skills." SinB said and smiled.

"...but there is a test tomorrow." Eunha realised that whatever she said is meaningless when there is only snooker in her three friends' eyes.

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"My parents are coming back today, three of you will get me killed." said Eunha.

"Come on, your house is just somewhere here. I'm sure your parents wouldn't mind if they know you are at a snooker lounge." SinB said as she pressed for the lift.

"They want me to play snooker, but not here." Eunha said knowing that she just can't change the fact that they are already outside Leisure Cue.

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"Table 8 again?" Namjoo asked.

"Yes, but actually we are looking for the boss." said Umji.

"She went to the airport to fetch a friend who came back earlier than expected. Is there anything you want from her?" Namjoo asked as she took out the snooker balls and cue chalk.

"We wanted to learn from her." SinB explained.

"Oh, but I don't think it’s easy to get her to teach, but I can help. Good enough to get you guys going." said Namjoo.

"Count me out. I wanted to thank the boss but since she is not here, I think I will just hang around in the mall while you teach them." Eunha said and left the lounge.

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"Actually there is nothing to do here." Eunha said to herself knowing that there are only entertainment facilities in this shopping mall. In the end, she decided to sit at one of the tables opposite the lounge to study for tomorrow's test.

"I can't believe I am actually studying here, listening to the snooker balls hitting each other." Eunha sighed as she took out her books to study.

"I didn't know there is a study corner in this shopping mall." Eunha turned around to see the snooker lounge boss folding her arms looking at her.

The boss sat into one of the seats at the table and took a glance at what Eunha is studying, "You are really a nerd."

As much as Eunha is shocked by the close proximity between her and the boss, she still managed to open and speak, "I came here to thank you for helping me that day. But just now you weren't around, so I decided to sit and study while my friends are playing inside."

"Firstly, you don't have to thank me, I'm just itching for a game. Secondly, you don't have to explain so much, I don't own this area, you can do anything you want here." The boss said.

"Yes... boss." said Eunha.

"Are you working for me?" The boss asked.

"Huh? No?" Eunha replied looking confused.

"If you are not working for me, then you don't have to call me boss. My name is Sowon." the boss said.

"Sowon... I’m Eunha." said Eunha.

"A pretty name for a nerd." Sowon laughed and asked, "I have a friend waiting for me inside, so are you coming in?"

"It's okay, please let my friends know that I am leaving first." Eunha said.

"Alright, bye." said Sowon and walked off.

"Sowon..." Eunha said to herself as she packed her bag to leave.

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"Hey Sowon! How can you leave me alone and flirt with someone else!" Sowon heard a voice shouting at her the moment she stepped into the lounge.

"Please don't sound like as you are my girlfriend." Sowon said as she sat down to join the group at the bar counter.

"Tell us more about your competition." Yerin asked.

"I came back with a trophy this time." Nayoung said. “I got a silver, just because I sent my cue ball into the pocket for the last round."

"Only silver? I wonder if teacher regret letting you to play snooker instead of putting you in school." said Sowon.

"Well, doesn't matter if we hold high qualifications or not, we are still unwanted kids." Nayoung said.

"Let's don't talk about this anymore, so Sowon, what were you doing outside just now?"

"Flirting with a nerd, what else?" Nayoung answered.

"Eunha?" Yerin asked.

"I just find her funny." Sowon replied.

"Sowon, you had like 15 ex-girlfriends, and none of them is your true love. What about trying on this nerd?"

"Plus she just saved the nerd from the gang that day." said Yerin.

"Didn't I say try not to step on their tails?" Nayoung said with a sudden serious tone change.

"It's just a game. No worries. Nothing will happen." Sowon said as she lit up a cigarette to smoke.

"We didn't stop you from smoking, but you should know about your heart condition. We don't have to remind you, right?" Yerin said.

"Hey, don't control my life. I'm perfectly fine. My parents who gave me away to the orphanage died earlier than me. That proves that I deserved to live." said Sowon and left everyone quiet because they know that comparing to Sowon, they grew up without knowing their family background but Sowon witnessed how she was being given away by her parents.

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"Namjoo, thanks for teaching us just now, is the price same as last week?" SinB said after their game.

"Yeah, just leave the money and stuffs on the counter." Namjoo said.

"Your friend told me to inform three of you that she is going home first." Sowon said as she took another puff from the cigarette.

"Must be her parents again. Okay, thanks anyway!" Yuju said and the three of them left the lounge.

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Eunha reached home to see her parents sitting at the living room and her mom looks very angry.

"Eunha, do you know that your dad and I have been waiting for you the whole afternoon? Where have you been to?" Eunha's mom said.

"Dear, hear out her explanation first." Eunha's dad said to her mom. Eunha is glad that even though her dad always force her to learn snooker but he is always standing on her side when her mom starts to scold her.

"I was studying at the shopping mall just now, because my friends dragged me to the snooker lounge." Eunha confessed honestly.

"Stop hanging out with your friends, you should hang out more with Tzuyu, she is doing pretty well in her studies. And Eunha, we didn't make you play snooker because we thought you will be a well-behaved girl but you just disappointed me today." said Eunha's mom as she shook her head.

"What wrong did I do this time round? I studied hard, I aimed for what I could, and is second position not enough?" said Eunha as tears start to form in her eyes.

"Dear, stop scolding her. She is trying her best already." Eunha's dad tried to stop the quarreling between his wife and daughter but to no avail.

"I don't understand. Both of us is inside this snooker business, and we have a daughter who hates snooker. I just can't believe that I have a daughter like you." Eunha's mom said and caused Eunha's tears to start flowing non-stop.

"Maybe I am not." said Eunha, as she turns back to the door and ran out of the house.

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Eunha ran down the street not knowing where she is going to go and what made her even more upset is, she has no one to turn to when her family gives her problems. SinB, Umji and Yuju will always tell her to start playing snooker to please her parents but they will never understand how much Eunha hates snooker. And as soon as she got tired from running, she finally stopped to catch a breath outside the shopping mall.

"Drink. I need to drink to forget everything." Eunha said to herself as she dashed in the shopping mall and headed for Leisure Cue. Within a short span of time, she found herself sitting infront of the bar counter.

"Eunha, is there anything you want?" Yerin asked looking shocked to see Eunha at this late hour.

"Give me any hard liquor you have here." Eunha said.

"Huh? Hard Liquor?" Yerin asked again.

"I have the money to pay." Eunha said and dumped a stack of notes infront of Yerin.

"I am not trying to say that you can't afford, but we have 100 over kinds of liquor here, can you be more specific?" Yerin asked.

"Just give me something that can make me drunk and forget about today." Eunha said with her tears still flowing down her face.

"Oh, okay..." Yerin shrugged and turned back to make the drink.

"Just give her a cup of strawberry milk." A voice came from nowhere.

"But Sowon, she..." before Yerin can finish her sentence, Sowon said, "We don't sell drinks to people who just want to get drunk."

"You are taking away my last resort to solve my problems." Eunha said as Yerin placed a cup of strawberry milk infront of her.

"When you have problem, you talk, you don't drink." Sowon said as she took out a cigarette and lit up.

"Talk to who? Talk to SinB? Yuju? Umji? People who play snooker when my problem starts from snooker?" Eunha said and wiped her tears away.

"Then so sorry, this is not a counseling center, but you can try talking to yourself." Sowon said and Yerin threw her a glance to remind her not to be so mean to Eunha but was ignored.

"Give me a cup of strawberry milk too." Sowon said as she continued to smoke.

"My parents always force me to play snooker to the extent that my mom thinks that I am nothing like what she expects from her daughter." Eunha said and as she looked up, Yerin is busy wiping glasses and Sowon is drinking her strawberry milk, looking elsewhere. She realised its really comfortable to speak out this way and she continued, "I would love snooker if it's a family activity, but ever since I was young, my parents deal with snooker more than me. I hate snooker for taking away my parents' love for me. Sometimes, I even wonder, am I really their daughter?"

"Sowon, closing time." Namjoo whispered to Sowon.

"You guys do the closing today, I am sending her home." Sowon whispered back.

"Finish your milk, my lounge is closing soon." Sowon said to Eunha.

"Take the money." Eunha said to Yerin pointing at the stack of notes.

"Oh, it's actually free. Because our bar don't sell milk, that milk belongs to Sowon." Yerin said and pushed back the notes to Eunha.

"It's getting late and I don't think it will be safe for a girl like you to walk home alone. I'll send you back." Sowon said.

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"Where do you live at?" Eunha tried to start a conversation while they are walking.

"Somewhere further from here. I need an hour to get home by car." Sowon replied.

"Then, why are you walking me home?" Eunha asked.

"I finally understood why they say nerds ask a lot. I don't want to drive you home, because you need some fresh air, I can walk back and get my car later." said Sowon

"You’re just the same age as me, but you already have a lounge and car. Don't you study?" Eunha asked.

"Books are not for me, and stop asking so many questions." Sowon said and they both kept quiet until they reached Eunha's house gate.

"Here is my place. Thank you." Eunha said.

"I just felt like walking around today, you don't have to thank me." Sowon said and walked off.

"I don't know why, but I think I felt better compared to just now." Eunha said to herself as she went into her house.

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"We thought we are going to stay here for a night." Namjoo complained.

"Done with closing? And where is Nayoung?" Sowon asked.

"She went home first and we are just waiting for you to send us home. Anyway, is Eunha feeling better now?" Nayoung asked.

"Guess so. There is nothing we can do if she is still sad." Sowon said as she picked up her car keys from the counter.

"But isn't it rare for you to share her precious strawberry milk?" Namjoo teased.

"Plus, Sowon's favourite beverage is strawberry milk, has been a secret!" Yerin added.

"Both of you just shut up. Milk will help her to rest better and forget about everything without getting hangover the next day." Sowon said.

"Alright, boss." Namjoo said and chuckled as she locked the door.