The next couple days were pretty chill. I spent another two days in the hospital since I kept continuously throwing up, but once everything calmed down inside me and the doctors gave the okay, I was up and out of that building faster than a player would go through girls. Leeteuk and I weren’t on speaking terms at the moment, seeing as how I was still unbelievably pissed at him and he was utterly terrified of pissing me off anymore than I already was. I think Donghae suspected that something else went down that night at the club, something that I wouldn’t tell everybody else, but he was a smart boy and didn’t question anything about it. Siwon, on the other hand, stayed true to his word. He never once left my side. When I was at the hospital, he was there, too. When I went to the bathroom, he was waiting outside the door. When I was sleeping, he’d be there watching over me. You have no idea how many of his schedules he’s put on hold because of me and it’s starting to piss off both me and their manager. Granted, I kinda deserved it since I scared him so badly with the whole alcohol poisoning spiel, but damn! I freaking needed my space, ya’ know? And I definitely wasn’t getting any of it, not with him constantly breathing down my neck every second of the day.

“Uki, guess what today is~” Siwon sang in an evil-tinted voice one morning as he came bounding into my room.

I groggily opened my eyes to look at my alarm clock to see an 8:49 flashing before my eyes. “Ugh! What the do you want, Siwon?! It’s freaking eight in the morning!”

“Yah! Don’t speak to me in that tone of voice, young lady! Now get up! You’re gonna be late for this very special day!” he exclaimed, sounding just a bit too excited about something that I did not care too much for. Well, granted I didn’t know what the hell he was talking about, but I obviously didn’t care too much for it if it caused me to be awake before the sun was up. [Yes, I know the sun rises at, like, six in the morning, but shh. You’re ruining my argument here.]

“Today is ‘Leave Uki the Hell Alone so She Can Sleep Day,’ isn’t it?” I asked, pulling the covers over my head and turning my back toward him.

“No, silly! It’s Sunday!” he exclaimed excitedly, effortlessly ripping the blanket off me.

“Yah! Choi Siwon! Give me my blanket back!” I yelled, jumping up and reaching for the blanket.

“Ah, ah, ah,” he said, wadding the blanket up and holding it above his head.

I glared at him for a moment, silently cursing him for stealing all the height genes in the family. “What’s so special about today, anyway?! It’s just like any other Sunday! Now give me back my blanket and let me sleep!”

“‘Just like any other Sunday?!’” he echoed. “I’m afraid not, baby sister of mine! Today is Sunday! As in, the first time you’ll step foot in a church in over eight years!”

My heart sunk when the realization finally hit me. Oh , I’m going to church today. I completely forgot that this was one of his punishments! I almost started crying when I realized that I’d actually have to go to church and actually have to sit through an hour-long sermon. Aish! Just like Siwon said, I haven’t been to church in over eight years now! What am I gonna do?! I’ll feel so outta place! >[]<”

“Siwon, please, can I—”

“No,” he blatantly interrupted. “Now go get showered and ready to go. We’re leaving at nine thirty sharp.”

“So does that mean if I’m past nine thirty I won’t have to go?” I asked excitedly.

“No, that means that if you’re past nine thirty, I’ll get Alex to go in there and drag you out and you’ll go to church fresh outta the shower,” he responded simply.

I groaned in annoyance, reluctantly hopping off the bed and grabbing a clean set of clothes from my closet. I ignored Siwon’s victorious smirk as I made my way to the bathroom. Shutting the door with a snap, I stared at my reflection in the mirror, narrowing my eyes slightly and puffing my cheeks out. Maybe if I make myself look like a ridiculous emo-rocker chick, Siwon will be so embarrassed by me that he won’t ever drag me there again. Hahaha! I can just imagine it now. Black tutu with lacy stockings, black corset, dark purple lipstick, intense eyeliner and eye shadow effects, some black swirls and stars at the corner of one of my eyes, big, poofy hair, black nail polish, black high heels, chained necklaces. Gah, I love the idea already! ^^

But I already knew that if I did that, Siwon would seriously murder me ten times over. He took church seriously, and I was deathly terrified of crossing paths with the heavenly saint. -__-

Sighing in defeat and acceptance, I the water and stripped out of my clothes. Turning to make sure that the door was locked, I stepped into the shower and quickly did what I had to do. After about fifteen minutes, I rinsed the final traces of the Suave shampoo out of my hair and shut the water off, wringing my hair to be rid of the excess water. I pulled the curtain back, reaching out toward the towel rack and grabbed my towel, wrapping it around my body. I grabbed another towel and wrapped my hair up in that one. Sighing once more, I wiped the foggy mirror, creating a clear streak and enabling myself to see my reflection once more. Gosh, how I wish I didn’t have to go to church. Why, oh why must my dear brother torture me so? I pouted to myself, quickly getting dressed in the modest blouse and mid-thigh length skirt. I hung the damp towel back on the towel rack and turned toward the door, unlocking it and walking toward my room.

I stopped short, however, when I saw Alex wearing something similar to me, just with a longer skirt. I eyed her for a moment, blinking in confusion. Is she…?

“Yes, I’m going to church with you. Now hurry up! We all know how long it takes you to put your makeup on, and it’s nine twenty! You have ten minutes, and if you’re not done by then, I’ll have Donghae go in and drag you to the van, even if your makeup isn’t finished, do you understand me?” she asked.

“Rawr. Pu-shy,” I replied with a slight laugh.

“Ugh, whatever. Just hurry up,” Alex responded, rolling her eyes and walking past me toward the kitchen.

Aish. I headed inside my room, laying the towel that I had wrapped my hair with carefully on the back of my computer chair. Deciding that I didn’t wanna do anything special—hello! It’s only church after all!—I quickly pulled my hair up into an elegant bun, my bangs sweeping effortlessly across my forehead. I applied a thin layer of eyeliner to the bottom of my eye, swiped on some mascara, and put on my Chapstick. Straightening my blouse slightly, I grabbed my white clutch, double checking to see that my phone and wallet were in there, and headed out. Ha! What now, Alex?! I just totally proved you wrong! Got done in five minutes, max.

“Uki Seohae Choi!” a shrill voice suddenly screamed, making me jump just as I came into view of the living rom.

Everyone was sitting there, all dressed in nice slacks and a button-up—well, all except for Heechul, that is [lucky bastard]—shirt, turned around to look at me expectantly. Donghae smiled gently at me, while Leeteuk refused to meet my gaze. Yeah, you better look away, you douche. I kept scanning the room, however, for the shrill voice that had screamed my name earlier. It was a female’s voice, but I know that it couldn’t have been Alex. Then who—

“OW!” I screamed, my hand instantly going to my stinging upper arm. I turned to my right to see who my attacker was and my eyes instantly widened. “U-umma?”

“How dare you?!” she screamed, raising her purse and hitting me on the arm again. “Do you know how worried I was when I got a call from Siwon saying that you were in the hospital with alcohol poisoning?! Do you want your mother to die, huh?! Is that what you want?! You want me to die?! Answer me, damn it!”

“Umma, stop hitting me!” I yelled, trying and epically failing at stopping her attacks. Who knew that an old woman—although she wasn’t old, old—such as herself could inflict so much pain using a damn purse?!

“NO! GIVE ME ONE GOOD REASON AS TO WHY I SHOULD STOP HITTING YOU! YOU UNGRATEFUL LITTLE BRAT! ALL WE’VE EVER DONE FOR YOU, AND THIS IS WHAT YOU CHOOSE?! YOU CHOOSE TO DIE BY ALCOHOL POISONING?! AFTER ALL THAT YOU’VE BEEN THROUGH, ALL THAT YOU’VE FACED, ALL THAT YOU’VE OVERCOMED, YOU CHOOSE TO LET ALCOHOL BE THE THING TO KILL YOU?! ARE YOU STUPID?!” she continued screaming, her hits becoming more and more painful with every time she swung her heavy purse.

“UMMA! IT WASN’T MY FAULT!” I accidentally screamed, causing her to pause for a moment.

Oh .

Her eyes blazed once more, her purse already swinging into motion again. “You horrible little liar! Not your fault? Not your fault?! The only other person in that club with you was Leeteuk! And don’t you dare try to pin this on him, ‘cause I know for a damn fact that he didn’t force that alcohol down your throat! You know, I was never okay with you drinking. I tolerated it. I kept silent about it. I overlooked it. But it’s obvious to me now that I shoulda beat the living daylights out of you the moment you had the audacity to take a shot in front of me! YOU ARE NEVER TO GO ANYWHERE NEAR ANOTHER BOTTLE OF ALCOHOL AGAIN, DO YOU UNDERSTAND ME, UKI SEOHAE CHOI?!”

“UMMA!” I screamed, grabbing her by the shoulders and shaking her slightly. When she calmed down enough for me to speak, I defended myself by saying, “Yes, I admit that Leeteuk didn’t force that alcohol down my throat. And yes, I admit that if Leeteuk weren’t there, I probably would have died. But the thing is? I’m not dead. I’m still standing here in front of you, very much alive, and everything is just fine.”

“How can you even begin to say that?!” she screamed, hitting me once more. “You nearly died, Uki! Died! I can’t believe you would do sucha thing like this to me! I can’t believe you’d wanna kill your poor mother!”

“AISH! OUT OF THE FIVE YEARS I’VE BEEN DRINKING, THIS IS THE FIRST TIME I’VE EVER BEEN IN THE HOSPITAL FOR IT!” I screamed, mentally kicking myself the moment the words tumbled out of my mouth. ! Why can’t I ever just keep my mouth shut!

My mom’s eyes widened, as she faltered back a step or two.

“Umma, I know what you’re thinking,” I said slowly, walking toward her with my hands outstretched in an attempt to reach out to her reason, “but it’s not that bad. So yes, I’ve been drinking since I was fourteen, but I was under alotta stress back then! Between SM and YG and school and scholarships and violin and dance and piano and living up to all of your expectations, I needed some sort of escape, and Patrón gave that to me! I’m sorry I lied to you umma, but look at me now! I turned out just fine!”

“You disgusting little girl. You filthy little liar. Who are you?! Who the hell are you, ‘cause you’re surely not my daughter!” she spat.

“Excuse me?! At least I wasn’t going off and having with random strangers like some other girls! I was drinking because of what you put me through!” I screamed.

“YOU MIGHT AS WELL HAVE BEEN HAVING WITH RANDOM STRANGERS! IT WAS ALMOST AS BAD AS YOU GETTING BEATEN EVERY DAY BY TROY!”

That’s when the room fell deathly silent. At first, everyone was whispering amongst themselves while me and my mom were arguing, but the moment those words left , no body dared utter a word. They all stared uncertainly at me, obviously scared that I might blow up at any second. Instead of exploding like the ticking time bomb I felt like right now, I took deep, angry breaths. She knew…?

“Do you mean to tell me,” I began slowly, angrily, “that all this time, you knew about Troy abusing me every day for almost a year straight?”

“Of course I knew. And he knew I knew, which was why I couldn’t do anything about it. Do you know how many times I nearly killed myself thinking about you going through so much pain? Do you know how many sleepless nights I endured because I was so busy worrying about you? Do you know how many times I questioned myself as a mother because I couldn’t do a damned thing about it? He warned me. He warned me ahead of time that he’d slit your throat in your sleep if I dared breathe a word to anybody about it. I’m happy he saved you and all, but… Good riddance.”

That did it.

That was the last straw.

I immediately pulled my arms back to my side and marched toward the door.

“I’ll be waiting in the van,” I muttered coldly before slamming the door as loudly as I could.

~~~~

The ride to church was unbelievably awkward.

I sat facing toward the window, my arms crossed, my jaw set, refusing to look at anybody else. What made things worse was the fact that she was in the car with us. I can’t believe her. She was almost as bad as my freaking sister! No wonder. Mother and daughter, exactly alike! My family is so annoying. -__- Hitting me until my arms turned purple and yelling at me until my ears were ringing was one thing, but revealing to me that she knew about Troy’s abuse was an entirely different thing. Do you know how long I’d been waiting for someone to figure it all out? Someone to piece things together and tell me that they were there to help? But no. I had to keep my mouth shut to not only save myself, but to save them as well. They kept their mouths shut simply because they wanted to.

When we finally got there, I got out and headed toward the doors, not bothering to wait for anybody else. Okay, let’s just go find a seat and get this thing over with already. Remembering that nobody ever wanted to sit in the front, I marched right up to the very front pew and sat myself down, crossing my arms in irritation. Damn it. I just realized that when I’m sitting up here, I can’t sleep. Aish.

It took freaking ten minutes for everyone to file in and sit their annoying asses down, and when they finally did, they began with a prayer. Stubbornly, I remained seated the way I was when I first came in, my arms crossed, refusing to participate in the prayer. You see, church is not my thing and I gave up this whole faith freaking eight years ago. There’s a reason why I hadn’t set foot in a building like this for so long. I silently waited for everyone to finish. That’s when I noticed that nobody else was sitting next to me on this pew. It was as if they all sensed my cold aura and immediately veered away from me. Eh. It’s not as if I wanted anybody sitting next to me anyways. People freaking annoy the hell outta me.

As the pastor finished the group prayer with “Amen”, everyone raised their heads and straightened themselves, listening to his preaching. I sighed, already bored. “God is to be thanked…” “God is the one who is there for you…” “God is there to carry you every step of the way…”

Blah, blah, blah, blah, freaking blah. I could care less about all this. Please, just let me leave already.

Next thing I know, I opened my eyes to see Siwon glaring down at me. Huh?

“If you were gonna sleep, you could have at least chosen a pew in the back,” he said in a disappointed tone.

I sighed, sitting up straight and stretching. Looking around, I realized that the room was empty. I slept through the entire sermon? Aish.

“I’m sorry, Siwon, I really am,” I said, giving him a sincerely apologetic look. “I didn’t mean to, it’s just—”

“It’s alright,” he interrupted with a smile. “I got you here, didn’t I? I consider that progress. Now c’mon. I’ve got something that might take your mind off some things. How ‘bout coming to hang with us today? We’ve got schedules for a benefit concert, but umma and appa went home already, so no one’s there to hit you or yell at you.”

“The last time I went to something like that, I ended up kidnapped,” I responded, standing up slowly and walking toward the door beside him.

He slung his arm around my shoulders, hugging me slightly with a smile on his face. “Don’t worry. I’ll be there to watch over you, remember? And besides. This one is here in Seoul, and it’ll be fun. Everyone will be there, including Big Bang~”

“I see them every day,” I responded laughingly, rolling my eyes at him.

“Hmm… MBLAQ?”

“Sold! Lee Joon, here I come!”

You know what makes me even more sad than readers that don't comment? Readers that unsubscribe< / 3

-Sigh-

But anyways, I managed to update in the midst of my epically failed studying. xD Yeah, so I epically failed my chemistry test today, I already know. And I'm pretty sure I'm gonna fail my history test tomorrow. And my solo isn't up to performance level and my ensemble isn't up to performing level and competition is Saturday< / 3 Boooooooo~

Anyhow, just wanted to let you all know what was happening. :3

Aish, Uki's mom is a little mean. xD Kekeke~

Oh, and anticipate Uki meeting some new bands in the next chapter. >;D

Dude! That is the most legit church I've ever seen! xD