She’d tried to dial his phone several times during the walk back home, only to be met with a voice telling her he couldn’t be reached. It was as if he’d set out to ruin her day. Like he wanted to her to get in trouble. Because that’s exactly what Eunbi was in for as she stepped up on the porch and grabbed onto the door handle. The girl stood there for several minutes, not caring whether the fifteen minutes were up or not. It didn’t matter since she’d failed to find and bring Sehun along.

Taking a deep breath Eunbi tried her best to prepare for the upcoming horror, an ordeal that were briskly interrupted by the door being slammed in her face. The impact was so strong she staggered back and fell, first, down the steps and landed on the ground. Immediately the girl cupped her face in her hands, horrified to feel liquid run down her nose. “Oh god.” Eunbi watched as her mother came rushing over, a shocked expression on her face, “honey are you okay?” with the high possibility of an injury to her nose, not so much. Something she also declared with a slight tremble in her voice, “no.” she’d never received such a blow to her face before, and it was safe to say Eunbi were upset about the situation. That it hurt like hell didn’t help either. “Mom, do something.” she stared at her mother, freaked out about the blood pooling in the palm of her hands. Just the thought of it made her sick to her stomach. “Alright, let’s get inside.” Eunbi received help to stand up, as both her hands were placed under her chin in an attempt to keep the red liquid from staining her clothes. “Walk slowly now, you don’t need to rush.” and so they began their journey towards the kitchen.

Fifteen minutes later both mother and daughter were seated in the car, and on their way to the hospital. The blood refused to coagulate and her nose had swollen, an ordeal that could point at a broken nose. “I’m really sorry for this hon.” Eunbi said nothing as she looked out the window and the scenery they passed by. All that whilst carefully pressing a tissue against her nose so to not let any blood tarnish the interior of the car. “I don’t understand why you stood right in front of the door though.” she saw in the corner of her eye how her mother gave her a quick glance, almost as if she expected an answer.

But Eunbi couldn’t respond to that either, for her reply would most definitely cause a heated discussion, one she wanted no part in. The older woman wasn’t exactly appreciative of the silence, and would rather have heard her daughter explaining herself. “Okay then.” it became silent after that. None of them said anything and Eunbi felt relieved. At least for a moment, until her mother suddenly started asking about Sehun and what’d happened, “didn’t you hear when he left the house?” she contemplated whether to tell the truth or not. But knowing very well how the questioning would continue if she said she’d heard, Eunbi explained that she hadn’t. “I don’t know. But I find that a bit hard to believe.” maybe because what the girl had said wasn’t true, and that she’d in fact heard him. Luckily the subject wasn’t further elaborated, for the car came to a stop on the hospital’s parking lot. They got out, headed up to the entrance in a slow phase, and then walked over to the emergency.

The waiting room was crammed with people of different ages. From screaming toddlers to napping elders. What caught her attention wasn’t the variety in ages, but rather a male in his late teens. He looked distressed and would glance down on his right arm once in awhile. Eunbi couldn’t spot any wounds or bruises though. “Honey you’re dripping blood on the floor.” she reacted immediately upon hearing her mother’s upset voice, and pressed the tissue harder against the skin, a low yelp escaping her lips as the pain increased. It hurt real bad. “Be more careful.” Eunbi lowered her head, almost as if to apologize for losing focus and staining the floor. The real reason however, wasn’t due to her being sorry. But rather out of embarrassment.

“Seo Eunbi.” the said girl glanced up at the mentioning of her name, and thereby met eyes with a doctor. “Come this way.” said and done, she followed after the woman. They came to a stop farther down the corridor and the doctor spoke again, “wait in here.” Eunbi nodded, stepped inside and sat down on a chair, careful to not spill any blood. “I’ll be right back, I’m just going to buy something to drink.” with that her mother disappeared as well, leaving the girl to fend for herself. Not that Eunbi cared, not really. All she wanted was to get her nose checked out, and the older woman weren’t required to be present for that. Though, she’d preferred if her mother was around, you know, in case it hurt too much and she needed someone to hold her hand. But being sixteen, soon seventeen, she was bound to start taking care of doctors appointments herself.

The doctor returned before her mother, and thus started the check up on her injury.

Eunbi was mighty relieved when her nose didn’t end up being broken like she’d first thought. It’d only suffered a severe blow and that’d been the reason for the blood not wanting to coagulate. So, as to stop it, the doctor put an ice pack on top of her nose, before then moving over to a certain plaster Eunbi would have to wear on the bridge of her nose. “I’m going to put this on. It’ll help stabilize the bone structure and make it less painful.” scared it would hurt, the girl braced for the pain, her eyelids closed and teeth clenching hard against each other. And true that. Several swear words echoed in her head as the plaster was put into place. The pain were stronger than anything she’d ever felt since she was seven and scraped up knees, hands and elbows after falling off her bike. “There. It’s all done.” Eunbi blinked her eyelids open, glad to have it done. “I’d wait at least four- five days before taking it off.” another reason to skip school for a week. Really, she wasn’t going to show up there looking like that. It would only add fuel to the teasing.

Once finished, Eunbi thanked, said goodbye, and left. Her mother stood on the other side of the door, waiting. “What did the doctor say?” if you’d been there you would’ve known. She didn’t say that of course. “That I’m not supposed to take this off for a week.” Eunbi pointed at her face and the white plaster on her nose. “I guess it’s a good thing you’re taking care of Sehun this week then.” the girl frowned at her mother’s words as they made their way back to the car. She was fed up by the responsibility of having to take care of him. It wasn’t her job to look after Sehun. She shouldn’t even have to attend to him, for they weren’t relatives, nor was he a friend or her boyfriend. He was someone who’d been forced into her life without her approval.

“Mom. I don’t want to babysit him anymore.” Eunbi could list several pointers as to why she no longer wanted to take care of a spoiled brat. She was, instead of given the chance to explain the reasons, cut short, “we’ve already talked about this. Your stepfather and I have work, and as far as I’m concerned, Luhan and Sehun don’t work too well together.” yeah, she’d seen that alright. Still. She’d never actually agreed on anything regarding the babysitting, and it was downright unfair to say the least. “Mom. He’s mean.” Eunbi knew she sounded like a complaining child. But what else was the girl supposed to do? No one would listen to a word she said, especially when it came to her two step-brothers, who seemed to have some sort of immunity at home. They were both excluded from housework, none of the two helped out. Eunbi couldn’t even remember seeing them doing any work at all.

“Don’t be like that now. It’s only three days left.” seventy two hours of anything. For that’s exactly what the girl was expecting, for anything were possible when it came to Sehun. “It’s so unfair. Why must I suffer for something he did?” she sulked as she got into the car and slammed the door shut, her mother following soon after, “fine. But that means school for you tomorrow.” no way. Never. Eunbi wouldn’t show herself in front of her classmates with a messed up nose. She wasn’t going to step out of the house before it’d healed completely, and made that pretty clear, “no. I’m staying home until my nose is fine.” it was definite. There wouldn’t be any negotiation regarding that matter. “Staying home equals taking care of Sehun. And that’s end of discussion.”

Eunbi scoffed as they turned into the driveway and she spotted Sehun sitting on the porch. He’d obviously not brought his keys with him earlier. And to be honest, it was a bit nice to see that not everything went his way. “Unlock the door.” rude as always. “Don’t bother. I’ll talk to him.” her mother interrupted right before Eunbi stepped out of the vehicle. The girl stared at him once she’d made her way over, for she wouldn’t have injured herself if it hadn’t been for him and his stupid escape. Not that he cared. Sehun didn’t even bother to ask what’d happened, and instead repeated his demand to open the door. “No. I’m not in the mood so you’ll have to wait for my mother.” she was pushing his buttons in an attempt to get him further irritated. Anything that caused him distress was a victory for Eunbi, especially after everything he’d done to her. “Open.” he stood up, the action so sudden she took a step back. “I said, open.” did he really think she were going to listen to him?

“Why can’t you two get along with each other?” her mother appeared, gave them both a disapproving look, and then moved over to unlock the door. The older woman turned towards Sehun before letting the kids inside, “I want to talk to you.” he wasn’t exactly happy, but decided to stay and listen either way. A feat he regretted almost instantly. “I think you owe Eunbi an apology.” the said girl could barely believe her ears. That her mother sided with her was something that’d never happened before. At least not in their new household. And it would be an understatement if she said she wasn’t surprised. Sehun however, refused. He weren’t going to say sorry. Not when he hadn’t done anything wrong. “Don’t think so.” he saw no fault in whatever he’d done, and were therefore not apologizing. “Sehun. We’ve all agreed you should stay home until your bruises healed.” false. They’d decided that. Not him. He wasn’t even allowed to voice his opinion on the matter. Frowning he spoke, “I won’t apologize.” he left both mother and daughter flabbergasted.

Eunbi headed up the stairs and after the male, upset by how he treated her mother. “Yah.” latching onto his arm she forced him to stop. Sehun spun around to face the younger girl just as she spoke, “aren’t you going too far?” it was his turn to scoff, “me? Hardly.” he gritted his teeth though, when she tighten her grip, almost to the point where it started to hurt. “Let go.” Eunbi acted as if she didn’t hear him, and instead pressed her nails into the soft skin of his arm. The shock came a second later when she felt her back slam against the wall, her head colliding with the hard surface as well. Raw, unforgiving pain rushed through her veins as a result.

“When will you ever understand -” he paused, and she flinched as he added, “that I hate you and your mother.”