~ Kim HyunA ~

JunHyung opens the door to the bakery for Hyuna, and she walks into the shop with her hands clasped in front of her, her eyes already apologetic. BiRain sits at a table, looking across to Chaelin behind the counter. The two seem deep in some kind of serious conversation when Chaelin’s eyes spot Hyuna, and then she stands up and crosses her arms across her chest. “Well, look what we have here!”

“Chaelin unnie,” Hyuna keeps her voice soft, “I’m really sorry!”

“Where have you been?” CL asks as she walks out from the counter, BiRain rising and following by her side. “I waited for you this morning and then just assumed that you left town or something!”

“What? No!” Hyuna shakes her head, “It’s just that…I…”
“Why did you two come in together?” BiRain asks JunHyung, but Chaelin speaks over him.

“You missed work all day! A commitment is a commitment!”

“I understand,” Hyuna hurries to catch up to CL’s pace in speaking, “But something just happened and…”

“What happened?” CL blinks, looking at her and waiting for the answer.

“It turns out that she had too much to drink last night,” JunHyung voices, running his hand through his hair.

“Why did you two come in together?” BiRain asks again, but no one seems to listen to him and JunHyung just shrugs.

“That’s right!” Hyuna states, “I drank too much and I got back last night and just went to bed and slept. I just woke up a little bit ago, took a shower, and then came here. I’m really very sorry, Chaelin unnie!”

Chaelin sighs and looks to BiRain, who glances to her out of the corner of his eyes and he shrugs his shoulders.

“And where’s your shoes? You can’t be in here like that!” CL scolds as she looks to Hyuna’s feet, already getting dirty from the streets.
“Oh, I uh…lost them last night.”

“That drunk huh?” BiRain nods, “I know that feeling.” He turns to JunHyung, “What about you, boy?”

“I ran into her on my way out of my apartment.” JunHyung states.

BiRain smiles and points at his eye. “What happened to your face?”

Hyuna’s eyes widen as she looks to JunHyung.

“Oh my god, JunHyung, what happened to you?” CL cries in concern as she steps forward and takes his face in her hands.

JunHyung laughs and shies away from her touch, taking her hands off of his face gently. “You’ll never believe it.”

“Try me,” BiRain challenges with narrowed eyes.

JunHyung looks to BiRain, and then back to CL. “I was on the bus this morning to go to work and I had to stand and hold the top because of the crowd, and this guy comes up to me and stands beside me. I’m just standing there, bobbing my head to my music like this,” he moves his head up and down as he holds and imaginary loop on the bus, “And this guy grabs my hand and asks me where I’m getting off!”

“Oh my god!” CL exclaims, but BiRain listens without change in his expression.

“So I told him and he just holds my hand the rest of the ride,” JunHyung continues and BiRain scoffs, “And we get off and he pulls me back behind the bus and into a street and just starts hitting me like this!” JunHyung throws a few punches around, “He just kept hitting me and hitting me!”

“You fight back?” Rain asks, finally into the tale.

“Of course!” JunHyung nods and stands up straighter.

Rain laughs and grabs his hand, looking at his knuckles, “Of course you did, kid.”

“Well, I think that’s terrible!” CL says as she steps away and makes her way back to the counter.

“It was,” JunHyung answers as he glances down to Hyuna, who purses her lips in a thin smile.

“Well, Chaelin, it looks like we have to deal with the whole working thing for the week,” BiRain says as he looks to Hyuna.

Hyuna’s eyes widen as she turns to CL.

“What do you mean?” Chaelin asks.

“Well, Hyuna here missed work all day without any word. The agreement was for one week! Looks to me as if she’ll have to stick around until Monday.” His mouth slides up into a crooked smirk and Hyuna narrows her eyes.

“Works for me, but Hyuna, do you have to leave town right after Sunday? Do you have other plans, I mean? Somewhere else.” CL looks to her with sincere, soft eyes.

“Um, no,” Hyuna answers, “I can stay until Monday I guess. A commitment is a commitment and an agreement is an agreement.” She says quietly, nodding her head. “But…the thing is…I don’t think I have a place to stay. I’m actually here to tell you that the motel I’ve been staying at…well, I can’t afford to stay there any longer. So, I was wondering if I could end my work contract here, and if not…” she glances to BiRain, “then I’m going to need a place to stay for the last few days.”

“I was thinking she could stay with you, noona,” JunHyung speaks up.
CL’s eyes open with the statement and she looks to BiRain, “Oh, well I mean…if you need to leave…”

“Now, now,” BiRain starts, “We agreed to a week at least! If not until Monday, then to Sunday is a must! She can stay with you, Chaelin, can’t she?”
“Yes, of course!” CL smiles as she turns to Hyuna, “Would you be comfortable with that? I mean, it’s only for a few days.”

BiRain laughs and pats the top of her head as he goes to sit back down. Hyuna looks to JunHyung who gives her a reassuring smile. She forces one of her own and then walks to CL’s side behind the counter to help with cleaning as JunHyung sits and talks with BiRain.

“I don’t mind, I just don't want to be any trouble for you,” Hyuna smiles shlyly.

“No trouble at all, honey,” CL smiles back.

A feeling of relief washes over Hyuna as she walks behind the counter to CL. A few more days and she could leave the town peacefully and continue with her life.

“Hyuna,” CL says quiet enough only for her to hear as she looks down to the counter that she wipes with a cloth, “I’ve been thinking a lot and I know that you’re backpacking through and probably never really wanted to stay here, but…I don’t want you to think of us as terrible people, forcing you to work here.”

“What? No!” Hyuna’s quick to try to make Chaelin feel better, realizing that she actually feels guilty.

“It’s just that…I mean at first yeah we wanted you to come around to work off the damages but really…there was never any picture of you…and we wouldn’t have told anyone either. But now that we’ve gotten to know you a bit, and you’ve worked really hard, I don’t want to force you to stay. And you don’t have to worry about BiRain, he’s just acting like this because…well, we don’t want to see you leave so soon, you know?” she smiles but doesn’t look up from her work.

Hyuna can feel the warmth and care that seems to come out of Chaelin’s smile and words. These people actually wanted her to stay there with them, but CL was giving Hyuna the option to leave early. Hyuna looks away, trying to think quickly about what to choose when Chaelin continues, “But, I did get you this,” she turns and pulls an envelope out of the bottom of the cash register and hands it to Hyuna, “I was going to give it to you on Sunday, but looking at how you lost your shoes, I think now would be a better time.”

Hyuna tilts her head as she slips open the envelope to find more money than she’s ever held in her life. She gasps and quickly closes the envelope, pushing it back to Chaelin, “I can’t accept this!” she shakes her head.
Chaelin smiles and shakes her head, “No, no, it’s the pay you would have received from a week’s work here. I’m not going to replace those shelves, they were in a terrible spot! And those plates can’t exactly be replaced either. But you…you’ve been a great help to me here! And, although it’s minimum wage, I think you deserve it. You can use it for your motel payments or for clothes or whatever. But even if you decide you want to leave tonight, I want you to take it with you.” Hyuna stares at the envelope in her hand, pulling it tight to her chest, fighting to keep tears from filling her eyes. She looks up to CL, shaking her head but not able to find any words. Chaelin smiles and places a gentle hand on Hyuna’s shoulder. “And if you do leave…well,” she glances to BiRain and JunHyung, who sit and watch from the tables, “Don’t forget about us, will you?” she looks back into Hyuna’s eyes. “If you get to wherever it is you’re going, and you decide that you want to come back…I’ll keep your position here at the bakery open.”

Hyuna’s breathing breaks as she chokes back her tears, hiding with the back of her hand. She tries to smile and nods, searching for her voice. “Thank you,” she croaks.

CL’s eyes begin to trickle with tears as she laughs and pulls Hyuna in for a hug. Feeling CL’s arms hold her, and her tears wet on her shoulder, Hyuna begins to cry with the sensation of love that flows between them. Chaelin really was a true friend to her. They all were, and the thought of leaving them behind suddenly scared and hurt Hyuna more than she would have ever thought.

“Um,” Hyuna’s voice cracks and CL lets her go, “I will come back,” Hyuna nods, glancing to the boys without turning to them to see that they’ve leaned in closer to hear better, “I’ll work off my week until Monday. That was the original agreement, and I promised to it.” She smiles as she holds up her pinky.

CL laughs and nods, but suddenly looks sad. “That’s great to hear and I’m glad you’ve offered, but actually, I’m not sure the bakery will be open next week.” She looks back down to the counter.

“What?” BiRain jumps in, standing and walking to the counter with JunHyung at his side. “Why not?”

“I was thinking of going to visit my sisters in Seoul, so I would shut the shop down for the week. I’m not entirely sure, yet.” CL shrugs.

“You have sisters?” Hyuna asks, swiping away her tears.

“Yeah, three. Two older and one younger.”

“I didn’t know that,” JunHyung adds with a glance to Hyuna, a sparkle in his eyes.

“Well, they all left before you got here, dear. You see, my mother left our father years ago and she went off to Seoul with my youngest sister, Minzy, who I’m closest with. My other sister Dara went to the Philippines to study and my oldest sister Bommie married a man from Busan, so we all kind of split up.”

“And you stayed here,” Hyuna adds, “At the bakery.”
“Yup!” CL smiles, “I stayed here with my father. The bakery was originally named after my mother, but after she left and I stayed behind with him, he changed it to be named after me.”

“How sweet,” Hyuna smiles.
“That’s why you take care of it on your own.” JunHyung nods, finally placing it all together.

“That’s why,” CL tilts her head in pride, “So I don’t know if I can afford to take a week off of work and a ticket to Seoul, but I’m still thinking about it.”

“You’re going to visit your youngest sister and your mother?” Hyuna asks.

“Yes, well, my other sisters will visit the same week. Kind of the first get-together in a year since losing our father.”

“Oh, you should go!” Hyuna encourages.

CL smiles, seeming uncomfortable with the decision, “I’ll think about it!” she nods. “But usually, the bakery stays open from eight in the morning to eight at night, except for Sundays, where I close after noon in order to fill out forms, pay the bills, and do the order forms for the next week. But you caught my store open unusually late last week,” CL bumps Hyuna playfully with her elbow.

Hyuna laughs and nods, remembering the night well.

The rest of the evening is spent at the bakery, laughing, cleaning, and eating the left over pastries from the day. Hyuna feels as if she has grown closer to CL since learning a little more about her personal life. She wonders if she had much to tell the group about her own personal life, but Hyuna shakes her head at the idea. There was no point in establishing more ties with these people when she was leaving in just a few days.

At the end of the night, JunHyung and Hyuna walk towards the door. JunHyung glances to her in confusion. “Where are you going?” he asks her quietly.

“For a walk,” She answers back.

“Leaving together,” BiRain asks quietly, an eyebrow raised.
JunHyung holds the door open for Hyuna, watching BiRain. He smiles, “I’m walking her back to her place. Staying behind?” he glances to CL, sitting at the table with a glass of tea in her hands as she waves goodbye to the group.

BiRain looks to Chaelin and then back to JunHyung. He closes his eyes and nods his head. “Touché.”

JunHyung laughs and says goodnight, shutting the door behind him, but Hyuna is already halfway down the road, and walking past his apartment.

“Hey!” he calls to her, “Where are you going?” he laughs.

“To see BoHoJa!” she calls over her shoulder.

“What?” JunHyung exclaims under his breath as he hurries to catch her side. “No, you’re not going out at night! By the time you come back, it’ll be dark.”

“So what,” Hyuna shrugs, no longer scared to show emotion in her voice.

“So there’s creeps out there, you know that.”

“I’m not scared of them.”

“Don't be ridiculous, it’s too late tonight. You can see him tomorrow, during a work break or something.” JunHyung reaches for Hyuna’s hand, pulling her to a stop.

She yanks her hand free, feeling it tingle at his touch, and stares him in the eyes, “I’m going to see BoHoJa. I want to talk to him. He’s probably missing me.

“He’ll get you back to himself in a few days.” JunHyung answers flatly.

Hyuna shakes her head, “I want to see him now.”

JunHyung sighs and looks away. He takes a minute and then speaks without looking at her, “Then I’m coming with you.”

Hyuna scoffs, “You hate BoHo.”

JunHyung shrugs.
Hyuna laughs as she turns towards the forest, “And he hates you.”

“I know that.” JunHyung mumbles as he follows her. 

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~ LC ~ 

Chapter Six! I want to know what you think so far :)