Haerin punches Nara’s arm.  “Why’d you run away and why are you still running away? It’s been a two weeks,” She scans the shelves around her as she makes her way through one of the grocery store’s aisles.

“Who, me? Running away?” Nara raises her eyebrows in surprise, munching at her apple for breakfast.  “I have stuff to do, too, you know,”

“Uh-huh,” Haerin nods, judging the girl with her eyes.  “What exactly is that, sweetie?”

Nara pulls her arm back, as if readying herself to throw the apple at Haerin’s head and screams through her teeth when her friend doesn’t even flinch.  “I’m just not ready to face him,”

“Yeah? When are you going to be ready?”

“I don’t know, don’t make me think about it,”

“More running away, yay,”

“Shhh!”

“Don’t you shush me, woman,”

“Hell, don’t you ‘when are you going to be ready’ me, woman,”

“You’re losing this,”

“Am not,”

“Are too,”

“Am not!”

“Get some more veggies if you want me to cook dinner,”

“You’re paying, right?”

“You wanna pay? Go ahead and be my gue—“

“Okay, getting some veggies right now,”

Haerin chuckles to herself at Nara’s personality.  She should really consider being a psychologist, if this goes on.  Ever since Nara moved in with her because she could no longer pay her rent (remembering that she quit her ‘job’ and hadn’t gotten another one yet), Haerin realises how she had started seeing her as a sister.  She started noticing her behaviour and took notes of her personality, which is why she could say things that shake Nara continuously but still manage to keep her from running away from the house.  It must be frustrating for her, she thinks.  But if it will do her good, then so be it.

“Here’s your veg—why are you smiling?” Nara comes back with a handful of spinaches and carrots.

“Nothing, nothing, ooh, nothing at all,” Haerin smiles up at her and pats her head.  “Good job on the veggies.  Do you want anything else? If not, let’s go swipe our card,”

 

Nara took a liking to Yunjae, too.  He’s nicest boy alive—okay, Haerin being biased as his sister—and they get along really, really well.  She even learnt how to do the laundries from him.  

‘Don’t you ever do your own laundries?’ Yunjae had asked.

“I never do.  I just send them all to dry cleaning,” Nara grins down at him.

‘No wonder you have no money left, noona,’

Nara gasps, faking an insulted expression.  “Haerin! Your brother! Oh, I can’t take him!”

And she even asked Haerin if she could make a move on Yunjae.

Haerin had gaped at her and scoffed.  “God, are you fuc—“

“Forget I said that, kidding, it was a joke, a joke,” And she ran away.

 

The house—or place— had been livelier since she moved in.  Maybe that was how she charmed guys so quickly and get them to bed.  She’s a gutsy, clever-speaking woman that’s straightforward and gets along really easily with strangers.  When she’s not sleeping with them, she pulls them in with her charm without even trying.  She’s a very pleasant person to be around and Haerin could imagine seeing her and Kyungsoo; the blatant girlfriend and the sweet boyfriend.

 

The moment she and Nara gets home, Yunjae comes trotting to them with Haerin’s phone in her hand.  

‘Someone called, twice,’ He said.  ‘Left a message to call back by 5:00PM,’

Haerin glances at the number and realizes that it was one of the big agencies they applied to as a trial-and-error kind of thing.  Nara’s eyeballs almost popped out of her socket when she notices it as well.  They both look at the time and fumbled with the phone so much they dropped it multiple times before they could properly dial the number.

It was 4:55 PM.

“Hello?” Haerin calls out when the other side picks up.  “Hello, this is Lee Nara’s manager, you told me to call back before 5?”

‘Ah, that’s correct…?’

“Haerin, Son Haerin,”

‘Haerin-ssi.  We were thinking about scheduling an interview for Nara.  Good thing you called.  There was another noob we were interested in,’

“Oh, I’m glad to hear that! Nara will be thrilled! We can go anytime, anywhere,”

‘Over at our office at the 10th?’

“Done,”

‘We’ll see you then,’

 

When the man hangs up, Haerin and Nara shrieks in delight so loudly, Yunjae jumped out of his seat.  

“We have to coordinate your outfit!”

“Oh God, I don’t think I have a dress for these kinds of occasions! Why don’t we splurge and—“

“I have lots of dresses and we’re the same size, we are not buying anything,”

“But clutch, I need a clutch to—“

“I have clutches.  Heels and make-up too,”

“So we’re not going to the salon to—“

“I have it all figured out, no money spent,”

“But—“

“Nara,”

“Okay,”

Haerin throws her a v-sign and a grin before setting down the groceries to start unpacking.  “I can’t wait to see you work,” She excitedly passes Nara the stuff from the paper bag.  “You still wanna do school?”

“No, I’ll quit,” Nara says.  “Can’t do well, anyways.  Might as well focus on work and make lots and lots and lots and loooots of money,”

“I knew you’d say that,” Haerin chuckles.  “Good choice.  Treat me to food, often, ‘kay? And clean up your apartment well, Nara.  Get rid of all of those—“

“Yes, I know,” Nara laughs.  “And, nah, I think I’m just going to stay here with you guys.  I like it here,”

“Aw,” Haerin makes an overly pouty face and Nara bursts out into laughter again.  “Things are turning out well, huh?”

“Yeah, they are,” Nara sincerely sends her a smile.  “Thanks, Haerin,”

“No biggie,” Haerin shrugs.  “Can I be your manager and coordi? When you become a hotshot later on,”

“I’d become a hotshot after one photoshoot, Haerin.  That’s not much later and sure, why not?”

“God, you haven’t even begun and you’re so full of yourself already,”

 

Nara snickers.  “Confidence is essential, you said so yourself,” She shamelessly flips her hair and feels the kitchen table for her phone.  Frowning, she quickly glares at Haerin when she can’t find it.  “Haerin-ah, Did you take my phone again?”

Haerin looks up from the fridge and frowns, shaking her head.  “No, I gave it back to you at the store,”

At the statement, Nara’s eyebrows shoot up in surprise.  “, I left it at the cashier!” She zooms out the door in a matter of seconds.

“Why don’t you just get a new one?!” Haerin calls out and hears a faint ‘hell, no!’ as an answer.  “Ah, she gets calls from those guys all the damn time, I should quietly change her number for her,”

Yunjae chuckles at Haerin and helps her with the groceries instead.  ‘You like her a lot, don’t you, noona?’

“It’s nice, having a girl around,” Haerin smiles at him.  “I hang out with the boys and you all the time I forget how nice is it to actually have a friend of the same gender,”

‘Is she doing well with Kyungsoo?’

“I don’t think so,” Haerin shakes her head.  “I don’t think they talked their stuff out yet.  Nara keeps running away,”

‘I can imagine how hard it is though,’ Yunjae hands her the fruits.  ‘She went through so much and I don’t think Kyungsoo-hyung knows about it,’

Haerin chuckles.  “He does and it doesn’t matter to him,”

‘Really?’

“His feelings are sorta kinda unconditional,”

 

As she tidies up her fridge and gets the table set for dinner, the doorbell rings.

“Why is it that the intercom never work at times when we actually have unexpected guests?” Haerin groans and yells out a loud ‘I’m coming out!’ towards the door.

As she opens the door, a pleasant grin spreads on her face.  “Kyungsoo!”

“Hi,” He grins back.  “The kids wanted to visit, but the juniors have the same remedial tests tomorrow and Suho had stuff to do, so I’m here with—“

“Jongin, checking in,” The dark-skinned boy beams at Haerin from behind his hyung.

“As expected of the honour student,” Haerin proudly pats his head and gestures for them to come in.  She makes a face at Yunjae, remembering that only 5 minutes ago, they were talking about Nara’s running away from Kyungsoo.

“New shoes?” Kai points at the pair of sharp, red heels by the door.

“Ah,” Haerin grimaces.  “You can say so,” She just remembered that nobody actually knows about Nara living with her.

And Nara sure is going to flip when she finds out that—

 

“Haerin-ah! It’s still there! I found it! It’s back, my baby’s ba—“

Haerin hides her face with the frying pan the moment she made eye contact with Nara.  “She’s going to kill me,”

“I’m going to kill you,” Nara growls on cue and strides towards her friend, ignoring the surprised stares of Kai and Kyungsoo by the living room.  “Seriously?!” She points at the two men in the house.

“I’m sorry! I didn’t know they were coming!”

“The intercom—“

“Wasn’t working!”

Nara messes up her own hair and muffles her own frustration through her teeth.  “I can just leave the house for dinner outside but, because I have no money, I’m going to stay,”

“Thank God, I—“

“Just don’t,” She lifts a warning finger at Haerin.  “Make me talk to him,”

“As much as I wish I can help you,” Haerin glances at Kyungsoo.  “He’s going to try and talk to you all night,”

“I’m going to ignore him,”

“You can’t, after all, you’re the one who’s still—“

Nara slaps the back of Haerin’s head.  “Just cook your food,”

 

Haerin laughs at the way Nara is behaving.  She can’t cook, so she’s wandering idly doing nothing in the kitchen behind her.  Asking her what she’s doing, and what she’s cooking for thousands of times and getting the exact same answer out of her every single time.  She hisses at Haerin every time Haerin tells her to sit down in the living room with Yunjae and Kai and Kyungsoo.

“Kyungsoo-yah, come help!” Haerin naturally calls out and remembers that she was supposed to be keeping him away from the kitchen, where Nara is.  “Crap, neve—“

“What is it?” Kyungsoo is at her side in no time and Haerin glances behind him to notice that Nara is nowhere to be found.  She’s good at escaping, Haerin gives her that.  She looks over to Kyungsoo and knows that he’s thinking the exact same thing as she is.  

“Taste the sauce,” Haerin offers him the spoon with a knowing smile and gauges his reaction as he does as he’s told.

“Cream, do you have cooking cream?” Kyungsoo swallows, laughing off her smile.

“It’s in the fridge,”

Kyungsoo grabs the carton of cooking cream and pours a generous amount into the sauce before stirring it for Haerin and giving her a taste in exchange.  “Better?”

Haerin hums appreciatively and gives him a thumb up.  “You should start a restaurant or something, really,” She suggests.  

 

To be honest, Haerin actually had a talk with Kyungsoo about Nara.  Back when she ran away two weeks ago.  He had called her first and Haerin, of course, being the kind of person she is, came out to see him and spent a talk over lunch with him.

 

“What’s her deal?” Kyungsoo had groaned in irritation.

“She’s just worried,” Haerin laughed.  “She’s worried that she won’t be good enough for you because of her past,”

“I already told her that it didn’t matter,”

“You did?”

“I did,”

“Well, she’s still worried.  You’re very bad at persuading people, you know that?”

Kyungsoo scoffed.  “Yeah?”

“Pretty much.  You expect everybody to believe in what you’re saying when it’s actually not that easy,” 

“You picked up quite a lot from my parents, huh? You’re really starting to sound like them,” Kyungsoo eyed her with his arms crossed.  

“She just went through a lot, is all I’m saying, which is wholly her story to tell,” Haerin grinned.

“Figured as much,” Kyungsoo sighed.  “But is she- is she still doing— you know?”

Haerin looked up from her food with a smirk.  “Believe it or not, she’s giving all of it up,” This kid.  He really likes Nara for sure to get worried about her even now.

“Whoa, for real?”

“Uh-huh,” Haerin grinned.  “She’s going to start modelling,”

“Wow,” Kyungsoo blinked.  “Wow,”

“I know,” Haerin chuckled.  “And there are two possible reasons to that; because she just wants to become a better person, or,” She paused, then added quietly.  “For you,”

Kyungsoo laughed at that.  “No way,”

“It might even be both,” Haerin shrugged.  “Don’t believe me? Suit yourself,” She stands up to leave.

“Haerin, Haerin, wait,” Kyungsoo quickly trotted after her and watched the way she smiled at him smugly.  “You’re not playing around, right?”

Haerin rolled her eyes.  “For what reason, Kyungsoo?”

“I don’t know, revenge, or—“

“Really?” Haerin raised an eyebrow at him.  “Look at my face and tell me I’m playing around with you because I want payback,”

“Okay, no, sorry,” Kyungsoo cracked up.  “Sorry,”

“She’s a good kid at heart, Kyungsoo,” Haerin explained as he started driving her home.  “You just gotta be patient and determined to get to her,”

Kyungsoo had his eyes on the road as he playfully glanced at her.  “She has a shell that’s even harder than yours to crack,”

Haerin slapped his arm, laughing.  “Just drive,”

 

“Jongin-ah, Yunjae-yah, food’s ready!” She lifts the sauce pan and sets it on the dining table.  “Nara! Get out of your room and eat!”

“Her room?” Kai frowns.

“I meant my room,” Haerin glances at Yunjae in unrest, who starts serving drinks in response.

“Why can’t I eat later?” Nara grumbles as she sits down beside Haerin.

“Because we have guests,” Haerin kicks her foot under the table and she hisses angrily.  Just as she is about to lash out at Haerin for it, Kyungsoo takes the seat across from her and starts eating.

“You know, Hae,” Kyungsoo begins.  “Do me a favor.  Can you tell your friend over there to stop deliberately ignoring me?”

Kai chokes at his water as he guffaws while Nara, chokes at her water in surprise.

“Nara, stop deliberately ignoring Kyungsoo,” Haerin holds back a smile.

“Because it’s getting on my nerves,” Kyungsoo adds.

“Because it’s getting on his nerves,” Haerin relays.

“And she’s not helping at all,”

“And you’re not helping at all,”

“And that running away won’t help with anything,”

“And that running away won’t help wi—”

“Okay fine!” Nara sets her fork down with a loud clatter.  “Hi, Kyungsoo, how’ve you been? You’ve been well, right? Me? Nah, I’m just busy sleeping around so that I can eat.  Sorry I couldn’t contact you.  Oh, actually, I’m not so sorry! Because last time I checked, I was the one itching to get you off my back!”

“So, I’m the one who’s so wrong you wanted to get rid of me that bad?” Kyungsoo subtly replies.  “Then you should have just told me fro—“

“I didn’t say that! I didn’t say you were wrong!”

“Then why are you trying so hard to get rid of me?”

“Because I can’t take it! I can’t handle you!”

“Stop trying to run away from me! It doesn’t solve anything!”

“Don’t tell me what to do, Soo! And it does! Running away solves everything!”

“Why? What’s so hard about handling me? Am I being too pushy? Am I making you do things you don’t want to? Is being in love with you so wrong?”

“It’s not that! Why do you keep assuming that you’re wrong all the damn ti—“

“Let’s see, I know! Because you always make it seem like it’s a freaking mistake!”

“Because it is! Being in love with me is a mistake for you! Why can’t you see that?!”

“I can’t see it because it’s not true! The mistake isn’t there for me to see! It isn’t there for anyone to see! Everybody has a part of their past that they want to hide, but it’s the past.  It doesn’t matter anymore, Nara,”

“But to me, it’s my whole past, Soo.  Everything.  Every single minute of every day that was my past; I want to throw them away.  I want to forget who I am and wake up as someone new in the morning that doesn’t have to remember how I had been raised as a e,“

 

By then, Nara’s tears had leaked endlessly from her eyes.  Haerin glances at Jongin and Yunjae nervously.  That confession wasn’t supposed to happen.  They weren’t supposed to know.  Nara wasn’t supposed to say that.  She knows how much Nara wanted to hide it and this must be tearing her apart.

“Damn it, Soo, you’re not the problem here,” Nara stands from her seat, raking a hand through her hair.  “It’s me,”

“Nara, wai—“

But she was gone before anybody could stand up from the table.

When Kyungsoo stands from his seat to go after her, Haerin puts her hand out.  “Don’t.  I’ll go.  You three clean up the dishes,” She ties her hair up and takes off her apron.

“Tell her I’m sorry,” Kyungsoo says quietly.

“You did nothing wrong,” Haerin shakes her head as she puts on her shoes.  “She’s just a tough nut to crack,”