Yuri POV

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

After stopping at a drive-thru for food, we pull up to the apartment complex.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I put the car in park.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Me: Take the food up and unlock the door while I wake them up.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

She picks up our 2 drinks and the bag of food.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

She heads up to the apartment, and I walk to the back door and open it.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I shake Donghae awake and help him out of the car.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Then I wake Taeyeon up and help her out.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

She’s still too out of it to walk, so I pick her up and shut the door behind me.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I make sure Donghae walks ahead of me up the stairs, because I’m not positive he won’t fall down them.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

When we make it inside, Donghae stumbles to his bedroom, and I walk Taeyeon into my room.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I lay her on the bed and take off her shoes, then her clothes.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I pull the covers over her, then head back into the dining room, where Jessica has laid out our food.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

It’s almost midnight, and we haven’t eaten since lunch.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I take a seat in front of her.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Me: So now that you know one of my deep, dark secrets, I want to know one of yours.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

We both have our phones out on the table while we eat.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

She smiles and begins to text me back.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Sica: You have more than one deep, dark secret?

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Me: We’re talking about you right now. If we’re going to be working together, I need to know what I’m getting myself into. Tell me about your family. Any raging alcoholics?

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Sica: No, just raging s. My father is a lawyer, and he hates that I’m not going to law school. My mother stays home.

 

She’s never worked a day in her life. She’s a great mom, but she’s also one of those perfect moms, you know? Think Leave It to Beaver meets Stepford Wives.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Me: Siblings?

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Sica: Nope. Only child.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Me: I wouldn’t have pegged you as an only child. Nor would I have guessed you were a lawyer’s daughter.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Sica: Why? Because I’m not pretentious and spoiled?

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I smile at her and nod.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Sica: Well, thanks. I try.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Me: I don’t mean for this to come off as insensitive, but if your father is a lawyer and you still have a relationship with your parents, why did you not call them last week? When you had nowhere to go?

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Sica: The primary thing my mother instilled in me was the fact that she didn’t want me to be her.

 

She had no education and has always been completely dependent on my father. She raised me to be very independent and financially responsible, so I’ve always taken pride in not asking for their help.

It’s hard sometimes, especially when I really need their help, but I always get by. I also don’t ask for their help because my father would point out in a not-so-nice way that if I were in law school, he’d be paying for it.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Me: Wait. You’re paying for school on your own? But if you changed your major to prelaw, your father would pay for it?

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

She nods.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Me: That’s not really fair.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Sica: Like I said, my father is an . But I don’t go around blaming my parents for everything.

 

I have a lot to be thankful for. I’ve grown up in a relatively normal household, both of my parents are alive and well, and they support me to an extent.

They’re better than most, just worse than some. I hate it when people spend their entire lives blaming their parents for every bad thing that happens to them.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Me: Yeah. I completely agree, which is why I was emancipated at 16. Decided to take my life into my own hands.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Sica: Really? What about Yoona?

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Me: I took her with me. The courts thought she stayed with my parents, but she moved in with me.

 

Well, with Hae. We’ve been friends since we were 14. Both of his parents are deaf, which is how he knows ASL.

 

Once I became emancipated, they allowed me and Yoong to stay with them. My parents still had guardianship over Yoong, but as far as they were concerned, I did them a huge favor by taking her off their hands.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Sica: Well, that was incredibly considerate of Hae’s parents.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Me: Yes, they’re great people. Not sure why Hae turned out the way he did, though.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

She laughs.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Sica: Did they continue to raise Yoona after you left for college?

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Me: No, we actually only stayed with them for 7 months. When I turned 17, I moved us into an apartment. I dropped out of school and got a GED so I could start college sooner.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Sica: Wow. So you raised your sister?

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Me: Hardly. Yoona lived with me, but she was never the type who could be raised. She was 14 when we got our own place.

 

I was only 17. As much as I’d like to say I was the responsible, mature adult, I was quite the opposite.

 

Our apartment became the hangout for everyone who knew us, and Yoong partied just as hard as I did.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Sica: That shocks