Chapter Eight: You Are Screwed.

The next day, Seungwan wakes up with a headache.

Her brown hair is tangled like a bird’s nest and her eyes hurt. She looks around as she takes in her surroundings. Seulgi’s room is painted bright yellow and bottom half is painted white. The furniture in her rooms are in monochrome black or white. Her wardrobe is ridiculously big and she has mirrors that takes almost half of her wall. The windows are big and sunlight is streaming through the faint white curtains, creating beautiful silhouette in Seulgi’s white colored floor.

Then, Seungwan notices an arm that’s wrapped around her waist and she realized Seulgi’s hugging her. “Uh,” she mumbles, trying to wiggle away but Seulgi only hugs her tighter and mumbles something about sour and cream Pringles.

Seungwan spends the next fifteen minutes locked inside Seulgi’s grip before the girl starts to loosen up and wiggles away and stretches.

“Seulgi?” She whispers.

“Five more minutes.” Seulgi replies incoherently. “…Just put the Pringles over there, Wonwoo.”

“Seriously?”

Seungwan shakes her head before getting up and makes her way to the bathroom. Inside, she studies herself in front of the mirror. She looks horrid. Apparently, Seulgi didn’t do much of a job erasing her mascara last night and Seungwan can see bits of the black goo still sticking on her eyelid. There are black smudges underneath her eye that makes her look like a ghost, probably because of her eyeliner.

Seungwan shakes her head before picking up the make up cleanser and cleans her face again.

***

By the time Seungwan finishes her bath, Seulgi’s already up, sitting on her bed with blankets wrapped around her as she plays with her phone.

“Good morning, sunshine.” Seungwan greets, feeling refreshed. She takes a seat on the bed, beside Seulgi. “You should take a bath.”

Seulgi yawns and rubs her eyes. “My head hurts.”

“Yeah, me too. But it gets better after a hot shower, so go.” She pulls Seulgi up and dragging her inside the shower.

Seulgi doesn’t say much, probably still too drowsy to compute. She locks the bathroom door and Seungwan can hear the shower running. The brown haired girl sighs before deciding to tidy Seulgi’s bed up. She’s just folding the blanket when the door gently opens, revealing a woman with wavy, shiny black hair peering into the room. She doesn’t seem surprised to see Seungwan there.

“Oh—I’m sorry, i—“ Seungwan stutters.

“You must be Son Seungwan.” The woman says, smiling widely. “I’m Kim Taeyeon, Seulgi’s mother. She talked a lot about you.”

It takes everything inside Seungwan not to gape at her. She cannot believe the word ‘mother’ actually comes from her lips—if any, Seungwan thought this woman is Seulgi and Wonwoo’s older sister, or cousin. Taeyeon looks so young and beautiful.

“O—oh, it’s an honor to meet you, Mrs. Kim. Thank you for having me.” She bows, suddenly feeling awkward and shy.

Taeyeon chuckles before entering the room. The woman wears a black, silk jumpsuit that reflects the light each times she moves. Taeyeon heads towards the windows before taking the semi-transparent curtain in her hands and open it. “There’s no need to be awkward or shy,” she looks at Seungwan again, the kind smile still on her face. “Make yourself at home. Any friend of Seulgi and Wonwoo is forever welcomed in this house.”

“Thank you.” Seungwan replies wholeheartedly, a smile blooms on her lips.

Taeyeon seems to be curious of what Seungwan is doing because she shakes her head and laughs a little. “Are you tidying up Seulgi’s bed? You are too kind. I’ve been telling her to make her bed everyday before she goes to school but she always forgets.”

“This is the least I can do.” Seungwan shrugs, smiling shyly.

“Is she in the bathroom?”

“Yeah.”

Taeyeon nods before walking towards Seungwan and sits at the edge of Seulgi’s bed. “How is she at school? Wonwoo and Seulgi told me they’re doing fine and well and they said everyone treat them well. Is this true?”

Seungwan leans on her left leg, weighing her words. She supposes Seulgi doesn’t tell her mother about her ongoing fight with Nayeon. “That’s true, everyone’s treating them well. Seulgi and Wonwoo… they’re really happy at school.”

The older woman nods, though Seungwan doesn’t know if Taeyeon believes her or not. “That’s good to hear,” Taeyeon speaks. “My child… they only deserve happiness.”

“I’m sure every parents feel the same way about their children too, Mrs. Kim.” Seungwan says, a warm smile ghosting her lips.

“Oh, I hope that’s the truth.” Taeyeon laughs dryly. “Anyway, let’s go wait for Seulgi downstairs, I already prepared breakfast and Wonwoo’s already up, though he suffers a bad case of hangover. But anyway, let’s go, Seungwan-ah.”

“Okay.” Seungwan says obediently, trailing behind Taeyeon as the woman leaves Seulgi’s bedroom.

***

By the time Seulgi finishes her bath and heads downstairs, the first thing she sees is her mother and Seungwan looking at a photo album. Seulgi frowns and searches for Wonwoo, which she finds on the other side of the living room, re-watching The Lord of The Rings. Seulgi quickly make a dash for him.

“What?” Wonwoo asks, clearly still having hangover because he looks hideous and grumpy.

“Mom and Seungwan looking through the album photos. Whose is it, mine or yours?” Seulgi asks impatiently.

Wonwoo arches an eyebrow. “Yours. I already told mom you wouldn’t like it, so I’ve done my job.” He says, shrugging as he takes a mouthful of popcorn and stuffs it into his mouth.

“You’re unbelievable.” Seulgi hisses before heading towards her mother.

Much to her dismay, Seungwan and her mother are looking through her past photos, as Wonwoo has said, but it’s no ordinary photos—it’s the picture of her dance performance back in high-school. Instantly, Seulgi can feel her anger rising. The girl takes a deep breath as if to control herself.

“Mom, what are you doing?” she’s thankful that her voice didn’t shake.

“Looking at the pictures of your dance performances back in high school,” Taeyeon says brightly.

Seungwan looks up and beams at Seulgi. “Seul! I didn’t know you danced! I mean, this is great. Wait until Ten hears this—“

“Uh, no. Nobody outside this house will ever know that I danced. Ever.” She didn’t intend to snap, but Seulgi couldn’t control herself. The photo album is personal. A personal wound she hopes no one would ever see.

Instantly, Seungwan becomes quiet. Taeyeon sighs before closing the photo album and stands up and looks at Seulgi in the eye. “Seulgi, I only showed Seungwan your dance pictures, okay? If you don’t want to dance ever again, it’s your choice. I’m sorry if my actions anger you.” Her mother apologizes, running her hands down Seulgi’s arms.

Seulgi instantly feels bad, but the anger is still there. The blonde looks away with a heavy sigh, calming herself down before looking at her mother again. “No. It’s okay, I’m being ridiculous, i—“

“Seulgi…”

“No, no. It’s fine, mom.” Seulgi forces a smile. “Oh, is that pancakes I smell? The breakfast must be ready, huh? Why don’t we, uh, eat?” Without another word, she excuses herself to the dining room.

Seungwan stares at the scenario in front of her in confusion. She did not expect this to happen. Still, Taeyeon turns to look at Seungwan with a smile on her face. “Oh, usual family bickering. You don’t have to feel bad.”

How can she not feel bad? Seungwan has just witnessed something very private. She feels as if she’s intruding into Seulgi’s private family matters.

Taeyeon’s eyes softens when she looks at the worry written on Seungwan’s face. “Why don’t you join Seulgi? She often doesn’t say it but she does need people she can talk with… and sometimes they’re not Wonwoo or me.”

Seungwan frowns, calculating the possibilities. “She may… reject me.”

“No, she won’t. Seulgi will not reject someone who approached her first.” Taeyeon reassures her.

Nodding, Seungwan makes her way to the dining room, passing Wonwoo on her process, who wishes her good luck, before finding Seulgi sitting alone with a pancake and milk in front of her. It is a lonely sight, such grand room, with beautiful and big dining table but only one person is occupying the seat while the rest is empty.

Seungwan takes a seat beside the blonde girl, quietly watching Seulgi finishing her breakfast.

“Just ask what you want to know.” Seulgi let out a sigh, resting her head on her palm and for the first time, Seungwan sees the ever-vibrant sunflower showing its first sign of withering. Lines of smiles disappear from Seulgi’s lips and Seungwan sees her crumbles.

“I won’t ask anything from you if you’re uncomfortable talking about it.” Seungwan replies instead, placing her hand on Seulgi’s shoulder.

The girl sighs again before taking a sip from her milk. “I used to dance.” She says suddenly. “Been dancing since I knew how to walk. I loved it. I was the best dancer in my school, always been the best dancer in my school, from elementary to high school.” Seungwan listens intently as Seulgi speaks, eyes staring at something Seungwan can’t figure out, something far.

The girl pauses for a minute, blinking rapidly as her eyebrows furrows. Seulgi is trying to form words and weighing which part is safe to tell and which is not. “…My father was the one who introduced me to dance. He enrolled me in ballet when I was a kid and from there, it became my life… sort of.”

“…But you don’t dance anymore?”

“No.” Seulgi’s answer is curt and cold. “My father was the reason me, Wonwoo and mom moved here. Dancing reminds me of him so I stopped. That’s that.”

Seungwan takes a deep breath before pulling Seulgi into a hug. She feels the girl stiffens, Seungwan doesn’t know if it’s because Seulgi is angry or if she doesn’t like to be hugged, but Seungwan only hopes that Seulgi would let Seungwan hug her, just for a while. “Thank you for telling me, Seul.” She says before letting the girl go.

Seulgi let out a heavy breath. “Yeah.”

“I won’t tell anyone if you’re uncomfortable with it. If you want to, I won’t bring this up again.” Seungwan mumbles.

“I appreciate it.” Seulgi smiles, staring at Seungwan. “Thank you, Wannie. Also there’s vanilla ice cream on the fridge if you want, it’s Wonwoo’s but he wouldn’t mind.”

Seungwan laughs softly. “You don’t need to thank me.” The girl leans back on her seat as Seulgi continues her breakfast. Part of her is still relieved that Seulgi opens up to her, though for a little, but the other is anxious. She did asked to spend the night with Seulgi so she can talk about her feelings for Taeyong. Yet after hearing Seulgi’s story and how her mood quickly sours at the mention of her father, Seungwan hesitates.

But Johnny’s words fly back into her mind, along with Ten’s mocking words and voice. Seungwan stands up abruptly, nearly making Seulgi jumps in surprise before the brunette heads towards the fridge and spots Ben & Jerry’s Cookie Dough ice cream, takes it in her hands and returns to her seat beside Seulgi. If she’s going to talk about something as… scary as this, she’d going to need a tub of ice cream.

“Actually…” Seungwan says, hoping the difficulty she has in opening the ice cream is not because her hands are shaking, she’s hesitating but forces herself anyway. “There is something I wanted to talk to you about.”

Surprisingly, there are no traces of the heavy mood that lingers around Seulgi when the girl turns to look at Seungwan with interest. “Yeah?” she asks. “Shoot.”

“Just… please don’t be angry at me.” Seungwan pleads, unable to control her voice or her expression. Every cells in her body is shaking and it takes everything in Seungwan’s might not to dash out of Seulgi’s house and run home—maybe also fake her death and start a new life as a farmer in Tibet.

No, that’s stupid. She would not do that.

Seulgi snorts. “Try me.” She leans back on her seat and looking straight at Seungwan’s eyes.

“Do you like someone?” Seungwan blurts out.

That’s… not exactly what she’s trying to say or how she pictured it’d be like in her head but Seungwan can only hope for the best now.

She almost shrink in fear when Seulgi arches an eyebrow and giving her an odd look, as if Seungwan is asking something really, really stupid. Maybe she is asking something really, really stupid.

“Uh…” Nevertheless, Seulgi furrows her eyebrows, as if thinking. “Why the sudden question? How about you tell me first and I’ll tell you.”

It’s not check-mate, but Seungwan feels as if she does hit a dead end and turns dry. Tearing her gaze away from Seulgi, she eats her first scoop of the ice cream, hoping that the cold can calm her a little. It helps, just for a bit.

“I… I do.” Seungwan replies.

Seulgi’s eyes lights up in excitement. “You do?! Damn, who’s the lucky guy?” she asks curiously, her lips curving into a smile and she stares at Seungwan in expectation.

“Uh… that.” Seungwan shoves another spoon into and nearly chokes. “I don’t know if you’re going to be happy with the answer or not… but please, be happy.”

Seulgi’s smile falls for a little as confusion appears on her face. “Um, why? I mean, do you like that weirdo Chanyeol? Well, he’s kinda cute but his smile is too creepy, don’t you think? And I think I’ve seen him laughing at a wall once… please tell me it’s not him.”

“What—no.” Seungwan replies quickly, the meek look on her face completely disappears, replaced with the same confusion on Seulgi’s face. How Seulgi could come up with the idea is beyond her. “Chanyeol’s actually very nice underneath all that… grin—but that’s not the point! I don’t have feelings for him.” Seungwan hates that her own voice is getting smaller and smaller until the end of her sentence.

The blonde’s eyebrows rise in comprehension. “Alright.” She says. “Then who?”

“Um… it’s…”

“Come on, don’t make me guess. You know I’m cursed with obliviousness. Don’t torture me.” Seulgi urges, though Seungwan can hear the gears spinning inside her head. Seulgi is still frowning and mutters name without voices, probably trying to find out who Seungwan’s crush is.

“Is it Mingyu? Nah, I don’t think he’s your type. Jackson? Hmm, but somehow I get the feeling you’re into a guy who’s a lot calmer? Um… um… Nam Taehyun? Uh, somehow I don’t think that’s right. OH!” she suddenly says, nearly yelling as her eyes widen in apprehension. A triumphant smile curves on her lips as she stares at Seungwan. The latter can almost see light bulb shining on top of Seulgi’s head. “I know!”  Seungwan feels dread rising on her chest.

“It’s not… Wonwoo, right? Because if you do… oh, boy I don’t know how I should react. I mean, well, he is hot but you should still hear him when he sleep talks and—“

“Seulgi!” Seungwan tries to snap Seulgi out of it. “It’s not Wonwoo.” She says, almost in frustration.

To her surprise, Seulgi looks relieved. “Wow, okay! I thought you’d be interested but it’s good that you don’t. You’re too good for him.” She giggles but then pouts. “Heey! But Wonwoo is handsome, why are you not interested in him?”

“Your twin brother is handsome, okay? But it’s not him. I… I’ve been liking this boy for a long time.” Seungwan admits, her cheeks suddenly feels hot.

Seulgi becomes quiet but then speaks again. “You know what? I’m going to save you the frustration because I definitely will not be able to guess who, so be a dear and tell me already.”

Seungwan bites her lower lip, both of her hands gripping the Ben & Jerry’s before looking Seulgi straight in the eyes and prays to God that for once, He has mercy for her and things can go the way she wants just for once.

“It’s Taeyong.” Seungwan confesses, her voice shakes.

To her surprise, Seulgi doesn’t look offended, or hurt, or surprised, or angry or anything that means negative emotions. Instead, forms the letter O before she breaks into a grin.

“Oh my God? Really!?” she exclaims. “Oh my God, this is so great! You’ll make a great couple! Oh, how come I didn’t realize!”

“Wait, you’re not… mad?” Seungwan asks dumbly, confirming her guess.

Now, it’s Seulgi’s turn to look at her in confusion. “What? Why would I be mad?” she blinks innocently before apprehension clear on her face. “Ooohoho, no. Wannie, I don’t see Taeyong that way, don’t worry!”

“R—really?”

“You have my word.” Seulgi smiles, holding out her pinky finger out to Seungwan. The girl stares at Seulgi uncertainly.

“You won’t tell anyone, right?”

“I promise I won’t tell anyone.”

Seungwan smiles then, a shy smile before she wraps her own pinky finger around Seulgi’s.

***

Im Nayeon fiddles with the strap of her bag, checking her reflection in the mirror once again. Perfect. She looks like a bright daisy flower in a field of ashes. The thought brings a somber smile on her lips.

Sundays, she hates Sundays. Sunday means her parents will be home and seeing them on a regular basis is something she prefers not to happen. Funny how an extra existence of two people can make such a pretty day and such a grand, beautiful house becomes a hellhole for her.

Well, at least they still give her food, money and don’t make her tendency to hang out with her friends until midnight a big problem. Nayeon can’t wait until she finally gets to work and make her own money.

After putting another layer of lipstick on her already red lips, she leaves her room. She heads straight to the garage, ignoring the distinct shouting and yelling that comes from her parents’ bedroom—she has been too used to this to the point where all the noises seems to blend like a background music in her house.

“Drive me to Jungyeon’s house.” She tells her driver.

The man obliges and Nayeon let out a sigh. As they leave the house, Nayeon can feel herself feeling happier. Truly, that thing becomes a prison when her parents’ around. Closing her eyes, the last thing she sees is the vivid blue sky from the window and SNSD’s Gee playing in the radio.

***

She arrives at Jungyeon’s house twenty minutes later. The short haired girl looks elated at the sight of Nayeon, as she should be.

“Finally! We’ve been dying here waiting for you.” Jungyeon smirks as she leads Nayeon to her room.

“Oh, my God, I’m only late for five minutes. Chill.”

When Jungyeon opens the door, Momo is there, phone in her hands and Nayeon wonders if Momo has ever looked that happy. “Trust me, when you know what me and Jungyeon has been talking about, you’d be so happy you could die.”

Nayeon scoffs, throwing herself at Jungyeon’s bed, next to Momo. “Hm. Try me.”

Jungyeon grins widely when Momo hands her phone to Nayeon. The raven haired girl takes it and realizes that it’s a chat with someone named Jinri. “Who the is Jinri?”

“Just read my chat with her first.” Momo urges impatiently.

Rolling her eyes, Nayeon starts to read, wondering what’s so impressive about it. The girl’s eyes widen slightly when she sees the name ‘Seulgi’ and ‘Wonwoo’ in there. She realizes why Momo and Jungyeon were so hyped. The content of the chatroom is so valuable and ironic, her jaw drops when she reads further and further.

“Oh, my God!” Nayeon squeals, looking at Jungyeon and Momo.

“See? What did I told you?” Momo snickers, running her fingers through her dark hair. “Hot news of the year.”

“Hot news? This is the juiciest scandal ever! I can’t believe you managed to find this! How? And who is Jinri? Just how did you manage to get in touch with her?” Nayeon swears she has never smiled so wide. She feels so triumphant, invincible and happy. Finally! She has something that will definitely wipe the smug look from Seulgi’s face.

“She’s Seulgi’s friend from Seoul. Momo’s distant cousin.” Jungyeon explains, resting her chin on her palm, her smile matching Nayeon’s.

“What? I didn’t know you have a Korean blood inside you.”

“I don’t.” Momo answers truthfully. “My cousin got married last week, turns out his wife is Jinri’s sister and we met at the wedding party and so on!”

Nayeon let out a short laugh. “Talk about the encounter of the year! This is ing amazing. I love it. Thank you so much Momo!”

Momo interlocks her fingers with Nayeon’s. “You know I’d do anything for you, right? This is nothing. Besides, the world needs to know that Seulgi’s not the perfect little rich princess she is.”

Jungyeon scoffs, placing her legs on top of Nayeon’s thighs. “Please, we need to spread this out. I can’t stand her. People worship her like she’s God or something. I mean, look at her! Acting like she’s super rich and superior when she’s got nothing!”

“You sure this is legit, though? I mean, if this is real, this should’ve made headlines!” Nayeon frowns, questioning the credibility of the story.

“Her mom probably paid those journalists to shut up. Maybe that’s where all their money went. Anyway, Jinri has connections to them, so you know, one hundred percent legit.”

That sets Nayeon at ease. Again, the smile is back on her face. Oh, Kang Seulgi. She can’t wait until Monday comes. She can’t wait until she’s able to destroy the girl and drag her to the bottom, right where she belongs.

***

Author’s Note:
I just want to say, I at author’s note, like I don’t know what to write?
Anyway, I miss red velvet L