[A/N]: Chapter Update 2/7; I highly advise to bookmark the last chapter you read since it might get confusing with the multiple updates I will be making.

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“What the-” Eunji just came back from the supermarket only to find out that Sungjae was gone. She checked his bed and only found his phone. “He’s supposed to rest! What is he doing?!”

Out of worry, she contacted Namjoo but her phone rang by the dresser.

“She didn’t bring her phone? Where is she?” She bit her lip in anxiety.

The weather has been unpleasant for some time now and she was sure the blonde woman left without an umbrella. Suddenly, she heard her front door open so she ran ahead to see who it was.

“How did you…”

“Ahh… I stole the key by the pot the last time I was here. Really predictable, you know,” Naeun replied cheekily. She shook her umbrella and placed it on the rack beside the door. “I wanted to surprise you.”

“Really?” Eunji giggled. “By the way, did you meet someone unusual while you were outside? A man covered with bandage, maybe?”

“Hmm…” Naeun poked her ear as she tried to recall someone matching the description. “I don’t think so.”

“Okay,” Eunji replied nonchalantly, guessing that Sungjae was probably already far off. “He should have stayed…” She clicked her tongue, biting the nail of her thumb.

“Who?” Naeun asked.

“Nothing,” Eunji answered quickly. “What’s that?” she asked, pointing her chin towards the thin box the younger woman was holding.

“This? It’s a portable DVD player,” Naeun replied. “I bought it from the thrift shop on the way here along with some movies.”

“Well…” Eunji raised the grocery bags she was holding. “I guess you’re just in time for lunch.” She took out the ingredients one by one and placed them on the dining table.

Naeun sat on the chair, resting her head on the box she laid on the table while watching the older woman fix up their meals.

“Not gonna watch your movies?” Eunji asked while preparing the frying pan.

“Nah. Not yet.”

-----

“Don’t run away again without an umbrella. Do you wanna catch a cold?!” Bomi scolded Namjoo while Chorong was searching for the key to her house.

The blonde woman found one of the flyers the brunette posted all over the city. She dialed the number on it and contacted Bomi through a payphone. Together with Chorong, they found Namjoo alone and completely soaked at the outskirts of the city.

When they got inside the house, Chorong brought her sister a body towel and a clean set of clothes including a new pair of underwear.

“Aigoo. Go take a bath and change first,” the redhead said as she gently patted her sister’s hair dry with a towel.

“I-I can do it myself,” Namjoo replied timidly, bending her head down as she walked straight to the restroom.

The brunette heaved a sigh. “Obviously she’s out of it. She’s just staring at her feet and completely ignoring the two of us.” Bomi sat on the dining chair with a worried expression on her face. “Maybe you can talk to her, you know, as a sister or something.”

“But it’s only last night we discovered we’re sisters. I’d like to do it too but it’s not like I’d be much of a help.” Chorong served a plate full of chicken feet. “We’re still strangers in a sense, you know, only having that owner-employee type of relationship from before.”

“Strangers, huh?” Bomi hummed before feasting on the food. “I think you’ll do great.”

“What makes you think that?”

“Just so.” Bomi picked up her chopsticks and started eating.

The older woman raised an eyebrow at her response but quickly shrugged it off. She watched Bomi chow down the pieces of chicken feet until she realized the brunette had to work.

“By the way, isn’t your next shift in twenty minutes? You better hurry!” .

“Mhmm,” Bomi hummed with the food in before gulping it in. “Done,” she said, belting out a burp afterwards. “No one can still top your version of chicken feet.”

“You’re the one who bought that though.” Chorong giggled. She filled a glass with water and handed it to the younger woman. “Here.”

After drinking her glass full, Bomi stood up from her chair and bent down to meet the face of the redhead on her seat. “I’ll bring Minah with me when I come back after my shift today.”

“Really?” Chorong beamed, her fingers pinching the nose of the brunette playfully.

“Mhmm.” Bomi was about to kiss the redhead when Namjoo suddenly came out of the restroom, forcing her to retract her face away awkwardly. “ing. Odd. Timing,” she uttered to herself, forcing a smile which made Chorong chuckle. “See you later.”

After Bomi left, Chorong turned around and invited Namjoo to eat. “I only have chicken feet for now. Come here.”

Namjoo sat on her seat but her downcast stare remained on the floor. Her sister was not planning to ignore her behavior any longer.

“A-are you alright?” Chorong asked, the blonde woman shook her head in reply. “Namjoo…” She knelt down in front of her sister.

“Un… nie…” Namjoo muttered, weeping uncontrollably. “Unnie… why is this happening?” she asked her sister, her breaths becoming heavier. “Just when I thought that everything’s going well already… I… have to give up… my life…” she mumbled between her cries. “Unnie… it hurts…”

That afternoon Namjoo told her sister everything and with an understanding mind, Chorong embraced her for a long time until she finally calmed down.

“There has to be another way out somehow.” The older woman heaved a frustrated sigh after hearing the whole story. It placed her in an uncomfortable position which she was all too familiar about.

-----

“Alright. Thanks for telling me, unnie.” When the call ended, Eunji returned to her room. On the bed, the portable DVD player and snacks were already prepared by the younger woman who was waiting for her.

“Who was that?” Naeun asked, moving to one side for Eunji.

“Chorong unnie.”

“Why?”

“Just making sure that Namjoo is okay.”

“You sure are concerned for her a lot,” Naeun unconsciously said in a sarcastic tone.

“What’s the matter?” Eunji faced the younger woman with a teasing look in her face. “You jealous?”

Naeun scoffed, her expression developing into a frown. “Why do you guys keep saying that?”

“Huh?” Eunji raised an eyebrow. “What?”

“N-nevermind…” Naeun brought the portable DVD player closer. “Come on. Let’s watch a-” She accidentally toppled the glass beside her, spilling the juice over her shirt. She immediately stood up so the liquid wouldn’t spill over the bed sheets. “.”

“Aigoo.” Eunji laughed heartily. “So clumsy.”

“Yah. Lend me a shirt.” Naeun pouted cutely.

“Am about to.” Eunji stood up. “Wait a second.” She searched her cabinet while the younger woman took off her top in front of the mirror.

When Eunji was about to hand over the shirt, she noticed the dark, circular spots on the of the woman.

“Hey… what are those?” Her hands unconsciously reached out her back, causing the woman to quiver. “N-Naeun-ah?”

Naeun held her breath for as long as she could and exhaled it one go as she gained the courage to speak. “T-those are burns… from cigarettes.”