SinB sat nervously in front of Yerin, after staying with Sowon at the hospital, one of Yerin’s men had gone to retrieve her and the recording gear for their next step. Sowon getting injured was an anomaly they hadn’t expected, Joonyoung wasn’t particularly skilled with any weapon but then again, they didn’t have a clue about what happened inside the room after they had left.

Yerin plugged in the camera to her laptop, projecting it to the tv in front of them. Pressing play, they worriedly watched the scene unfold.

For SinB, everything was bad. She had to cover her ears and close her eyes the moment other guards had charged inside the room, reminded of the attack of her own home. Sowon had defended herself valiantly, skillfully, but she couldn’t hold off three more men who were stronger than she. Fending off Joonyoung’s amateur swings were easy, but when a shotgun entered the game, even the guards were aware that their master was not in his right mind. Why would a rich person have such a collection of old weapons just on display on the wall? And loaded and in top condition? Perhaps it was precisely for this, that shotgun probably didn’t have a license, much less the user.

The two Jungs looked to SinB, Eunha who went to comfort the troubled messenger and Yerin just watching.

“Did she get hit?”

SinB could only nod her head, her eyes spilling tears that she had held back in Sowon’s presence. The medical outcome was several balls of metal embedded in her left leg.

They all winced when the video continued, another shotgun blast resounding in the small office. Then Sowon ran away.

“We’re going to go visit her.”

“Right now?”

SinB looked up at Eunha pleadingly, she hadn’t really wanted to leave Sowon’s side, her anxiety and need to see her caretaker messing up her senses.

“Right now sweetie.”

Yerin still watched with a skeptical expression.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~

The moment the car stopped, SinB had sprinted out of the car, running the whole way through the hospital to the room that Sowon had been placed in just before she had left previously.

Yerin stayed in the car for a little longer, stopping Eunha for a quick talk.

“Eunha.”

“Yes?”

“Why are you so…easily trusting them? I mean, I understand that they went through so much and we did this plan together, but SinB…”

“You don’t like the idea that she lied to you?”

“Well…”

“She didn’t mean to lie to you, it was the only way she could survive. You said you liked SinB even more if and I quote ‘a very feminine boy who I wished had gender surgery because she would be beautiful’. Jokes on you, she’s already a she. Have your feelings for her changed just because he doesn’t actually have a d-“

“Shh! Why do you always resort to such vulgar language?”

Eunha grinned, getting off the car and looking back at Yerin.

“Because it gets things done. Your feelings haven’t changed, my little Eunbi is still her, SinB is still SinB just a girl. What does it matter really? It hasn’t harmed anything, unless you really wanted her to be a boy? Despite all your protests? I think not. Forgive her already, she’s gone through so much to get here.”

With that, Yerin was left to her own thoughts inside the car. What Eunha said was true, SinB was still SinB, just not a man. Not that she wanted a man anyways. This was…a good thing? She slapped her own cheeks to clear her mind.

“I like SinB, it doesn’t matter whether she’s a girl or a boy, I like her. She’s cool, she’s nice, she’s really pretty and honestly, nothing has changed!”

Getting off the car with a load off her chest, Yerin sent the car to finally go to the parking lot, having been sat in the dropoff zone for a good few minutes. Her guards just sighed, they had no chance anyways but hearing their little Miss having affection for another, made some proud, and some sad.

~~~~~~~~~~~~

“Sowon unnie!”

SinB immediately went to Sowon’s side, the female bodyguard weakly opening her eyes, fighting against her medications.

“You’re back?”

Taking Sowon’s hand, SinB held it tightly with both hands, kneeling at the bedside like a child. She stayed put there, even when Eunha pushed the chair to her.

“Unnie, I don’t want to leave you alone! What if you go away when I’m not here?!”

“I’m not going anywhere, Eunbi ah, it’s just a leg injury.”

Eunha shivered at the sound of her birthname but she kept quiet. It was SinB’s moment, no time to be an obnoxious girl. Yerin walked in finally, she took a seat at the far wall in the visitor’s couch.

“Ah, Yerin ssi. Did you get the footage?”

“Yes. Thank you.”

SinB was still worriedly watching Sowon, as if any moment Sowon closed her eyes, she wouldn’t open them again. Yerin was slightly concerned that SinB was so attached to Sowon.

Checking that the door was closed, Yerin sat forwards in her seat.

“You’re Hwang Eunbi.”

SinB looked up a little surprised, she looked at Eunha who just smiled back.

“Maybe.”

“You’re not a man at all.”

“I’m not.”

Sowon tugged her hand weakly out of SinB’s grip, placing it on her head softly.

“Go talk with her, I promise I’ll stay awake. Eunha can promise she’ll watch me, right?”

Eunha nodded, giving SinB the alright to go talk with Yerin. Pouting, SinB got up and moved to sit besides Yerin, her posture remaining the same as before, knees spread, and feet planted firmly on the floor in a manly manner.

“This…is just your habit isn’t it?”

SinB looked where Yerin was looking and consciously closed her knees.

“Maybe.”

“What happened then?”

Seeing SinB’s gaze drop to her own lap, Yerin looked away, feeling guilty for wanting to bring up the topic, but she wanted to know.

“Joonyoung’s agents, they broke in when the sunset ended, they were breaking everything as my parents tried to stop them, brother was helping me hide he went back outside after telling me to close the chest he put me in. There was a lock on the inside, I can’t help but wonder if that was in my room, my entire life, just for that moment. The gunshots started, the screams. The screams were so terrible I couldn’t recognize who it belonged to, they continued to destroy and take a lot of stuff before it became quiet.”

Yerin could tell that the details were spared, or SinB couldn’t say them, the way her hands were shaking and how Sowon’s worried gaze stayed steady on her.

“I’m sorry.”

“What for? You didn’t do it.”

“I…couldn’t save your family.”

“What do you mean?”

“I knew about it, that Joonyoung was going to act out, but I didn’t know he meant murder.”

SinB looked at her with wide eyes, her tears that brimmed spilled over.

“Was it the time he said you weren’t going to see him?”

“That I- yes. He told you right? That I wouldn’t let him on my property, I wouldn’t take any phone calls.”

“Then he stayed away for the three months until I got a job there?”

Yerin chuckled bitterly.

“He did tone it down a little, just because of your case, it was a big mess. Why the media hadn’t caught on, most likely would have been him paying them off. But no, he still tried to visit me. We had a few close calls with the police. It’s how we got the filming gear anyways. They knew that Joonyoung was no good, but they had no evidence. Until now.”

She looked up into SinB’s eyes finally.

“Now, I can avenge your family.”

She placed her hand on SinB’s shaky ones, her eyes unwavering. SinB appeared to not know where to look, but eventually made eye contact again.

“I swear, I’ll do everything to make it okay for you to be you again.”

“Th-thank you.”

===============

how do romance good?