Jihyo glanced back towards the backseats, Dahyun and Chaeyoung’s mouths hung open with loud snores echoing towards the silent front seats.

She turned forward and let out a sigh of relief before seeing the paleness of Jeongyeon’s knuckles while she rammed her nails into the cheap leather that covered their steering wheel. Her jaw was tense and Jihyo knew without a doubt that the gritted teeth that shot through her sharp tongue were all rooted within the image of a pretty girl who spoke softly yet confidently and always with a hint of snark lurking beneath her kind glances and touches.

“You don’t like Sana do you?” Jihyo whispered.

She let out a sigh ridden chuckle, “Was it that obvious?”

The car came to a stop at a vibrant red light.

Jihyo nodded and stared back into a pool of incessant nagging coated with silver hair and a fury that smelled of wine and pungent rotting jealousy.

Jeongyeon radiated an anger that didn’t belong to her, this anger was made of snarls and piercing eyes, claws that aimed for the throat and nothing else, this anger was akin to something primal. She was terrified, but she was sure Jeongyeon was more afraid of the boiling emotion that stirred within her normally calm composure.

“I’ve never been good at that.” Jeongyeon raked her hands through her hair as she avoided looking back at Jihyo’s piercing stare. “Hiding the way I feel.”

“There’s worse things to be bad at,” Jihyo said as she sat straighter, “trust me.”

“Like?”

“You’re changing the subject.” Jihyo noted with a smile.

“I’m not.” Jeongyeon grumbled as she began to drive forwards.

Jihyo felt every muscle and tendon in her face yank her eyes forwards and prevent them from rolling into the back of her skull. “Just say it - What’s your problem with her?”

Jeongyeon loudly scoffed, “What’s there not to hate? She’s- She’s. Loud, and she’s way too friendly-”

“And she doesn’t even like soju-”

“Now you’re just pulling out of your ,” Jihyo quickly interjected. “And you don’t hate her. You don’t hate people.”

The car fell into a familiar silence again, the blood that had escaped from her knuckles had flooded into Jeongyeon’s face, the bright crimson that filled her cheeks contrasted the stormy skies and the silver hair that fell over her dark eyes.

“So what if I don’t hate her,” Jeongyeon huffed after a few moments of silence, “what if I just don’t like her because I don’t like her.”

A streak of defiance thundered within her eyes. “She’s annoying anyways.”

“You’re jealous.” Jihyo smirked.

“What?!” Jeongyeon’s chest puffed and she stood straighter than ever before, her hair blew from her face to expose red eyes that stemmed from some coiled and tangled emotion that sat fermenting within her chest, not that it entirely mattered; she didn’t want to untangle it anyways.

“Jealous of being five feet of pure richness and cutesy ? Of expensive wine and pricey apartments?”

“No,” she said through gritted teeth, “never jealous of that.”

A collection of harsh insults came to a halt within Jihyo’s throat, she blinked slowly as she watched Jeongyeon sink lower into a seat.

“You’re enough you know?” Jihyo admitted after a few minutes of dreadful silence, “She doesn’t come anywhere close to you- You’re the only person we need.”

Lies she thought, but she let jaw loosen enough to give Jihyo a winded smile, careful enough to let the shadows of the car drape over her teary eyes.

“Where’s Jeongyeon?” Jihyo asked the next day as she entered an unfamiliar messy kitchen.

Dahyun shrugged as she poured cereal into her bowl, “She wasn’t here when I woke up.”

“And what time was that?”

A muffled gulp echoed from Dahyun’s sheepish smile, “I’ll tell you but you’re not allowed to get angry.”

Jihyo sighed before nodding, “Just tell me.”

Dahyun held out her pinkie finger with a smug grin, “Pinkie promise?”

Jihyo answered with a quick return of her pinkie finger.

“Five AM.”

“Five in the morning?!” Jihyo shrieked, “you have classes today!”

“You promised not to get pissed!”

Jihyo tightened her jaw before giving the younger girl a glare, “Jeongyeon never leaves before she absolutely has to.”

“I know,” Dahyun said in-between mouthfuls of cereal, “it’s super weird.”

She pulled her phone out and glanced at the last few texts Jeongyeon had sent.

if i work overtime this week we can probably go out and watch that movie D&C want to watch

don’t forget that rent’s due this week

is D still sick? i can pick up some medicine on my way to work

im gonna be home late today, so go ahead without me

Jihyo paused before typing:

hey,,, where are you?

lmao somewhere, don’t worry i’ll be back soon enough

She stared back at the surprisingly cold message and she typed back a simple:

Okay, let me know if you need anything.

She never did texted back.

Sana sipped her coffee as she watched Jihyo’s hands fly erratically.

“She hasn’t been home in days, and then she sends me these bland responses,” Jihyo hissed as she banged her fist atop her textbook.

Sana chuckled, “You know Benito Mussolini used similar speech techniques when he took over Italy.”

Her eyes narrowed and her hands fell onto the table with a loud boom.

Sana gave her a sheepish smile as she pretended to smack her hands on the table and then proceeded to slam her hands on her chest.

“Fascism 101.”

“I’m not a fascist,” Jihyo huffed as she tucked her hands underneath the table, “I’m just a little pissed that she just disappeared, and then she doesn’t even bother to tell me where she went.”

“She’s a grown woman Jihyo,” Sana reminded her softly, “she can do whatever she wants.”

“Like being a total ?”

“Like being a total ,” Sana echoed with an exhausted sigh and a slight nod.

“That doesn’t seem fair.” Jihyo slightly pouted, her plump lips forming the bare signs of a frown.

“Nothing ever is.” Sana replied with her eyes staring into somewhere beyond the tiny library, somewhere beyond Seoul.

“Well damn.” Jihyo muttered into her cup.

Jihyo awoke to the sound of staggered steps and muffled curses, she blinked slowly before walking towards the doorway.

A familiar tall figure lumbered down the hall, her hand latched onto the wall while the other swatted the air.

“Jeongyeon?” Jihyo asked quietly as she walked slowly towards her.

“What’s up?” Jeongyeon gave her a wide smile and the entire hallway was plunged into the pungent scent of bitter alcohol.

“You’re drunk.” Jihyo declared as she sniffed the putrid air.

“Yeah?” Jeongyeon shot back, “And you’re short.”

“Who’d you drink with?” Jihyo asked, not bothering to insult her back.

“Nayeon.”

They waded through uncomfortable silence, but it still clung onto their bones when they finally ripped themselves free.

“Why do you care?” Jeongyeon hissed as she stumbled towards her room.

A tight grip encased her right arm and tugged her back towards Jihyo.

“You never get this drunk.” Jihyo’s voice was airy and yet tense, she seemed all too afraid and all too consumed by fury. She was drowning in complex contradictions that sped left and right and tangled into knots, but she knew one blaring, screaming truth:

She hated seeing her like this.

Jeongyeon froze in her grip, she turned and towered over Jihyo, hot air stinking of soju puffed into her face. Jeongyeon slammed her free hand into the wall, narrowly missing Jihyo’s head, a loud thump broke free from her hand and shook the quiet apartment.

Her fist uncurled and flattened against the wall as a shaky breath staggered from her torn up lips that were colored with streaks of washed-out red that lit a flame deep within Jihyo’s belly, “You only care, because I’m drunk off of cheap soju instead expensive ing wine.”

An unruly shout began to unspiral within , but her lips trembled and a pricking pain began to fill her eyes while tears clouded her vision; and all she could muster was a quiet and stifled, “I care because it’s you.”

She inhaled sharply and her hand fell to her side and swung limply, she leaned forward and Jihyo felt the slightest brush against her forehead, it was so gentle and tender Jihyo almost felt herself fall into the sweetness of it all, but her breath reeked of soju and the pungent scent of something rotting filled the hallway; and the reality of it all came sweeping in, she was drunk, it was three in the morning and she hadn’t seen her in days.

And before she knew it, her grip loosened and a door slamming shut rattled through her tender flesh and bones. 

I haven't updated in a while, sorry about that. 

Let me know what you guys think ;).