Okay, her dad agreed that she made a mistake. And that she was stupid. And a bunch of other things.

Yeah.

Yuri had once mentioned where she worked but hadn’t mentioned what time her shift was.

As if that would stop Yena from trying.

She needed to see her.

She entered the shop, asking for the girl.

“Ah, she quit here a while ago. She said she found another job that was closer to home and was better for her. A shame, really; she was so sweet. The customers loved her!” The woman at the counter replied, seemingly lost in thought.

Another job?

“I see. Thank you though!”

Yena walked out, racking her brain for where she might find her.

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

She took a detour, wanting to prolong her trek as she thought deeply about what she should do.

It was cold. She nestled into her jacket and shoved her hands into her pockets, automatically thinking about Yuri’s warmth.

God, she really was stupid.

She realizes that she’ll be passing by that alleyway. Oh well, no matter. The place wasn’t particularly dangerous to be around, but it gave her the chills.

As she nears it, she notices a figure standing in front, shivering in a thin sweater and appearing to sway slightly.

Drunk?

The figure begins to walk in, but as Yena gets closer, she can’t help but think how familiar they look, even if she can’t see their face.

She couldn’t explain it, but she followed the figure in, walking several paces behind.

After walking for about a minute, they encountered a section with many “buyers” and “sellers”.

Yena hid behind a tower of boxes as a shiver ran down her spine.

Wait a minute.

She looks more closely at the figure as they turn a little more towards her, responding to someone hollering at them.

Yena’s breath catches in and she feels like she needs to throw up.

No, no, please. Please tell me I’m just seeing things.

She begs to any being out there, pleading for this all be some sort of sick joke.

Of course, it isn’t.

She can do nothing but watch as the disgusting, sleazy male figure grabs her chin, saying something to her that’s probably vulgar and horrendous and everything terrible.

Yuri takes it all in an nods slowly, no light in her eyes.

As the man grabs her wrist and begins to pull her away, a wide grin on his face, Yena jumps out and runs straight towards them.

She grabs Yuri’s wrist while pulling his off, growling at him.

“Get away from her!”

The man, clearly out of it and not wanting to deal with this mess, sneers at her before setting his sights on another young girl.

She doesn’t look at Yuri as she gently tugs her behind her, begging her to follow her out.

“I can’t,” Yuri resists, pulling her wrist away.

Yena notes how weak she seems.

And she hates it.

Yena grabs on to her wrist a little more firmly, pulling her a little harder.

“If you think I’m going to get you go then you’re wrong. Let’s go.”

Yuri is screaming at herself, not knowing what to do. Although, looking at Yena now, even just the back of her head, comforts her, makes her feel safe. She knew Yena was trying to be insistent, trying to make her follow her, but her grip around her wrist was still so gentle.

And so, she follows.

She follows her all the way back to Yena’s apartment, not saying a word the entire way.

She just looks at Yena’s long black hair, her back, her ears, all of it, anything she can see.

She takes in all of it.

She’s missed her so, so much.

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

When they get to Yena’s room, Yena is caught in deja-vu as she pulls out the first-aid kit and clothes for Yuri to wear.

Yena doesn’t look at directly at Yuri as she coaxes her into removing some of her clothing so Yena can properly clean her wounds and wash her down a little bit. She remembers how to do it so clearly. Taking care of Yuri came naturally to her, anyways. It was just like that.

Yena should continue, doing as she did before, but she can’t.

Not after she sees the bruises and the scars and the bite marks and everything else that just shouldn’t be there.

“How long?” She asks tenderly, quietly, as she runs her hand softly across the choke marks on Yuri’s neck.

“Three months, maybe. Maybe four; I lost count,” Yuri replies just as quietly, and Yena feels her speak as she continues to try and wipe the marks away.

She pauses her actions, quickly but carefully taking care of Yuri’s wounds and wiping her down a little bit, pulling a shirt over her head when she finished.

Yena finally looks at her, straight into her eyes.

Dark circles around her eyes, sunken cheeks, exhaustion written all of her face.

But she was smiling.

Yena couldn’t believe it.

Yuri was smiling right at her, after everything.

It was a shy, slight smile, a sad one at that.

“Sorry. For everything.”

She pauses, her gaze softening even further.

“But, well, thank you, too. Thank you.”

Yena breaks down, dropping her head into Yuri’s chest, wishing she could take it all back, take away all of Yuri’s pain, protect her from everything evil.

“Why are you thanking me? You’re so stupid,” Yena chokes out, clutching onto her shirt.

So freaking stupid.