“That was a little stupid,” Minjoo laughs as the credits roll.

“Agreed.”

Yujin had come over to watch a movie a few hours ago, but they ended up watching two. This last one was chosen on a whim and evidently did not make much sense but did cause some amusement.

The taller girl was sitting next to her, staring at her with that dimpled grin of hers, hair a little messy but still ridiculously adorable.

Cute.

Ever since meeting her, Yujin had been a constant in her life. Despite the two not knowing each other for long, she felt an undeniable connection with the younger girl. In recent weeks, she felt that bond growing stronger.

She doesn’t know how or why, but she finds herself leaning in.

Closer, and closer--

“Whoa!” Yujin yelps as she holds her hands up in front of her, effectively stopping Minjoo in her tracks.

Minjoo’s cheeks light up bright red as she leans back quickly with a squeak that somewhat sounds like “I’m sorry!”

Yujin doesn't say anything for a few moments, but her laugh soon cuts through the silence.

“It’s okay. I know you don’t like me like that,” she says with amusement.

“I--huh…?”

Minjoo stares back at her incredulously; the thing that hit her the most was the fact that Yujin easily denied that Minjoo had any romantic feelings for her. Didn’t she? Wasn’t that why she’s been spending so much time with her, trying to kiss her?

“You don’t like me like that.”

Minjoo narrows her eyes at her and crosses her arms in defiance.

“How do you know that?”

Yujin stares back at her in confusion.

“Because you like Chaewon…?”

Hearing that name sends a jolt through Minjoo’s body. Her eyes widen and her hands tighten into fists.

“What I---I don’t!”

“Yeah, yeah you do.”

Minjoo grits her teeth.

“Well she’s gone! Okay? She’s gone, and it doesn’t matter anymore! I never want to see her again, ever,” she seethes.

“Okay, Minjoo, are you absolutely, 100% sure about that? Because I’m pretty sure that you miss her. It could just be me reading into things too deeply, but I’m pretty sure you still have feelings for her.”

“I like you!”

Yujin starts laughing again at that.

“No, you don’t.”

Minjoo is fuming at this point.

“Yes I do!”

“No, you’re using me as an outlet for your feelings because you can’t confront them with the person they’re actually for.”

She just gapes at Yujin, speechless.

“Oh, and you definitely only tried to kiss me because you were trying to prove to yourself that you could move on or something, because I’m certain that this relationship is entirely platonic.”

Yujin finishes off her reasoning with a cheeky smile. After looking at Minjoo’s shocked expression, her smile softens and she sighs quietly.

“Minjoo, you still like her. You really like her. I don’t know what happened, but ever since she seemed to disappear from your life, it’s like you’re always looking for her, thinking about her. Did you know you sometimes call out her name in your sleep? I found that out when you fell asleep during that one movie two weeks ago.”

… I do…?

Despite the situation, she was a bit embarrassed.

“In conclusion, you miss her insanely, you still like her, and you don’t have feelings for me, yes?”

She doesn’t allow Minjoo to respond and instead takes the beat of silence as an affirmation. She nods in satisfaction.

“Please do yourself a favor and fix whatever mess you’re in. I’m always here if you need me, of course.”

Minjoo continues to narrow her eyes at the girl in silence.

She envelopes the younger girl in a crushing hug.

“Thanks, Yujin,” she mumbles gratefully as she squeezes the girl and ruffles her hair a bit.

“Hey!”

Minjoo laughs as Yujin pouts and playfully pushes Minjoo away.

A sad sort of smile graces her lips.

“I don’t think I’m ready to confront Chaewon again--not yet, at least.”

Yujin shrugs with a comforting grin.

“Well, whenever you’re ready, whatever you do, I have your back.”

The sentiment makes her smile warmly, but--

--she realizes something.

“Hold on, so you’re telling me you didn’t want to get with all this?” Minjoo says cockily with an arrogant flip of her hair.

“Oh please,” Yujin gags, “no thank you.”

With a wistful smile, she lets out her little secret.

“I kind of like someone else anyways.”

~~~

Hours later, it’s just Minjoo in her own apartment, alone. She still can’t decipher her feelings at all. She was still upset, frustrated, betrayed. How could she even look at Chaewon the same way after what had happened? The girl had had such a poor excuse too.

She wanted so badly to deny Yujin’s words, but she was doubting her ability to do so.

Her head hurt with the conflicting images of Chaewon standing in front of her father’s beaten body and other, warmer images of Chaewon laughing and smiling and just being Chaewon.

Truth be told, she hadn’t seen the girl at all since their encounter weeks ago (Weeks? Months? Maybe this whole thing really felt like an eternity). A part of her had expected to see little glimpses of her on the street at least, but nothing, absolutely nothing. Perhaps the girl was purposely avoiding her, or maybe she was too busy with her gang related activities.

(She worried a teeny bit).

Admittedly, Minjoo had slowly walked past the bar Chaewon worked at a few times, but she never saw any sign of the girl there either.

Again, she’s still upset as hell and she still hasn’t forgiven the other girl one bit.

At this point, she was unsure whether she wanted to try harder to move on or still hold on to that little bit of hope.

She thinks about that one night at Chaewon’s apartment where she had overheard that one phone call and had her suspicions proven correct: Chaewon hadn’t laid a finger on that family no matter how hard she insisted.

What changed, Chaewon? Why’d you do it?

Yujin was right: she did call out Chaewon’s name in her sleep. In her state of fitful slumber, she doesn’t notice the angry tears rolling down her cheeks coupled with the pained whisper for the girl that she secretly missed.

Where are you, Chaewon?

~~~

The second she regained consciousness, pain shot through her body in full force. Everything ached even without moving, her body on fire. It took everything in her to even open her eyes, not that she could really see anything. The room was sparsely lit, the only source of light being a little lamp next to the door. Otherwise, it was dark.

She didn’t know exactly how she ended up in here, but she had a pretty good idea.

Where is here?

She suddenly became aware of the shackles around her wrists, the metal digging harshly into her wrists as they held her arms up. The smell---musty, metallic, earthy… The door, barely visible, was metal with a little barred window. Her feet slid over concrete; she could feel the little cracks.

This is familiar…

I’ve been here before.

Chaewon inhaled sharply at the realization of where this was.

The dungeon, the gang’s dungeon.

No, no, no, not again

She started hyperventilating, desperately tugging on her binds.

Not again, not again, please

Panic seized her body as her breathing quickened and her arms strained.

“You’ve woken up!”

She instinctively flinched at the voice.

She knew that voice.

A voice that only served to heighten her panic and fear no matter how hard she tried to quell it.

“Long time no see, Chaewon! Wow, it’s been years, huh?”

She didn’t answer.

The tall, built man sauntered over leisurely with a relaxed smile on his face.

He stopped in front of her, staring straight into her wide eyes.

She flinched at the arm that positioned itself beside her head, leaning against the wall behind her.

The smile was gone from his face; instead, a crazed, insidious look took hold.

One that she remembers all too well.

“Right, Chaewon?”

He stares at her for what seems like years before backing off and reverting back to that easygoing smile. Chaewon knows better than to trust that smile. She knows exactly what he’s capable of.

“Well, I guess the last time I saw you was after your mom and sister abandoned you, huh?”

Her eyes cast downward.

His smile widened.

“I guess so! Well, looks like I’m on the same sort of orders as last time. Almost, at least.”

He said the last part with so much smugness it scared her.

He leaned in close and whispered in her ear.

“I’m supposed to whip you back into shape, yes, but evidently the restrictions are much looser than they were before. Seems like you’ve really gotten off track, huh? It’s much more exciting now that you’re older. Although--”

He brings a hand under her chin and brings her head up to look him straight in the eyes.

“---you’re still just a scared little girl, hm?”

She gulps audibly.

“And I know exactly how to bring you pain.”

~~~

She only lasts ten minutes before she passes out.

~~~

“I’m impressed, Chaewon, really.”

He clicks his tongue as he threads the whip through his fingers.

She was panting heavily, teeth aching from clenching too hard. Her back was bloody, her skin whipped raw. All she saw was red.

“People almost never last this long! You’re really cool, Chaewon-ah!”

That was the last thing she heard before the sound of the whip ripped through the air again.