I give up.

Minjoo can’t believe how she has been acting around Chaewon. After everything she’s seen, everything she’s told herself, she still somehow had the stupidity to be so friendly and vulnerable around the girl. She has just about given up in trying to control herself.

She thought it was a good idea to consult with her boyfriend about this odd turn of events. She hadn’t mentioned Chaewon before, actually, which didn’t really make sense on her part. You’d think that she’d tell her boyfriend about the strange gangster that had been part of the group that forced money out of her father, but the closest she had gotten was telling him about her father’s debt.

It was silly. It’s not like she had anything to hide.

Did she?

Of course not! There’s nothing happening.

And so, she found herself sitting in front of a fuming Minhyun.

She thought that she’d tell him about what’s been happening, thinking that it might help clear her head. Besides, it did relieve some of the guilt of not telling him about everything.

She told him about meeting her the first time, about how she had looked so cold and dangerous. Minjoo’s first impression of her had been one of a ruthless woman--which leads onto her next few points: Chaewon’s unexpected soft side.

Or maybe it’s not really just a “side” of her…

Minjoo told him about how they had met a few times afterwards, how the girl had taken care of her while drunk, how she had bought ice cream for that kid, how she let go of her dad’s debt---pretty much everything.

Well, everything except Minjoo’s place in the whole thing. Goodness, she’d never mention how she somehow found herself wiping rice off of the gangster’s face. It made her face red just thinking about it.

Not that she had time for that now, though. Now, she had to deal with a very angry Minhyun.

He had just finished yelling about how upset he was that she hadn’t told him anything. Oh, he was also furious at the fact that she had actually spent time with Chaewon, as in time that definitely wasn’t necessary.

After his outburst, he had just started pacing around and rubbing her forehead.

“Are you stupid?” He shouted at her.

“Excuse me?”

She was a little miffed, really. There was absolutely ZERO support coming from him. No support, understanding, advice, nothing. All he offered was screaming and yelling.

“Why would you follow her like that? Only an idiot would do that!”

Okay, now she was really irritated. She would have been less angry if he had said something like, “You could have been hurt!” or, “I’m really worried about you, okay!”

But everything coming out of his mouth was just insult after insult--and not just towards her.

“That girl is probably crazy! A crazy, dangerous, violent murderer! She probably kills children and their families!”

“I’m telling you she’s not like that!”

At this point, everything was a bit funny. Throughout this entire conversation, it seemed more like they were having some sort of jealousy battle with Minhyun being the jealous one and Minjoo defending them. It didn’t seem like they were talking about Minjoo’s safety or a gang member, really.

“Why are you defending her? Do you even hear yourself right now? This girl is in a GANG. She’s dangerous, violent, crazy--”

“Shut up!” Minjoo screamed back at him, jumping from her seat and slamming her hands against the table.

He was being so infuriating right now. Did he really think he had any right to act this way after the way he’s been acting recently? Really, who did he think he was? Chaewon, the dangerous, violent, crazy gang member, had been there for her more than he had in the past few months. Night after night, he was out somewhere with his friends or at work or something else. Everything always had to fit in his schedule. When they had a date planned, he always had the ability to cancel because of work or other important things. Oh, and he always went out saying that he was always so busy and needed time to unwind--not that Minjoo mattered at all really. And when Minjoo got upset, he always threw it back at her that she was still a student and he had a job and she needed to understand that his time was oh so precious.

“You! You’re always out; you never have time for me! God, I thought moving in with you would make things better, but this ! Yeah, be upset, fine, I didn’t tell you anything. It’s not like you’re never around!” Minjoo yelled with her hands fisted against the table. She was furious.

“Don’t try and turn this on me! You know I have work and responsibilities and--”

“Stop!”

She couldn’t believe he was really about to unleash the whole stupid spiel again. All she wanted to do was spend time with her boyfriend, and when she finally got the chance to, THIS happens. She couldn’t blame him for being mad at her for not saying anything until now, but this was just ridiculous. What about her feelings?

Minjoo paused.

My feelings, huh?

She took a deep breath.

“This isn’t going to work out.”

She looked straight into his eyes, unwavering. She had made up her mind, and, truthfully, she can’t believe it took her this long.

“What are you saying?” He countered in disbelief.

“This!” She gestured between the two of them, “This isn’t going to work. I’m leaving.”

Without giving him any room to yell at her further, she turned around and started walking out of the apartment.

“Is this because of her?”

Minjoo stopped in her tracks.

What?

“You’re kidding. Are you breaking up with me over that stupid girl?”

Minjoo turned around with narrowed eyes and clenched teeth.

“You’re kidding, right? Are you really going to pretend that we haven’t spent any time together at all over the past few months, because of you? And every time I brought it up, you’d flip your and pull all that garbage out of your mouth about work and responsibilities?”

He took a deep breath and walked towards her.

“Fine, okay, whatever.”

He placed a rough hand on her cheek and it gently.

“Fine, you win, I’ll spend more time with you.”

Minjoo stared at him incredulously.

“Seriously?”

“Yes, seriously, unless you’d rather leave in defense of that gangster,” he chuckled, “but don’t worry, we’re going to make this work. I’ll protect you from her, too.”

Is he being serious right now?

Suddenly, Minjoo burst out in laughter. Minhyun stared at her, confused, as she doubled over and struggled to regain her composure.

“Okay, first of all, I meant: did you seriously think that would work, that that solved everything? Second of all, Chaewon could kick your in a heartbeat. And,”

Minjoo straightened herself and looked him straight in the eyes,

“I don’t need to be protected from her.”

With that, she pushed him away and walked right out the door without looking back.

“You’re going to regret this! I’m the best thing that ever happened to you!”

Minjoo snorted and threw up a middle finger.

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

These nighttime strolls were definitely more enjoyable when she wasn’t drunk and out of it. Tonight was a little colder, and she hadn’t thought to bring jacket with her. She thought she’d be able to say something like, “Oh, but I’m feeling so numb with emotions right now that I can’t even feel the cold,” but the truth was that she felt pretty amazing right now.

And so, she was quite cold.

It was another night of trying to figure out where she’d stay for the night. As always, her feet took her to the playground. It always seemed like a good place to start to collect her thoughts, day or night, especially when there weren’t any others around.

She smirked.

Or maybe just one other.

Minjoo quietly snuck up to the figure on the swings and sat down on the one next to her. The girl was pretty lost in thought as she didn’t notice Minjoo at all.

“Tonight’s really pretty, huh?”

Minjoo snorted as Chaewon jumped at the noise, immediately holding her fists up in defense as she turned towards her attacker. Minjoo had to hold in a laugh as Chaewon nearly fell off the swing.

The other girl sighed and slowly let her hands fall back down once she recognized her company.

“Okay, are you stalking me or something?”

Minjoo actually chuckles this time and begins to lazily swing back and forth.

“What are you doing out here this late?” Chaewon asks with her eyes following Minjoo’s swinging figure.

“Why are you out so late?”

“I asked first.”

“Had a fight with my boyfriend. Well, ex-boyfriend, anyways. He’s an inconsiderate idiot and I can’t believe it took me this long to leave, really,” Minjoo says with a soft laugh at the end.

Chaewon studied the girl and tried to detect any sadness or regret, but she found absolutely none. The girl really did seem as happy as her laugh sounded.

“I’m probably gonna have to crash at my friend’s house again, though. Probably don’t wanna wake up my dad this late at night if I don’t have to.”

Minjoo didn’t expect Chaewon to say anything, but she heard the girl mumble quietly, “I see.”

“Your turn!”

“Huh?”

“Why are you out here?”

“I’m enjoying the night breeze.”

Minjoo rolls her eyes and snorts at that response.

“Stop swinging for a second.”

Minjoo blinked in confusion at the girl but slowed down anyways. When she finally came to a stop, Chaewon threw her black jacket around Minjoo’s shoulders without a single word.

“Wa-”

“Be quiet and just take it.”

“Won’t you be cold?” She says as she slips her arms through the sleeves as Chaewon holds the jacket.

“No, gangsters don’t get cold.”

Minjoo snorts as she watches Chaewon move in front of her to zip up the jacket for her (which was totally unnecessary, by the way). She burrows her nose into the jacket once it’s zipped all the way up, taking in the familiar scent despite only being this close to it the first time they had met.

“Then why are you shivering?”

“I’m not shivering; I’m shaking from the sheer power and strength held in my body.”

Minjoo laughs at that.

She smiles at Chaewon and taps her head just like she did before.

“Wow, so much strength and power in such a small body.”

She laughs harder at the way Chaewon’s eyes narrow at her.

“On second thought, maybe I want my jacket back.”

“No!” Minjoo whines and crosses her arms.

Chaewon rolls her eyes but Minjoo can’t help but notice the little smile on her face.

Suddenly, Chaewon turns around and starts walking away. Before Minjoo can decide whether or not to follow (we all know the answer to this one), Chaewon pauses and shouts over her shoulder.

“You coming?”

Minjoo immediately hops off the swing and jogs over to Chaewon. Once Minjoo catches up, Chaewon starts to walk again.

“Where are we going?”

Chaewon just shrugs.

It didn’t matter, really, because Minjoo would have followed anyways.