It had been a long time since she had visited the place, but it still reeked of sweat, blood, and desperation. Most people who entered through the left door often left injured and beaten within an inch of their body, many times with no cash to at least alleviate the hassle of paying for Tylenol. Most people who entered through the right door left either with no cash or rich as (well, rich as in Chaewon’s definition). If she looked for Inseon, she could probably dig around a bit, ask for info on her own gang, the Ravens, and find some pointers to the er who did this to her.

She could do that... if she was in her own body.

Now she was in Bae Eunyoung’s body, and knew nobody around here would trust her for . They’d probably beat her together if they heard her resurrection story, probably thinking she was insulting their intelligence. So there was only one option.

She went through the left door.

Many of the fighters that had entered before her were now looking at her with predatory eyes, which betrayed different thoughts. Others looked like weaklings that could never hold on their own against a ing fly. She didn’t even dignify a look at any of them. She wouldn’t be seeing them after tonight.

Getting to the mesh door, some of the fighters, whom she recognized, jeered at her.

“Well, well, I think someone is lost,” one of them said, looking her up and down.

She said nothing, outwardly relaxing her posture, but still mentally on her guard. While fighting outside of the ring was discouraged, it wasn’t entirely banned, and these kinds of fights, where one person was ganged upon, were not uncommon in these places.

“And she is deaf, too,” another exclaimed, slowly walking towards her.

“I’m sorry. I thought you were speaking between yourselves,” Chaewon said nonchalantly.

“Oh, you don’t have to be sorry for anything, honey,” the man said in a honeyed voice, which would have creeped Chaewon out the first time she entered this place, but now was just noise to her. “What’s your name?”

“I believe you’ll know when we get to fight,” she said, picking on her nails. The man laughed obnoxiously.

“Well, aren’t you a confident one? I have never seen you around here. New in town?”

“More like an old visitor,” she answered, looking at the man right in the eyes. As soon as their eyes met, the man paled, looking at her as if he had seen a ghost.

“You...” he trailed off, turning to look at his partner. “How do you...”

“That is none of your business,” Chaewon retorted. “Just know that I came here for a little visit.”

“Hey, watch your...” the man’s friend was about to retort, but was held back by the man.

“Stop, dude. You don’t want to cross her.” The friend snorted.

“Why? What is she going to do? Kick my ?”

“Just play with you for a little while,” Chaewon said, her expression still calm. The friend gaped at her for a moment before lunging at her.

“We’ll see who plays with whom, ,” the friend spit out as the man restrained him. Chaewon just smirked at him, knowing that it would anger him far more than any word could.

The door was finally opened by Giseop, a giant teddy bear of a man that kept the peace inside the building.

“Lineup, or I’ll just take you to the exit,” he said pointing at everyone, who complied almost immediately. His eyes came to rest on Chaewon, and stayed there for a moment.

“You, name.”

“Shihyun,” Chaewon answered, not wanting to get this woman’s body into that big amount of trouble, as Minju’s words still resounded in her head. Huh. Maybe she actually had a heart.

“Last name?”

“You don’t need my last name.” The man smiled slightly.

“Maybe so.” He cleared his throat. “Well, then. Shall we start?”

--

When Minju returned to Eunyoung’s home, her parents were already at the dinning room, although their plates were mostly untouched. The heads snapped as soon as she came into their sight, but their expressions wilted when they saw her come alone, making Minju’s heart ache even more than it already did.

“I’m so sorry,” Minju started, running a hand through her hair. “I wanted to...”

“It’s okay, darling. I know this must be even harder for you,” Miyoung looked at her sympathetically.

“But I couldn’t bring her home,” she countered heartbreakingly, her left hand grabbing onto the wrist Eunyoung had grabbed.

“It’s not your fault,” her father said, embracing her again. It immediately made her cry, sobbing against her father’s chest as today’s events ran through her mind again and again, like a broken record. Her father rubbed her back consolingly, repeating pacifying words that, ultimately, did nothing to alleviate Minju’s fears of losing her fiancee.

Eunyeong’s dad, Shiwon, invited her to stay at their home, hoping that Eunyoung would return later in the evening, and Minju complied, not wanting to be apart from Eunyoung, even if it was only a place filled with memories of her.

When she finally laid on Eunyoung’s bed, cocooned in her blankets, she cried again, now letting herself completely go, hoping that when morning came, things would be alright again.

She didn’t even realize she fell asleep until a sound woke her up. Her eyes cracked open, and she could spot a shadow walking towards Eunyoung’s desk. She heard one of the drawers open, which made her take the blankets away, kicking them to the side, and sit up immediately.

“Eunyoung,” she said with relief, knowing who the shadow resembled.

“Uh, no. Chaewon.” Minju deflated, again confronted by the reality of their situation. However, when she ventured to examine Eunyoung’s face, she gasped at what she found.

“What happened?” she jumped to her feet, moving quickly to grasp Eunyoung’s face.

“Ah, nothing. Just had a little chat with someone.” Chaewon winced when Minju caressed the bruise on her eye, which was considerably swollen.

“Is this what you call a chat?” Minju chastised, making Chaewon’s temper flare again, but she tried restraining herself. She needed to be calm. She needed to be nice so that she could get what she needed.

“Yeah, an unfriendly chat.”

“Take off your clothes.”

“What?” Chaewon laughed disbelievingly. “I didn’t know black eyes were your thing, but...”

“Your clothes. Now,” Minju said authoritatively, grabbing onto Eunyoung’s shirt and pulling the woman close to her.

“Damn. Okay, okay. Geez, woman, no need to be so rough.” Minju’s stomach dropped, when Eunyoung took off her t-shirt. Her fiancee’s whole body was splashed with different shades of purple, blue, and green, which made for an unsightly view.

“Stay here. Don’t you dare run away again,” she ordered Chaewon, who mentally ts’ked at the woman, who rushed out of her room.

“I’m not a stray dog, lady,” she said grumpily, sitting down on the bed. She had wanted to investigate Eunyoung’s room for the documents Inseon had asked for, but, lucky for her, this woman was sleeping here.

“Doesn’t she have a house of her own?” she asked again, knowing that no one was there to hear her voice out her thoughts.

Minju came back in no time with a first aid kit. Sitting on the bed, next to Eunyoung, she opened the kit, quickly getting the antiseptic wipes.

“Now, don’t move.”

“Why would I even move?” she asked, wincing when the wipe made contact with the bruise on her eye.

“Because this whole day you’ve had a tendency of not being able to stay put in one place.”

“Well, I don’t have the luxury to sip Piña Coladas while I relax on the beach, do I?”

“Turn your face.”

“Geez, fine,” Chaewon conceded turning her face to the left side. Minju cleaned a cut in her cheek with another antiseptic wipe, making Chaewon hiss.

“And this? How does this happen in a chat?”

“When the other person has brass knuckles, it sometimes be like that.”

“Oh, my god,” Minju exclaimed, not liking Eunyoung’s words. “Did they try to mug you?” Chaewon snorted.

“No one would try to mug me. I told you, it was just a chat.” Minju sighed.

“Alright, okay. It was just a chat. And then? Did you just come here to get first aid or are you planning on staying?”

“Ah, well, I can’t quite go to my apartment, yet.”

“You have an apartment?” Minju asked, surprised.

“Of course I do. Where do you think I sleep? On the streets?”

“Right,” Minju just said, reminded again of the whole thing. “Right. So you are staying here?”

“For the moment... If those dudes let me stay.” Chaewon coughed into her palm.

“Of course they’ll let you stay. They didn’t even want you to leave, remember?”

“Ah, yeah, but I wasn’t the most diplomatic person around,” Chaewon explained, wincing when Minju cleaned a cut above her eyebrow.

“And yet, here I am, taking care of you.”

“Ah, yeah, thanks,” she said gruffly, not used to expressing gratitude.

“They’ll let you stay. Don’t worry about that,” Minju answered, already having thought about a plan to stop Eunyoung from running away again. “In fact, do you want to sleep now?”

“Now? No, I am way too pumped up to sleep. I just need caffeine, a ton of it.”

“Do you want me to make a cup of coffee for you?”

“Yeah.” Another cough. “Please.”

“Alright, coming right up.” Minju stood up, placing the first aid kit on the desk. “Stay put, okay?” Chaewon raised both eyebrows, not amused at her continuous search for reassurance, which Minju took as an affirmation.

It wasn’t probably the best idea, and Eunyoung would probably not talk to her for a full day when she came to her senses, but she couldn’t let Eunyoung run off again, much less to get herself beaten.

Grabbing two of her father-in-law’s sleeping pills, she pulverized them with the handle of a knife.

What was Eunyoung thinking? Why was she in this sudden quest to kill herself? Minju had no idea, but she couldn’t let herself be still while Eunyoung threw her life away.

When the water was already boiling, she poured it over a cup, then throwing the remaining water down the drain. It was until she had prepared the cup that she threw in the final ingredient, stirring it with a small spoon. She hoped Eunyoung wouldn’t know something was amiss.

She entered the room with a more cheerful disposition, fighting against her own unconscious reaction at Eunyoung’s injuries.

“Here you go,” she sing-songed. Chaewon looked at her critically before taking the cup in her hands. She thanked Minju gruffly and took a sip of the hot beverage.

“Ah, this is good,” she expressed in relief. “Nothing like the piss Hwang likes to make.”

Minju said nothing, waiting for Eunyoung to drink it all. When she finally finished, Minju took the cup from her hands gently.

“Since you came back, there is something I wanted to ask you,” she said tentatively, hoping that Eunyoung wouldn’t be as rude as she had been a few hours ago.

“Shoot. I am at your house, so...” Chaewon shrugged.

“Do you remember my mother?”

“How can I remember someone I’ve never met?” Chaewon asked dryly, looking around the room.

“My mother has been ill for a few years now,” Minju soldiered on, hurt by the fact that Eunyoung didn’t remember her mom, someone who Eunyoung usually loved to spend time with. “And she is at the hospital. We don’t know how long will she still stay with us, but she wanted to see you.” Minju braced for the abrasive answer, but when none came, she turned to look at Eunyoung, who was now looking at the desk intently, as if in thought. She then, snapping out of her reverie, sighed.

“When do you want me to see her?”

“Tomorrow, if it’s not too much to ask.” Minju smiled.

“I mean. I guess not,” Chaewon scratched her neck. “In the early morning or...?”

“Probably 9 am,” Minju answered, grabbing Eunyoung’s hand with her free hand. “Thank you.”

Eunyoung just hummed, shaking her head. “Ugh.”

“Is something wrong?” Minju asked, not knowing if it was the pills having an effect on Eunyoung.

“Nah, just some pain in my ribs,” Chaewon dismissed, knowing at this point that this woman was a worrywart. Her eyes widened regardless.

“Is it broken? Should I take you to the hospital?” Minju asked too quickly, to the point where Chaewon didn’t understand at all.

“No, no. I am fine. Stop worrying,” Chaewon said, trying to placate Minju, who became more agitated at her words.

“How can I not worry when you get to this room, which is in the second floor, through a window, beaten and injured?”

“But I’m fine! If I wasn’t, I wouldn’t have been able to climb up here.”

“I don’t like it,” Minju said, crossing her arms. “You need rest.”

“It’ll heal later.” Minju huffed again, turning her head away from Chaewon.

“And when did you get that butterfly tattoo, even?”

“What tattoo?”

“The one below your ?”

“You looked at my s?” Minju’s face reddened, amusing Chaewon.

“How can I not? You are bruised all over!”

“It’s okay to look.” Chaewon laughed lightly at Minju’s reaction. The latter just hit her shoulder, making her hiss.

“I’m sorry,” Minju said, realizing she was hurting Eunyoung. “But you are never this explicit!” Chaewon just raised an eyebrow, already tired of emphasizing her real identity, and just let Minju be, even if that irritated her for some reason.

“Well, whatever. I don’t know about that tattoo.” Chaewon yawned, feeling a sudden wave of drowsiness. “Well, .”

“What? What’s wrong?” Minju asked again, worry again etched on her face.

“Nothing. I just... suddenly feel very sleepy.”

“Let’s get you to bed, then,” Minju said, putting the cup on the desk and grabbing both Chaewon’s arms. She guided her to the bed, then helped her lay on the bed gently.

“Thanks,” Chaewon said, unsure of why she was letting Minju move her like a rag doll. But she guessed it didn’t matter now. She was way too tired and there was a nice comfy bed to sleep in.

She wasn’t even sure if Minju slept beside her, as she out almost immediately.

Thank you for reading! ^^

Hit me up at @Beks7412