im trying to head in some sort of direction with this story, its kinda crazy in my head and im just trying to get it all sorted out so that might be why i feel like this particular chapter is all over the place, but hey, that could just be me. i also made up some drug to accomodate to my thought process so that i wouldnt have to do extra unnecessary research. 

anyways, sorry for the wait and i hope you all enjoy this jumble of wack words thrown together. 

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It was ironic how she was selling people the entire thing that was the result of her mother's death.

But money was money, she had to get it somehow.

It didn't really matter to her that she was endangering herself with these lowlifes and marauders. She's had a few calls here and there but she's always managed to get out with nothing more than a few injuries; nothing major. She's had knives pulled on her, attempted beatings, people trying to run away without paying, she's been through it all.

But it never failed to give her a fright when someone was a little too on edge about something so minuscule. She understood the symptoms of it, the withdrawal made it worse for those who've taken it, but it put them on edge twenty-four-seven. Aphren was one hell of a drug. But it also made things difficult trying to keep things discreet. People would yell, argue, shout, nearly anything that made them draw attention.

However, as long as she got the money she really had no problem.

Yerim on the other hand...

"What happened?" Yerim exclaimed the moment Hyejoo walked in sporting a fresh new bruised eye, wasting no time springing out of bed to inspect the injury closer.

Hyejoo shrugged off Yerim's hand when it tried to cup her face, instead maneuvering her way around her to her bunk bed. "Nothing happened," she dismissed half-heartedly, stepping up onto the lower bunk to peer over hers in search of the wolf plushie.

"Nothing?" Yerim sputtered out, coming up right next to Hyejoo just as she found the wolf under the blanket in the far corner of the bed. "A black eye isn't nothing, Hyejoo."

She only hummed distractedly in response, focusing too much on rolling the small wad of bills she got that day so that it could fit into the tear on the wolf's neck.

"Your hands too?" Yerim blurted out the moment she caught sight of the bloody and bruised knuckles that Hyejoo paid absolutely no mind to.

"What about my hands?" too preoccupied with trying to stuff the money into the wolf, Hyejoo couldn't really make out what Yerim was going on about even if she knew she looked worse for wear. This was probably the most beaten up she's ever looked since she'd started selling Aphren on the streets but she really didn't expect anything more when it was drug addicts she was dealing with.

Seeming to have lost her patience, Yerim reached out to grab one of Hyejoo's wrist—away from any of the injuries, mind you, so Hyejoo didn't feel any pain besides Yerim's grip squeezing around her wrist—to bring them up for the both of them to see. "What happened to you? What'd you do today?"

Finally, Hyejoo looked at Yerim with no distraction. Finally, she was able to see how distraught she was putting her through just by her appearance and her whereabouts. The girl who was an entire ray of sunshine to her cloudy, rainy personality but dimmed at the prospect of Hyejoo putting herself in danger and in range of people who wouldn't hesitate in hurting her in any way. Hyejoo saw the concern painted all over her face, noticed the worry that exuded off her in waves, felt the guilt that was eating her alive from being the cause of Yerim's stress.

"Nothing much happened, okay?" Hyejoo began softly, putting the wolf back under the blanket to avoid Yerim's hurt-filled gaze. "Things just went a little..." she struggled to come up with a word that wouldn't discomfort Yerim.

"A little...?" Yerim edged on.

"A little haywire," Hyejoo finished with a nod, not choosing to elaborate more on the fact that the guy she was dealing thought she was cheating him out of the correct dosage despite her constant reassurances. "Things just got out of hand, is all."

Hyejoo hopped off the bed, Yerim following close behind, when she heard a knock on their bedroom door. "But, Hyejoo, it's not safe selling these things to those kinds of people. They're dangerous." 

Hyejoo couldn't help but scoff having heard this time and time again ever since she was fourteen. She paused before opening the door, answering Yerim before whoever was on the other side could interrupt their conversation. "I'm not scared of them. They're just hyped up on drugs and if they want to keep giving me money so they can get more, then that's on them."

Before Yerim could argue anymore, Hyejoo opened the door to reveal a little boy with bright orange hair, freckles dotted all over his face and looking no more than nine years old. He looked up at Hyejoo expectantly, one hand rising from his pocket and outstretched. Without missing a beat, Hyejoo reached into her pocket to take out the few bills she had kept specifically for him and gave it to him. 

"Anything new, Todd?" Hyejoo asked, watching how he expertly counted the bills in his hand and Yerim stood over her shoulder, almost pressed against Hyejoo's back with one hand placed on her bicep. 

"Some guy's lookin' to buy," he halted his movements, his head picking up from where he was counting the bills to give Hyejoo a lopsided smile. "He's got money. Hi, Yerim," he beamed a smile at the other girl who simply waved at him. 

Perking up at this particular mention, Hyejoo leaned against the edge of the door. "Money-money?" 

Nodding, Todd's smile widened into a toothy grin, "Oh, yeah. Money-money. He's rich. Had a full on suit and everything. Probably from north-side." 

Her interest was piqued. She's never delt with anyone who was wealthy, especially not from the other side of the river, or so she assumed. But how else would he have that money? No one from south-side could even afford anything remotely close to a suit. 

"Did he say when he wanted to meet up? And how much?" Hyejoo pondered, ignoring the way Yerim's grip on her arm tightened. 

"Tomorrow night, around dusk he said. He says he'll meet you at the market, should still be wearin' that fancy suit he's got so he'll be easy to spot." He paused to stuff his money into the pocket of his pants that were a size too big. "He wants fifteen doses."

Hyejoo's eyes widened at the proposition.