The drive home was quiet. But it wasn’t a comfortable one. It was a dreadful one. Moments before getting into the car, they both checked their phones to only find out that they received very similar messages. 

While Hyejin was stuck in the principal's office, they contacted her parents. Her parents said that they will deal with her accordingly once she gets home. But they also knew that Hyejin always drops Wheein off and stays a bit over at her house before coming back home. So, how do they reprimand their child if she gets back home late?

Contact the parents of their child’s girlfriend, obviously. Afterall, they forged a great relationship the past couple of months. Well, with how often their children have a tendency to forget about the outside world and as such, they forget to tell their parents where they are. So, that’s how Hyejin and Wheein received similar messages from their parents.

The moment Hyejin read her message, she felt doom was near.

Yongsun is going to talk to you. We’ll talk once you get home.

Such simple words illicit such a strong sense of fear in her gut. Talking to the dragon? Wheein only ever told her stories of how the dragon was but she has never experienced it first hand. 

Wheein’s message from her mom was just as simple and as threatening.

Tell Hyejin to come inside. I’m going to talk to her. Alone.

The both looked at each other in fear.

“Wheein, I’m gonna die, aren’t I?” 

“Babe,” Wheein enveloped Hyejin in a hug and kissed her on the cheek, “Probably.”

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

Even though the ride was pensive with Hyejin’s doom so near. They treasured the very little time they had left together. During the drive, Wheein wouldn’t let go of Hyejin’s right hand. She held it, played with it and kissed it. Spending as much time as she could touching Hyejin. After their moment from earlier, and their separation to come, Wheein needed Hyejin’s touch. It was a comfort that she took for granted. Were it not for today, then she would never know how much Hyejin’s touch means to her. It was a touch that told Wheein a thousand words and thoughts. A thousand desires.

Most of their touches in the past couple of months have been needy touches. Like a child wanting to clutch their comfort toy. Sure, there were times during their heavy make out sessions that their touches strayed a little too far, especially Hyejin’s, but they wrangled it back in. Besides verbal and non verbal cues, their touches  brought them closer together. There was no misinterpretation of their touch. Hence the reason why Wheein was in so much pain when Hyejin didn’t touch her earlier. It was as if she was shut out of Hyejin’s heart and soul. It felt like she didn’t matter to Hyejin anymore. 

They still need to talk about what happened earlier more in depth but that can wait. Now was the time for Hyejin to face her fate. The dragon awaited them.

As Hyejin parked the car, she gave a shaky sigh. Wheein looked at her with concern and clutched Hyejin’s hand close to her heart.

“Hyejin-ah?”

“Any tips and tricks to survive the dragon?” Hyejin shot Wheein a smile. But that smile was overshadowed by fear.

Wheein cupped Hyejin’s face and gave her a reassuring kiss.

“Just be honest. If there is anything the dragon hates, it’s liars.” Wheein rested her forehead against Hyejin’s.
Hyejin sighed and nuzzled Wheein.

“Will you give a good eulogy?”

“Hmm. Depends on what I get in your will.” Wheein gladly accepted Hyejin’s nuzzle. Even if Hyejin’s breathing tickled her neck. 

“What? Is my heart not enough?” Hyejin whined.

Wheein could only laugh and give Hyejin a small peck on her forehead.

“We can debate this later. I don’t think the dragon will appreciate having to wait.”

Hyejin pouted and got out of the car with a grumble. Wheein followed suit with a small chuckle at how childish Hyejin was being.

As they made their way to the front door, they could sense the imposing aura on the other side. They slowed their walking pace in a vain attempt to delay the inevitable. But the door opened before they could even try to postpone things even further.

“Ah, bout time you two get here.” Yong said with a soft smile. Though, her demeanor was anything but soft. Her stance spoke power, and her eyes had fire. The dragon is out and is not happy.

Hyejin gulped and tried to reach for Wheein’s hand but the dragon beckoned them in.

“Come inside. We have a lot to talk about, Hyejin.” Yong made room for them to enter and closed the door behind them. 

The door echoed mournfully as it shut. The dragon walked around them and stood in front of the living room and beckoned Hyejin to follow her. Hyejin obeyed after a big breath and nodded at Wheein. 

Wheein could only share a brief smile with Hyejin before she entered the dragon’s den. The dragon looked at her daughter and gave her a reassuring smile. A smile that said that Hyejin will survive this. Afterwards, Yong closed the door to the living room and Wheein was left alone. 

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

Wheein elected to wait in the verandah. While she waited she tried to get some work done but she couldn’t focus. Her mind was a jumbled mess. She can only imagine what Hyejin’s going through and it’s already been an hour. But right when she was about to give up and do nothing, her mother came home.

Wheein poked her head through the doorway to give her greetings. She had to wait a moment before she could say hello since her mother was still on the phone.

“Just have those reports ready before the meeting next week. The investors are getting ancy for some reason and we need to show them results to back us up. Review with the marketing team and go over those numbers again.” 

As Moonbyul carefully removed and placed her shoes, tie, and jacket, she was intently listening on the phone. 

“I understand that the projections for this quarter are less than ideal but we always make do.”

Moonbyul paused again to listen.

“I understand, but we need to get the investors to understand. Listen,” Moonbyul pinched the bridge of her nose, “We’ll have a brief meeting tomorrow to go over this, alright? Let’s just sleep on it for tonight. Ok? Alright, bye.”

Moonbyul sighed as she put up her phone. She finally noticed Wheein peeking out of the door frame just ahead. 

Moonbyul immediately had a bright smile upon her face when she saw her daughter, “Wheein-ah, how was your day?”

Wheein was about to answer, but thought better of it. It was best to let her mother come to her less she accidentally interrupts the dragons interrogation. And besides, all she wants right now is a hug.

Seeing Wheein’s crestfallen face, Moonbyul knew the reason why and walked over to her daughter and gave her a comforting hug. Yong told her that she was going to talk to Hyejin once they made it back home, though she didn’t tell her what kind of talk specifically. She knew about the fight, hell it was all over social media already, so she can only assume what kind of talk Yong had in mind. 

“Hey, Hyejin will survive.” Moonbyul reassured her daughter with a gentle rub on her back.

Wheein only nodded and hummed in agreement. But her face was still sad.

“Wheein-ah, what’s wrong?”  Moonbyul held her daughter arm’s length in order to get a good view of her face. 

Wheein still had a crestfallen face, but also the sparkles of the beginning of tears. Did something else happen?

“Wheein.” The authority in Moonbyul’s voice made Wheein lookup.

Wheein was internally a mess. She not only thought about what Hyejin could be going through, but couldn’t help but feel that this was partially her fault. Afterall, if the fallout between her old friends never happened then Dimir wouldn’t be in the picture. But, not even Wheein told Hyejin about how Dimir was involved in the fallout. Only she and her old friends know. But she needs to tell someone. 

“I…..” Wheein breathed deep, bracing herself, “I…..need to tell you something.”

Moonbyul looked at Wheein with concern but gently nodded and guided Wheein back to the couches. Once they were seated, Moonbyul patiently looked at Wheein while she gently patted Wheein’s knees. Beckoning Wheein to continue but also letting Wheein know that she is listening.

A couple of shaky breaths later, Wheein began her story.

“I need to tell you about what happened with my previous friends….”