(Returning to the Dorm - Theme of Ch. 3)

A week has passed since the break in and Jooyeon's disappearance. To the rest of the members' dismay, the police have not found any new evidence or leads regarding Jooyeon's whereabouts. The girls' worries increase as their loving ulzzang is nowhere to be found. For the past week, each member attempted at calling Jooyeon's phone and sending texts, praying for a response.

Nothing.

Nana is standing in front of their dorm with her fellow members, luggage in hand. Since the police were finished investigating their dorm, Pledis received permission from the authorities that After School can return to their dorm. They were even kind enough to replace the broken furniture and curtains without any charge. Nana follows everyone as their manager leads them inside. Upon entering, Nana couldn't help but feel sad. Everything looked the same that very day they went out for dinner with the managers and left Jooyeon here at the dorm. It felt as if nothing happened and that they just came back from a vacation.

"It's difficult to believe that a gun fight happened here, huh?" Jungah says softly coming from behind Nana, as if she could read her thoughts. 

Nana smiles bitterly. "Jooyeon unnie should be here... welcoming us back with that goofy smile of hers..." Jungah looks at her with a sad expression but doesn't say anything.

"Oppa, where did the television come from? Wasn't it broken?" Bekah asks the manager.

"After hearing what happened to your dorm, your fanclub decided to fund raise to help repair the dorm. With the money we got, we were able to replace what was damaged," he replies.

"Gotta love the Playgirlz and Playboyz," Kahi smiles, touched by the fans' actions.

"The CEO wanted me to inform you all that until further notice, all of After School's schedules will be cancelled. I'm sorry, especially to you Uee."

Uee shakes her head. "No... It's fine. I don't have the will to act right now anyway since..." She pauses. A heavy silence hangs in the air as everyone knows what she was about to say.

The manager looks at the sadden expressions of After School. "Girls, don't give up hope. We'll find Jooyeon."

After helping the girls with the rest of their belongings, the manager says goodbye and tells them to call if any trouble stirs before leaving the dorm. The girls quietly make way to their rooms with their luggage. Jungah stands in front of the closed door of her and Jooyeon's room. Kahi notices Jungah's troubled expression and places a gentle hand on the omma's shoulder.

"Jungah, are you alright?" Kahi asks worriedly.

Jungah hugs herself, a cold shiver crawling down her body. "It's just... I don't feel comfortable sleeping in our room alone, without Jooyeon. I know manager oppa said they cleaned up the room but the image of all that blood is still fresh in my mind and..."

Kahi looks at Jungah understandingly and embraces her. Jungah hugs Kahi back tightly. "It's okay, Jungah. If you want... you can sleep in my room until you're ready to sleep back in your own."

"I'd like that, Kahi unnie," Jungah whispers.

Without their knowledge, Nana is watching and listening to her unnies from her room, her door slightly open. With a heavy sigh, Nana quietly shuts her door and lies down on her bed. She stares at the ceiling, contemplating on what's happened. They returned to their dorm but nothing is back to normal. Everyone is quiet about what happened as if silence will give a false reality that everything is alright. But Nana is aware that inside everyone's mind, they're all worrying if Jooyeon is still...

Nana pounds her mattress with a tightened fist.

"Damn it... Get a grip, Nana.... Jooyeon unnie IS alive, she has to be..." Nana whispers to herself. Once again, Nana glances down at Jooyeon's ring on her finger. Ever since Jooyeon gave her the ring and since the incident occurred, Nana feels uneasy whenever she stares at the ring. Something about the ring gave out an ominous feeling, yet at the same time it calmed her since it was the last thing she received from Jooyeon.

A soft knock snaps Nana back to reality.

"Nana are you there? It's Bekah."

Nana quickly gets up and opens the door to find Bekah standing outside with a small smile. "Hi Unnie. What's the matter?" Nana asks.

"Kahi unnie and Jungah unnie are asking for us. Not sure why though," Bekah explains, shrugging her shoulders. Nana nods and follows Bekah to Kahi's room. Kahi and Jungah were waiting for them. As soon as Nana and Bekah enter the room, Kahi closes the door. Nana blinks in confusion while Bekah hops onto Kahi's bed. "So what's up Kahi unnie?" Bekah asks the leader.

"Jungah just told me something about you, Nana. Bekah, you're here because I think you should listen to this too." Nana and Bekah exchange confused glances before turning their gaze back on Kahi. "Nana, do you really have Jooyeon's ring?"

Bekah immediately turns to Nana. "What!? You have her ring?!"

Nana's heart jumps as her unnies' gazes were intently on her. She lifts her hand with the finger. "She gave it to me a few hours before we went out to dinner with the managers." The blonde pauses when everyone's face contort in thought. "You guys know what this ring is don't you? I mean, you know what it means to Jooyeon unnie, right?"

Kahi sighs as she leans against the door, arms crossed and eyes closed as she recalls a memory. "Jooyeon wasn't as cheerful and silly like she is now. When After School debuted, Jooyeon was the last to be added into the group. You would think she would have been excited to be debuted into a group but...."

"Jooyeon was the opposite. The first day that me, Kahi unnie, Jooyeon, Soyoung, and Bekah move into the dorm, Jooyeon was very quiet, almost as if she didn't want to be chosen to be in After School. She would only look at you and you'd be lucky to get even a nod from her," Jungah says.

"She was also very jumpy and tense," Bekah adds. "And she would always give us these wary stares."

"That's why we never expected Jooyeon to suddenly attack Soyoung," Kahi says quietly as memories resurface in the 1st generation's minds.


Jooyeon grabs Soyoung by the collar and roughly pushes her against the wall. "Where the hell is my ring?!"

"It's in.... It's... GUUGH" Soyoung gags as Jooyeon begins to choke her, pushing her harder against the wall.

"WHERE THE HELL IS IT?!" Jooyeon screams.

"Stop it Unnie! You're hurting her!" Bekah yells, grabbing Jooyeon from behind and pulling her off of Soyoung. Soyoung falls to her knees, coughing and gasping for breath.

Kahi and Jungah emerge from the hallway after hearing all the commotion. "What's going on here?!" Kahi demands.

"Soyoung-ah!" Jungah exclaims, rushing to her side.

"Jooyeon unnie was choking Soyoung unnie!" Bekah says, holding Jooyeon's arms behind her back.

Kahi stares at Jooyeon, shocked. "Yah Jooyeon! What do you think you're doing?"

Kahi is taken aback at the fury in Jooyeon's eyes as the younger girl glares at her. But slowly the fury disappears in Jooyeon's eyes and fear takes its place. When she feels Jooyeon calming down, Bekah releases her grip on Jooyeon. Shocked by her own actions, Jooyeon stares at the floor, unable to look up at her members. Jooyeon begins to tremble and buries her face into her hands.

"Oh my God....I-I... I'm so sorry! I'm sorry I'm sorry I'm sorry..." Jooyeon chokes back a sob. "S-Soyoung unnie, I'm so sorry...!"

The rest of the members were speechless as they look at Jooyeon. Then someone takes a step forward.

To Jooyeon's surprise, Soyoung gently embraces her. "It's okay, Jooyeon... It's okay."

Jooyeon sobs harder in her unnie's arms.


"It was all a misunderstanding. Soyoung simply found the ring next to the bathroom sink and since Jooyeon wasn't there at the time, Soyoung kept it in her room. After that, Jooyeon told the four of us why that ring was so important to her," Kahi pauses to look at Nana in the eyes. "When she was a child, her parents were murdered right in front of her eyes. That ring was her mother's wedding ring. It means the world to Jooyeon. She really cherishes that ring."

Nana's eyes widen in shock. She glances down at the ring then back at Kahi. "I had no idea... T-That's horrible..." Nana whispers.

Kahi continues. "Jooyeon also told us that after the death of her parents, she had trouble trusting everyone she meets because of 'certain events' that happened in her past. She never told us what those events were but we asked her why did she audition. Jooyeon simply said she wanted tryout. She never thought she'd get in."

"When we heard Jooyeon's story, we felt great sympathy for her. Before she hurt Soyoung, we lived with her for about a month. We thought she was just a quiet girl, we never thought she would have a past like that," Jungah says sadly. "The four of us promised to Jooyeon that we would never hurt her and gradually Jooyeon began to open up to us."

"We were happy that she changed. The first time she truly smiled was after we performed 'AH' for the first time. Jooyeon unnie really shone that day," Bekah smiles nostalgically. "She changed for the better."

"What does all of this have to do with me having Jooyeon's ring though?" Nana questions.

"Sorry, I guess we got carried away," Kahi apologizes. Bekah nods in agreement.

"Nana, ever since you told me that Jooyeon gave you her ring, it's been bothering me a lot," Jungah confesses. Nana flinches inwardly when she notices worry in Jungah's eyes. "That ring is her most treasured possession. Jooyeon cares for it so much as if it was alive. The fact you have the ring... it scares me."

Nana gulps at how serious Jungah is. Her eyes dart to Kahi who has a dark expression on her face. Bekah gasps as she realizes what Jungah means, a horrified expression on her face. "Why are you scared at the fact Jooyeon gave me the ring...?" Nana asks, beginning to feel dry. 

Kahi steps closer to Nana. "A week ago, Jooyeon suddenly gets angry and storms out of the dorm. You follow her outside and she gives you her ring. When dinner approached, Jooyeon no longer wants to eat dinner with us and the managers and stays in the dorm by herself. While we were gone, a group of men invade and destroy the dorm and Jooyeon is either missing.... or..." Kahi shakes the possibility out of her head before continuing. "Anyway, don't you find these series of events strange, Nana?" Kahi says pushing the issue.

Nana gulps, afraid where this line of reasoning is going. 

"I have this dark feeling that Jooyeon believed something was going to happen to her," Jungah states grimly. "I've been her roommate since After School was formed and I know Jooyeon would never part herself from her ring unless..."

"Unless she knew her life was in danger..." Nana quietly finishes, eyes widening with dread.

Kahi bites down on her lip, nodding in confirmation. "Jooyeon must have known something was going to happen to her. That's why she volunteered to stay behind. She wanted to stay here at the dorm alone to face the danger... And also to protect us..."

"So Jooyeon unnie gave Nana her ring as a way of saying goodbye..." Bekah says in disbelief. The rapper's statement wasn't a question. In Kahi, Jungah, and Nana's mind, they also thought that was the possibility. "But why would anyone want to kill Jooyeon unnie?" Bekah asks.

"Bekah!" Kahi exclaims.

"I don't think denying the possibility that someone was trying to kill her is going to help anyone, Kahi unnie. I'm just being reasonable," Bekah says gently.

"Bekah's right," Jungah relunctantly agrees. "Someone wanted Jooyeon dead and Jooyeon herself was aware of it. That's why she was acting so strange that day." A tear escapes Jungah's eye. "I wish she would have told us...."

"I wish we knew where she is," Kahi mutters.
-----------------
Jooyeon slowly opens her eyes. She soon squints under the bright lights of the room and moves her hand over her eyes. Once she was adjusted to the light, Jooyeon realizes she is on a twin bed in a bedroom. She scans her surroundings and frowns.

"This place... So I'm here again," Jooyeon says with disdain. Jooyeon pushes herself upright, only to wince in pain. She lifts up her shirt to find bandages tightly wrapped all around her torso. She grabs her head as a slight headache begins to throb. "Oh yeah... I was shot." Just when she was about to get out of bed, a man in black opens the door and stares at Jooyeon.

Jooyeon's eyes widen in shock.

"I-It's you...."