Chapter 4
Her Sister's Secret
It had become a habit for her to sleep in her boyfriend's arms and Nana found it hard to sleep without Mir snoring beside her. Tonight, though, things were a little different. Sleep seemed to evade her.
With a deep sigh, she turned to face Mir, who she figured was already fighting pirates in dreamland. Nana brought a hand to her lover's face so gently it was as if she was afraid he would break apart with just her touch.
She knew she was smiling but if she could still cry, she would've cried at that moment, only, she felt she had no more tears left. Instead, she focused on the steady rise and fall of Mir's chest, the latter's usual musky scent intoxicating her. Nana moved closer to his sleeping form and closed her eyes. After all the chaos of that day, Im Jin Ah found refuge.
At fifteen, Nana hated cram school, especially because her joints grow stiff from all the sitting and she has to walk all the way back home by herself. The school itself wasn't that far but, since they're dismissed a little after ten, the darkness makes the journey miserable.
As she neared home, Nana spotted a black, expensive-looking car parked in front of their apartment complex, slightly lit by the apartment's lobby. It was odd, to say the least, knowing full well that no one in the neighborhood could ever afford what she assumed was a Porsche. She almost brushed it off when she saw the car door open and a very distressed Juyeon alighting from the passenger seat clad in nothing but a white tank top and a skirt that barely reached her midthigh.
"Eonnie?"
Juyeon's head quickly turned to the direction of the voice, unsurprised to find her younger sister standing in front of her. Without skipping a beat, she slammed the car door, rushed to her sister's side and quickly pulled the blonde in a tight embrace.
Nana was speechless. Why was her sister acting all weird? She did not miss the broken expression her sister had. What happened in that car? The tinted windows made it hard for Nana to identify who the rider was, but she was sure whoever was in there had something to do with all this.
"Eonnie, who's that in the car? Someone from the restaurant?"
She felt her sister shaking. And before she knew it, tears soaked her left shoulder. Nana broke from her sister's hold and turned to make her way to the driver's side, certain to give whoever was in there a piece of her mind. No one had the right to make her sister cry.
"No!" Juyeon quickly tugged at Nana's hand. "Get inside Jinah."
"But... what's going on, Eonnie?"
"Jinah-yah," Juyeon was shaking, tears steadily pouring down her face. "Just get inside!"
As she furiously wiped her tears, Juyeon all but pushed Nana into the building without another word paying no heed to the younger's protests.
Nana watched through the glass door as her sister leaned into the car window and talked to the stranger in it. Still, she wasn't able to get a good view of the unknown driver. Soon, the car sped off and her sister walked to the door, head bent as she wiped her tears away. Nana approached the door and opened it for her sister.
"Now can you tell me what's going on?"
Juyeon raised her head to find herself looking into her sister's questioning eyes. She knew Nana was growing more concerned by the second, but the less she knew, the better it would be for them both.
"Pack your bags."
"What?"
"Pack your bags, we're moving."
Nana watched Juyeon walk pass her, taking note of the bruises on her sister's arms and uncharacteristically exposed legs as she climbed the stairs. They were bigger and more defined than the bruises from before.
Something was definitely wrong.
Nana followed suit and made her way to their room. When she got there, her sister had already started packing her things. Juyeon stopped in her tracks when she saw her enter. She fished for something in her olive-colored sling bag and, as soon as she found it, she threw it at the unsuspecting blonde.
"Use that," she said, as she returned to her packing.
Nana looked at the tiny bottle in her hand. It was hair dye. "I don't know how to use this."
"Just go, I'll pack up here, we won't be bringing much anyway. We have to buy you new clothes."
"Wait what? But I don't need new clothes."
When her sister didn't reply, Nana lost all urge to argue. Instead, she headed for the bathroom in utter confusion. She flipped the switch and the bathroom lights flickered to life.
After forty minutes, give or take, Nana emerged from the bathroom with her hair wrapped in a towel. The apartment was a mess with one big travelling bag smack in the middle of it. Her sister, however, was nowhere to be found. Their front door was ajar and she could hear shouting voices from outside. This quickly set off the alarm bells in her head.
Nana sprinted for the door, her voice catching in as she found her sister against a wall near the stairwell evidently displeased, a dark haired man right in front of her.
"Jung Byunghee!" she heard Juyeon say and watched as she shoved the man away. "Go away!"
"Stop resisting Juyeon," the man growled, grabbing hold of Juyeon's arm.
Instincts took over and Nana quickly grabbed the wooden stick which they use to dust the ceiling and made her way towards her sister.
"Let her go!"
Juyeon watched in mixed surprised and horror as Nana swung for Byunghee. She quickly moved from behind him and stepped between the two.
"Wait, Jinah! Stop! It's not what it looks like! Please put that down."
Nana refused to budge, her grip tightening around her chosen weapon.
Juyeon slowly approached her seething sister. She reached for the wooden stick in Nana's hands and gradually removed it from her grasp. Nana did not resist but her eyes were fixed on the man across her.
Was he the person from the car?
Nana's eyes drifted to her sister's bruises. Anger doubled inside her. Her eyes returned to the man before her. She waited for him to meet her gaze but he never did.
Did he cause all these?
"Byunghee, go." Juyeon didn't even bother to turn.
The man called Byunghee was quick to protest "Juyeon!"
Juyeon took a deep in a deep breath. "Leave. Now."
Byunghee finally took that as his cue to leave. He cleared his throat, straightened his shirt and headed down the stairs. He stopped midway and turned to face Juyeon one last time.
"You'll regret this Im Juyeon."
Juyeon dropped her head and closed her eyes.
"I know." Her voice just above a whisper.
From a distance, Nana heard a car speed off. She stayed rooted at her spot. Her sister had long returned to their room.
When Nana came to her senses, she too returned to their room, her mind filled to the brim with questions. From the doorframe, she found her sister packing the last of their things acting as if nothing happened.
"Eonnie."
"Jinah-yah, isn't it time to wash the dye off?" Juyeon said, busily packing away.
Nana didn't know how to react. Of all things, why must her sister chose to talk about her hair? Nana could only throw her hands up in frustration.
"Eonnie, don't be like this."
The older Im paused, but continued packing. "Wash it off, okay? We're leaving right after."
Unmoving, Nana stood feeling so confused and so angry. For the first time since the death of their parents, tears poured down her face.
Mir woke up to an empty bed that morning, as always. Not bothering to muffle his yawn, Mir stretched his limbs. He dragged his feet out of the room and plopped on the sofa. He loved a lot of things, but mornings were definitely not on his list. He absentmindedly turned the TV on as he sunk deeper into his seat.
"-lice were called to a little store over at Williams and Shawberk yesterday."
Mir's body shot straight as the news pulled his attention. The screen cut to a shot from the very shop he was in yesterday. Mir reached for the remote and increased the volume.
"An unnamed man was reported to have called 911 at about 3:47 in the afternoon about a stabbing. However, the man was unable to provide any valuable information. The only evidence found in the vicinity was a pair of white surgical gloves which they assume to be from the attacker."
There it was, the single pair of gloves that Mir saw in the bin. Juyeon's pair of gloves?
"The victim, Jung Byunghee, is currently recovering at St. Dominic's and is in stable condition. Authorities are still searching for his attacker. Anyone with vi-"
Mir immediately switched the TV off. He gave himself a slap on the head as he remembered how this might make Nana feel. Just as he suspected, Nana stood behind him fresh from her bath, wrapped in her pink robe, mouth agape.
Mir mentally choked himself for his slip up.
"I'm sorry."
Nana snapped out of her trance upon hearing his voice. "N-no. It's... it's okay."
Mir rose from his seat and approached the brunette. He cupped her face with both his hands and looked into Nana's eyes.
"Everything's gonna be alright, Nana."
Nana could only close her eyes in response.
No, not everything.
I know I . I big time. I'm not even gonna give you guys an excuse. I'm truly sorry for the late, lame update. -bows a full 90 degrees-
:((((((
-K
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