judge me once, love me twice | 2yeon

19 | unexplainable circumstances

"Jeongyeon, I think it's time we tell Nayeon about you." Mina sits the two girls down. "Before things get sticky and someone gets emotionally hurt."

Jeongyeon doesn't know what Mina's up to, but she hasn't done anything to get on Jeongyeon's bad side lately. Or at all. It is quite suspicious.

"So...what is it?" Nayeon raises her eyebrow. "Emotionally hurt?"

"Look, Nayeon. Jeongyeon and I aren't what you think we'd be." Mina looks at Jeongyeon. "And I hope that if it's alright with you, that I can tell her."

The dark haired girl has no other choice. "Go on."

"You see, Nayeon, Jeongyeon and I grew up in the world of business. And our fathers were - and still are - rivals."

Mina still remembers the day she first met Jeongyeon as a little kid. The tension between their families was unbearable.

"Truth is, our fathers are businessmen." Jeongyeon butts in, looking at Mina whilst taking a deep breath in. "But it's a front for another business."

Nayeon doesn't know what she means. "Drugs?"

"More of a mafia — like a gang type of thing." Jeongyeon gulps. "It's not surprising my brother got himself into trouble; half of what he did here isn't even half of the things I've seen where we live."

The bunny-teethed girl can't process this, and turns to Mina who keeps a blank stare.

"You're telling me that you've seen people die at the hands of your father...and that one day you'll have to do it to?" Nayeon locks eyes with Jeongyeon at this point, and the latter doesn't want to show any emotions.

Jeongyeon knows that she'll have to run the 'business' someday. But the entire reason for her being here was to run away from that life.

Turns out that her father knew all along.

Mina takes out her phone and scrolls through her photos, which are mainly pictures of her old dog, Ray-chan.

"Here." She shoves the phone in Nayeon's face. "50 million dollars worth of money. My father is like a loan shark, basically."

"So...if he doesn't get the money back, he kills them?"

"Precisely."

Nayeon feels like throwing up. The apple she ate for breakfast feels like acid in her mouth.

She stands up and begins to walk out. "I need to go toilet."

Mina and Jeongyeon both allow her, because they know that the news was never going to come out well. When your fathers are killers, it's kinda obvious that people will stray away from you one day.

"Mina," Jeongyeon begins. "Do you think we'll ever live normal lives?"

The younger girl scoffs and stands up, hands deep in her pockets. "No."

Mina leaves the room and leaves Jeongyeon to think by herself. The latter hates being alone with her thoughts, but the fact that she has so many problems on her plate had wounded her mentally.

Jeongyeon groans. "I can't believe this."

*****

Dahyun had only meant to go see Sana and Momo in the library, but the second her eyes caught on Mina who was walking as if someone was chasing her, she couldn't help but be curious about it.

She had never been this far into the school. She knew that there was a music room here, but Dahyun preferred the grand piano in the hall. It had a much better sound, after all.