Romantic Mistake

× Introduction ×

✿ฺ•✿ฺ

Bae Joohyun

          "THANK YOU for your service, but we found someone more qualified to do so. Here's your separation pay. I owe you a lot, Hyun." He handed her an envelope thick of cash. But that was the least of her concern right now. Yes, she needed money. But she needed a permanent job more. She was just a thrifty freelancer who hasn't finished college because of financial issues.

She held her tears back as she blinked several times. She couldn't look at him straight in the eyes, because she knew she was loyal to that job and getting fired, she never saw that coming.

"We'll be here for you, Hyun." He gave her one last glance before guiding the newly hired more qualified employee to his office. She cracked a fake smile and left.

'So much for loyalty.' She thought as she walked home. Her apartment, single detached bungalow with 2 bedrooms and 1 utility room which she turned into her bedroom, was fifteen minutes away from the coffee shop she just got fired from. She needed to walk to save all the bus fare expense because it takes two buses to be there.

When she got home, she was greeted by her drug intoxicated mother, who smoked 7 packs a day. Her mother saw her and right away grabbed her by the hair. She whimpered from the pain, of course. But somehow got used to the abuse.

"Money." Still her mother had gotten ahold of a fistful of hair whilst the other hand opened, asking for the money for beer, and well, more cigarettes.

Joohyun tried to ignore it, but her mother knew she was playing hard to get, so she had to tighten her grip like the hair was to fall out of her scalp.

Joohyun, hesitant, gave her the envelope. Her mother grinning by seeing the thick cash inside it. "Money, money, money~"

She sighed. Her mother has gone mad after losing their father and she got blamed for it even though she had nothing to do wih it. Her mother secretly takes drugs, but she found eventually. Her mother then threatened her that if she puts her to rehabilitation center, she will hang herself before she could even. She loves her mother despite the abuse, she knew she had issues with herself, as well. But it was for Hyunjin, her little brother. She needed to have Hyunjin have a mother figure because they both lost their father a long time ago, where Hyunjin was five and barely remembers things.

Hyunjin, on the other hand, was being influenced by his classmates to try smoking and drinking, because they say, a teenager's life would be incomplete without it. He first hesitated because he thought of his sister and all her hardwork. But his friends were persistent and would be more glad to throw him out of the group if he doesn't follow. That lead him to no choice but try.

Dismissal, they ran behind the school, which was a few blocks away from their home. They handed him a lit cigarette. He took in a sip and coughed.

"Weakling." His friends laughed on his first try, but he wanted to look cool. So he tried again. But before he could even do it, he heard footsteps running away, to later discover it was his friends. And his sister was right in front of him.

She grabbed him by the ear and dragged him home. "I expected more of you."

"Noona, noona, noona," he begged as the pinch was painful but he was still being dragged, and his friends saw him from afar.

He sat in front of his smoking mom and sister. He gulped several times that he lost count. He couldn't look both of them in the eyes.

"Mom, he literally smoked! He's a teen!" Their mother then stared at Joohyun, took a sip in and released the smoke in front of Joohyun which she coughed right away and tried to fan away the smoke.