Choosing you | LisRene AU [BOOK 2]

10

"I can't fucking believe her!" Irene exclaimed, storming into Junmyeon's room in the warehouse, seeing as he was the only other person currently there.

"Whoa, who are you talking about?" Junmyeon asked, turning around in his desk chair with wide eyes. "What happened?"

"My mother, if she even deserves that title, got me fired from my job," Irene seethed, crossing her arms, "yesterday."

"And you're only just now mad? That's ridiculous."

Irene threw her hands up into the air, shaking her head as she continued, "I don't fucking get it! I went in today to talk to the manager, who was conveniently covering for me since they're one man short now, and told me that there's nothing she can do. My mom literally went to the higher-ups who own the place and paid them off or something. I just... what does she think is going to happen? She's going to keep me from getting any job other than one that she finds suitable? Who the fuck does she think she is?"

"Wait, she paid people off to fire you?" Junmyeon demanded, his jaw dropping.

"I don't know, probably! My mom is brutal, Suho, I've seen her go to great lengths to get things that she wants. Just, as a kid, it never seemed as horrible when I saw her do them. I mean, I was young and I never thought she'd pull any of her shit on me. And when she stopped giving a shit about me, I was content to never hear from her again! I don't even understand why she cares so much now," Irene growled.

"Maybe you should sit down," Junmyeon suggested, standing up and gesturing to the couch. Irene absentmindedly took a seat, and he came around to sit next to her. "Do you think she's going to do anything else?"

"It's not like she can get my Etsy account shut down. I mean, I don't think she can. I don't think she even knows that that is where I sell my stuff, so hopefully, she won't try to touch it or anything," Irene breathed, running a hand through her hair. "Oh god, what if she tries to do something to Lisa?"

Junmyeon scowled. "Then you sue her ass. Or take out a restraining order, jeez. Maybe you should do that anyway."

"Actually not a bad idea," Irene muttered, leaning back into the couch cushion and sighing. "What am I supposed to do now?"

"Are you thinking about getting another job? Didn't it make up about half of your income on top of your art stuff?"

Irene nodded. "I don't know, though... I mean, right now I have actually quite a bit of extra money from what my mom was sending me. I could probably use it to push off my art career even more, and then maybe I don't even need another job. I'm just worried that if I don't get another job, and the art doesn't end up being enough, Lisa might try to pick up some of my rent or something. And I don't want that."

"Well, what about New York?" Junmyeon asked, furrowing his eyebrows. "Will you be able to get a place there?"

"I don't even know if I need a place there," Irene stated with a sigh. "And you know, all the planning that's going into it lately has been more of a stress causer than anything else. I almost don't know if it's worth all the hassle. If Lisa doesn't already know that she wants to go, maybe I should just tell her that I don't care and that we can stay here."

"You should do whatever you think you need to do," Junmyeon told her quietly, "but don't completely ignore what you want. Lisa would never want to hold you back."

"I know that." Irene pursed her lips, and then let out a breath and looked up at the ceiling. "But I don't want to leave her here. I couldn't do that to her, and I don't think I could handle being anywhere else unless she was with me."