IFHY .. nct

SIXTEEN

"you good?"

tilly looked up to see johnny staring down at her in amusement. huffing, she turned back towards the orange she was currently demolishing. they had some leftover fruit from tattoo practice, and tilly decided to eat one for lunch. right before that, however, she got a text from yangyang apologizing for "accidentally legally changing lina's name".

unsure of how else to explain the situation, the girl with orange hair shrugged and continued harshly peeling the orange. "not really. issues with the baby daddy being a dumbass. again."

she knew that probably wasn't proper work etiquette, but it made her boss laugh. "oh, don't get me started. i have more than enough stores about the twin's mother, we'd be here for days."

tilly turned to look at him over her shoulder. "how long have you two been together?"

"met after high school and dated for a few years before she got pregnant with the twins. young and dumb, we got married, and then divorced a year or two after the kids were born." he explained as though he'd told the story thousands of times, but his voice remained gentle as he spoke.

"oh," was all tilly could say after a moment. noticing her slightly awkwardness, johnny nudged the girl with his shoulder. "guess we're more alike than you thought, huh?"

tilly nodded but stayed quiet. johnny waited patiently before gently taking the girl by the elbow and bringing her to sit in a chair. they were the only two in today, as ten had other plans and jaehyun didn't need practice.

"wanna talk about it? this guy, i mean." he asked in a way that made tilly feel comfortable. she hesitated for only a moment before opening her mouth and spilling things she probably shouldn't to her boss.

"he didn't grew up in a loving household. neither did i, honestly, but i had my sister and my grandmother. he didn't have anyone except a deadbeat dad who would constantly leave him for random periods of time. i get that he had issues, i do, but then he turns around and does stupid shit or blames his issues on me, and—" tilly cut herself off with a harsh inhale. her cheeks were flushed from everything she'd said, and while part of her felt bad for sharing all of yangyang's business, she needed to get it off of her chest or she feared she'd explode. "it's frustrating. he trusts so little, and it's not his fault, but... it isn't mine, either."

a few seconds of silence passed. then, a few more. then, johnny blurted, "sounds like he needs therapy." and tilly couldn't stop the laughter that flooded past her lips.

"he really does," she agreed, her words sincere despite the laughter surrounding them. "he gets in his head sometimes. i know he'll never be like his father, but i don't think he fully believes that."

sucking in a breath, tilly continued talking as she finished cleaning her station. "it's just... yeah, it's frustrating. i know i have to talk to him, but i'm not entirely sure what to say."