Feels Like Home (Purinz)

Fix It

Chaewon watched helplessly as Yunjin disappeared from the street. Why was she so weak? Why couldn't she just put on her shoes and coat as well and just follow her?

Her hands were shaking, not entirely sure if she was really registering everything that happened. Yunjin was gone, but there was a part of her that hoped it was just for a couple of minutes. If she waited long enough, Yunjin was going to come home and stay.

No, she wasn't going to wait. Chaewon was not going to let this slip away exactly like what she did in the past. She stood up from the entrance of the door and rushed back inside to go to her room, but Kai grabbed her arm before she went upstairs, dragging her back down to the living room.

"What the fuck is wrong with you?" He asked, still angry.

She shoved his hand away and then slapped him across the face again. He almost raised his own hand to hit back out of frustration, but she was quick to hit him again.

When he staggered back, she grabbed his shirt. "You think I'm going to allow you to disrespect me just like what you did with your wife?" Then she pushed him away and glared at him. "You think just because you throw your money at us, you're already considered the golden parent? That you're suddenly a great dad?"

Then she looked at Eunchae, who was still kneeling on the floor in the kitchen, staring at the torn piece of paper, silently crying.

Chaewon pointed at Eunchae to him. "Did you know that she's part of the top students in her whole batch?" She glared at him. "Did you know she's getting bullied at school? Or that she spends most of her time at her best friend's house because she really needs that kind of escape? Do you know she also has anxiety?" Then she punched his chest. "Did you know that she genuinely loves Yunjin?"

Chaewon wiped her tears harshly from her face with her wrists and scoffed. "Yunjin has only been here for nine months, and yet she never hesitated to attend events in Eunchae's school, she went to that recital that your daughter desperately wanted you to attend. Yunjin attended PTA conferences with me, she cooks for Eunchae when she's sick or when I'm sick, she cleans your house, she even repaired the broken part of the roof that you were supposed to fix years ago. She buys groceries and gifts for your daughter. She loves your daughter."

Chaewon didn't wait for him to respond, and she ran upstairs, changed into jeans and wore socks, grabbed her phone and wallet then rushed downstairs.

"I don't know what happened to you." She said as she wore her coat, still wiping the tears that were inevitably falling from her eyes. "You used to be my best friend. But ever since I moved to Korea, you've been nothing but an asshole."

"I didn't want you to move away." He said quietly. "It was like you were leaving me behind."

"And your answer to that was to transform into the worst person in my life?" Chaewon stopped to glare at him again, her brows furrowing as she tried to understand his words. "Don't you remember how I skipped school to be here for your birthday? For Eunchae's birthday? For Mom and Dad's birthdays at the cemetery because you guilt tripped me if I wasn't there?"

Kai tried to step forward, but Chaewon stopped him. "You can't blame me for that when you were so willing to leave us here. Mom and Dad died, and I had no one else but Yui and Eunchae." He tried to fight back.

"When Yui-chan died, I immediately dropped my career just to be here for Eunchae. I'm still young, Kai, I could have had a career in my art school and yet I feel trapped because of you." Then she looked back at Eunchae, feeling her heart twist, seeing her niece look so lifeless on the kitchen floor, leaning her head on the counter. "I did it because I love you, I love my niece and I loved Yui-chan."