Before You Came

Jeongyeon's Long Night

It was almost two in the morning, yet Jeongyeon was wide awake. Her thoughts raced through her mind like formula one cars around a track, twisting and turning with dangerous speed. One wrong move was all it would take for a spectacular crash to transpire, causing her fragile grasp on her sanity to shatter into a million pieces.

After all this time, her secret was finally out.

From the moment she was able to remember, her parents had repeatedly told her to never let anyone know about her condition. It was a secret that she had to keep they'd told her because bad people would try to hurt her if they knew. What innocent child wouldn't be terrified after hearing something like that, especially from the people they trusted most in their life? So Jeongyeon did as she was told. She never got too close to other kids. She never acted out or tried to draw attention to herself in school. She was the perfect model student, always dutiful, but never too exceptional either so she didn't get thrust into the spotlight. Jeongyeon stayed perfectly average and that kept most people at bay.

Of course there had been close calls over the years, especially once she and her schoolmates had hit that wonderfully terrible time known as puberty. Her raging hormones had caused no small amount of stress on her poor teenage self. All her female classmates were blooming into beautiful young women right before her eyes, and her poor body betrayed her at every turn. It was a miracle none of them had noticed her erections or accidentally heard her masturbating in the bathroom almost every day. She had thought life was stressful enough back then. If only she knew what kind of stress she would face now.

"What the fuck do I do?" she muttered to herself. She was sitting in her living room with a nearly empty glass of whiskey in hand. "I can't not go."

Jeongyeon had been contemplating her situation for hours, debating with herself about the meeting Nayeon had demanded she attend. Maybe she should have confided in Seungyeon after all. After her shocking encounter with Nayeon, she had blindly made her way back to her family and made up a lame excuse about feeling unwell, blaming it on the mishap with the waitress. Her mother looked less than convinced, but thankfully her father had come to her rescue and allowed her to leave. But she couldn't escape so easily from her big sister. Seungyeon had followed her to her car demanding an explanation.

"What's wrong? You seem worried Jeongyeon." Seungyeon grasped her arm and pulled her to a stop before she could enter her car. "Did something happen?"

"I just don't feel good all of the sudden unnie, that's all," Jeongyeon said. "Maybe I shouldn't have drank that whiskey." She tried to unsuccessfully get in her car but Seungyeon held her firmly. "Come on unnie, I'll be fine. I just want to go home and change out of these nasty clothes. The smell of that soup is making me nauseous." It was partly true; the scent of chicken soup was overwhelming her, making her already anxious stomach churn.

"Then I'm taking you home. I don't want you driving in this condition," Seungyeon stated in a firm voice.

"Unnie, no. I can handle myself alright? Thank you for worrying about me but I'll be alright." When Seungyeon didn't budge, Jeongyeon decided to play her ultimate card. "Don't make eomma worry even more. You know how she'll get if we both leave. Go back and finish dinner."

Seungyeon looked torn about what to do. It was clear she didn't want to let Jeongyeon go by herself, but her duty to their parents was pulling at her. With a resigned sigh, Seungyeon finally gave in and let go of her sister's arm. "Alright. But call as soon as you get home. And if you start to feel worse, pull over on the side of the road and I'll come get you okay? Promise me Jeongyeon."

"I promise unnie," Jeongyeon reassured her. "Now go before eomma sends appa out here to look for you."

"Fine. I'm going. Be careful." Seungyeon hugged her tightly. "I love you."