ᴡʀᴏɴɢ ꜱᴇɴᴅ ┆|| ┆ni-ki

~sixty two~

As they pulled up to her house, Eunha took a deep breath, feeling the familiar weight settle in her chest. Niki, seated beside her in the car, noticed the anxious look in her eyes and reached over to squeeze her hand gently.

"Hey, it's okay. I'm here with you," he murmured, offering her a comforting smile.

Eunha nodded, managing a small smile back. "Yeah... thanks, Niki." Her father had just been discharged from the hospital after a difficult recovery.

He never knew nothing about her mother's erratic behavior, the bruises she hid under her sweater sleeves, or why Eunha had been staying at Niki's place lately. Right now, she needed to keep everything calm, for his sake, at least until she could figure out what to do.

They stepped out of the car and walked up to the front door, where her dad greeted them with a warm, if tired, smile. "Eunha! I missed you, sweetheart. Hello Niki. Thank you so much for looking out for my girl."

Niki gave a respectful nod. "Of course, sir. It was no trouble at all."

Eunha embraced her dad carefully, mindful of his recent injury. Relief flooded her as she felt his familiar presence, though a gnawing unease lingered, reminding her of everything still unresolved.

As they moved inside, she looked around but saw no sign of her mom.

"Dad," she ventured cautiously, "where's Mom?"

He frowned, a hint of worry shadowing his face. "She said hello when I got home, but... went straight to her room afterward. Seemed a little out of it. I'm guessing she's resting." He hesitated.

Eunha's heart sank. The last thing she needed was her mom acting unpredictably, especially with her dad just out of the hospital.

She glanced at Niki, who looked back with the same quiet concern.

Trying to set her worries aside, she joined her dad and Niki in the living room. They kept the conversation light, filling him in on little things.

Just then, her phone buzzed. It was Hana, her best friend.

Excusing herself, she got up and went to her room for some privacy. As she entered the room and closed the door, she answered. "Hey, Hana."

"Eunha! Are you okay? Did you get home safe?" Hana asked immediately, worry clear in her tone.

"Yeah, I'm home. Everything's okay." Eunha replied.

But suddenly, there was the sound of footsteps outside her door,and before Eunha could react, her mom burst into the room, clutching a half-empty bottle of alcohol. Her face was flushed, eyes bloodshot, and an angry scowl twisted her features.

"What are you doing in here?" her mother snapped, her tone as sharp as ever.

Eunha's heart pounded in her chest. "Mom... I was just talking to Hana." she said, her voice shaky.

But her mom didn't seem to care. Her eyes narrowed as she raised the bottle, and in a split second, she swung it at Eunha. The bottle struck her head with a sickening crack, and a sharp, stinging pain erupted in her temple. Her phone slipped from her grasp, clattering to the floor as she gasped in shock.

"Eunha? Eunha!" Hana's voice crackled from the dropped phone, but Eunha couldn't respond. Her vision blurred, the room spinning as she held a hand to her head, feeling a warm trickle of blood seeping through her fingers.

Meanwhile, downstairs, Niki sat with Eunha's dad, who was talking about random things, unaware of what was happening upstairs. Suddenly, Niki's phone buzzed with an incoming call from Hana.

He answered, confused, "Hello?"

"Niki! Is Eunha okay?" Hana's voice was frantic. "She just... stopped talking. I think something's wrong."

Niki's brows knitted in confusion, and he glanced toward the stairs. "She went up to her room to talk with you... wait, what do you mean she stopped talking?"

"I don't know! We were just chatting, and then there was silence... Niki, please check on her."

A bad feeling crept over him. Niki shot up from the couch, worry etched across his face as he looked at Eunha's dad. "Excuse me, I'm going to check on Eunha and come back."

Niki's heart raced as he climbed the stairs, a strange feeling building in his chest. He could hear the angry shouts echoing down the hall, sharp and fierce, and it only made him pick up his pace, worry clawing at him with each step.

When he reached the top, the scene in front of him made his blood run cold.

Eunha's mother was standing there, gripping her daughter's collar tightly, her face twisted in pure rage. Eunha's head hung limply, blood trickling down her forehead from a nasty cut above her eyebrow, her eyes shut as if she'd already slipped into unconsciousness.

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