Broken

48

"Why am I here, again?" Chris asks, looking at the group causing havoc on the aquarium.

"Because you wanted to meet my friends, we were coming here today and you, yourself, said you wanted to tag along." Jihyo answers with a smug smile.

"Alright, never let me say I want to go out with you all together again."

"Stop being so dramatic, they are very well behaved today. And we will be fine, as long as we don't get kicked out."

"So, there IS a chance we get kicked out!" Chris huffs in fake annoyance.

"Quit the drama, will you?! And, can you make some time tomorrow or the day after tomorrow?" Jihyo get a bit more serious.

"I think I can make it the day after tomorrow, that's friday, right? I think I can do friday morning." He ponders aloud.

"Great, I wanted us to go out with Dahyun a little."

"Dahyun? How so?" He looks really confused.

"She's been through some rough patches recently. I think talking to you should help, even if a little."

"Is it because of my withered bud?"

"That would be correct. But no real pressure, I just want you two to meet. Yucchin said it might be a good idea for us to talk to her, but I don't think this type of conversation is going to happen anytime soon."

"It's not really something one just goes around telling about, that's for sure."

"True that, but she is just over at Alberta, we can hang out often."

"Yes we can. So, friday morning, we can go to that coffee shop you worked at in the beginning of the year."

"They do have great cake."

"Glad you understand me so well."

"It's kind of, sorta, my job to. I am your girlfriend, afterall."

"Good, so go save me from your friends." Chris says as he pushes Jihyo in front of him.

"Wha-" Jihyo gets interrupted by Mina barreling into her.

"Minnie, I love you, but I will NOT hesitate to whoop that pasty ass of yours." Jihyo laughs out.

"Alright, first off, you WISH you had this ass!" Mina gasps.

"Everyone knows I can get that ass whenever I want." Jihyo interjects.

"And you can't hurt a fly, your threats are futile." Mina looks triumphant.

"Right. But what did you come crashing for?" Jihyo just gives up.

"Oh, right. We are thinking of stopping for lunch."

"Lunch sounds great right now." Chris cuts his girlfriend before she can protest.

"Great." Mina chirps. "Let's go eat, chicas!"

"Wrong language, Minnie." Chaeyoung laughs, when Mina shouts the last part.

They all had been at the aquarium since early morning, Chris had showed up around eight, and they left not much later. It was around two now, honestly time to eat, but Jihyo had been trying to push it, maybe stall until they are back home and make food instead of buying it at ridiculous prices. But she was alone on that quest, so it failed when nobody else was willing to wait any longer.

It was a good day, despite the group being very hyper. Chris got exhausted not long after lunch, he had a great time, though, and managed to talk to Dahyun a little, with Jihyo's help, amidst the chaos the group was being. The three got along very well, and managed to make some light conversation about their studies, Dahyun's transfer, anything they knew for sure they had in common. By the end of the day, all headed back to the dorm, Chris said he couldn't stay longer, his family was waiting for him to get back, and there was dinner, which Jihyo had to get ready for, before they would come by to pick her up.

Obviously, the girls were having the time of their lives doing whatever they could think of to get Jihyo annoyed and screaming with them, except Mina and Tzuyu, who were sitting on the girl's bed and giving actual advice, the others had been banned from the room when the girl lost her patience. They settled for some simple jeans and t-shirt, there was no point dressing up for real, when they were just going to a steakhouse and Im junior was a teenager, nobody should expect her to do much more than clean clothes anyways.

When she was done, Nayeon entered the room and demanded to have some sister time, taking Jihyo outside to wait for Chris' parents to arrive and talk a little. All just hugged their friend and wished her good luck.

"Okay, we are alone. Talk to me." Jihyo said when they got to the reception.

"Are you sure you are alright?"

"I'm great, unnie. It's alright, Chris has been great, and we are good together. You don't have to worry about this, not right now, anyways. I promise I'll come to you if anything ever goes wrong, but we are fine."

"But meeting his parents? Isn't it kind of early for that?"

"You met Momo's entire family weeks after you two got together."

"Not the point right now, and Momo is my soulmate." As soon as the word leave Nayeon's mouth, she regrets them.

"And how is this any different?" Jihyo remains smiling kindly, not a hint of aggression. "He is my boyfriend, I already met his parents and this is just a formality. I promise I'm alright."

"I'm sorry, that was a shitty thing to say. Come here." She, then, envelops her little sister in a hug. "Unnie made a dick move, and I'm sorry. It's just, I'm worried about you."

"I know, unnie, I understand. But you don't have to worry about this, not about Chris and I, not now anyways. We can talk soon, the two of us, but I would love if you could trust him a little more, trust us a little more."

"I try, Ji. But it's hard for me I don't want to see you like that again. Your soulmates didn't have that great effect on you."

"You won't. Chris isn't my soulmate, and he doesn't have his too. We both know how bad it can get, being denied the one you were meant to be with, in different ways, but we know."

"I'll back off, but I still need that talk when you come over for Christmas."

"I promise, now get back up there, Chris is here." Jihyo hugs her sister goodbye and goes of with the boy that just showed up by the door.

Nayeon just watches them leave, her heart tight, but trusting her little girl to make decisions for herself. She makes her way back when the car is out of sight, Momo was waiting for her at the couch, knowing it was time for cuddles and reassurance. The trio and Dahyun had prepared snacks and blankets already prepared, it ended up with everyone just sleeping halfway through the movie, having exhausted themselves that day.

When jihyo got home, she was happy, the sight she was met with warmed her heart and she just put the blankets over her lovely troublemakers and went to sleep with the biggest smile on her face. The girls had fallen asleep on each other, Nayeon in the middle, everyone else hugging her tightly.