Sinful Passion

twenty

"Jeong, can I talk to you for a minute?"

Jeongyeon looked up to see Nayeon standing by her desk.

"Sure," Jeongyeon smiled, pulling out a chair beside her for Nayeon to sit.  But Nayeon shook her head.

"It's kind of private... Can we go somewhere else?"

Jeongyeon agreed immediately, curious and slightly concerned about how serious Nayeon sounded.  The two girls made their way down the hallways and towards the school field outside. They had a 30-minute break between their classes.

As they walked, Nayeon noticed that more people were coming up to talk to her and Jeongyeon than usual, instead of just watching them from afar.  It probably had something to do with their relations to Chaeyoung. The whole school was buzzing with talk about the basketball inter-high results, and how the victory of the basketball club had brought lots of glory to the school.  It was true. Hanlim Multi Arts School's sports and basketball rankings rose tremendously overnight among high school divisions, and the school even made it to the local paper. The basketball club was going to get a massive increase in club funding, and even though practices were going to stop for a while now that it was off-season, once they resumed again, Chaeyoung could put them to good use for the club.

Nayeon blinked, realising she was thinking about Chaeyoung again.  She forced herself to stop.

Nayeon and Jeongyeon finally arrived at the school field, and they sat at the bleachers.  Thankfully, they were empty and there was some peace and quiet there. There was a slight breeze blowing through the dry air, mitigating the effects of the hot midday sun shining down on them.  Some track-and-field runners were practicing on the running track below.

"What did you want to talk about?"  Jeongyeon asked.

Nayeon hesitated for a bit, thinking about how to phrase her question.  Finally, she asked," Jeong... you've met Mrs Son before and talked to her, right?  What was she like?"

Jeongyeon looked a bit surprised by Nayeon's question, but answered it anyway.  "Yeah, I have. I went over to Chaeyoung's house to study one time and she was there too.  She was really nice and welcoming to me. She cooked us lunch and made us snacks, but otherwise gave me and Chaeyoung our privacy.  She was really cool."

Nayeon didn't respond, deep in thought while trying to process Jeongyeon's words.

"Nabongs?  You there?"  Jeongyeon waved a hand in front of Nayeon's face.  "Why are you asking about Mrs Son anyway? Is something bothering you?"

Nayeon shook her head dismissively.  "No. Well, kind of... but it's not important.  She does seem nice."

Jeongyeon raised an eyebrow.  "You're acting strange."

"Am not," Nayeon denied.  She let some silence sit between her and Jeongyeon for a while before continuing.  "...Are they close? Chae and Mrs Son?"

Jeongyeon looked out into the distance.  "They seem close. I mean, I don't see them interact much in front of me, but when I do, there's no awkwardness or tension like how there is in some stepparent-child relationships, you know?"

Nayeon nodded slowly, contemplatively, hoping that the gesture looked natural to Jeongyeon.  Because she felt the furthest she could possibly feel from natural right now, prying into Chaeyoung's personal life.

"S- So there's nothing weird or out-of-the-ordinary about Chae's relationship with Mrs Son?"  Nayeon tried again.

"Uh, not that I know of," Jeongyeon responded.  "They're just close. And Chaeyoung started liking her a lot faster than I expected, I guess. She warmed up to her quite soon after Mrs Son moved into her house.  But it's good. Chaeyoung needed a female role model in her life."