Sinful Passion

twenty-nine

Notification after notification bombarded Chaeyoung's phone when she woke up the next morning.  She thought nothing of it; it was probably just another bout of school drama. She rubbed her sleepy eyes as she reached for the device, the bright white light assaulting her senses.

But the content of the social media updates.  Dear god, the content.

[Chaeyoung's dating her stepmom?]

[Omg, is it really true?]

[There are pictures too!!]

[WTF that's gross...]

Chaeyoung jolted awake immediately, the sudden action making her feel incredibly lightheaded.  But that was the least of her concerns right now.

What?  What pictures?  What was everyone going on about?

After five minutes, Chaeyoung got the gist.  Someone had spread stories about her and Mina to the whole school, and it seemed that everyone knew.  But that wasn't the worst part. Whoever this was had camera access to their house. There were pictures online of her and Mina kissing, and they were spreading fast.

Chaeyoung couldn't think properly.  She couldn't think at all. Who had done this?  Why was one bad thing happening after another? Why was everything falling apart?  She felt like she was out of tears to cry as she dragged her limp, lifeless body out of bed, heading for her bedroom door.

Chaeyoung opened it, and there stood Mina.

"Chaeng..."

Chaeyoung froze.

"You don't have to go to school today, um..."  Mina mumbled. She knew too.

Without saying a word, Chaeyoung turned away and dragged herself back to bed, hiding under the covers.  But she didn't close the door on Mina this time, silently giving her permission to come in.

Mina did, and she sat on the edge of Chaeyoung's bed.  For a while, neither of them talked or moved. Then, Mina reached out to pat Chaeyoung gently over the covers.  The younger was facing away, but she could still feel the warmth and love emanating from Mina. She could still feel how hard Mina was trying.

After about 10 minutes of comforting silence, Mina said softly," I'm going to the shops to buy some food.  Do you want anything?"

Chaeyoung shook her head.

"Okay.  I'll be back soon.  Just text if you need something."

Mina left quietly, and soon after, tears fell from Chaeyoung's eyes.  Guess she hadn't really run out of them.

Chaeyoung cried herself to sleep.  She didn't know how long she'd been sleeping, but she awoke to the sound of her door opening.  A quick glance at the wall clock revealed that it was too soon for it to be Mina returning, which only meant...