Love Potion No. 9

Chapter 2 - Cupid's Arrow

Chaeyoung was in decent spirits when she got home, despite the fact that the sight of Jennie all over Hanbin was rather sickening to her. Jennie, in fact, had been all over Hanbin this particular evening.

However, her spirits fell when she got home. As she walked into the living room, she could see her parents were standing by the kitchen glaring at each other.

Chaeyoung know instantly she had walked in on an argument. Nowadays, her parents argued a lot. Especially since it was revealed the previous year that her mom had an affair with her dad's partner.

The marriage held, but only barely. It pained Chaeyoung to no end to see how far apart her parents had drifted. From happily married to just plain out of love to downright resentment. Chaeyoung was sure they were still together, just for her and Alice's sake.

"Did you have a good time at the carnival, Chaeyoung?" Her mom asked with a polite smile that attempted to cover the tension that was plainly visible in the room.

"Yes, we all had a good time. You'll see I'm home in time," Chaeyoung answered as she walked into the kitchen.

"We'd rather you'd have gone Friday when you don't have school but you've done well in your classes so we thought we'd cut you some slack." Her dad said as he moved to the kitchen table.

Chaeyoung went to the fridge and grabbed a bottle of water and walked to the counter. A moment later her mom moved to the table as well. Chaeyoung knew that the second she'd leave the argument would start right back up. As she opened her water she spotted two freshly brewed cups of coffee sitting on the counter.

If anyone needs a love potion, it's my mom and dad. Jennie thought sadly to herself. A moment later, for some reasons she didn't quite understand, Chaeyoung poured one dose each mug, when her parents weren't looking. At this point, Chaeyoung would have done anything to save her parents marriage; ever pouring a fake potion into her parents' coffee.

"Better than nothing. Who knows this crazy stuff might actually work." She thought with amusement.

"Chaeyoung sweety, could you hand us our cups of coffee please." Her mother asked.

Chaeyoung nodded and carried the two cups to the table and said good night, which her parents kindly responded in kind.

As she walked up the stairs she heard her father remark, "The coffee has just a hint of mint. I like the flavor. Is this some kind of special blend?"

Chaeyoung's mother took a sip. "No, perhaps there was a mix-up with the label."

Chaeyoung kept going and just as she got to the door she heard the argument begin to start up again.

"So much for a miracle love potion." Chaeyoung sighed as she shut the door behind her.

Chaeyoung got ready for bed and went to sleep. lamenting the lack of love in her life and in her parent's marriage. The next morning she woke, dressed and got ready as she did every day but when she got downstairs, she noticed something was off.

When she came down at 7, always either one or both of her parents would be there eating breakfast. When they were both there, they would just eat in silence and occasionally glare at each other. But today it was only Alice eating a bowl of cereal and she looked oddly tired.

"Hey Unnie, where's mom and dad and why do you look so tired?" Chaeyoung asked as she poured herself a bowl.

Alice looked at her incredulously and pointed upstairs. "You didn't hear all that last night, mom and dad kept me up half the night. I finally moved downstairs and slept on the couch. I couldn't stand listening to it anymore."