Artwork

Chapter 7 - Adaline Seitz

"You'd have a knife sticking out of your head if it weren't for Faye protecting you with her chubby cheeks," Tati grumbles, the soft specks of cinnamon in her irises only sharpening her fierce gaze.

Her jaw clenches like a triggered bear trap before she starts chopping a carrot with aggressive precision, probably imagining she's cutting me on that wooden board and not the poor vegetable.

Faye's golden halo of hair tickles my cheek when I sway her up to get a better hold of her. "I'm glad she's feeling better. She gave us quite a scare a few days back," I murmur and nuzzle into her to breathe in the delicate scent of violet and orange blossom radiating from her.

Receiving another grumble from Tati's throat instead of a coherent answer in any language we speak, I sigh before shifting my attention to her. "Would you stop sulking? I can't get the money back since Yoongi already purchased whatever the fuck he wanted to so there's no reason-"

Faye squirms in my arms when Tati slams the knife on the cutting board.

"Trust me, there's a reason. A couple of them actually." She snaps her head in my direction, her deep red locks whipping behind her like a strike of thunder. "You should dump his manipulative ass and let Jin and me fucking help you! You don't even have enough left to pay rent for this month!"

My lips bear a semblance of a smile when Faye hiccups, the sound melting my heart. "He needs the equipment to produce songs and if I continue working the way I am now along with the additional earnings from V, I should be able to save up enough before the start of the first semester."

"Is that what he told you? Can't you see what he's doing, Dell? You didn't even sign the contract with that artist who you still know nothing about! Please, just..." Her voice diminishes and gains a breathy note when her forehead creases with worry like the surface of the rough sea.

I close my eyes and absorb Faye's warmth by snuggling closer to her. "It's only been three days since our trial photoshoot, have some faith. Also, we aren't in Germany anymore Tati, I won't let you carry my weight as you did back then." Although whispered, my words hold a strong sense of finality.

"You were sixteen, of course-

"You were fucking twenty, does that change anything? It fucking doesn't! You were out there, providing for us the only way you could while studying and I won't fucking allow you do that anymore! Your primary focus is your family, Faye and Jin, not your dumbass sister!"

Faye's cries bouncing off of the walls like scattered bowling pins after a strike are the only disturbance of the silence that serves as a blank canvas to paint the painful events of the past both of us would rather not relive.

»*«

Cracking my knuckles after throwing the pantiliner in the bin, I wonder if the spotting is from the lack of lubrication during sex with Yoongs or from a medical condition I should be extremely worried about.

A sigh escapes the line of my lips as I push the door of the bathroom stall open, bumping into an oblivious girl before muttering a curt apology and washing my hands without meeting my gaze in the mirror. The thought of facing myself after recent events terrifies me.

'Has anyone seen Adaline?' The muffled voice of a certain waiter I have every intention to avoid booms from the bustling hallway. 'Toilets? Alright.' Joonie's tall figure appears at the door, swallowing the cramped space with his intimidating aura. "Hi, beautiful."

The shudder playing over my muscles like deft fingers over the piano keys doesn't go unnoticed by him, his dimple making an appearance when he leans on the doorframe. "You missed me?" He chuckles, pushing his glasses further up the aristocratic bridge of his nose.