Dancing in the dark

Chapter 6

"You broke up with Jun-Seo?" Jihyo inquired taking a seat across from Nayeon. "I thought he was nice."

"I thought so too." Nayeon explained what she witnessed at the restaurant.

"That arsehole." Chaeyoung clicked her tongue in disapproval. "He really thought what his friends did was something to be proud about?"

Nayeon nodded as she distractedly took a sip of a sip of her beer. Sometimes she dreamed about those haunting brown eyes and woke up feeling a heavy feeling pressing against her chest.

A good month passed by before she saw them in real life again.

They were settled in a hotel suit after a long shoot when she heard commotion in the corridor.

"Please, I really have to go, my sister is alone at home." A familiar voice pleaded.

"I fucking paid for the night bitch." Another voice growled. "Your baby-sitter not turning up is not my problem."

Nayeon slipped on her coat and shoes and stepped out the door. When Mina's eyes landed on hers, she looked away in embarrassment.

"The girl says she wants to go. You can't force her to stay." She stepped between the pair, taking a protective stance before Mina.

"She can't." The woman gave her a frown as she shoved Nayeon to the side and grabbed Mina's hand. "I bought her for the night."

"Look, I'll pay you back." Mina's voice broke. "I have half the money with me. The agency took the other half but I promise I'll give it back in a week's time."

The woman laughed haughtily, tightening her grip. "I won't believe a hoe."

Nayeon flinched like those words slapped her across the face. She disappeared into her room and Mina's face fell slightly.

Somehow having Nayeon around was a little reassuring, regardless of how fucked up the situation was and given the strange circumstances they had met under.

To her complete surprise, Nayeon came back as quickly as she left carrying a blank check in her hand. "Here, take the money. Let the girl go."

"Nayeon." The woman guffawed cruelly, "I could buy you and your label ten times over and then some. It's not about the money, I want the girl."

Nayeon resisted the urge to punch the woman. She turned to her side and looked at Mina helplessly. The worry she saw in those eyes affected her and she found herself asking, "Do you want me to go and check on Ari until you get back?"

Mina's eyes widened in surprise. "You'd do that?"

"If you trusted me, yeah." Nayeon shrugged like it wasn't a big deal. "I have a shoot at 8, I could keep an eye on her until then."

Mina trusted this random stranger she spent one odd night with for some reason. "I should be back by 6."

She typed in her address into Nayeon's phone and muttered a thanks under her breath. "I'll ask my neighbor to let you in when you get there."

Nayeon stood with her fists clenched by her side as the woman dragged Mina inside and shut the door in her face.

She took a few calming breaths and called for a taxi to the address Mina gave.

Ari gave her a startled gasp when she stepped into the house. The kid was painfully awkward and shy around her at first.

Nayeon made them both hot chocolate and threw a smile at the young child as she pulled the oven door open. "Do you want to help me bake cookies?"

The kid's eyes grew round with utter glee and Nayeon felt herself melt a little.

When Mina walked in to her tiny studio next morning, she was relieved to see Ari curled into Nayeon's side on the couch fast asleep, some glasses of half empty hot chocolate and trays of cookies laid scattered around them.

She woke Nayeon up who rubbed her eyes confused where she was.

"Thank you Nayeon-san."

Nayeon put her coat on sighing as she checked the time. She had to be at the studio in an hour to get her hair and make up done.

"I know a good babysitter who wouldn't ditch last minute." She scribbled a number she knew by heart on a paper and left it on the table. It was the number of her babysitter when her mother had to go work long hours at the restaurant. "Give her a call when you need someone reliable next time."

Mina watched her go, the respect for the older girl slowly climbing up in her heart.

She wasn't the arrogant, bitchy idol she used to be. She saw a person behind all those walls now, a person very much like-able.