[006] screwed up rich families

                                                                                         The next day, Eun-jung immediately got to work and decided to participate in the resort activities. No matter how fucking ridiculous it all was. It'd start off with a very tense meditating session (with Candace seemingly glaring at both Eun-jung and Joe) and then the next task was a supposed trust activity where you had to go up to a real wolf and pet it without any fear.

                                                                                        No one had been willing to step forward at first until Eun-jung took the first initiative, staring directly at the wolf as she slowly approached it. Eun-jung could feel everyone staring at her but she didn't let it bother her. Eun-jung took slow and deliberate steps, shifting the role of predator from the wolf to herself, before she reached out her hand and went to go and touch it.

                                                                                       Love watches beside Joe, sucking in a sharp breath as she saw Eun-jung reach out for the wolf. It started to growl, taking a stance back, and Eun-jung stopped for a moment. It almost seemed to sense Eun-jung's dominating, evil presence. But eventually, Eun-jung would reach over to go and pet the wolf which left the others (even the other instructors) shocked. 

                                                                                      Joe decided to go next, although he wouldn't be so lucky. He'd end up getting growled out, and Candace wasn't able to hold back her laughter. Love's mother didn't look too pleased about that and Eun-jung seemed to do a much better job at holding back her own amusement.

                                                                                     After a little break, the group of people now found themselves all standing in a circle and talking about all the things they hoped to come true by simply manifesting it. Eun-jung didn't believe in that crap. If she wanted something down, she'd do everything possible to get it done.

                                                                                   "I will make a film that premieres Sundance 2020 at the Eccles. Friday night slot," Forty held his hands up in prayer, eyes closed, as he continued to speak. "Then goes on to sweep the Gothams, winning two, no, three Indie Spirit Awards. Fuck the Oscars."

                                                                                   Love and Eun-jung share an amused look as Sunrise approached Forty with a smile. "I hear and accept you, Forty."

                                                                                  They then embrace in a hug while Eun-jung sighs, silently waiting for this all to be over. Gabe was next, stepping into the circle with all eyes on him.

                                                                                 "I... will find the perfect partner," Gabe replies, turning to look at someone and smiling, "That's good."

                                                                                 "We hear and accept you, Gabe," Love's mother declared before she hugged Gabe.

                                                                                   Before Candace could step forward, Eun-jung decided to take her turn and smiled at everyone. But she had her gaze focused on Joe the entire time.

                                                                               "I will... find the love of my life and... fulfill a promise I made to a dear friend of mine," Eun-jung declared.

                                                                                Joe frowns before Love goes in to hug her, causing Eun-jung to smile at Joe smugly.

                                                                              "We hear and accept you, Caitlyn," Love responded.

                                                                                Candace then stepped forward, making her declaration next. "I will fulfill my life long dream of... traveling to Italy."

                                                                                She turns around to look at Joe with a smug look as Gabe went to go and hug him. But with Love's insistence, Joe went to go and approach Candace.

                                                                               "I hear...," Joe starts, making Candace spin around to glare at him, "and I accept you... Amy."

                                                                                The two of them glare at each other for a moment before Joe stretches out his arms, preparing to hug her. Candace suddenly pushes him away, seemingly triggered by him being so close.

                                                                              "You... sorry, um... I'm not feeling well. I... I think I'm just dehydrated," Candace says, visibly panicked.

                                                                                 Eun-jung scoffs. That's exactly why she didn't want to include Candace in her plan. She'd let her emotions fuck everything up.

                                                                               "It's okay. Don't fear love," Love's mother instructs as she steps forward. "Hug." 

                                                                                 They'd reluctantly do just that before Candace stormed off, Joe quick to follow behind her. Love watched them and Eun-jung took her opportunity to walk over to her, arms folded across her chest.

                                                                                "Are you alright?" Eun-jung questioned. "Or maybe I should be asking Amy that? What's her deal anyway?"

                                                                                "I don't know. But I'm determined to find out. I don't want Forty to end up dating someone... unstable," Love sighed. "I know it may seem like I'm obsessed with Forty. But you have to understand, I've been looking out for him for as long as I could remember. If he doesn't have me, he'll... fall right back to rock bottom."

                                                                               "Hey, there's nothing wrong with that. In fact, I think it's admirable that you look out for your brother in the way you do. It's wonderful," Eun-jung encouraged her.

                                                                                Love smiles. "Thank you. I haven't heard that in such a long time."

                                                                               "You should hear it more often. Loyalty is rare and it should be appreciated more," Eun-jung nodded.

                                                                               "You're absolutely right," Love agreed, holding onto Eun-jung's arm and pulling her close with a smile. "Where the hell have you been all of my life?"

                                                                              "The East Coast?" Eun-jung responded, only half joking.

                                                                                Love chuckles, holding Eun-jung even closer than before. Eun-jung decides to chuckle with her and for a moment, everything feels so right in the world with Love so close to her.

(🔪🧁💔)

                                                                             Eun-jung was all adorned in white, walking around the party for any sign of Love or Forty or even Joe. But eventually, it'd seem as though love would find her. She wasn't her usual smiling, happy self. She looked very upset, her big blue eyes glossy with tears. Eun-jung held onto her, realizing she had no choice but to swoop in and comfort her.

                                                                           "Love, what's going on?" Eun-jung questioned.

                                                                           "Have you seen Forty?" Love inquired, answering her question with another.

                                                                             Eun-jung shakes her head. "I was looking for him actually. Why? What happened?"

                                                                            "I'm afraid he's going to relapse again. Will told me that he ate Taco Bell with him and Forty always does that whenever he's about to relapse. I have to find him -," Love began to ramble.

                                                                           "Hey, it's okay. I'm going to help you find him, okay?" Eun-jung responded.

                                                                            Love takes a deep breath before nodding, allowing Eun-jung to walk with her. They'd walk around for any sign of Forty but they couldn't spot him anywhere. And that made Love even more worried than before.

                                                                           "Have you guys seen my brother?" Love asks as she approached her friends.

                                                                          "No, not since cornhole," Lucy responded, much to Love's dismay. "Are we literally drinking the Kool-Aid right now?"

                                                                          "Goodbye, cruel world," Sunrise added, making Eun-jung roll her eyes.

                                                                          "This is serious. Forty's missing," Eun-jung frowned. 

                                                                          "Sorry, who are you again?" Sunrise chuckled.

                                                                           "Love's friend. And apparently the only person who cares about her brother. Come on, Love," Eun-jung scoffed, holding onto Love's hand as the two of them walked off to try and find Love.

                                                                            As they walked off, Joe rushed towards them and basically blocked them from going anywhere. "Love, I'm sorry."

                                                                           "I cannot be the one that makes you feel better right now," Love quickly shut him down. I am looking for my brother and trying to handle my mother and..."

                                                                          "Okay, I'll help. I'll find Forty," Joe assured her, making Eun-jung frown.

                                                                          "Okay. Thank you," Love relented before she walked away, dragging Eun-jung with her. Eun-jung glared at Joe from over her shoulder before she left with Love.

                                                                            Of course, they'd end up being unable to find Forty. And Love had no choice but to prepare the vow renewal for her parents. Eun-jung - determined to support Love as best she could - decided to be right by her side and sat at the front of the crowd. Love was still very nervous and freaking out over Forty, barely able to hold herself together.

                                                                            But the moment Love was able to look at Eun-jung, she felt a lot better.

                                                                           "Um... my parents aren't just parents, they're lovers. They're, um...," Love trails off, freezing when she looked straight ahead.

                                                                              Eun-jung followed her gaze, spotting Joe with Forty. "Oh, shit."

                                                                              As Joe helped Forty to his seat, Joe and Love share a look and she appeared actually pleased with him. Joe had won for now but Eun-jung wasn't going to let him get the better of her again.

                                                                            "I hate rom-coms. I do. Take away my ovaries," Love continued on with a smile, earning some laughs from the crowd. "Want to know why? Because throughout my life, when I look at my parents, their love doesn't feel like one. You know, it's, um... fighting over which toilet paper to buy. And then... plunging the toilet together when it gets clogged. It's being there... when someone's damage makes them impossible. Knowing... that they are so much more than their worst moments."

                                                                             Eun-jung wished she could relate to all of that. And yet, she hadn't found that yet for herself. She had hoped to find that with Beck but Joe had ruined it. 

                                                                          "Contrary to internet opinion, my parents' love is not perfect. It's, uh... It's sticky, messy, often potentially way too much to handle. But it is so much better than perfect, because... it's real," Love added.

                                                                           Forty then stood up, all eyes falling on him. "Wait. Wait, I want to go. No, I want to go. I want to go!"

                                                                          Although Joe tried to stop him, there was little he could do. Forty made his way up there, obviously ready to start a scene just like he had in that infamous video at the party.

                                                                         "Um... Forty?" Love questioned, trying to act calm despite the situation beginning to escalate.

                                                                         "Um, remember... when they dragged us to the Hoffman Institute because, uh, they had differing definitions of the word 'monogamish'?" Forty remarked, more than prepared to air out his family's dirty laundry. "I have more. I just, uh..."

                                                                         "Enough, son," Forty's mom warned him, pulling him back.

                                                                         "I... I just need a smoke," Forty replied, digging in his pocket as he backed away. He'd soon pull out a box of cigarettes, hands shaking, as he continued on. "Just need a smoke. Oh, um, not that one."

                                                                          Love rushed in to help him, pulling him away before he could embarrass himself and the rest of his family even more than he already had. As they walked away, Joe rushed after him and so did Eun-jung after a moment of debate. By the time she had arrived back into the tent, she'd catch Love's mom smacking Love hard across the face.

                                                                          Clutching onto the side of her face, Love scoffs as she began to walk away. But when she spotted Eun-jung standing there, she ran towards her. Joe watched as Love ran off with Eun-jung, needing to escape and find someone to talk to. And she had chosen Eun-jung over Joe which was definitely a low blow.

                                                                          They'd escape all the way back to Eun-jung's tent where Eun-jung was able to sit Love down and allow her to take a deep breath to calm herself.

                                                                        "How much of that did you see?" Love then asks with a sniffle.

                                                                        "Just your mom slapping you. Why did she do that to you?" Eun-jung frowned.

                                                                        "Forty's relapse. It's my fault. I was supposed to be watching over him. It's always my fault," Love explained with a scoff. "I'm sorry that you had to be around all of this."

                                                                        "It's okay. Life can't be all sunshine and rainbow. We're friends, right? We have to see every side of each other eventually," Eun-jung remarked.

                                                                         Love nodded. "I guess you could say my life has always been dark. That darkness is something I've had to... carry my whole life. It can be a burden to most -."

                                                                        "Not to me. The darkness is just what makes you human. If you were happy and bright your entire life, you'd be a goddamn tv show host or something," Eun-jung teased, making Love chuckle. "I've told you all my shit. I think it's safe to say that I can handle just about anything you throw at me."

                                                                        "Anything?"

                                                                        "Anything."

                                                                        "When Forty and I were both thirteen, we were basically raised by this au pair  while our parents started Anavrin together. Her name was... Sofia. She was nineteen and from Spain... and she took advantage of Forty from the very beginning," Love explained. "Forty sees it as true love, a real relationship, instead of abuse. My parents caught them together one day and... and a lot of crazy shit happened before she was finally let go. She ended up killing herself shortly after that."

                                                                         "Fuck, that's awful," Eun-jung responded. 

                                                                         "Forty found her body and he's been... troubled ever since. With all the money my parents have, they managed to keep it all quiet. I can't believe I'm telling you all of this," Love sighed, running a hand over her face.

                                                                           Eun-jung takes Love's hands into her own, saying, "I won't tell another soul. I wouldn't dare to betray my new best friend. Your secret's safe with me."

                                                                          "Good, because I might actually kill you if you dare to say such a thing," Love replied. "I'm kidding... mostly. But in all seriousness, I know how it looks from the outside. Forty seems like a lot. And maybe... maybe I am way more overprotective when it comes to Forty. However, it makes a lot more sense given how our parents are. You understand, right?"

                                                                         "I understand perfectly. Screwed up rich families is a language I'm very familiar with," Eun-jung assured.

                                                                         "I'm so glad I talked to you. I have to go back and talk to Will but... thank you so much, Cait. I appreciate having this talk with you," Love says with a small smile.

                                                                        "Thank you for trusting me in the first place. I appreciate that more than anything. Without trust, everything else falls apart," Eun-jung stated.

                                                                        "I couldn't agree more," Love agreed, nodding, as she pulled Eun-jung in for another hug.

(🔪🧁💔)

                                                                    "What's your endgame here?" Joe asked, approaching Eun-jung from behind.

                                                                      Eun-jung looks over at Joe with a smile, bringing her shades down so she could look at him properly. Although it was late at night with most of the guests asleep, it seemed as though neither Eun-jung or Joe could properly rest without confronting each other 

                                                                     "Huh? I don't know what you're talking about," Eun-jung replied, opting to play dumb.

                                                                     "Were you working with Candace all along to take me down? I have to say, that's pretty pathetic," Joe shakes his head. "It's not going to work."

                                                                    "You really aren't smart, are you? I'm not working with Candace. If anything, she's growing to be more of a pest. After I get rid of her, I'm going to get rid of you. Easy peasy. Have a good night's rest tonight before we head back to the city, Joe. You're gonna need it," Eun-jung replies, patting Joe on the shoulder again before she walked back to her tent.

                                                                     Joe glared at Eun-jung as she walked away, determined to find a way to get rid of both Eun-jung and Candace once and for all. He didn't know how he was going to do it yet. But nonetheless, Joe was going to make sure he took care of both his obstacles so he could have Love all to himself.

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word count: 2594
notes: here's the second part which i hope you really enjoyed! love and eun-jung are only getting closer and joe's just gonna have to stay mad lmaooo