╔═════*.·:·.✧ ✦ ✧.·:·.*═════╗

if only there was someone
who loved you

──● hanz
FROZEN

╚═════*.·:·.✧ ✦ ✧.·:·.*═════╝

✦

Cheating.

Lars had been cheating on her.

Personally, Jas had never understood the point of cheating. She'd thought it hurt to simply hear about, and she was perfectly fine experiencing it second-hand, but it was so, so much harder now that it was sitting in the pit of her chest like a rock.

What did I do wrong?

Logically, she knew she hadn't done anything wrong- that this wasn't her fault in the slightest, but that anxiety that pulsed deep in her stomach prompted her to think otherwise. She'd really, really liked Lars, but evidently, he'd really really liked quite a few girls. Blinking rapidly, Jasiri curled into her bed in her room, burying her face into a pillow to muffle any escaped sobs.

She didn't want her siblings to find out. They'd be furious, and she didn't want them thinking any less of her. She couldn't be her usual exuberant self right now, it just wasn't in her for the moment. She's sure she'll eventually feel better, but for right now the only thing Jasiri was feeling was heartbroken.

I wish Yume was here.

Her sister had gotten the wonderful opportunity to go to Korea for a prestigious writing program, and would be gone for nearly another week before arriving about a week before Jasiri's extensive birthday party. She'd planned quite the event this year, and with the spiking in her followers, she'd been able to help her father renovate some of her grandfather's estate to become the library. She did have a soft motive, wanting to potentially use the ballroom space days before the opening to throw her party. Not only would it be a wonderful event that she could sell tickets too in hopes for raising money for the reformed library, but it would also be great exposure as a grand opening for the estate itself. Some of the house was still unfinished, but the downstairs was complete, and quiet beautifully redone if she says so herself.

It doesn't really matter anyway. With her being heartbroken and all, Jas wasn't looking forward to that much at all, even if it would no doubt prove to be a wonderful event. The tickets had already sold out for that matter. Kei would be providing the music, and Delaney and Akiho were working in tandem to finish her show-stopping dress for the make-shift ball. Jas had always wanted a ball, especially after Delaney's rather successful one. Elliot and Jady were working on floral arrangements, while Elijah and Junpei helped Raine plan out the menu. Her family had promised her to make this an event. And with the Morrigan family throwing a prestigious gathering, no doubt would the press be over it to pester her father.  Reysa had already delivered mutliple palettes of hair and nails that would appropriately pair with her dress, calmly awaiting for Jasiri to make her decision. Kasumi and Rhys had designed the most stunning paintings for the library already, and would have multiple along the walls of the ballroom, including one of the largest canvas' they'd ever taken on. They'd worked for nearly six months on it now, and it would be hung as a centerpiece in the entryway of the library itself. Curiously enough, Yume was the only one who wasn't doing something directly, although she had promised she was sending a gift early, before she even arrived home, which sparked Jasiri's curiosity. 

Still, a ball isn't much fun without a date, and her date was cheating on her. Not date anymore, she mused, he was just her ex-boyfriend now. She didn't really want an explanation, she'd seen enough when her best friend Kaitlyn had sent her a video that was going viral on Youtube at a yacht party. She'd seen very clearly Lars with another girl, doing things that were a little too difficult to just explain away as 'not cheating'. Kaitlyn wasn't even here, she was abroad with her family for the summer, down in the Bahamas, and she'd gotten the video before Jasiri. 

Biting back another sniffle, she raised her arm to her eyes, rubbing her face as she blinked up at the window. The curtains were still drawn shut, even if sunshine peaked through the middle space, sliding against her bedspread. Jasiri sighed deeply, pushing herself up to sit up on her bed, shoulders slumped. She was supposed to edit today, but now she had about zero energy to do so. 

A gentle knock rapped against the wood of her door, an equally soft voice acommpanying it. "Jas? Are you there? You haven't come out all day." It was her littlest sister, Jady. 

For a moment, Jasiri internally debated not answering at all. After all, she could simply pretend she wasn't in her room. Prolouged guilt shot down the idea almost immediately, and instead, she raised her own voice. It was hoarse with the stilffing of tears, but at the very least it was steady. "I'm here, Jady. Did you need something?"

"Well..um.." Her voice trailed off, and Jas heard the muffled, indistinct whispers of other voices behind her, then Jady's voice piped up again, "Are you okay?"

No, not really.

Jasiri didn't answer, instead opting for silence as her response. It was response enough for Jady, and whoever else was out there with her, because she watched the doorknob turn, and the door peak open enough for her younger sister's head to poke through, face immediately falling when she reached the gaze of her older sister. "Oh..you're crying-"

"What!?" It was Delaney that time, and the door was damn near thrown open, Kasumi poking her head over her shoulder as concern scrunched her pliant features. Laney didn't waste a moment before she was on the bedside of Jasiri, frowning as arms crossed over her chest. "Why are you crying?"

Reluctantly, Jas noticed the rest of her siblings file into her room, each watching with their own expectant glare. Merlene's scoff was bitter. "Who do I need to beat up?"

Kei blinked evenly, "Yeah, who's body do we need to bury?"

"I'll bet it was her boyfriend, I've never liked Lars anyway, Jas." Junpei protested.

Reysa shook her head, "Who in their right mind would upset Jas? She's got a whole attack dog pack behind her."

Akiho clicked his tongue "People are stupid, I have very little hope for humanity left."

"You're such a downer Aki." Elliot waved him off, looking back to Jasiri as that numb burning settled into the back of her throat. The kind that resides there after you no longer have tears to cry; too exhausted to mourn any longer. "What happened?"

"It was Lars, actually." Jas casted her eyes down, feeling heavy silence quickly settle over the siblings. there was a pause, then she felt the gentle hand of her sister, Kasumi this time, on her face.

"What did he do?"

It's hard to admit things like this outloud, because the moment you say them outloud, they become very, very real. And Jas doesn't want it to be real. She just wants to live in her ignorant little bubble and be happy and exuberant like nothing bad will ever happen to anyone again. Unfortunately, her optimism doesn't really work like that, no matter how much she wishes it did, so she manages a shrug, voice falling impossibly soft. "He cheated on me."

There's that beat of silence, as there always is when one of the siblings face something such as this. It doesn't matter what position you're in when it happens. The moment, this moment, hurts on both sides. On one hand, it hurts because the last thing in the world you want for your beloved siblings is to watch them torn from the inside out, heartbroken and shattered, and on the other side, you have to wait for those very same siblings to respond to your heartache.

Oh, it hurts.

Quietly, surprisingly gentle, Elijah speaks. "I'm calling dad."

"Don't call dad, Elijah." Kei holds his hand up to his younger brother, and although Elijah looks skeptical at best, he relents, scowling before crossing his arms over her chest.

Merlene shares a furious glare with Elijah, not angry at him, but sharing the fury that sparked between them at the situation, before reaching for her phone, "I'll call him-"

Reysa scowls that time, stepping between them evenly. "No. We're gonna call Yume."

"Is that really the best defense?" Elliot pipes up, peaking behind Jady, who looks almost more heartbroken than any of the others do. She's such a romantic, just as Jas is, and sometimes these things worm their way into the hearts of those whose soul remains open a little harder. 

"I actually agree with Reysa." Junpei nodded, shoving his hands in his pockets, "Although, I think Kei should call her."

Delaney nodded her agreement, clasping, "If any of us call her I think we might freak out ourselves."

"I've never freaked out in my entire life."

"What about that one time you cried cause a cat got ran over in the road?" Kasumi mused, eyebrow raising to her younger brother.

Akiho looked offended, "That's cause a cat was run over in the road. I'm not heartless."

"Really, you act like it." It was a tease from Elijah, and Akiho shook his head, sighing before looking back to Jasiri.

"You want us to go, Jas?"

Slowly, Jasiri shook her head. She loved her family, desperarely so, and oftentimes their presence made her feel much more safe and secure than anything else did in the world. Most importantly, her family made her feel loved and cherished, which was something she was very much in need of at this moment. Her siblings nodded their own silent response, finding places to sit around the room as Kei stepped back out the door, closing it behind him.

Only moments later, a sharp, high-pitched, "What?!" shot through the air. Jasiri, despite herself, felt a smile curse across her lips, dropping her head to sit on Kasumi's shoulder as Delaney squeezed her hand. 

After another beat of short silence, Kei opened the door, sighing as he walked over, setting his phone in Jasiri's open palm. Yume was up in her room, throwing stuff into her briefcase. Before Jas could even question what her sister might have been doing, Yume snapped right back up to her.

"I'm coming home."

"What- no-" At the sound of Yume's voice, all of her siblings' heads snapped up, listening intently now to the conversation. Well, if there was one thing this family was, it was pretty fucking nosy. Jasiri ignored the stares, shaking her head, "Yu, no, you can' come home."

"I'm pretty fucking sure I can. I'm your older sister! I'm supposed to be there for you heartbreaks." Yume waved her argument away as if it was nothing, sitting down at her desk as she located her laptop, "I'm booking a flight right now."

"Yume, no."

"Yume, yes." Her sister shot back, eyes illuminating with fervent determination before returning to her laptop screen, scrolling while she muttered under her breath to herself. 

"No." Jasiri re-itirated, sighing herself. "Yu, no. You've worked to get this opportunity for nearly a year to practice with manga writing and asian style writing, I'm not letting you just give it up." Yume paused, hand stalling on the laptop touchscreen, and Jasiri pressed her point. "You're gonna be home in a week anyway, you don't have to rush home right now. I'll be okay." She sighed, adding her dramatics just to make herself seem a little more okay than she was feeling as she flipped the camera of the phone, showing her room. "Everyone else is here too, it'll be okay. I want you to have a good time."

Her sister looked reluctant at best, drawing her hand away from her computer before closing it. "You promise?"

"I promise. We can have ice cream and watch Pride and Prejudice together when you get home." She offered a small, sincere smile. "A week from now. Not a moment sooner."

Yume seemed to relent at last, setting aside her laptop. "Fine. I suppose i'll accept that..in the meantime-" her eyes brightened for a moment, "Oh-" then she paused once more, "Oh, um- actually nevermind."

Jasiri frowned, as did the rest of the now surrounding siblings, who had scooted closer in their chairs and their placements on the floor to properly hear the conversation. "What?"

"Oh- no, it's nothing. It's silly. Nothing important." She waved her younger sister off, avoiding eye contact for a brief moment in tense silence. The room was laced with their own quiet, patiently waiting for Yume to break under the strain of her patiently awaiting siblings, and at least, Yume let out a long, drawn out sigh. "Alright, fine."

"Out with it then already, Yu." Jady petulantly whined, dramatically flopping her head onto Elliot's shoulder, who reassuringly patted her arm.

"I went on a date."

Oh.

Yume smiled a little, a shy little thing. Much unlike her, if Jas was being honest. "He's originally from here, actually. Korea. But his family moved to Japan a while back during a promotion for his father's and mother's work." Yume hummed, "I met him while he was visiting his family in Seoul, and he asked if I would like to go on a date with him yesterday." She laughed, a bright, youthful thing. "He took me to this kimchi place, and then we got Bingsu and walked around for a while."

Jas felt some mix of bittersweet emotion uproot her heart. She was absolutely delighted for her older sister after all, even if it seemed difficult to watch someone else be so happy to go on a simple date. Guilt threaded the thoughts, but Jasiri shook them away as she allowed herself to smile for her Yume. "What's his name?"

"Az." It was a breath of a response, clearly ecsatic, "Azriel. Isn't that pretty?"

"Did you get his number?" Jady pestered, peaking over behind the three girls who were looking into the phone, setting her chin on Delaney's shoulder.

Yume laughed again before nodding, "Mhm, I did. It's too bad that we literally live on opposite sides of the world, but I'm glad I made a couple friends here." She lightened, "My Korean isn't too good since I've been so concentrated on Japanese, but I've been able to have a  few light conversations, as long as the other person remains patient with me." 

Jasiri smiled more at her sister's exuberance. It felt contagious almost, soothing in waves of softness and adoration up her cracked ribs. Yume had recently been dissapointed by a suitor herself. Someone named Andrew. He was a popular baseball player, someone that people might refer to as an "All-American Star", or something of that sort. Yume had made the unfortunate discovery that he was someone she didn't want to be around at all, and was rather agressive. 

Regardless, she seemed ecsatic once more about the prospect of going on a date, and the thought only pressed Jas' heart back up a little more, stitching it back into place in slow, methodical movements. Yume's gaze flickered to her phone as it buzzed, and her eyes glittered, "Oh! Jas, that reminds me, your present just got there."

"Oh-" That's right, Yume's special present. The one that none of her other siblings knew about, mostly because the majority of them couldn't keep a secret for more than a few days, much less months. "What is it?"

Before she could answer, there was a gentle knock on the closed door, and who else but her father opened it, pausing as he saw all of his children very neatly circled around Jas' bed. His confusion was quickly set aside when another figure stepped into the room, almost hesitantly, and Jasiri's smile only grew tenfold.

"Calvin?"

✦

✦ WYN ✦

- chapter one finished

- poor jas :( this is so sad

has your character ever been cheated on? how do they feel about cheating?

──● answers