4.

| 𝐩𝐚𝐬𝐭 𝐬𝐭𝐚𝐲𝐬 𝐢𝐧 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐩𝐚𝐬𝐭. |

Eunjae P.O.V

"I'm assuming you had some fun at Mr. Lee's home."

Sunhee wiggled her eyebrows, looking up and down my figure.

I sighed.

"I was, until my uterus chose to be violent," I said, rolling my eyes.

"Oh my god, did it come in between?" Sunhee gasped, not at all fazed at all my weird analogies and metaphors.

'Was that a metaphor? Or an analogy? Or something else that I don't know?'

I wasn't really that good at English grammar. Poetic devices, especially. They annoyed the shit out of me.

"Thankfully not. We had just finished when it came." I stretched myself, still feeling sore.

"Still sore?" She asked. I nodded.

"That reminds me, how many rounds did you both go for? I mean, since you didn't come back last night, I'm assuming it was more than four." Sunhee smirked.

I looked at her flabbergasted.

"Four!? What's wrong with you! It was just two." I had started out loudly, but my voice became barely a whisper towards the end.

"I highly doubt that," she said, frowning playfully.

"I didn't come back last night because he didn't let me," I said defeatedly.

"He didn't let you? What do you mean he didn't let you?!" Sunhee's voice now sounded urgent, her stance becoming defensive.

I realised how wrong it sounded, and hurriedly corrected myself, "I meant, Minho forbade me from roaming around alone at midnight. He said that it wasn't safe for me, and told me to just stay the night at his place."

My friend's body visibly relaxed.

"Really? That was so sweet of him!" Sunhee cooed.

"I know right! He even let me use his bathroom for a shower, let me sleep on his bed, gave me chocolate and made breakfast for me!" I exclaimed, holding up a finger for each kind act Minho had done for me.

"That reminds me, he even let me take this!" I pulled a daffodil out of my hair, handing it to Sunhee.

Her face froze for a second, before she delicately took the flower from my hands.

"I told him that I have a friend who loves flowers, especially daffodils, so he let me take two from his bouquet." I rummaged in my bag, before pulling out the other flower.

Sunhee was still staring at the daffodil in her hands, her expression distant, and eyes looking shiny.

"Sunhee?" I called out after a pause. She broke from her trance and stared at my face, eyes disoriented.

"Are you okay?" I asked her, gripping her shoulders.

"Huh? Yeah, I'm okay. Just give me a couple minutes, I'll be back," she said, before hastily walking away.

I stared at her furthering figure, wondering what happened to her.

Sunhee really loved daffodils, but I don't think she had actually physically seen them in about a year. They were her favourite flowers, and held a very special place in her heart.

She would always refuse to tell me why, but I was sure it had something to do with her past. However, I didn't pester her to tell me, because if she wanted me to know, she would've told me a long time ago.

I can understand why she wouldn't want to tell me. Some things, some demons of our past, are best kept secret.

I shook my head, and turned around, eyes automatically fixing themselves onto the pretty chandelier hanging from the ceiling. It was an intricately designed crystal chandelier that had little gold fairy lights fixed to it.

It may sound weird, but, when it was lit up, the chandelier gave out light of the most beautiful shades of orange and gold.

There were two sets of sofas arranged neatly in the hall, which were really soft and comfortable to be seated in. I made my way towards the black set.

Just as I was about to plop myself on it, I heard another familiar voice echoing in the hall.

"Mr. Choi!" I called out, waving my arms towards the kind faced man who was barely ever over here.

"Eunjae. Been a while, eh?" The man in question began walking towards me, his lips pulled up in a smile.

Mr. Choi was a middle aged man, who was really kind to everyone. The same, however, can't be said about his younger brother; he was the main culprit, the reason why majority of us are here.

Choi Heemang was a little younger than his brother, but was much clever and evil than him. He is the manager of this entire prostitution.

Heemang is like a loan shark, except what he did was much worse; he bloated the interest to unimaginable rates. Some would manage to pay it completely, but for those who couldn't, he asked for something else in return.

Something along the lines of taking their children away and making them work for him to fully pay the interest.

I don't know what happens to the male children, but the females are sent here, forced to be a sēx worker.

Heemang supposedly means hope. Hope, my āss.

How was anyone supposed to have hope in him when all he did was destroy people's lives and make them miserable?

His elder brother Heesung, who was standing in front of me, was a part of all this, but he was fully against his brother's motives.

However, he had no say in all this, so he just kept quiet and did his job, which was related to the accounting of this business.

"How have you been, dear?" Heesung asked, shaking my hand.

"I would say good, but who will ever be good when they're stuck here, being a sēx worker for almost three years?" I said, tilting my head, staring at the man, who just sighed in response.

"How much more time do I need to stay here though?" I asked.

"I don't know, dear. It all depends on my brother," he said, scratching his head.

"But I've been here for three years! That much time is surely enough for the loan to be paid!" I exclaimed.

"See, Eunjae, it doesn't matter how much we crib, as long as my brother doesn't comply, I'm as helpless as you are." Heesung sighed.

"Of course, my life is in his hands, isn't it?" He flinched at my sarcastic tone.

"Technically, it is Eunjae, whether you like it, or not." He patted my head, giving me a pitiful look.

"I'll get going now, see you around, Mr. Choi," I said, slightly bowing, before walking away.

My head was muddled up with bad memories of my dear parents.

Memories of how they confidently took a large sum as a loan from Heemang.

Memories of how they spent all the money, leaving them almost broke.

Memories of how they were begging for more time to pay off the debt from Heemang, who had threatened to kill them.

Memories of their bodies hanging from the ceiling.

Memories of how they literally gave up on their lives, just because they didn't want to die at the hands of Heemang.

Memories of their cowardly act, which led to me being taken away to this hellhole.

I was my parents' only child, who was attending university when all this was happening, so Heemang wasn't aware of my existence.

That was probably why he threatened to kill them.

After they committed suicide, I came into the scene. Heemang got to know about me, and took me hostage here.

I never liked my parents, as they were alcoholics, who would go to a casino every week to blow all our money away.

They couldn't be called as responsible parents, but they took good care of me. They made sure I never went to bed with an empty stomach, even if it meant that they had to starve.

But, I realised later, they weren't as nice as I had thought them to be.

After all, they took the easier way out of this situation and killed themselves, leaving me to pay for their crimes and sins, instead of handling the situation like adults.

I shook my head. I'm not gonna let the demons of my past consume me once again.

I can't.

What's over, is over. Dwelling over the shit that's already happened won't help anyone.

I pushed the door to my room open and found Sunhee sitting on her bed, fiddling with the daffodil I had given her, a fond look plastered all over her face. She looked up when she heard me enter the room.

"Are you okay?" Sunhee asked me, scanning my face.

I guess it was obvious. I sighed, before smiling widely.

"Yes, I'm fine. Are you okay, though?" I asked, hoping she would drop the topic.

"Yeah, everything's okay. No need to worry." She smiled back.

"I was thinking," I started, setting the little bag I was carrying on my bed, before continuing. "We should go out and chill together."

"Yes, we should! Some bonding time, you know?" She set the flower she was holding down, meeting my eyes.

"Let's go to a club!" I exclaimed.

"When? Now?" Sunhee asked, standing up.

I smirked.

"Right now."

x x x

A / N

Is this counted as angst? I don't even know anymore lmao

What do y'all think happened to Sunhee? Why was she so deeply affected after seeing the daffodil? [hint, it has smth to do with before she came to this place, Eunjae's past story has a hint to it too.]

Lemme know y'all's thoughts!

Vote, spam and share and wish me luck, because my exams so fkn near and I ain't ready for them-
[I'll be on a hiatus, so no more updates :c]

Ciao~

-xo-
:]