╭                                                                 ╮
━━━ " 📂  " ‍..⃗. ༉

𝙍 𝙊 𝙈 𝘼 𝙉 𝘾 𝙄 𝙉 𝙂

! chapter eleven ─── ʚĭɞ
━━ tw!! this chapter contains heavy
implications of self harm

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Miyeon didn't stay in the area very long after that, leaving the Im household and bumping into Seojun being taken as her sign that she should just get out of their and return home.

She still didn't want to go back, and it was earlier than she had planned on returning. And so, she chose to walk the rest of the way rather than take the bus, dragging her feet along the pavement.

Dragging it out for much longer than she needed to, Miyeon arrived home to see an extra car in the driveway and faltered slightly, wondering to turn around entirely. She could call Soojin - but their fathers were friends and that would result in complications, or go back to Jugyeong's, but considering she didn't know where Jugyeong had gone or when she would be back, it would be awkward for her just to turn up.

"I never had this problem when I was a trainee." Miyeon grumbled as she pushed the door open, switching her shoes for slippers, It was true, whenever the Hwang girl didn't want to be at home, she would go stay with Seojun most of the time, having gotten quite close with his family over the years, and less often to Suho's, who seemed to prefer his own company.

"Good evening, my daughter." The voice of her mother brought Miyeon to a stop as she walked over to the stairs. "Not even going to greet your mother after a long day of travelling?"

Miyeon turned towards the sofa, halfway over to the staircase and itching to just run up it. But she restrauned herself, making her way over to the sofa where her mother - Yujin - sat. A glass of wine hung lazily from her hand, and a light pink across her cheeks suggested it wasn't her first one.

"Good evening." Miyeon replied finally, sitting down on the very edge of the sofa, watching her mother with wide eyes. "..Did you enjoy your visit?" She asked.

"Ah.. my visit." Yujin nodded, not giving any more information for a few minutes. "It was relaxing. My friend is very well."

"That's nice to here. I have homework I need to do." Miyeon stood up abruptly, jumping when her mother reached over, spilling some of her wine as she did so, tugging her back down.

"How is school going? Your old friends all still go there, so we thought it be best to re-enroll you there. They were more than happy to, given the grades you got whilst at Dalton." Yujin's eyes glittered, somewhat dangerously, her hand remaining on her daughter's knee.

"You knew the situation before I left. My two best friends hate me." Miyeon said quietly. "Why would you bring me back here?" She asked, holding back tears, feeling overwhelmed all off a sudden.

"Your grandparents gave us reports. They said you sounded better and were going out with your friends more. So, we thought it would be best for us to bring you back. How can we watch over you when you're all the way in America?" Yujin, in her somewhat drunken state, didn't seem to find anything wrong with her words.

The picture was fully clear now. There was no reason why they had actually brought her back other than to fufill their own needs, to make them feel as if they hadn't failed as parents by making this one important decision that would impact her in someway.

There was absolutely nothing for her in Seoul. She had made that perfectly clear before she had left. But still, her parents had made this decision just because they wanted to feel some sort of authority.

The wave of realisation and emotion rushed over and Miyeon tugged her mother's hand off her knee with such a jolt it spilt her wine again. Standing up, she ignored her mother's words as she headed towards the stairs, grabbing her bag and rushing up them, locking the door behind her as she entered.

"Where is it. I put them in here somewhere." Tears forming at the corner of her eyes, Miyeon abandoned her bag by her bed, heading into the bathroom and searching the cabinets. Finally she founded them taped to the top of one of the drawers.

Clutching them in her hand, she slumped against the glass of the shower, staring down at the glinting silver. The tears were falling faster, blurring her vision and her hand shook, and they slipped out of her grasp.

"Shit." She breathed, wiping her eyes hurriedly and reaching for them, only to hear her phone ring from where she left it on the counter. With a sniff, she reached for it, feeling around for a moment before grabbing it and answering it mindlessly. "Hello?" She asked, sniffing and wiping her eyes, eyes focusing on the silver on the ground.

"Hwang Miyeon, what are you doing?" A rather harsh voice sounded through her phone and Miyeon almost dropped it in shock, pulling it away from her ear.

"Seojun?" She asked, voice wavering slightly. "N-Nothing. I just got home." She wiped her eyes, biting her lip to try and stop another tear from falling.

"Don't move, and don't touch anything. I'm coming over." He said, and Miyeon frowned.

"There's no need, I'm fine. My mom's here anyways, she'll know if you come over." The Hwang girl sniffed again, pulling her sweater sleeves over her hands, wrapping her arms around the torso.

"I'll get Eunjoo to let me in the backway. Don't move Miyeon." And with that, he hung up.

❛ AUTHORS NOTE ━━ as i mentioned in the introduction chapter, this book will include implications of self harm. in this chapter's case, it was just that - i will never actually write it in. however, as a warning it will be the topic of the next chapter, and mentioned elsewhere in the book. this is as detailed as anything like this will get, and whilst it is early on in the book, i think i can confidently say that it's not going to be anything like this again. but with that, thank you so much for reading so far <333