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━━━ " 📂  " ‍..⃗. ༉

𝙍 𝙊 𝙈 𝘼 𝙉 𝘾 𝙄 𝙉 𝙂

! chapter forty-four ─── ʚĭɞ

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Miyeon and Jugyeong made their way to Gowoon's house the next day, meeting up with the girl just as she was arriving back, having taken a different route to them.

They settled in the living room, Jugyeong kneeling before Gowoon on the couch, her various products spread around her and on the coffee table.

Miyeon was curled up on the other side of Gowoon, pillow covering her legs and a notepad balanced on top of it, a pen in her hand.

"I really didn't need to be here." She commented, sitting forward. "But it's nice to see the process - you're so good at this."

"Thank you!" Jugyeong beamed. "And it's nice having someone else here, right Gowoon?" The girl nodded, not exactly able to speak without moving her face.

There was the sound of the door opening, and the three of them looked up. "Is someone else home?" Miyeon asked, and seconds later their question would be answered.

Seojun rounded the corner, wearing nothing but a robe and his underwear. Eyes widening, the three girls froze, the boy doing a dance across the floor, clearly not noticing them as he approached the fridge.

Okey Dokey by Mino and Zico could be faintly heard playing, the Han boy joining in with random words every so often, pulling a water bottle out of the refrigerator, taking a sip before pouring some over his head, finally turning around and freezing.

His blue robe was falling off his shoulder, and he stared at the three girls opposite him. "You were home?" Gowoon asked, Jugyeong frozen with a makeup brush raised to her face.

"Please put some clothes on when you're home." Gowoon pleaded, and the Han boy looked down at his half naked self, then his gaze flickered from his sister, to ex-best friend, then to Jugyeong.

He put down the water bottle. "Hey." He said simply, before turning and dancing off into his room. As soon as he disappeared from sight, he could be heard rushing into the door and closing it behind him.

Yelling could be heard, and whilst Gowoon looked extremely embarrassed, Jugyeong looked slightly concerned.

"Hey!" She called. "I didn't see anything - and neither did Miyeon." The Im girl glanced over at her best friend, who nodded quickly. "We really didn't!" She continued.

"It serves him right for not listening to me." Gowoon said, as Jugyeong applied a glittery substance under her eyes, Miyeon having abandoned her notepad and watching with wonder in her eyes.

"My little brother's like that at home too." Jugyeong nodded. "Wait. He's in your year. Do you know Im Juyoung?" She asked.

"No?" Gowoon said quickly. "He must be in a different class."

"He's not worth knowing. Just pretend he doesn't exist." Jugyeong told her, the both of them laughing. Miyeon could only watch with a smile on her face - it seemed that most people she knew had younger siblings, yet she didn't have one herself.

A little while later and it has gone dark, and Gowoon and Miyeon were saying goodbye to Jugyeong. The Hwang girl would be going with her, she just promised Mrs Lee that she would wait until she got back - apparently the woman wanted to talk about something.

"Thank you for today, Jugyeong." Gowoon was saying, stood in front of the door. Miyeon was stood next to her, a smile on her face.

"It was my pleasure." Jugyeong replied. "Bye then, don't see me out. Miyeon, I'll see you tomorrow?"

"See you." Miyeon confirmed what she was saying with a nod, following Gowoon to the door and waving Jugyeong as she disappeared.

The two girls made their way back into the living area, sitting down on the sofa again. "You're so pretty." Miyeon peered over at her. "In all ways." She quickly added, in case it came out wrong.

The pair heard the door open and close, but didn't bother to go and check it. "I sometimes wish I had a younger sister - someone I could do makeup on." Miyeon frowned, Gowoon sitting up.

"You have me." She replied, before taking the mirror. "I just need to figure out how to do this on my own. I think I'll do it when it's something important, not for school." Gowoon continued, the door opening again and Seojun turning the corner.

"You're still here?" He asked, looking down at Miyeon, who only shrugged in reply.

"You embarrassed me!" Gowoon whined, standing up. "I'm sorry Miyeon." She said, glaring at her brother before disappearing into her room.

"Ah.. sorry." Seojun said, before wincing and shaking his head. "That's the second time I've said that tonight."

"And are you apologising for what happened when Jugyeong was here or the fact your presence ruined mine and Gowoon's conversation?" Miyeon asked, voice perfectly diplomatic yet dangerous, the hidden sharpness of a blade within it.

"Harsh. Good - it doesn't work well that you're nice to everyone." Seojun's tone had completely changed, and Miyeon stuttered at his words, trying to pull words out of nowhere to string a sentence together. "It'll get you in trouble."

"I'm not nice to everyone, I can be mean." Miyeon frowned. "You've seen me do stuff like that.. ask Soojin, she can tell you."

"I'm sure she can." Seojun replied, sitting down next to her and picking up the notepad, flicking the front cover open. "You're writing songs again?"

"Trying to. I've not done it since.. so it's been forever." Miyeon replied, sounding weary - before she stiffened. "Are you always this indecisive? Can you not just pick a side?" She asked, standing up.

Gowoon's door opened, and the two looked over. "Mom says she going to be late tonight. She says she's really sorry Miyeon, but you should go." The younger girl told them.

"Perfect." Miyeon said, snatching the notebook. "Thanks for inviting me over Gowoon, and for those drinks the other day. I suppose I'll see you on Monday." She looked down at Seojun, stuffing her notepad into her bag.

She was halfway to the door when Seojun appeared beside her. "Is your mom home yet?" He asked, and when Miyeon frowned, he held up his keychain, the metal clinking together.

It seemed, despite her hatred of the things, Seojun's motorcycle could prove quite useful.

And within half an hour, Miyeon was stood outside of the large stone house, watching as Seojun drove away. With a sigh, she made her way up the drive and push the door open, stepping inside.

"Did I just hear what I think I heard?" The perfectly clear voice of Kwon Yujin rang through the downstairs of the cold house, and Miyeon froze, half way through taking her shoes off.

Taking deep breaths, she finished what she was doing, putting slippers on and finally looking up to see her mother, stood with her arms crossed over her chest, not looking happy at all.

"I didn't realise you would be back so early, mother. I thought you would be away for another day or so at least. How was your trip?" Miyeon asked, trying to be as nice as she could to her mother without sounding too suspicious.

"Don't try to avoid the question. Did I, or did I not just hear a motorcycle outside?" Yujin repeated her question, and Miyeon could sense a flustered feeling spread through her body, and she battled to keep it away from her face, knowing it was by far the most revealling place.

"I don't know what you mean, I got the bus home as usual." Miyeon shrugged, pulling her backpack off of her shoulders and stepping away from the entrance, bag swinging by her side.

"I thought I told you that you weren't allowed to see that Han Seojun." Yujin said, and before Miyeon could protest against her words, the Kwon woman stalked over to her, leaning down to look into her eyes. "Enlarged pupils, a sign of the brain working hard, so you can lie."

The woman rose, moving round and placing her hands on Miyeon's shoulders, leaning down so that her lips were right by her ear, a finger playing with a lock of hair. "Did I not mention that you were forbidden from seeing him, and you haven't been telling me where you're going. Or Eunjoo. Where were you?"

"I was with Jugyeong studying. We had our tests recently, and seeing as Jugyeong's scores wasn't as great as she hoped, I agreed to tutor her for a little bit." Miyeon quickly said, lie rolling off her tongue.

"Ah yes, the test. Third in the class. Quite impressive. But not as nearly as impressive as second or third." The finger twisting around a lock of her dark hair suddenly became her hand, and with a yank, Miyeon's gaze was focused up on the ceiling.

She blinked, swallowing as she looked over to her mother, eyes wide. "Why are you spending time tutoring others when you need to up your own grades." Miyeon twisted her head just slightly to see the woman, and her eyes drifted, landing on something rather.. interesting.

"Your top button is undone." Miyeon said, voice soft. But it was so sharp, so dangerous. And it seemed like Yujin was rendered powerless.

Just for a moment.

❛ AUTHORS NOTE ━━ happy one month! this chapter is quite a bit longer than usual, so i hope you enjoyed!! <33