Archive of Our Own

Yaebin doesn’t have a chair. She has to stand for the full four hours that she works the cash register at the tiny liquor store in her neighborhood. She’s not allowed to do any homework or studying so she’s basically just standing there doing nothing the whole time. A wave of middle schoolers always comes in around 3:30PM to get chips and sodas, and then it’s pretty much dead after that.

It’s almost time to close up when the door bursts open, knocking the bell that alerts everyone when someone is entering the shop.

Yaebin looks up from the Pottery Barn catalogue that she’s been looking at for the past two and a half hours to see a tall girl walk right past her to the drinks. She’s wearing a leather jacket and tight, ripped jeans, and her eyes are cold and hard. Yaebin’s seen her around town before but they’ve never had a chance to actually speak to each other.

The girl grabs some sodas and beers and tucks them into the bag on her hip before heading back out.

Yaebin frowns and closes her catalogue. “Um, you have -”

“Put it on my tab,” the girl says, and she leaves, letting the bell signal her exit.

Yaebin stares at the door, dumbfounded by what just happened. Nothing like that has ever happened to her for the past two years that she’s been working here. Sure, kids have tried to shoplift and she’s sure that some probably gotten away with it, but it’s a small, quiet neighborhood, nothing ever really happens.

Also, they don’t have tabs and she doesn’t know that girl’s name.

The owner of the store, Seungcheol, comes in through the back to help close up and stops when he sees that Yaebin’s still just staring blankly at the door.

“Uh, hey, kid, you alright?” he asks carefully.

“Some girl just stole, like, five drinks,” Yaebin says but it comes out more like a question. Seungcheol just looks at her. “I mean, this girl came in and took a bunch of drinks, told me to put it on her tab, and then just left.”

“And you didn’t think to stop her?” Seungcheol says, raising his eyebrows.

“What was I supposed to do, call the police?” Yaebin says. “It was just some drinks.”

“Just put this in the register, it’ll be fine,” Seungcheol sighs, tossing Yaebin a couple bills. “I’ll lock up and see you tomorrow.”

Yaebin nods and does as she’s told. She grabs her backpack from the corner and tugs it over her shoulders, moving around the counter to get to the door

“And Yaebin,” Seungcheol says before she can leave. “If that girl comes in here again, don’t let her leave without paying.”

“I mean, yeah, I’ll try,” Yaebin says. “See you tomorrow, Seungcheol.”

The sun is still setting, so she doesn’t have to wait for her dad to come pick her up. She shoves her hands in the pockets of her jacket to keep them warm and makes her way around the block to get back to her house.

Two days pass before Yaebin sees the girl again. It’s around 5:30PM and she’s been reading an old Us Weekly magazine for a while. Pete and Ariana have broken up and that’s not exactly news but it’s what she’s reading about. The girl walks in, not even bothering to spare Yaebin a glance, and she has a milk crate with her this time. She fills the crate with snacks and drinks before coming up to the counter. Yaebin is half expecting her to pay.

“You’re out of Funyuns,” she says instead.

“You have to pay for that,” Yaebin tries as the girl backs out through the door.

The girl raises her eyebrows. “Put it on my tab.”

“We don’t have those,” Yaebin says. “That’s gotta be, like, twenty bucks, just pay for it.”

“Make me,” the girl says challengingly, and she leaves.

Yaebin groans and thinks that she should go chase after her but really doesn’t feel like it, so she just goes back to her magazine.

“Wanna hang out tonight?” Eunwoo asks, sitting down at a lunch table next to Yaebin. “My mom rented Bollywood movies from the library.”

“I can’t.” Yaebin picks at her salad. “Inventory tonight, and my boss is on my ass about this girl that’s been stealing snacks and shit.”

Eunwoo frowns. “Why would anyone steal from the liquor store?”

“Hell if I know,” Yaebin replies. “I told him I could just go to Ralph’s and replace all the stuff she stole, but he wants me to, like, confront her or something next time she comes in.”

“What, are you gonna shoot her?” Eunwoo asks, laughing.

“I don’t know what he wants me to do,” Yaebin says. “She kind of scares me, I mean, what if I tell her she has to pay for her chips and she pulls out a knife or something?”

“Um, I don’t think she would stab you for asking her to pay for chips,” Eunwoo points out. “You should just threaten to call the police, I don’t know.”

Yaebin shrugs. She looks across the quad and sees a couple of girls going into the parking lot. One of them is tall, wearing a leather jacket, and she narrows her eyes. “Hey, do you know who they are?”

“Huh?” Eunwoo follows her gaze. “Who, Minkyung and Kyungwon?”

“Do you know them?” Yaebin asks.

“A little. Kyungwon was in my math class last semester, I think she switched out for volleyball or something,” Eunwoo says. “She’s with Minkyung, like, all the time. I don’t think they have other friends. Why do you ask?”

“I don’t know.” Yaebin looks back down at her salad. “I just didn’t know their names.”

“Yeah, they’re nice or whatever,” Eunwoo says. “I haven’t heard anything too bad about them.”

Yaebin snorts. “Sure.”

It’s a few hours later when Yaebin’s standing behind the counter, thinking about the homework that her English teacher had assigned that morning, and Minkyung comes back to the store. She fills up her milk crate and leaves promptly. Yaebin takes a deep breath before scooting around the counter and following her out onto the street.

“Hey, you can’t keep doing this!” she yells to Minkyung’s retreating form.

Minkyung stops and turns around slowly. “Excuse me?”

“Look,” Yaebin says weakly. Minkyung looks like she’s going to kill her. “I don’t give a crap about shoplifting, alright, just, why don’t you go steal from a corporation like Ralph’s or Von’s? This is a mom-and-pop small business, we can’t afford to get robbed.”

“Oh, I see,” Minkyung says, seeming surprised that Yaebin said anything. “You think I care about what happens to this store.”

“I need this job,” Yaebin says desperately. “Please, just pay for your stuff or go steal from somewhere else.”

Minkyung laughs and it stings Yaebin a lot more than it should. “I can’t believe this.”

“I’m serious!” Yaebin balls her hands into fists, really unsure of what she’s supposed to be doing here.

“1608 Walnut,” Minkyung says and Yaebin frowns in confusion. “You got anything else to say, you can come find me.”

Minkyung walks away, leaving Yaebin standing alone on the sidewalk, feeling more defeated than she’s ever felt in her life. She goes back into the store and slams the door closed, cursing at herself for not being able to get Minkyung to pay, thinking that maybe she just made the situation worse.

Seungcheol comes in at 7:15PM to start inventory and Yaebin sits silently on a stool while he checks the shelves.

“We lost one hundred thirteen dollars,” Seungcheol says, looking at his clipboard. “What the hell, Yaebin? I thought I told you to make that girl pay, how did she even steal one hundred thirteen dollars worth of liquor store crap?”

Yaebin pouts and doesn’t meet his gaze. “I don’t know, I tried to make her pay, she just wouldn’t, I didn’t know what to do.”

Seungcheol sighs and rests the clipboard against his hip. “Look, we’re going to have to call the police next time. This can’t become a routine thing, it needs to be stopped.”

“Okay,” Yaebin says. “I’m sorry.”

“It’s - it’s fine, it’s not your fault,” Seungcheol says, reaching out to pat her head. “You can go home now, I’ll lock up.”

Yaebin mumbles out a goodbye and leaves through the back. The alley behind the store isn’t really dirty, it just hasn’t been cleaned in a while. A neighborhood cat slinks along the wall and Yaebin considers approaching it, but it hisses at her when it catches her eye, so she decides not to.

She’s almost to her street when she hears voices overlapping each other, reverberating through the empty block. She glances over her shoulder and sees a group of teenagers, probably her age, sitting in the driveway of a big, brown house. They’re drinking what looks like beer and a couple of them have cigarettes dangling from their fingers.

Minkyung is there, perched on the hood of an old Buick with a glass bottle in her hand. She looks up and catches Yaebin’s eye and they both stay still for a very long moment. Yaebin gets a weird, chilly sort of feeling and her stomach does a couple flips. She isn’t sure what that’s supposed to mean, but she can’t will herself to move.

Finally, Minkyung starts to smile, a deprecating sort of smirk, and raises a hand in greeting. Yaebin’s face reddens when some of Minkyung’s friends turn to see who she’s saying hi to, and she continues to quickly walk back to her house.

Yaebin walks into the store on Saturday at 10:00AM because that’s when she starts work on Saturdays and is immediately met with a disgruntled Seungcheol filling the refrigerators with drinks.

“Your little friend came in early this morning and took all of the beer,” he tells her angrily.

“Crap, man, I’m sorry, let me help,” Yaebin says. She drops her bag behind the counter and rushes to grab another box. “She’s not my friend, I don’t know her.”

“I’m going to call the police,” Seungcheol says. “This needs to stop now.”

Yaebin looks to him with wide eyes. “Wait, no, don’t call the police, I’ll talk to her, I’ll get her to stop.”

“You just said you don’t know her,” Seungcheol says, looking down at her skeptically.

“We go to the same school, we’re just not friends,” Yaebin explains. “Let me try to talk to her, and if it doesn’t work, you can call the police, just let me do this first.”

Seungcheol sighs and runs a hand through his hair. “Fine, go, but I’m calling the police if you’re not back in an hour.”

“Thank you, thank you, thank you, I’ll be right back,” Yaebin promises. She finishes unloading her box and runs out the front door. 1608 Walnut. That’s where Minkyung said she would be, so that’s where Yaebin is going.

She doesn’t have a plan, she doesn’t know what she’s going to say or do when she gets there, but she’s sprinting down the street in skinny jeans, wearing vans, and she can’t go back now. She has to deal with this.

She slows down when she gets to the 1600 block on Walnut. She barely ever goes down this street, it’s not on the way to anywhere that she goes. The last time she was here was probably when she was at a classmate’s house to do a group project, a couple years ago. It’s totally foreign, even though she lives, like, four streets down. She stops when she gets to a big blue house with a tidy lawn and the numbers 1608 hanging in brass next to the door.

Before she can chicken out or think of an excuse to turn back, she walks right up to the door and starts banging her fist against it. A couple moments pass before the door swings in and she’s greeted by a tall boy that she vaguely recognizes from school.

“The hell?” he mumbles out, rubbing his eyes. “Who the fuck are you?”

“Is Minkyung here?” Yaebin asks.

The boy frowns. “Uh, yeah, she’s in her room. Who are you?”

“Where is she?” Yaebin pushes her way into the house. It’s spacious and clean, with a nice open floor plan. She’s going to kill Minkyung. She turns to look at the boy, who is still standing in the doorway, staring at her. “Where is her room?”

“Um, upstairs, first door on the left,” the boy replies. “Who are you?”

Yaebin doesn’t respond to him and just runs up the stairs, entering the first room that she gets to. Minkyung is there, as promised, sitting on a large bed with a glowing cigarette stuck between her teeth. She looks up when Yaebin bursts in and gets to her feet.

“You need to stop stealing from the liquor store,” Yaebin says, breathing heavily. Minkyung just looks at her and puts her cigarette out on a dish by the window. “Why the hell are you stealing when you live in a house like this?”

Minkyung crosses her arms. “Just because I have a big house doesn’t mean I’m rich.”

“There’s a Land Rover in the driveway,” Yaebin says.

“It’s not mine,” Minkyung shoots back. “What the hell are you doing in my house?”

“You -” Yaebin lets out a deep breath. She really has no idea what she’s doing here but she can’t let Minkyung know that. “You told me to find you if I had anything else to say.”

“It wasn’t an invitation into my bedroom, fuckass,” Minkyung snaps. “Get out.”

“Stop stealing from the liquor store,” Yaebin demands. “Promise me you’ll stop.”

Minkyung raises her eyebrows. “You have got to be kidding me.”

“This isn’t a joke, we’ll call the police,” Yaebin says. “I know where you live, I’ll send the police here.”

“If you even fucking look at the police, I’ll rip your fucking ears off,” Minkyung replies.

Yaebin instinctively reaches up to cover her ears and Minkyung laughs. “Crap,” Yaebin says, dropping her hands. “Just tell me why you’re stealing. We can figure something out, but you can’t keep doing this.”

“The fuck I can’t,” Minkyung says. “Why do you care so much anyways?”

“It’s my job! If you keep stealing, I won’t make money,” Yaebin tries. “No one is going to be making money if we keep losing one hundred and thirteen dollars, weekly. Why can’t you just steal from a bigger store where it doesn’t matter?”

“What the fuck does it matter to you? It’s my life,” Minkyung says sharply, narrowing her eyes. “You need to get the hell out of my house.”

“I’ll get out when you promise to stop stealing from the liquor store,” Yaebin says, hoping that she sounds confident enough for Minkyung to take her seriously.

Minkyung squints at her for a bit before letting out a sigh. “You know what? Fine, slum in my house, I don’t give a shit,” she says flatly, and she sits back down on her bed. Yaebin watches her grab a spiral notebook from her nightstand and start writing in it. A minute that feels way too long passes and Minkyung looks up. “You seriously just gonna stand there?”

Yaebin shrugs. “Are you going to offer me a seat?”

“Fuck off, you’re the one who won’t leave.”

“Then yeah, I’m gonna stand here,” Yaebin says. She pulls her phone out of her pocket and texts him that she’s got things under control but she doesn’t know when she’ll be back. Her phone immediately buzzes with his response.

Seungcheol: What are you doing, braiding each other’s hair? Get back here, I’m calling the cops.

Yaebin: no, I got it under control, just don’t call the cops please

Seungcheol: Fine.

Seungcheol: Text me as soon as you’re on your way back.

Minkyung grabs a cigarette carton from her bookshelf, takes one out, and catches it between her teeth. Yaebin shifts her weight uncomfortably as Minkyung lights the cigarette and gets back to whatever she’s doing in her notebook.

“My name’s Yaebin,” she says suddenly. Minkyung looks up at her. “Just, like, if you were wondering.”

“I wasn’t,” Minkyung mutters.

Yaebin sits down cross legged on the hardwood floor and they spend another really long moment in silence. Minkyung’s room smells really good, kind of like flowers and vanilla, which is weird since she’s smoking a cigarette in it right now. There’s a big window behind her bed that’s opened just a crack and little knick knacks laid out on the windowsill. Yaebin isn’t really sure what she expected Minkyung’s room to be like, it’s not like she thought about it a lot, but this is definitely not it. The book shelf is full of young adult fantasy novels and notebooks and there’s a desk with a laptop and various stationary supplies on it. The whole room has a bluish gray sort of color scheme to it, and it’s actually pretty cute. Surprisingly cute, since Minkyung seems like such a rough person.

“What, uh. What are you doing?” Yaebin asks, nodding towards the notebook.

Minkyung doesn’t look up. “Math.”

“What math are you taking?” Yebin continues to prod. She knows she’s on thin ice, that Minkyung might snap at any second and kick her out, but it hasn’t happened yet. “Precalc?”

“AP stats,” Minkyung replies boredly.

“You’re kidding,” Yaebin blurts before she can stop herself.

Minkyung looks up at her with narrowed eyes and she immediately thinks that she’s going to beat her up. “You think so?”

“Oh, I didn’t mean -”

“You think because I’m - I’m a pothead, a burnout, whatever the fuck you think I am - you think I’m not smart?” Minkyung snaps.

“That’s not what I meant, I don’t think that,” Yaebin insists, waving her hands frantically. “I was just surprised, most juniors are in precalc or algebra.”

“Yeah?” Minkyung scoffs. “What math are you in?”

“AP calculus,” Yaebin says.

Minkyung looks like she wants to laugh and looks back down at her notebook. “That’s even worse than me, man.”

“What? How?” Yaebin asks. “How is calculus worse than stats?”

“Calculus is worse than, like, everything,” Minkyung says matter-of-factly.

“No, it’s not,” Yaebin protests. “Calculus is super fun.”

“You’re crazy,” Minkyung says. She’s smiling this little smile, almost laughing, that makes her seem harmless, like she’d never do anything to hurt anyone.

“You’re the one that steals from a liquor store,” Yaebin says.

Minkyung looks up at her with empty eyes. “Fuck off.”

Yaebin legitimately thinks that Minkyung might be about to kill her when there’s a knock on the door and they both look up to see the tall boy from before leaning in through the door frame.

“Uh, hi,” he says, and Minkyung just stares at him expectantly. “Josh wants you to go to the laundromat.”

“Fuck the laundromat, I’m doing homework,” Minkyung replies.

The boy snorts. “Do all the fucking homework you want, you still need to go to the laundromat.”

“Fine. Fuck you,” Minkyung says, tossing her notebook onto her desk. The boy gives her a two-fingered salute and leaves. She grabs her leather jacket from the chair and heads out as well. Yaebin sits there for a second, very unsure of what’s going on and what she’s supposed to do, and then Minkyung pokes her head back in. “Are you just going to sit in my room?”

“Uh, I don’t know,” Yaebin admits.

Minkyung sighs very heavily and nods her head toward the hallway. “Come on.”

“What?”

“You’re coming with me to the laundromat,” Minkyung says slowly, like Yaebin is stupid. “Let’s go.”

Yaebin scrambles to her feet and follows Minkyung back down the stairs. The tall boy is lying on the couch in the living room, paying neither of them any mind as they leave. Minkyung locks the door and starts heading down the street.

“You don’t have to take any clothes to the laundromat?” Yaebin asks, hurrying to keep up with her. The difference in their leg lengths is very dramatic and Yaebin can barely match pace without having to jog.

“It’s not that kind of laundromat,” Minkyung says flatly. “I mean, it is for some people. Not for us. Keep up, half pint.”

“It’s not my fault your legs are a million miles long,” Yaebin says. She doesn’t even know what to think about it not being ‘that kind of laundromat’ and whatever the hell that means.

“Yeah, and it’s not my fault you’re hellbent on following me around until I pay for your fucking beer,” Minkyung shoots back.

“Kinda is, though, you could just promise to stop stealing and I’ll leave,” Yaebin says.

“Fuck off,” Minkyung says, but her tone is light. She turns the corner and Yaebin skips a little so she doesn’t fall behind. They eventually get to a little plaza down the block from the town’s middle school and she kicks in the door to the laundromat that Yaebin has passed maybe a million times before. There’s a girl behind the counter, popping bubblegum, who looks up and grins when they walk in.

“Oh my god, hi, I’ve been waiting for you all morning!” the girl says brightly. She rests her chin on her fist and glances at Yaebin. “Who’s this?”

“Just some shadow,” Minkyung says.

“Hi, I’m Yaebin,” Yaebin says, reaching across the counter.

The girl shakes her hand. “Yewon, I’m Minkyung’s cousin. Nice to meet you.”

“Stop that.” Minkyung smacks Yewon’s hand. “Do you have what I need?”

Yewon rolls into the miniscule office behind the counter in her desk chair (she gets a chair, she gets to sit, why doesn’t Yaebin get a chair?), grabs a duffel bag, rolls back, and drops the bag on the counter. “Hey, tell Joshua that next time he’s late for pick up, I’m gonna keep five percent for myself. I don’t like having that stuff sitting around.”

“Yeah, like I give a shit,” Minkyung says. She hauls the duffel bag over her shoulder. “See you later, Yewon.”

“See you,” Yewon says. She waves at Yaebin. “Bye, Yaebin.”

“Bye!” Yaebin says as Minkyung drags her out the door. “Hey, what’s in the bag?”

“Fuck you, that’s what’s in the bag,” Minkyung snaps, swatting Yaebin’s hand away when she reaches for the zipper. “What the fuck is wrong with you? Don’t look in the fucking bag!”

“Why, what’s in it?” Yaebin asks again. “Is it something shady? Does this make me an accomplice, could I get in trouble?”

“Yeah, you could, if you keep asking questions,” Minkyung says. She quickens her pace and Yaebin starts to jog. “Do you seriously not have anything else to do today?”

“Just work, but seeing as no one is bothering to pay, it’s not like a cashier is needed anyways,” Yaebin says, shrugging. “Oh my god, why are you walking so fast?”

“Fuck.” Minkyung grabs Yaebin’s arm and pulls her into the small alley behind Walnut. The houses don’t have any driveways so they have garages in the back. Her face has hardened and she somehow looks even less friendly than she did before. “You want me to stop stealing, fine, I’ll stop stealing. What did you need, a hundred bucks? Here, take it.” She reaches into the duffle bag and tosses Yaebin a roll of cash. “You’re done, alright? No more coming to my house, no more following me around while I run errands. Stay away from me, stay away from the laundromat, and I’ll stay away from your damn liquor store.”

“Whoa, whoa, whoa, what’s going on?” Yaebin asks. She’s holding the roll of cash in her hands like it’s a rabid squirrel. “What happened to ‘slum in my house, I don’t give a shit’?”

“Just go,” Minkyung says. “Don’t take my street on your way back to the liquor store, take any other route.”

She leaves before Yaebin can say anything else, walking briskly around the corner as fast as her long legs can take her. Yaebin shoves the roll of cash in her jacket pocket and goes back to the street behind Walnut (Maple) to make her way back to the liquor store. The events of the past hour run through her head like a movie. Minkyung is weird, but not in the ‘cute, quirky, funny’ way that most high school girls like to be weird. Her mood changes very quickly, she’s defensive and icy about odd things, she steals from a liquor store even though her house probably costs more than million dollars, and she just picked up a bag full of cash from a laundromat. Yaebin doesn’t know what any of it means. She’s never met anyone like Minkyung before.

And not only does she behave in a way that’s hard to forget, she’s unbelievably beautiful. Her skin is pale and perfect, and her hair is dyed a grayish blue that’s actually super pretty, and she has thin eyes and a nose that crinkles when she laughs, and a hot ass body with perfect proportions. Yaebin just knows that she won’t be able to get this day out of her head for months. The time she spent with Minkyung wasn’t bad, it wasn’t a chore. She wanted to talk to Minkyung, she wanted Minkyung to talk to her, it’s like she could spend the rest of forever talking with Minkyung, and it still wouldn’t be enough time.

Yaebin gets to the store and the bell hanging from the door announces her arrival.

“What the hell happened?” Seungcheol asks.

“Got you your money,” Yaebin says, tossing him the roll of cash. “She said she’d stop stealing.”

Seungcheol inspects the money. “You believe her?”

“Yeah.” Yaebin remembers the grim look on Minkyung’s face when she told her to stay away. “I do.”

Eunwoo is standing there when Yaebin closes her locker and she almost forgets to be shocked. “Oh, hey. Missed you in physics this morning.”

“Yeah, I hit an animal this morning with my car,” Eunwoo says. “It was a whole thing.”

“You hit an animal? Holy crap, Eunwoo, what happened?” Yaebin asks, not sure if she should be excited or concerned.

“It wasn’t my fault, it just ran out in front of me, it was, like, a raccoon or something? I don’t know,” Eunwoo says. She rubs her temple with her fingertips. “And then my car smelled like shit, so I had to get it cleaned, and I had to figure out what I was supposed to do about the animal. Anyways, did you get the homework for me?”

Yaebin pulls a packet out of her binder and hands it to Eunwoo. “You’re lucky I care about you so much.”

They’re halfway down the hallway that leads to the quad when Yaebin is stopped by someone calling out her name. She turns around and sees Yewon, of all people, standing by a row of lockers with her own group of friends.

“Hey, what’s up?” Yewon says, smiling brightly.

“Just heading to lunch,” Yaebin says, ignoring Eunwoo’s confused poking. “How are you?”

“You know how it is, rocking and rolling,” Yewon replies. “Have you seen Minkyung today?”

Yaebin frowns and shakes her head. “I haven’t seen her since Saturday, sorry.”

“Oh. Well, if you see her, let her know that I’m looking for her,” Yewon says.

“Um, okay,” Yaebin says, growing more confused. “I will.”

“Thanks, man, you’re the best,” Yewon says, clapping Yaebin on the shoulder. “I’d say see you around, but I figure you have a washing machine in your house.”

“Yep.” Yaebin nods awkwardly. “Bye, Yewon.”

“Bye!” Yewon flashes her one last blinding grin and goes back to her friends.

Eunwoo grabs Yaebin and starts tugging her towards the building exit. “Who the heck was that?”

“Just some girl,” Yaebin says. “She works at the laundromat.”

“How do you know her? When did you meet her? Why didn’t you tell me?” Eunwoo asks.

“Jesus, what are you, my keeper? I meet her on Saturday,” Yaebin says, yanking her arm out of Eunwoo’s grip. “I was - I had to run an errand for Seungcheol.”

“Why did she ask you about Minkyung like you know where she is?” Eunwoo continues. “You didn’t even know who she was last week.”

“We all ran into each other, it was just a weird coincidence thing,” Yaebin says. She isn’t sure why she’s lying, she’s actually never lied to Eunwoo before, ever, but there’s something telling her that Eunwoo really doesn’t need to know the specifics of the laundromat. “It’s really not a big deal.”

Eunwoo seems to accept that as a valid explanation and launches into a new conversation about what happened during AP Spanish.

Two weeks pass and Yaebin doesn’t see Minkyung. She’s starting to think that the whole thing was a fever dream, an odd little scenario she thought up out of pure boredom.

Then, Minkyung walks into the store. It’s weird, almost like seeing a ghost. Her hair is pulled up in a ponytail and there’s a dark yellow bruise blooming on her cheek. Yaebin watches her as she quietly grabs a bag of chips and brings it up to the counter.

“That’s two fifty,” Yaebin says and Minkyung puts a five dollar bill down. “What happened?”

“None of your business,” Minkyung replies. “Are you gonna give me my change?”

Yaebin fishes money out of the register to give to her. “Are you okay? I haven’t seen you at school.”

“Fuck school,” Minkyung says. Yaebin expects her to take her chips and leave, but she opens the bag and leans forward on the counter. “Fuck everything.”

“Okay, edgelord,” Yaebin says lightly. “You gonna tell me what happened to your face?”

“You don’t want to know.”

“I do.”

Minkyung looks up at Yaebin and, for the first time, Yaebin sees vulnerability.

“My dad got out of jail,” she says quietly. “He came back the day we went to the laundromat together, that’s why I made you go.”

Yaebin’s heart drops. “Oh.”

“Yeah.” Minkyung pops a chip in her mouth. “He wasn’t happy that we were missing a hundred dollars from the laundromat, I told him I took it.”

“Oh my god, that’s my fault,” Yaebin says. “I am so sorry, I didn’t mean -”

“I know. I know you didn’t mean any harm,” Minkyung says. “Look, what’s done is done. I’m coming back to school once this bruise fades.”

“Do you want, like, an ice pack or something?” Yaebin asks.

Minkyung laughs, short and humorless. “No thanks.”

“I’m sorry,” Yaebin repeats. “If I’d known -”

“If you’d known what?” Minkyung cuts her off. “That my dad was coming back from jail? That I’d taken you to pick up washed money? None of that matters. It’s not like I’m not used to this by now.”

“You shouldn’t be used to it,” Yaebin says, so upset that she’s almost pouting. “Your father isn’t supposed to do that to you.”

“My dad doesn’t give a shit about what he’s supposed to do as a father,” Minkyung says. “He doesn’t even do what he’s supposed to do as a citizen.”

“What does he do?” Yaebin asks.

“You don’t want to know.”

“I do.”

“Look, it’s really better if you don’t know,” Minkyung says.

Yaebin smiles a little. “What, you don’t want me to get in trouble?”

“I don’t want want you going around telling people,” Minkyung says. She balls up her now empty bag of chips and tosses it into the trash can. “See you later.”

“Wait,” Yaebin says as Minkyung is leaving, and she stops to turn back. “I don’t - I don’t want you to get hurt.”

“What are you going to do about it? Swoop in like a knight in shining armor and save me from my evil father?” Minkyung says sharply. “I told you to stay out of my business.”

“Then why did you come here?” Yaebin asks. “You came to me.”

“I came here because I wanted chips, not because I wanted to see you,” Minkyung snaps. “Whatever you think this is, this twisted friendship, it’s not going anywhere. It’s over.”

“It wasn’t anything to begin with, and you were the one who started it!” Yaebin exclaims. “I don’t want to be your best friend, I want you to be safe.”

The proclamation rolls out of her like vomit and she doesn’t know if she wants to take it back, but she can’t. Minkyung is still standing in the doorway with an unreadable expression on her face.

“If you want me to be safe, then you have to trust me,” Minkyung says with a low voice.

She leaves quickly and the only thing to remind Yaebin that she was ever there is the chip bag in the trash can.

“Why are you sulking?” Minkyung looks up from her phone to see Kyungwon standing in the doorway of her bedroom. “Shit, your room smells loud.”

“I am not sulking,” Minkyung says quietly, looking back down at her phone.

Kyungwon sighs dramatically and goes to sit down on the edge of Minkyung’s bed. “Why are you smoking weed anyways? I thought you got a vape pen or whatever.”

“It’s not me, it’s Mingyu, he’s in my bathroom,” Minkyung says, pointing through the door.

“Hi, Kyungwon,” Mingyu’s deep voice floats out.

“Hey,” Kyungwon replies. She pokes Minkyung’s leg. “Come on, I won’t make you go to school but you have to leave your house.”

“What’s the point?” Minkyung snaps. “I’m never gonna get out of this shithole anyways.”

“Uh, yeah, not with that attitude,” Kyungwon scoffs. Minkyung glares at her and she sighs again. “Dude, I’m serious, you are so smart, you could go to any college you want, but you don’t have to. I’m not going to force you to go to college but I’m not going to let you rot in here. It’s unhealthy.”

“Please don’t lecture me,” Minkyung says.

“Tell me why you’re all mopey,” Kyungwon says. “If I knew what was going on, maybe I could help.”

“Her little girlfriend dumped her,” Mingyu yells from the bathroom.

“Shut the fuck up!” Minkyung shouts back. She throws a shoe at the door and it slams closed. “God, I hate him.”

“What girlfriend?” Kyungwon asks, getting to the point. “What’s he talking about?”

“Literally nothing, just the girl from the liquor store I used to steal from,” Minkyung says. “She wouldn’t leave me alone until I paid for the damages or whatever.”

Kyungwon laughs likes it’s a joke. “Are you serious? And you paid her?”

“What else was I supposed to do?” Minkyung says.

“I’m confused, you’re sulking because you had to pay the tiny girl from the liquor store?” Kyungwon asks.

“I’m not sulking,” Minkyung repeats, kicking Kyungwon.

“Then come with me to walk my dog,” Kyungwon says. She grabs Minkyung’s arms and drags her out of her bed. “We can get McDonald’s.”

She gives Minkyung a pair of shoes and a jacket and leads her downstairs, shouting a farewell to Mingyu, who is still in the bathroom.

“Where’s your dad?” she asks as they walk across the street to her house to get her dog.

Minkyung shrugs. “Out.”

“Nice,” Kyungwon deadpans. She goes into her house for a second and comes back out with a small white dog on a leash. “Say hi to Auntie Minky!”

Minkyung kneels down to scratch the dog behind the ears. “You need to wash her.”

“I washed her two days ago,” Kyungwon replies. “Come on, let’s go.”

They walk in comfortable silence down the street, stopping occasionally for Kongie to pee on someone’s lawn.

“So, are you going to tell me why Yaebin’s got you all tied up or are you just going to keep sulking?” Kyungwon asks conversationally. Minkyung glares at her and doesn’t say anything. “Fine. But, you know, you can’t keep this bottled up forever.”

Minkyung almost laughs. “Just because you’re taking psychology doesn’t mean you have any right to psychoanalyze me.”

“I’m not psychoanalyzing you, I’m being your friend,” Kyungwon says. “Friends talk to each other, I mean, they’re supposed to.”

“We don’t need to talk about this,” Minkyung insists. “It’s fine.”

“You don’t seem fine,” Kyungwon says.

Minkyung is about to respond but stops when they turn the corner and see her father coming out of the liquor store - Yaebin’s liquor store - with a black plastic bag. He doesn’t seem to notice them, gets into his car, and drives away.

Kyungwon starts to say something but Minkyung is already running down the block. The door slams against the bells when she enters the store and Yaebin looks up from her magazine with wide eyes.

“Hi,” she says.  

“What the hell was he doing here?” Minkyung says. “What did he say to you? What did he buy?”

“He didn’t - he bought a couple beers and a pack of cigarettes,” Yaebin says, and her voice is so pure that Minkyung can’t even imagine that she’s not telling the truth. “That’s all.”

“He didn’t say anything to you?” Minkyung asks.

“I mean, he said thank you when I gave him his receipt,” Yaebin tells her. Minkyung lets out a deep breath and runs a hand through her hair. “God, what’s the matter with you?”

Kyungwon comes to stand in the doorway, not stepping in because of her dog and the no pets allowed sign plastered to the window. She gives Minkyung a questioning look.

“I don’t - look, I don’t want you talking to him,” Minkyung says to Yaebin.

Yaebin raises her eyebrows. “You don’t get to push me out of your life and still expect me to let you control mine.”

“Can you not argue with me for once?” Minkyung asks. She won’t admit it but she knows that she sounds close to begging. “If he comes in again, you have to leave, you get your manager or your boss or whatever to cover for you.”

“Minkyung,” Kyungwon finally speaks up and Yaebin’s eyes flicker over to her. “What do you think he’s going to do to her? Bore her to death with facts about World War II? Come on, it’s just your dad.”

Her tone is light. It’s obvious that she’s trying to diffuse the situation, make Minkyung seem like she’s not as serious as she is. She doesn’t want Yaebin to be scared.

“That was your dad?” Yaebin says. Minkyung glances at her and nods. “Oh, I - I didn’t know.”

“Please, just promise me,” Minkyung pleads. “You won’t get near him.”

“I promise,” Yaebin says, her voice small.

Minkyung looks at her for a bit, not sure if there’s anything else that she should say. She finally tears herself away and leaves the shop, dragging Kyungwon down the street with her.

The next time they see each other is at the bowling alley in downtown. Mingyu convinced Minkyung to come out with his friends, and she’s sitting on a couch with peeling upholstery as she watches them have fun playing. She’s not a fan of bowling.

“I’m going to get something to drink,” she says to Mingyu, who nods even though he probably didn’t hear what she said.

She gets up and goes to the concession stand. The employee there is familiar, probably someone who she’d gone to school with, graduated a couple years ago, and just never left town. She asks for a soda and waits for a minute while he goes to find the one she wants in the kitchen. She takes her time on the way back because she doesn’t give a fuck about Mingyu and his friends.

She can hear muffled conversations as she passes by the arcade and she doesn’t pay any of them much mind until she realizes that she recognizes one of the voices.

“No, I’m here with friends,” she can hear Yaebin say. Her words are short and clipped, like she wants the conversation to be over yesterday.

“Ah.” The person she’s talking to is a man with a rough, greasy voice. Minkyung immediately hates him. “Celebrating the weekend?”

“Yeah. I guess,” Yaebin says.

“So, what is it that you do?” the man asks.

Yaebin hesitates for a moment before saying, “I’m in high school.”

“Oh, very young,” the man says thoughtfully. “You look much older than that.”

Minkyung decides that she’s heard enough and pushes her way through the arcade to get to where they are at the pinball machine. “You better step the fuck back, old ass.”

Yaebin’s eyes widen with relief when she sees Minkyung and the man turns to look at her, obviously upset. “Excuse me?”

“I said step the fuck back,” Minkyung repeats slowly, taking a step closer.

“Who are you, exactly?” the man asks, like he has some sort of point.

“I’m someone who will rip your fucking nuts off if you don’t leave right the fuck now,” Minkyung says. She grabs him by the collar of his linen jacket and pushes him away when he doesn’t move. “You want me to run that by you again, jackass?”

The man looks between the two girls and decides it’s not worth it before walking away quickly. Minkyung shakes her hands out and turns back to Yaebin, who is still staring at her with wide eyes.

“You didn’t have to do that,” she says.

“Yeah, I did, he was practically drooling all over you,” Minkyung mutters.

Yaebin looks down at her hands, embarrassed like any of that was somehow her fault. “It’s happened before, I can deal with it.”

“What the hell? This shit’s happened to you before?” Minkyung says. Her hands curl into fists, itching to hurt anyone who ever looked at Yaebin the way that man did.

“It’s not a big deal,” Yaebin insists. “Really.”

“It is to me,” Minkyung says before she can stop herself.

Yaebin looks at her like she’s crazy. “I appreciate the concern, I really do, but I don’t see how any of this is your business.”

“So, what, I should have just let that guy keep looking at you like you’re a piece of meat?” Minkyung snaps. “I should have just walked away?”

“I could have handled it!” Yaebin says. She takes a deep breath and almost pouts. “You can’t - I don’t know what you want from me. You tell me to leave you alone and then you do shit like this, it doesn’t make sense. Do you want to be my friend or not?”

“It’s not about what I want,” Minkyung says.

Yaebin rolls her eyes. “Then what is it about?”

“It’s about keeping you away from things that can get you hurt,” Minkyung says sharply, standing up straighter. Yaebin looks so small in front of her, in a jean jacket with her hair pulled up by a red scrunchie. “You’re good, Yaebin, you’re a good person. I’m not.”

“Oh, fuck you, what is this, some Nicholas Sparks novel?” Yaebin scoffs. “I don’t give a shit if you think you’re a bad person. I like spending time with you. I look forward to seeing you, everyday I’m at the liquor store, I wait for you to come in. I don’t know why, but I do. And I’m not going to pursue something that you don’t want, so you gotta level with me, okay, and just tell me.”

Minkyung is, quite frankly, shocked. She doesn’t know what she expected Yaebin to say, but that sure wasn’t it. She has no idea how to react. She’s never had a choice before.

“It’s more complicated than that,” she says. “Being with me can get you hurt, even if I’m not the one who hurts you.”

“That doesn’t matter to me,” Yaebin says. “I’m willing to take that risk, as long as you are.”

It’s a stark contrast from the confused girl who burst into her room a month ago. This Yaebin is confident and firm and she knows what she wants and Minkyung would be lying if she said it wasn’t at least a little attractive.

“Fine,” she says.

Yaebin smiles, slow and sweet. “Yeah?”

“Yeah. Let’s do this.”

So, Minkyung starts going to the liquor store. A lot. She comes in after school every day that week and sits on the ladder that Yaebin uses to stock shelves that she can’t reach, and they just talk.

Minkyung finds out that Yaebin has two older siblings, she met Eunwoo when they were six years old, she uses Burt’s Bees chapstick, and she has no idea what she wants to do with her life but she loves makeup.

She doesn’t know how to explain the way she feels when she’s with Yaebin. It’s unlike anything she’s felt before. She hadn’t talked to Yaebin, didn’t even know she existed, until that day she took the drinks, but it feels like she doesn’t even know what life would be like without her. She’s so different from everyone else in Minkyung’s life. She’s bright and pure and absolutely chaotic. She leaves behind an impression whenever she does anything.

“You shouldn’t smoke,” Yaebin says. It’s Friday afternoon and no one’s come into the store for a while. “It’s very unhealthy.”

“I know, I’m trying to get lung cancer,” Minkyung deadpans.

Yaebin rolls her eyes. “You’re so dramatic.”

“Yeah,” Minkyung says. She holds the cigarette out to Yaebin. “Want a hit?”

“Are you crazy?” Yaebin says, knocking the cigarette out of her hand. It lands on the linoleum floor and Minkyung looks down at it forlornly. “You seriously gotta stop, it’s bad for other people around you too.”

“You’re the one who insists on being around me,” Minkyung points out. She gets up to throw away the cigarette.

“Why are you so against being my friend?” Yaebin asks curiously, not unkindly. “You’ve got tons of other friends, you’re always with Kyungwon, why am I the one person that you don’t want to hurt?”

Minkyung shrugs. “You’re different. Kyungwon’s always been in my life, she knows how to deal with my shit. My other friends - I mean, they’re not really my friends, they’re mostly Mingyu’s, and you’re not like them.”

“What do you mean?” Yaebin asks.

“You’re cookie cutter clean,” Minkyung says, like it’s a fact, because it is. “You’re in all honors classes, you tutor middle schoolers, you’re in that volunteering club.”

“Interact,” Yaebin says.

Minkyung laughs a little and nods. “You’re, like, the perfect person. I don’t want to bring you into my life.”

“You don’t get to decide what I get myself into,” Yaebin says.

“Yeah, obviously,” Minkyung says, sort of smiling.

Yaebin presses her lips into a thin line as she thinks. “I don’t - it’s not fair that you know all that about me and I don’t know anything about you.”

“Well, I’m in honors classes, but I don’t tutor and I’m not in any clubs,” Minkyung tells her.

“No, man, like, important stuff,” Yaebin says.

“Like what?”

“Well, what’s something that you’ve never told anyone else before?”

Minkyung rests her elbows on her knees and looks at Yaebin thoughtfully. If she’s being honest, there’s not a lot that she hasn’t told Mingyu. They tell each other everything all the time, so she isn’t sure if there’s anything that she’s kept a complete secret.

“Um,” she starts slowly. “A couple weeks ago, there was blood in my pee and I didn’t know why and I still don’t know why, but it’s better now so I’m guessing it wasn’t something too bad.”

Yaebin looks at her. “Dude, what?”

“I haven’t told anyone that,” Minkyung says.

“I don’t even - you could have a UTI, you know that, right?” Yaebin says, very seriously. “Or kidney failure or, god, I don’t know, something worse.”

“It’s not like it’s still happening, my pee is normal now,” Minkyung says.

“That’s not - you know what, I’m not - that isn’t what I meant,” Yaebin says. She’s laughing nervously and Minkyung can’t blame her. “Here, okay, I’ll go first so you know what I’m looking for.” She bites her lip and drums her fingers on the table. “Oh, okay. I’m bipolar.”

Minkyung has to keep herself from reacting beyond a sharp intake of breath. “You’re what?”

“I have bipolar disorder,” Yaebin says, like she’s talking about a species of bug that she likes. “It’s a mental illness that causes mood swings. Manic highs, depressive lows. I was diagnosed a year ago.”

“You don’t seem -”

“I know, I seem super normal, right?” Yaebin says, smiling a little. “I’m good at hiding it and I’m on heavy medication all the time.”

Minkyung inspects her cuticles in silence for a moment. “My dad tried to kill my brother, that’s why he was in jail.”

“Would you like to elaborate?” Yaebin asks carefully.

“Yeah, sorry, um.” Minkyung clears her throat. “My dad gave my brother a job, it was his first job, and he messed up. So, you know. He had to fix it, tie up all the loose ends.”

“Holy shit,” Yaebin breathes out. “And you’re all just living together now? After all that?”

“There’s nothing we can do about it,” Minkyung says, shrugging. “He’s our dad.”

Yaebin just nods. “We’re both pretty fucked up, huh? Makes sense that we’d find each other.”

“More like you wouldn’t leave me alone and I caved because I was too lazy to keep fighting you,” Minkyung replies.

“Sure, we’ll call it that,” Yaebin says.

Minkyung’s phone starts buzzing then and she pulls it out of her jacket pocket to answer it. “What?”

“We need your help,” Mingyu says jovially, breathing deeply like he’s doing some sort of exercise. “Where are you right now?”

“Liquor store on Boston,” Minkyung tells him. She stands up and stretches her legs. “What’s up?”

“Josh is gonna pick you up in, like, one minute,” Mingyu says. “We got a job outside the city, we’re taking three cars.”

“Why?” Minkyung asks.

“I don’t fucking know. See you soon.”

Minkyung sighs and tucks her phone back into her pocket. “Um, I gotta go.”

“Why? What happened?” Yaebin asks curiously.

“Family stuff,” Minkyung says and Yaebin snorts. “You working tomorrow?”

“Should be,” Yaebin says. “You coming by?”

Minkyung shrugs, even though they both know that she will. “We’ll see.”

Mingyu opens the door and pushes Minkyung in, both of them dead on their feet. Friday night jobs are usually long, but neither of them expected to dig four graves in the hills miles out of town. They’re both dirty and they’re both tired, and Joshua hadn’t even told them who the bodies were.

“I’m gonna get a beer, you want one?” Mingyu says.

“No thanks, I’m going to bed,” Minkyung replies.

“Sweet dreams.”

“Fuck you.”

Minkyung is halfway up the stairs when she hears her dad call her name. She sighs and goes back down, joining Mingyu in the kitchen.

Their dad is sitting at the kitchen table with a dirty plate and a bottle of beer in front of him. “Where have you been all week?”

“Uh, school,” Minkyung says. “With friends.”

“You were with friends?” her father says. “That’s why I had to come home to no dinner?”

Mingyu looks at Minkyung with wide eyes and leans back against the counter, sipping his beer.

“I’m sorry, I didn’t know you wanted me to cook dinner,” Minkyung says awkwardly.

“When your mother left, I told you that you needed to pick up her responsibilities,” her dad tells her. “Did you forget?”

“Mom never cooked,” Mingyu points out. “I’m actually the one who cooks.”

“Did I ask you?” their dad snaps and Mingyu holds a hand up in surrender. “Minkyung. Don’t forget again.”

“Okay,” Minkyung says, nodding. “I will not. Can I go?”

Their dad waves his hand and she practically runs up to her room. Every conversation with him is like standing on a landmine. She never knows what he’s thinking, his temper is short, and he doesn’t really give a shit about anything. It’s impossible to prepare because he’s completely unpredictable.

She goes about her night time routine (Kyungwon gets her skincare products every time she goes to Korea, and they are absolutely vital), tossing her dirty clothes into a pile in the back of her closet. She’s washing her face in her bathroom when her door opens and she hears Mingyu come in.

“Hey,” he says, knocking on the bathroom door. “I’m sorry about that thing with Dad.”

“It’s not your fault,” Minkyung says. She pats her face dry with her towel. “I’ll just start making dinner and doing all the laundry or whatever. It’s fine.”

“I’ll help you,” Mingyu offers. “I like cleaning.”

“Yeah, thanks,” Minkyung says dryly. She starts applying her sleep mask. “You want a face mask?”

Mingyu steps behind her to get to her cabinet and goes through the skin care products. “Do you have the ones that, like, dry on your face and then you peel it off?”

“Yeah, the Tony Moly ones should all be peel off,” Minkyung tells him.

“Thank you,” Mingyu says, grabbing one. “Good night.”

“Sleep tight,” Minkyung replies, and then he leaves.

She goes back to her room after she brushes her teeth and falls onto her bed, checking her phone for the first time in hours. She has a couple of Snapchats and a bunch of texts from Kyungwon, some emails from school, and two texts from Yaebin.

yaebin: my boss’s cousin is in town so I have the weekend off!

yaebin: lets do something fun!

minkyung: I have a feeling that we have conflicting ideas of fun

Yaebin replies immediately despite waiting forty-seven minutes for a response.

yaebin: you may be right lol

minkyung: What did you have in mind?

yaebin: can you drive?

minkyung: I can, but not legally

yaebin: that’s fine. we can take my dad’s car, he’s on a business trip

minkyung: Where are we going?

yaebin: adventure!!

Yaebin shows up at Minkyung’s house at 10:30AM. She drove her dad’s rickety old car the block and a half over from her house but she’s not allowed to drive anywhere far. She knocks on the door and steps back, tapping her foot against the porch floor.

The door swings open and Mingyu blinks down at her, obviously surprised to see her. He glances over his shoulder and steps out, closing the door behind him.

“You’re here for Minkyung?” he asks quietly.

“Uh, yeah,” Yaebin says. “Is she here?”

“I’ll tell her you’re here, go wait in your car,” Mingyu says. “She’ll be out in a minute.”

“Okay? What’s -”

“Our dad is home right now,” Mingyu says roughly. “He doesn’t like visitors. Just go wait in your car.”

He goes back into the house and Yaebin silently does as she’s told. She doesn’t understand half the things that go on in that house and, if she’s being honest, she doesn’t want to. She’s fine where she is, knowing just as much as Minkyung will tell her.

She slides into the passenger seat and fiddles with the keys for a while. Then the door opens and Minkyung daintily jogs down the driveway with her long legs and beautiful, flowing hair. She gets into the driver’s seat and lets out a breath.

“Good morning,” Yaebin says.

Minkyung almost laughs. “Good morning.”

“How - um, how was your night?” Yaebin asks.

“Fucking terrible,” Minkyung says. “What about you?”

“Meh.” Yaebin hands Minkyung the keys. “Go south on Sepulveda.”

Minkyung starts up the car and pulls away from the curb. “That’s it? That’s all I get?”

“It’s a surprise,” Yaebin says simply. “I’ll tell you where to go, but it’s on a need to know basis.”

“You are so fucking weird,” Minkyung mutters.

“Tell me about it,” Yaebin says. After a couple minutes of comfortable silence, she turns the radio on and switches around through stations before finding a song she likes.

Minkyung drives delicately, with one hand on the steering wheel and the other twirling a lock of hair. She’s absentmindedly focused on the road, like she’s aware of her surroundings but she’s thinking about something else.

She’s beautiful. Yaebin could spend forever just looking at her, that’s how beautiful she is. It’s ridiculous.

Minkyung lets out a huff and sends Yaebin a glance, obviously having noticed her staring. “You need something?”

“Uh, no,” Yaebin says quickly. “I was just distracted.”

“By what, my good looks?” Minkyung retorts, jokingly.

“Yeah,” Yaebin admits. Minkyung raises her eyebrows. “You are very pretty.”

The tips of Minkyung’s ears turn a little red and she rolls her eyes. “Alright. Thanks.”

“Oh, that’s it? I put so much effort into being nice to you,” Yaebin says, crossing her arms. “I get nothing in return.”

“What do you want me to say? You want me to tell you that you’re pretty?” Minkyung asks. Yaebin looks at her expectantly. “Okay. You’re pretty.”

“I know.”

Minkyung laughs and pushes Yaebin’s arm. “Do you ever stop being stupid?”

“Uh, no, I think we’ve established that I’m pretty annoying,” Yaebin says.

“You’re not annoying,” Minkyung says, a little quickly. “You’re just… you’re the weirdest person I’ve ever met.”

“Yeah, I could say the same to you,” Yaebin shoots back. “You think you’re so normal? Stealing shit from liquor stores, smoking cigarettes in your bedroom, washing money at an actual laundromat?”

“Shut the fuck up,” Minkyung says lightly.

Yaebin chuckles and looks out her window. She doesn’t have a particular location in mind, she just wants to go towards Palos Verdes. Once they get there, they’ll figure out what they want to do.

She was surprised when Minkyung easily agreed to go out. She’s usually a wild card, it took her about a month to get her to even be her friend. Yaebin can’t say why she’s so intrigued by Minkyung, she really can’t. All she knows is that she likes spending time with her and she likes seeing her smile. She thinks she’s never seen anything as beautiful as Minkyung’s smile.

Minkyung doesn’t know what she thought Yaebin meant when she very vaguely said ‘adventure!!’ but sneaking into a hotel resort and pretending to be guests so they can get the amenities hadn’t even entered her mind. Yaebin is good at pretending, Minkyung realizes. She pretends she knows what she’s doing and all that false confidence makes other people believe in her. Minkyung has lied and scammed her way through many things in life but Yaebin has never seemed like the kind of person who would do this.

They stand by the pool door idly for a while until someone leaves and Minkyung grabs it before it can close. Yaebin swipes a keycard from an unsupervised pile of belongings. Everything is so fluid that it’s almost like none of it even happened.

“What happened to the little bitch who wouldn’t leave me alone for shoplifting?” Minkyung says when they’re sitting at a table near the grill. A waitress had come by to give them menus and glasses of water already and said to call her down if they wanted anything.

“I told you that I don’t give a shit about stealing from corporations,” Yaebin says. “You wanna get something to eat?”

“I can’t pay,” Minkyung says, but she’s not sure what she’s trying to say.

“Obviously,” Yaebin says, holding up the keycard. “They’ll just put it on our tab.”

Minkyung lets out an incredulous laugh. “What the hell? Do you do this often?”

“Not, like, often often,” Yaebin says. “I’m not a career criminal like you or anything, but I dabble.”

“I’m not a career criminal,” Minkyung protests, frowning.

“You kind of are,” Yaebin says.

“I mean. My dad is,” Minkyung admits. “My cousin - okay, yeah, I might be.”

Yaebin holds her hands out. “I don’t wash money or sell drugs, I just con my way into luxury beach resorts.”

“You know, you could be a con artist,” Minkyung says. “If you want. Make a living out of it. Swindle a couple hundred bucks out of a John here and there, it doesn’t sound like a lot but it adds up.”

“What is this, a job interview?” Yaebin asks, raising her eyebrows. “You want me to join your gang?”

“Do you want to join my gang?” Minkyung replies. “You can’t leave once you’re in it.”

Yaebin shrugs. “I don’t know, I kind of want to go to college, I don’t think I’ll have time.”

“It depends on what work you do,” Minkyung says thoughtfully. She fiddles with her menu. “Where are you going to go to college?”

“Probably a state school not too far,” Yaebin says without having to think. “Fullerton or Channel Islands. San Diego maybe.”

Minkyung nods. “You could still work for me through college. I’ll give you slow jobs, because I like you.”

“You like me?” Yaebin gasps, holding her hand to her chest. “Oh my god, gentlemen, don’t hold your breath, Kim Minkyung’s got a sweetheart.”

“God, shut up,” Minkyung mumbles, leaning back in her seat, but she’s smiling a little. “There are no ‘gentlemen’ lining up for me anyways.”

“I really don’t think you realize how pretty you are,” Yaebin says. Minkyung rolls her eyes. “I’m serious. You’re so pretty. A lot of boys like you.”

Minkyung raises her eyebrows and laughs. “There are no boys that I want.”

“Are you sure?” Yaebin asks.

“Yeah, I’m pretty fucking sure,” Minkyung says. “Why? Is there a boy you want?”

“I’m gay,” Yaebin blurts. The words hit Minkyung like a truck and she doesn’t say anything for a long time. Yaebin is gay. That’s fine. What isn’t fine is that Minkyung is also gay and she’s painfully reminded of it every time she sees a girl, and now, this really cute, engaging girl that she’s been spending a lot of time with is gay, opening options that she hadn’t really thought of before, because she always just assumed that everyone was straight. Yaebin’s face goes red and she looks like she wants to run away. “I’m sorry, I thought I should - I didn’t -”

“It’s fine,” Minkyung says. Her throat feels dry all of a sudden. “It doesn’t matter to me who you fuck.”

Yaebin visibly relaxes, her shoulders sagging. “Oh. Okay.”

“Did you think I’d have a problem with it?” Minkyung asks. She wonders if Yaebin has any clue that they’re in the same team.

“I don’t know, you seem very -” Yaebin gestures with her hand, “rough. I never know what you’re thinking.”

Minkyung arches an eyebrow curiously. “Really?”

“You’re wearing a leather jacket and ripped jeans at a pool, you smoke cigarettes, you’re, like, part of a mafia family, you barely ever smile,” Yaebin says. “That’s pretty rough, man.”

“Exactly what about my outfit makes you think I’d be homophobic?” Minkyung asks. Yaebin makes an “I don’t know” sound and Minkyung laughs a little. “I mean, I was kind of hoping that I was giving off a biker lesbian vibe.”

Yaebin blinks slowly and tilts her head. “Uh. What?”

“Me. Gay,” Minkyung says, making sure to enunciate the words clearly. She points at herself. “Big ole homo.”

Yaebin stares at her, dumbfounded, for a long time. She opens her mouth and then closes it like she wants to say something but she doesn’t even know where to start.

Minkyung picks up her glass of water and takes a sip. Her being gay has never been a huge secret but she never had a whole big ‘coming out’ event. Her father would kill her if he ever found out, and not figuratively, like he would kick her out and disown her, he would actually smash her head into the ground until she died.

“That’s cool,” Yaebin finally says. “Cool, cool, cool.”

Minkyung searches Yaebin’s face for any clue about what’s going on in her head. “You wanna talk about it or something?”

“Does that make this a date?” Yaebin asks.

“Do you want it to be a date?” Minkyung replies carefully.

“Do you?” Yaebin says.

“Fuck you,” Minkyung laughs. “Don’t pull a reverse card on me right now.”

“Yes,” Yaebin says firmly. “I want this to be a date.”

Minkyung slowly lets herself smile. “Then yeah. It’s a date.”

People slowly start to find out about Yaebin and Minkyung’s relationship, and they get positive reactions more often than not.

Kyungwon caught them kissing goodbye and pretended to faint, and then hugged both of them. Mingyu walked in on them lying very close to each other in Minkyung’s bed and just left without saying anything, but they’re all aware that he got the point. Eunwoo watched in horror as Minkyung kissed Yaebin at the end of lunch when they have to part ways to go to their separate classes and started hitting Yaebin with her history textbook for not telling her sooner.

After the first week of Minkyung walking Yaebin to all of her classes, even if they’re far from her own, people at school stopped caring and moved on.

It’s surprisingly not a big deal to anyone. They act like newlyweds, they’re obsessed with each other, they become That Couple that you see holding hands in the hallway all the time. No one’s ever seen Minkyung act like this before and it feels like a new age.

They’re about a month into the relationship when Minkyung shows up at Yaebin’s house with Mingyu hanging off her shoulder and Joshua speeding away in his car.

“What the hell?” Yaebin says.

“Can we come in?” Minkyung asks.

“What are you -” Yaebin notices that Mingyu is holding his side and there’s dark, dark blood seeping through his fingers, staining his shirt. “Holy shit, what happened to you?”

“Yaebin, please,” Minkyung says and Mingyu lets out a groan.

Yaebin steps aside and helps Minkyung pull Mingyu in. She leads them to the living room and clears the couch of its mountain of blankets so he can lie down.

“My parents are going to be home in an hour,” Yaebin hisses. “They cannot see this.”

“Don’t worry, we’ll be out of here as soon as possible,” Minkyung promises. She helps Mingyu take his shirt off. “Do you have a first aid kit?”

“Well, yeah, but what are you planning to do, what even happened?” Yaebin asks. She runs into the dining room to get the first aid kit from its spot and comes back. “Shouldn’t we just call an ambulance?”

“Fuck no,” Minkyung says. She grabs gauze and alcohol from the kit and starts tending to Mingyu’s wound. “We can’t go to a hospital.”

“What happened?” Yaebin asks for the third time.

“I got fucking shot,” Mingyu manages to get out.

Yaebin’s jaw drops. “What? Why? Who shot you? What?”

“Doesn’t matter,” Minkyung says. “You got tweezers and a flashlight?”

“What?” Yaebin says, starting to sound like a broken record. “Why? What are you going to do?”

“I need to get the bullet out,” Minkyung says like it’s the most obvious thing in the world.

“You need to what?” Yaebin is close to screaming. “How are you going to do that? Have you done this before? What if you make it worse?”

“I’ve seen my cousins do this plenty of times, I can do it,” Minkyung says through gritted teeth. “Go get me tweezers and a flashlight.”

“Oh my god,” Yaebin mumbles and she runs off to get what she needs. She comes back after a couple of minutes of searching for a flashlight. “Do you need help?”

“Hold the flashlight,” Minkyung tells her.

Yaebin turns on the flashlight and points it straight at Mingyu’s wound, making a face and looking away.

“Yaebin - what the fuck!” They all look up to see Yaebin’s brother standing in the doorway, holding a tray of pizza rolls. “What is going on here?”

“Nothing, we’re just - it’s a game,” Yaebin blurts. “We’re LARPing?”

“Why the fuck would you say that?” Minkyung snaps and Yaebin just whines in distress.

“Hello, I am Mingyu,” Mingyu slurs. “Who are you?”

“That’s Dongho, that’s my brother,” Yaebin tells him.

“What happened to him?” Dongho asks flatly. “Why is he bleeding on our couch?”

“I got shot,” Mingyu says.

“Why are you here? Go to a fucking hospital!” Dongho exclaims.

“No hospitals!” Minkyung shouts.

“Why not?” Dongho asks.

“There is still a bullet in me,” Mingyu states.

Minkyung sighs heavily. “I’m fucking working on it.”

She starts poking around in Mingyu’s wound and he screams, and Yaebin screams because Mingyu is screaming, and Dongho keeps yelling about going to a hospital.

“Look, I can’t fucking do this if you’re all yelling and you keep moving!” Minkyung says, smacking Mingyu’s leg.

Mingyu cries out in pain. “I’ve been shot! Why would you hit me?”

“Oh my god, okay, let me try,” Yaebin offers, holding her hand out for the tweezers.

“Yaebin, do not,” Dongho says. “Do not even think about putting those tweezers in his body.”

“There’s already a bullet inside of him!” Yaebin shoots back.

“Do you guys have any alcohol?” Minkyung asks. Dongho gestures to the big bottle of rubbing alcohol on the coffee table. “No, shitbag, drinking alcohol, booze!”

“There will be no underage drinking in this house,” Dongho states.

“Shut up and get me a fucking beer,” Mingyu groans.

“You’re - what are you, seventeen? Fuck no!” Dongho says.

“Dongho, get him a beer!” Yaebin yells.

There’s more yelling and screaming, but eventually Yaebin gets the bullet out and slaps some gauze on the wound before taping it up. Dongho goes to fetch a shirt for Mingyu to borrow and Minkyung helps Yaebin start cleaning up.

“I’m sorry about this,” Minkyung mutters. “I didn’t know where else to go.”

“Why didn’t you go to your own house?” Yaebin asks. “Not that you’re not welcome here but don’t you guys deal with this stuff?”

“Our dad can’t find out about this gig, he’ll kill me,” Mingyu says.

Yaebin closes her eyes and takes a deep breath. “What gig?”

“He’s a fucking stripper,” Minkyung says.

“I’m a dancer,” Mingyu corrects.

“No, you’re fucking not,” Minkyung says.

“How did you get shot while stripping?” Yaebin asks. “Where do you strip?”

“Gay club in Inglewood called Midnight Express,” Mingyu says.

Yaebin looks at him. “It is not called Midnight Express.”

“It is and it’s terrible and people get shot there,” Minkyung says.

Dongho comes back and throws a shirt at Mingyu. “You can keep it.”

“Oh, thank you, sir, I am eternally grateful,” Mingyu says, gesturing grandly. “Shit, that hurt.”

Minkyung rolls her eyes and helps her brother put on the shirt. “We should get out of here.”

“How are you going to get back to your house?” Yaebin asks.

“It’s only a couple blocks, we’ll walk,” Minkyung says, shrugging. She looks at her brother. “You can walk, right?”

“I mean, I can, but I’d rather fucking not,” Mingyu says with wide eyes.

“I can drop you guys off,” Yaebin says, getting up. “Dongho, give me your keys.”

“No,” Dongho says.

“Dude. He got shot, I’m not gonna let him walk home,” Yaebin says, frowning. “Give me your goddamn keys.”

They glare at each other for a bit before Dongho sighs and reaches into his pocket to grab his keys and toss them to her.

“Come on, my parents will be home in, like, fifteen minutes,” Yaebin says. She helps Mingyu up and they make their way out of the house.

“Nothing happens to my car!” Dongho yells after them.

“It’s two blocks, bitch, what the hell do you think I’m gonna do?” Yaebin yells back.

They pile into Dongho’s car and Yaebin starts it up before heading down the street.

“I’ll cover for you with Dad, just get to your room as quickly as possible,” Minkyung says to Mingyu. “You’re gonna need to rest all night if you’re gonna be back in the morning.”

“God, I’m going to have to call in sick,” Mingyu groans.

“Tell them you have AIDs, they’ll give you paid leave,” Minkyung suggests.

“I’m not fucking gay.”

“Didn’t say you were.”

Yaebin listens to the two bicker for the two minutes it takes to get to their house and comes to a stop at the curb. A couple of the downstairs lights are on, but it’s deadly quiet. “You guys gonna be okay?”

“Yeah, we’ll be fine,” Minkyung promises. She leans over to give Yaebin a quick kiss. “Thanks, babe.”

Yaebin can’t help but grin at the nickname. “No problem.”

“Can we fucking go?” Mingyu grumbles.

“Yeah, yeah, don’t pee your pants,” Minkyung replies, helping him out. “See you at school, Yaebin.”

The twins make their way to their house, arguing about whatever and Yaebin drives away, still smiling.

Yaebin finds Minkyung smoking under the bleachers and ducks under the railing to join her. “Hey, sexy.”

“Hey.” Minkyung gives her a small smile. “What are you doing out here, don’t you have class?”

“I could ask you the same thing,” Yaebin shoots back. She looks at Kyungwon, who is lying face down on the concrete. “Hey, Kyungwon.”

Kyungwon makes a noise but doesn’t move.

“So,” Minkyung says, watching Yaebin expectantly. “Can I help you?”

“What, I can’t just come see my girlfriend?” Yaebin asks.

“You’re skipping AP Lit for me, there’s gotta be a reason,” Minkyung replies. Yaebin sighs and moves to sit next to Minkyung on the ground. Minkyung immediately puts her arm around her shoulders and presses her lips to Yaebin’s hair, taking a deep breath. “Everything okay?”

Yaebin shifts so that she can rest her head on Minkyung’s shoulder. “Did you know that our four month anniversary is coming up?”

“I haven’t really been keeping track, no,” Minkyung says. “Why?”

“I don’t know. I may have planned something,” Yaebin says.

Minkyung laughs a little. “Don’t you think four months is a bit early for grand gestures?”

“It’s the longest I’ve ever been in a relationship,” Yaebin tells her. “It’s important to me.”

“Okay,” Minkyung says, nodding. “What do you have planned?”

“Dinner, tomorrow night,” Yaebin says, looking up at Minkyung. “Somewhere really nice.”

“Babe, don’t pull shit you can’t afford, not for me,” Minkyung says.

Yaebin shakes her head. “There’s nothing I can’t afford. Don’t worry about it.”

Minkyung grins. “Should’ve known.”

“Jesus, you two are ruining my simping,” Kyungwon grumbles, rolling over.

“Fuck off, Kyungwon,” Minkyung deadpans.

“Yeah, what the fuck ever,” Kyungwon says. She gets to her feet and grabs a cigarette from the front pocket of Minkyung’s backpack. “I’m gonna go to the bathroom in the science building.”

“Okay, bye,” Yaebin says, waving.

Kyungwon slowly trudges off, giving them her middle finger before she leaves.

“How’s your day been? You feeling okay?” Minkyung asks softly, threading her fingers through Yaebin’s hair.  

“Yeah,” Yaebin says. “I’m a little tired.”

“Take a nap,” Minkyung says. “I’ll wake you up for your next class.”

Yaebin leans into Minkyung and grabs Minkyung’s free hand, lacing their fingers together. Minkyung kisses the top of her head again.

“So, what is it that you do?” Yaebin asks, idly pushing her mashed potatoes around her plate. The place they’re having dinner at is a hotel restaurant, fancier than anywhere either of them have been and they definitely look out of place as two teenage girls, but their confidence sells it. “Like, your cousins run the laundromat and Mingyu works at his gay club, but you never tell me what you do.”

“What are you, a cop?” Minkyung replies. Yaebin just raises her eyebrows. “I swear to god, if you’re working undercover for the police, I’m going to kill you.”  

“I just snuck us into a five star hotel and ordered steak on someone else’s card, you really think I’d do that if I was with the police?” Yaebin says.

Minkyung shrugs. “Maybe you got a deal. Turn in the notorious Korean mafia of small town southern California, get off on probation or something.”

“That’s a bullshit deal,” Yaebin points out. “And you know I hate cops.”

“Yeah, alright,” Minkyung laughs. “You’re so ridiculous.”

“Just tell me about what you do,” Yaebin asks again. “I don’t need specifics, I just want to know.”

Minkyung takes a sip of her water and looks down at her food thoughtfully. “Well, you know, classic gang shit. Money laundering, drug trafficking, prostitution. I pick up my cousin’s slack because my dad is an asshole and doesn’t let me do shit.”

“Oh, damn,” Yaebin says, impressed. “You do - prostitution?”

“You said you didn’t need specifics,” Minkyung says.

Yaebin sighs. “Yeah, I know, I just - I’m curious. Like, what did you do that Friday three weeks ago when you had to leave?”

“I can’t tell you that,” Minkyung says immediately, her voice turning hard.

“What? Come on, it’s not like I’m going to broadcast it on live television,” Yaebin says. “Just tell me.”

“You do know that what I do is actually really dangerous, right?” Minkyung says, narrowing her eyes. “This shit is high level. It’s not just selling weed, people get hurt, people die. We can make people disappear and there are people that can make us disappear. I’m a target just because of who my dad is, and as soon as it gets out that I’ve made a new friend, you could be a target as well. You wanna have an actual life, go to college, get a job? You can’t know this shit, it’s just better if you don’t.”

Yaebin stares at her, unsure of what to even feel. “If I’m a target, I think I deserve to know at least a little bit of what’s going on.”

“Trust me, you really don’t,” Minkyung says.

“Jesus, Minkyung, I’m your girlfriend!” Yaebin exclaims. “You can’t keep me in the dark about everything, we’re in this together!”

Minkyung lets out a bitter laugh. “How long do you think this is going to last? We’re not going to end up together, we both know that. You’re going to college, you’re going to leave, and you’re going to move on, and I’m going to stay in the shitty house I grew up in, being a housekeeper for my dad until he dies. We’ve been kidding ourselves from the start, we’ve been pretending that we can have this happy life together, but we can’t.”

“I never pretended,” Yaebin says flatly.

“Yaebin,” Minkyung says. “This is fun and I really, really like you, but come on. You’re going to have to leave eventually.”

“Not if you don’t want me to,” Yaebin says. “I would stay if you asked me to.”

“I can’t ask you to stay for me. I can’t do that to you, I can’t be more important than the rest of your life.”

“That’s not up to you! You don’t get to decide what’s best for me. You don’t get to come into my life and change everything and make me feel happier than I ever have in my entire life and then tell me that - shit, I don’t even know what you’re trying to say. That you don’t want me? That we can’t be together?”

Minkyung looks away for a second, grinding her teeth together. “I’m not responsible for the way you feel. You did that to yourself.”

“I didn’t do shit!” Yaebin says, slightly raising her voice. “I don’t even understand what we’re supposed to be fighting about!”

“If you can’t handle my shit, this isn’t going to work out,” Minkyung says. She tosses a fifty dollar bill on the table. “I’ll see you later.”

Yaebin sighs and stands up as Minkyung starts to walk away. “How are you going to get home? We’re sixteen miles away.”

“I got around for years before I had you to drive me around, I’ll figure it out,” Minkyung tells her. “Don’t worry about me.”

Yaebin sits down and puts her head in her hands, and Minkyung leaves.

Joshua doesn’t ask any questions when he picks Minkyung up at the Metro station closest to their neighborhood.

“It’s late,” he says as she slides into the passenger seat. “I didn’t know the Metro runs at this time.”

“It doesn’t,” Minkyung replies.

“Cool, that’s cool,” Joshua says.

Minkyung gives him a sidelong glance. “I bury bodies for you without question, I don’t think this is a lot to ask.”

“I didn’t say anything,” Joshua laughs. “We’re cousins. I don’t need to know shit. I help you, you help me. Speaking of helping me, one of the girls at the coffee house is out of commission, I need you to come in and pick up her slack tomorrow.”

“Oh, fuck no,” Minkyung scoffs. “I can try to get you someone else if you want but it would be hard on such short notice.”

“Yeah, I know, that’s why I asked you,” Joshua says.

“I’m not doing it.”

“Why? You’ve done it before,” Joshua reminds her.

“I need a reason for not wanting to give out handy j’s for five dollars a pop?” Minkyung says. Joshua just raises his eyebrows at her. “I’m not one of your whores, Josh.”

“Is this because of your little girlfriend?” Joshua asks. “Liquor store girl? You don’t want to cheat on her or something? Because if it is, you know it’s technically not cheating if it’s work. You’re getting paid.”

“Dude. No,” Minkyung says.

“Alright. Just thought I’d ask,” Joshua says. He pulls up in front of her house and stops the car. “Lights on means your dad’s still up. Be careful.”

“I know how to deal with my dad,” Minkyung assures him, getting out of the car. “Thanks for picking me up.”

“Anytime.” Joshua gives her a peace sign and drives away.

Minkyung goes to the door and unlocks it as quietly as possible. If her dad’s been drinking (he has) then he might not hear her and she can just go up to her room without having to deal with him and his shit.

She should have known she wouldn’t be so lucky.

“Guess who I saw at the coffee house today?” her dad says without looking away from the basketball game on the TV.

Minkyung pulls her shoes off. “Who?”

“Billy Ramirez, he owns the Mexican place next to your cousin’s laundromat,” her dad says. “He said he’s been seeing you around town lately, you got some new friends.”

“Okay,” Minkyung says. She’s not sure how she’s supposed to responding to this. “That’s cool.”

She watches as her dad slowly hollows his cheeks around the cigarette in his mouth and blows to the side. “Said you been real close with the little girl from the liquor store. Real close.”

“Oh, yeah, she’s a good buddy,” Minkyung says, trying not to let her voice tremble.

“You’ve been acting different since I’ve come home from jail,” her dad says. “I hope she doesn’t have anything to do with it.”

“I don’t know what you’re talking about,” Minkyung says.

Her dad finally turns to look at her. “If that little girl keeps screwing up your business, you’re never going to see her again. Do you understand?”

“Yes,” Minkyung says.

“Good. Go to bed.”

Minkyung runs up the stairs. She can feel her pulse quicken and her chest tightens. She doesn’t know what Billy Ramirez told her dad, but the way he looked at her made her truly afraid.

She walks straight past her own bedroom and into Mingyu’s at the end of the hall. He’s sitting on his bed doing something on his laptop and looks up when she comes in.

“What’s up, motherfucker?” he says lightheartedly. Minkyung doesn’t say anything, just squeezes into bed next to him and wraps herself in his blanket. He moves over to make room for her and puts an arm around her shoulders. “What’s wrong?”

“Mingyu,” Minkyung says, but she doesn’t know where she’s going with it.

“I’m here,” Mingyu says quietly. Minkyung’s eyes burn and she hiccups. At this point, she isn’t really sure what she’s upset about but she starts crying anyways and Mingyu pulls her into a hug. “It’s gonna be okay.”

Minkyung is standing on the side of the main school building, holding a cigarette between her fingers, her backpack slung over one shoulder, when she sees Yaebin walk in. Yaebin doesn’t see her and walks right through the entrance. She’s wearing a denim jacket and jeans and is looking at the ground.

“You gonna talk to her?” Kyungwon asks.

“I can’t,” Minkyung says. She drops her cigarette onto the group and stamps it out. “I just - we can’t.”

“Bullshit,” Kyungwon says and Minkyung looks at her. “She makes you so happy, you’re going to give that up because your dad’s a douchebag?”

Minkyung narrows her eyes. “You don’t know shit about my dad.”

“I know I don’t,” Kyungwon says. “I’m just saying, you found someone really special, you shouldn’t just let her go like this.”

“I’ve known her for six months,” Minkyung says.

“More than enough time to fall in love,” Kyungwon points out. The bell rings and she picks her backpack up from the ground. “You don’t have to confess your undying love to her and vow to be together for the rest of your lives, but you have to at least talk to her. You gotta try.”

She pats Minkyung on the shoulder before skipping up the stairs to the building and going inside.

Minkyung crouches down to pick up her cigarette and tosses it into the trash can near her. She doesn’t go to any of her classes that day.

They see each other again three days later. Minkyung walks into the liquor store to find Yaebin staring miserably at the ice cream cooler.

“I don’t know how to tell you things because I’ve never had a relationship like this before,” she says before Yaebin can say anything. “You know way more than you should but I want to tell you more. I’ve told you more than I’ve told Kyungwon, and I’ve known her my whole life. I want to tell you everything and I’m sorry, but there are some rules that I can’t break, even for you.”

Yaebin just stares at her with wide eyes so she barrels on. “And I didn’t mean what I said. I want to be with you for a really long time, and I’m not pretending. You make me think that there’s more to this world than the shitty place I grew up in. You make me happier than I’ve ever been and it scares me.”

“I scare you?” Yaebin asks quietly.

Minkyung laughs breathlessly. “Yeah, man. You do.”

Yaebin moves around the counter so that they’re standing toe to toe. “I’m scared of you too, so that makes us even.”

“I just got you,” Minkyung says. “I don’t want to lose you.”

“You won’t,” Yaebin promises. She puts her hand on the back of Minkyung’s neck and pulls her down to press their foreheads together. “You’re not going to lose me.”

Minkyung sniffs. “I’m sorry.”

“I’m sorry too,” Yaebin says. “I shouldn’t have pushed, you don’t have to tell me anything you don’t want to. I was just frustrated because I feel like you don’t tell me anything.”

“I’m trying,” Minkyung says. “It’s just - I can’t tell you everything.”

“I know, I know. I won’t make you. I trust you, okay?”  

Minkyung grabs Yaebin’s face in her hands and kisses her. It’s desperate and slow and Yaebin pushes up onto her toes so that their lips can fit together better. Minkyung smiles without breaking the kiss and slides her hands down to rest on the small of Yaebin’s back.

Yaebin is the first to pull away, keeping her eyes closed as she lets out a deep breath and rests her heels back on the ground.

“I know fighting is supposed to be healthy, but I hated that,” Minkyung says.

Yaebin laughs a little. “Yeah, it sucked.”

Minkyung leans in to press another short kiss against Yaebin’s lips. “Thank you.”

“For what?” Yaebin asks, raising her eyebrows.

“For staying,” Minkyung says.

Yaebin wraps her arms around Minkyung’s neck and pulls her into a hug. “I’m never going to leave you. I’ll be here for as long as you want.”

Yaebin shows up to the liquor store at 9:30AM on Saturday because Seungcheol asked her to. Saturdays are notoriously slow so she drags a stool from the stockroom behind the counter so she can sit, and pulls her phone out of her pocket.

eunwoo: what does it mean if my period blood is brown

yaebin: what the fuck

eunwoo: am i dying?

yaebin: i don’t fucking know leave me alone i’m working

The bell dings and Yaebin looks up from her phone to greet the customer, but she stops herself when she sees who it is.

Minkyung’s dad walks slowly through the store, picking stuff up and then putting it back on the shelves, just browsing like he has nothing better to do. Yaebin is about to text Seungcheol to come in when he comes up to the counter and puts a case of beer down.

“You gotta be careful in here,” he says and Yaebin nods shakily. “Anyone can see in through those windows.”

“Yeah, I’ll tell my boss,” Yaebin mutters.

Before she can comprehend what’s going on, Minkyung’s dad pulls a gun out of his pants and whacks her head with the butt. She falls to the ground and everything goes black.

When Yaebin wakes up, she’s sitting in an uncomfortable plastic chair with her wrists zip-tied together behind her back and her ankles tied to the legs of the chair with rope. She’s in what looks like a restaurant kitchen with fluorescent lights making everything look a little blue.

The door opens and she looks up to see Mingyu running towards her. He gets down on his knees in front of her and puts a hand against her temple. “I’m sorry, I’m so sorry, I’m gonna get you out of here, okay, just do whatever he asks and I’ll get you out.”

“What’s going on?” she whispers, her voice hoarse. “I don’t -”

Mingyu spins around and stands up when the door opens again. Yaebin peers around him to see Minkyung’s father.

“Get out, Mingyu,” he says roughly.

“Dad -”

“I said get out.” Mingyu clenches his fist and looks down at Yaebin before doing as he’s told. His dad stands in front of Yaebin with his arms crossed and his feet shoulder width apart. It’s threatening but very dad-like. “Hello. You must be Kang Yaebin.”

“Um. Yes,” Yaebin says.

“I’m Kim Yoosung,” he says and Yaebin watches him, so confused and scared at the same time. “I think you know my daughter, Minkyung.”

Yaebin nods. “Yeah, we’re - uh - we’re friends.”

“Do you think you can fool me?” Yoosung says slowly. Yaebin doesn’t say anything. “I told Minkyung to stay away from you, but she obviously didn’t listen, so I have to get you to stay away from her.”

“Okay,” Yaebin says. She doesn’t know what’s going on, she’s thinking on her feet, she’s winging it, which is what she usually does anyways, but she’s not usually knocked out and tied to a chair, so it’s a little harder than normal. “Okay, so, let me go, and I will stay away from her, I will never see her again.”

“I don’t trust you,” Yoosung says. “I need more than just your word.”

“You - you wanna, like, take my brother or something?” Yaebin suggests. “Like, you know, if I go near Minkyung again, you can kill him.”

“This is not a joke,” Yoosung snaps.

Yaebin shakes her head. “I’m not joking.”

“You are not taking this seriously enough,” Yoosung says, glaring down at her.

“How seriously do you want me to be taking this?” Yaebin asks.  

“You need more convincing.” Yoosung pistol whips her and she blacks out again.

Minkyung is washing her face when she hears Mingyu burst into her room. She frowns and leans out the door as she pats her face dry. “What the fuck?”

“Please tell me you still have the gun Dad gave you,” Mingyu says, rooting through her dresser. Minkyung just stares at him and he turns to her. “Where is it?”

“It’s - let me get it,” Minkyung says. She climbs up on her bed and the cover off of the air vent placed high on the wall. She reaches in and pulls the gun out. “What is going on?”

“Yewon told me that Dad brought a girl into the coffee house, she sounded upset so I went to check,” Mingyu says quickly. He takes the gun and tucks it into the back of his pants. “I heard him planning last night, I didn’t know, I should have stopped him, but I didn’t.”

Minkyung grabs Mingyu’s shoulders and forces him to look at her. “What are you talking about?”

“Dad has -” Mingyu lets out a deep breath. “He has Yaebin.”

The world stops and Minkyung can’t think of anything. She and Mingyu just look at each other for a second before they’re both running down the stairs and out the door.

“Why does he have her?” Minkyung asks. “What’s he doing with her?”

“I don’t know.” They get into Mingyu’s car and he starts it up. “I tried to help her but I didn’t know what to do, I don’t know what he’s going to do, I told Yewon to call me if she hears anything.”

Minkyung focuses on controlling her breathing. “If he hurts her -”

“I know.” Mingyu tightens his grip on the steering wheel. “I know.”

The ten minute drive to the coffee house is tense and Minkyung gets out before the car even comes to a stop. She’s been scared before, but the only time she’s been this scared for someone else was when her dad almost killed Mingyu. She runs into the coffee house and she’s met by Yewon at the bar.

“Where is she?” she asks.

“Kitchen,” Yewon tells her. “He’s got a gun, Minkyung.”

Minkyung doesn’t hear her or she doesn’t care because she pushes past to get to the kitchen. Her dad is there with a boy that she’s seen around the house but she doesn’t pay any attention to them. Yaebin is sitting unconscious, tied to a chair, with her head hanging limp. Her lip is split, and there’s blood running out of her nose and a huge gash on her cheek.

“Oh my god.” Minkyung goes to Yaebin and falls to her knees. “Oh my god.”

“Minkyung,” her father says. “Leave. We’re not done with her.”

Minkyung gently lifts Yaebin’s head and feels her eyes start watering. “I’m so sorry.”

“Minkyung, leave,” her dad tells her.

“No.” Minkyung doesn’t look at her father, she just keeps holding Yaebin. “I’m not leaving.”

She hears a gun being cocked and feels the barrel being pressed against the back of her head. “I’m not asking,” he says. “I warned you about what would happen if you kept seeing her.”

“Dad -” He grabs her by the hair and pulls her back. She lands on the floor hard and scrambles to get back up but she’s held back by the boy. “Dad, please, don’t hurt her.”

“Did you really think that you could sneak around me?” her dad says, crouching down to look her in the eye. “Did you think I wouldn’t notice? I’m your father. I know everything.” He roughly grabs her chin so that she can’t look away. “You didn’t listen to me. You know what happens when you don’t listen to me.”

Minkyung lets out a choked sob. “Dad, please -”

“I can’t get rid of you,” her dad says. “I can get rid of her.”

“No!” Minkyung watches in horror as her dad stands up and points the gun at Yaebin, who is still out. Tears are streaming down her face and she can hardly breathe. “Please - please don’t do this!”

“I’m doing this for you, Minkyung,” her dad says.

Minkyung screws her eyes shut just as she hears a shot go off. There are screams and the boy holding her lets go. She feels strong hands gripping her shoulders and she knows it’s Mingyu. She can’t open her eyes, she doesn’t want to know, she can’t see, and there’s a loud ringing in her ears, splitting just behind her eyes. There’s more commotion and she covers her ears with her hands.

“Minkyung,” Mingyu says, grabbing her hands. “Hey, you gotta go help Yaebin.”

Minkyung opens her eyes and slowly blinks everything into place. Her dad is lying motionless on the floor, and Yaebin is waking herself up.

“Oh my god!” Minkyung rushes over to her and holds her face carefully, brushing hair out of the way. “I’m here, I got you.”

Yaebin coughs out a laugh and winces. “I can see that.”

“I’m sorry,” Minkyung whispers. “I’m so sorry.”

“Is -” Yaebin takes a breath. “What happened to your dad?”

“I don’t know, I don’t care,” Minkyung says. “I’m gonna get you out of here.”

She grabs a knife from the metal counter behind them and cuts Yaebin free of her restraints. Yaebin immediately falls forward into Minkyung’s arms, wrapping her arms tightly around her neck.

“It’s okay,” Minkyung says into Yaebin’s neck. “You’re okay.”

Yaebin wakes up only a lip’s distance away from Minkyung, her skin illuminated in the morning light shining through the curtains. Her pale blue hair falls limply on the starch white pillow, her eyelids fluttering with restless sleep. She’s hugging her arms close to her chest, her bare shoulders left uncovered by the blanket. Yaebin spends an immeasurable amount of time watching her sleep, wondering what would happen if she wrapped her arms around her to keep her warm.

She doesn’t get the chance to try that out, however, as Mingyu bursts in rambunctiously as ever, stomping into the bathroom and slamming the door. Minkyung wakes up with a gasp, sitting up quickly. The blanket falls away from her, revealing a black bra, her smooth back arching to stretch. Yaebin sits up as well, pressing her lips against Minkyung’s shoulder. Minkyung smiles and turns to bury her nose in Yaebin’s messy bed hair.

Their attention is drawn away from each other when they hear Mingyu open the bathroom door again. He pauses to look at them, his toothbrush threatening to fall from his mouth as he takes in the sight of the topless couple. Yaebin blinks slowly and pulls away from the embrace.

“Did something R-rated happen last night?” Mingyu asks cautiously, his words slurred by the toothpaste oozing from his mouth.

Minkyung raises her eyebrows, shaking her head sleepily. “I mean, I showed her my bra because it’s cute,” she says truthfully. “Nothing other than that.”

Mingyu seems convinced enough and returns to the bathroom. Yaebin brings her hand up to cover her mouth and turns away, her shoulders shaking with mirth. Minkyung simply flops back on the bed and outright lets herself laugh, bringing a hand to rest on her stomach. Neither know why they’re suddenly overcome with laughter, but neither can bring themselves to stop. Minkyung can feel her sides start to burn, her eyes begin to water, and yet she continues to laugh breathlessly. It’s surreal, like neither of them can believe that they can be this happy together.

Minkyung never wants that feeling to end.