Chapter Text
“What’s our first class again?”
Yoohyeon’s voice echoed through Bora’s mind from what seemed like miles away. Not just Yoohyeon’s though, but of all the people around her. With her eyes fixed on the college’s main entrance door, she followed every step of that one specific blonde girl.
Many people moved here and there, but Bora always watched that same girl. She was wearing a leather jacket, jeans and fake glasses, and the closer she got, the more Bora’s thoughts seemed to be elsewhere but here, listening to her friend’s words.
“What’s our first class again?” This time it was Gahyeon who spoke, hitting Bora’s arm lightly.
She seemed to come out of her trance slowly.
“Oh, mhm... Spanish, I think?”
But her eyes were still following the other girl until she stopped at her locker.
“Why are you looking at her like this, you weirdo?” There was judgment in Gahyeon’s words.
“What?” Bora sounded confused at first, but Gahyeon only rolled her eyes in disapproval. “Okay, fine. I just wanted to understand why she hates me so much.”
Her eyes were analyzing from a certain distance. Now, Bora noticed, it was easier to see the faint shade of pink in the girl’s hair, which wasn’t as long as it had been the week before.
“Well, people say it’s about your boyfriend,” Yoohyeon commented.
Bora finally turned her head to face her friends.
“And what do I have to do with what happened between them in the past?” She paused. “I mean, I don’t even know what happened between them.”
The second she finished her sentence, the blonde girl walked down the hall, passing by Bora and staring at her as if she could set fire with just one gaze. In truth, it was exactly how Bora felt about her, as if the slightest contact could burn.
“Whatever,” Gahyeon said in an unbothered voice, “why did you want her to like you anyway?”
“I don’t know,” Bora let it escape genuinely from her mouth, “she just seems cool.”
—
Bora liked what she was seeing in that dirty bathroom mirror at the bar she would usually go to on Wednesday nights. One last adjustment to her lipstick and a pout after spreading the shade of red that stood out on her lips.
The plan was to gather the entire group of friends that night, but Gahyeon had plans with this girl who, in her words, she was getting to know better, and Handong refused the invitation using the excuse she needed to sleep early as she had an important exam the next morning.
Bora’s routine had been the same for a while. College, which her parents paid for, bars and restaurants with her friends, and sometimes in her spare time, dates with her boyfriend.
They weren’t the most clingy couple in the world, but it was a healthy and good relationship to keep. They were childhood friends and could understand each other better than most people ever would. She was comfortable with that life.
When Bora returned to the table she shared with Yoohyeon, the taller girl was waiting impatiently.
“My dad called and said Pie isn’t feeling good, I should go home.”
“It’s okay, don’t worry,” Bora said, holding the other girl’s hand gently and she had a sweet tone in her voice. “I hope she feels better soon.”
The bar had two doors. The girls said their goodbyes and Yoohyeon left through the right door, while Bora looked for the way through the other side that was closest to the building she lived in.
The darkness outside the establishment often gave Bora goosebumps. The streetlights did not have enough light to brighten the entire street. And not to mention the stench caused by the rest of the food the employees of the restaurants dumped there.
But even below that starless sky, Bora was able to see a silhouette leaning against the alley wall.
Part of her knew she should go back and take the longest - and safest - route, as any normal person would do, but something there incredibly didn’t scare her, it was the opposite, almost calling her name.
So she kept walking, and when she approached, she could see more clearly who that person was.
The blonde girl, with her nose bleeding and a cut on her eyebrow.
“Oh my God! What happened to you?” Bora asked, placing one of her arms on the girl’s curved back.
“None of your business,” the girl said, hugging her own stomach. Her voice was so weak that Bora could barely hear it.
“Okay bad girl, I just wanna help. You don’t have to attack me.”
“I don’t need your help,” she replied sharply.
Bora could just leave her there, it was what she deserved after all. But Bora was nothing like that, and for some strange reason, she felt enormous empathy for that girl.
“You clearly do.” Bora gently lifted the taller girl’s chin to analyze her injuries, causing the latter, with an abrupt movement, to escape the touch. “Come on, I don’t even know why you treat me like this. Just let me help. I’m sure your parents wouldn’t like to see you coming home all beaten up.”
Bora thought that would be a good way to convince her. Nobody would want their parents involved in their personal problems, especially if the problem involved a bruised face and probably injured ribs.
“Oh and yours would?” She laughed sarcastically, looking at Bora’s face for the first time.
By those dilated pupils of her, Bora could tell that girl hated relying on anyone else. And it made Bora feel the urge to help her even more. Challenges were amusing to the smaller girl.
“I bet you know I live alone,” she replied.
The silence in the dark alley was terrifying, making it possible to hear the sound of bats flying overhead. Bora always disliked the emptiness, and it reminded her of the reason she didn’t usually go there alone.
“What are you doing?” The girl complained.
Bora was putting the girl’s arm around her neck, helping her to get up.
“You’re going with me.” Bora had soft eyes. “Unfortunately for you, I’m just as stubborn as you are.”
Realizing that there was no escape from it - and she wouldn’t have the strength to do it anyway - the girl didn’t say anything, she just leaned on Bora’s shoulders and walked silently to her apartment.
Bora bandaged the little bruises of the blonde haired girl, some bruises seemed more serious than others. Before placing her on the couch, Bora asked if it would be better if they went to a hospital, but in a firm and husky voice, the girl stated that it wasn’t necessary, she would recover soon.
An extremely awkward pause ensued.
“So, are you going to tell me what happened?” Bora asked as she wiped the dried blood off the other girl’s forehead with a damp cloth.
When she was just about to speak, the light on Bora’s phone caught both of the girls’ attention.
“sup babe, miss you. wanna sleep together today?”
Changkyun.
Bora stared at her phone until the screen went out. She saw the other girl looking from the same screen, now going all black, to her face.
“Aren’t you going to answer your boyfriend?”
She knew Bora hadn’t thought about what to say to him, but she wanted a reaction. She wanted to know how Bora would act in that situation where she was evidently in the middle of two opposite sides.
Nothing. She began regretting being here.
“I better go-”
Without second thoughts, Bora unlocked her phone and started typing. The blonde girl watched from a distance the words that were forming.
“sorry babe, yoohyeon will be busy tomorrow so we’re having our girls’ night right now.”
“Yoohyeon?” She smirked. “I thought you knew my name’s Minji.”
It was the first time that Bora saw the girl smiling at her, even though it wasn’t precisely a smile. But Bora looked back with disdain as she noticed Minji was just trying to upset her.
She glanced away from the taller girl to take a look at her phone again.
“tomorrow then?”
“sure. miss you, too.”
Bora sent the last message before dropping the device beside her.
She took care of a last cut on the other girl’s left arm. It was a small one, but it should be taken care of in the same way. When Bora was done, she just nodded.
“Well, I think I owe you an explanation,” Minji said politely, “but can it be tomorrow? I’m really exhausted.”
“Sure. I’ll leave a towel in the bathroom, feel free to take a shower.” The girl nodded again. “There’s only one small detail,” Bora added.
“Yeah?”
“I only have one bed. I mean, there’s room for two if you don’t mind...”
“The couch is enough,” Minji replied and slowly got up, hugging her own rib and letting out a small groan of pain.
—
“Good morning,” Bora greeted her visitor when she saw the girl approaching the kitchen. “How are you feeling?”
“Sore.”
It was the only thing the blonde girl said.
Bora prepared her usual breakfast, bacon and toasted bread already filled the small space in the center of the counter. Orange juice was part of the menu that day, even though she was a coffee drinker, but she didn’t know for sure what the other girl liked.
“It’s very early, why are you awake?” Her voice echoed with deliberate calmness. “You should get some more rest, I don’t think it will make a big difference if you miss two classes,” Bora concluded.
“If only I don’t have an important test today...”
“So Handong didn’t lie.” Bora smiled.
“What?” Minji looked genuinely confused. “Anyway... I don’t wanna have to go home to change my clothes,” she started, “my mom doesn’t work today and if she sees my condition she’ll freak out, so... do you have any clothes that would fit me?”
Bora blinked twice, that was something she wasn’t expecting. And to be honest, that was the largest number of words the girl had spoken to her in the span of ten hours.
“If I’m not overusing your kindness, of course,” Minji added.
“No!” Bora said with excitement. “Not at all. Maybe an oversized T-shirt?” she asked, and Minji nodded. “Good. Now have some breakfast while I take a look for you.”
—
“Look who has a T-shirt just like yours,” Handong said, and the girl with blue hair was certainly not mistaken. She was with Bora the day the latter bought it.
Minji was by her locker, and all Bora could see was her hair in a ponytail and the piece of clothing the smaller girl lent her. She wondered if people would notice the small cut on her brow, and the bruises appearing here and there.
At the same instant, she saw her boyfriend approaching the group. Bora didn’t like the idea of lying to her friends nor to him, but she needed to keep the secret as she promised she would, at least until Minji solved the things that had happened the night before, and somehow Bora trusted her.
While they were having breakfast together minutes earlier, Minji fulfilled her promise to tell her what had happened before Bora found her in the alley, bleeding.
And just when she thought she couldn’t be more impressed by the blonde girl, Minji proved her wrong. It was a long story and they didn’t have much time, but it was just enough for Minji to tell Bora that aggressive people have been looking for her since she left the fighting club she was part of.
A fucking fighting club.
As much as Bora knew that it had nothing to do with her, the concern took over her thoughts when Minji said she still wasn’t sure about how she would handle it. Bora offered help, but the other girl stubbornly refused. It was something she needed to work out on her own, she said.
Do let me know if you need anything, were Bora’s last words before they headed out to college, separately.
“Hello babe,” Changkyun said, kissing Bora’s lips as he rested his hand on her waist.
She indeed missed him. Her boyfriend’s good sense of humor always improved the mood on any occasion. He was kind and funny in the right way, she was really grateful to have Changkyun for so long in her life.
But an uncomfortable smile covered her mouth the moment she saw Minji looking directly at them.
Bora hadn’t done anything wrong, but it seemed absurdly weird to keep acting like she and the other girl hadn’t spent the night together. Okay, it really does sound wrong when I put this way, she thought.
—
Bora was in the library when she heard three people enter the place, talking in low voices as if they were hiding something important. One of the voices, she recognized, was Minji’s. She carefully pushed two books off the shelf so she could see who were the other two girls with her.
Yubin and Siyeon, as expected.
“I still can’t believe I left you alone for one night and you were beaten up around,” Yubin joked as they took their seats at a table.
“Very funny.” Minji had irony in her voice, but she still sounded friendly. “By the way, how was your night with the pink haired I’m-Rolling-My-Eyes girl?”
No fucking way, Bora screamed internally. That was a perfect and detailed description of Gahyeon. And that little bastard didn’t even tell me who the girl was.
“Hot. And that’s all I’m telling you,” Yubin concluded.
“And how was it for you to sleep with the enemy?” Siyeon teased Minji, pinching the taller girl’s arm.
Bora’s heart raced. She didn’t understand why, perhaps because more people knew about their little secret while she herself hadn’t told her friends yet. The girls would kill her if they found out from someone else, and Yubin was the perfect trap at the moment since she was the girl Gahyeon was getting to know better.
Minji pushed Siyeon’s hand slowly as she rolled her eyes. “We have more important things to do now, Si-t head.”
Minji looked like a leader, she spoke and the girls listened. They didn’t seem uncomfortable, however, it was more about respect than anything else.
Bora left college late that day. Some projects were too long, and she knew if she was anywhere else, she wouldn’t be able to stay focused.
She noticed that Minji and the other two girls also spent a long time in the library, leaving just a few minutes before her.
As she drove through the city, the sun was almost completely set. She looked at the stores that filled the place, and suddenly, as if it was a magnet bringing her back every time, she saw Minji walking down the sidewalk.
She noticed the breeze subtly touching the girl’s bangs, and the way her T-shirt was clearly shorter on Minji than when she was wearing it. Minji was walking, it seemed, without a precise direction.
But right after that, when her eyes strayed to a tall guy right behind the blonde girl, tension went up Bora’s spine. She was being followed again.
Bora then moved the car slowly towards the girl, slowing down until stopping completely.
“Minji, get in the car,” Bora said abruptly.
“What the fu-”
“Just trust me, please.”
Bora sped up the car as soon as Minji got in, but looking through the outside mirror, she was sure she wasn’t wrong. The guy who stayed behind looked frustrated and angry.
“Won’t you ask what I was doing here, how did I know or why did I decide to help again?” Bora asked, her attention between the traffic and the other girl.
“Luck, I suppose,” Minji replied dryly.
“Boring.”
Bora opened the door to her house quickly, while Minji entered with her. The two girls made sure they weren’t being followed when they parked Bora’s car next to the building.
“Thank you... again,” Minji said as Bora gave her a glass of water.
“No problem,” Bora replied, looking directly at the other girl’s eyes. “Where were you going, by the way?”
“I’m not sure to be honest,” Minji said sincerely, “these bruises are still bad. I think I’m just gonna call Yubin and ask if I can spend the night there.”
Minji took her phone out of her pocket, slowly unlocking it to call her friend. Bora suddenly felt a sharp edge of courage.
“You’re here, and there’s the couch...” Bora hinted, looking from the furniture in a dark brown tone to the girl’s eyes, almost the same color.
“I thought it was your boyfriend’s night,” she teased, with amused satisfaction.
“Stop wording that like this.” Bora had a serious tone, but she could feel a smile forming on her lips. “I’m gonna message him, you stay here.”
Bora sat on her bed and stared at her phone for a few seconds. She didn’t know what to say to Changkyun, again. But she knew he was safe and sound at home, while the other girl in her living room was in danger and couldn’t go to hers. She had to measure what was the most responsible thing to do now.
With that thought, she typed a simple message and sent it to him.
“hey babe, im not feeling good today so imma try and sleep now. another night, ok?”
She got up from her bed, making her way to the kitchen. She looked down at the girl sitting on the couch, then asked “So... are you hungry?”
—
Bora had just left Handong in the room where her friend would have classes for the next two hours. She was the only one in her group of friends who would have free time.
Right when she decided to go to the library, as she usually did, her stomach growled, warning that she should eat something first.
As Bora walked to the nearest cafeteria, she saw, a few steps away, that Minji shared a table with her two friends.
She decided - or convinced herself, she didn’t know exactly the fine line - that it was a good idea to approach and just check on her. It wouldn’t hurt and they were getting along better now.
She was still worried, as much as things seemed calm at times of the day, she knew that at any moment someone could go after the girl again.
Minji had explained a little more to Bora about how the club worked. You could only leave it if you had paid a certain amount of money, and when Minji decided to leave, she didn’t have it to give to them.
Bora had realized then that Minji wouldn’t be free until the money was handed over to them, but Minji’s stubbornness always spoke louder. She kept saying she could handle it by herself.
“What was that club about anyway?” Bora asked her.
“For me, ironically, about freedom,” Minji had a wry smile. “The moment you realize you can release all the internal pain by making others feel it too, and even better, by replacing it with external pain, everything seems to make sense.”
Bora listened to her words attentively.
“It’s ridiculous, I know," Minji continued, and she seemed to be aware of everything, “but my relationship with my parents was never really good. I believed I had only to options; that or worse.”
Bora remembered the last sentence - it was a sad thing to say - so she finally came closer to where they were.
“Hey, how are you doing?” Bora asked gently.
The three girls looked at each other, not really understanding what was going on, until Minji left her last gaze to find Bora.
She didn’t say a single word though, and everything heated up inside Bora’s little body. She still didn’t understand why they needed to pretend they were strangers. The night before they even watched a TV show together until Minji fell asleep. It didn’t make sense to be so arrogant now.
But Bora knew her own limits. She cared about that girl, for no reason, without wanting much in return, but she also knew when to step back.
The same second she turned her back on the table the others were sitting at, she felt thin fingers gripping her wrist.
Minji took Bora to the most reserved corner of the cafeteria, where no one could see them, and leaned Bora against the wall.
Bora thought that the heat inside her from seconds before was at the maximum that she could reach, but her body heated up even more when Minji pressed her lips to her ear, the girl’s breath hot and humid.
“You need to keep your distance from me. It’s dangerous.”
But Bora couldn’t say for sure what she was referring to. Only one thing seemed to be too dangerous at the moment.
The smaller girl then turned her face slowly, to the same side that Minji kept her lips on. “Stop pushing me away,” she said as a whisper.
The brief tension between them was soon cut off when Minji, turning her face as if the lack of contact was hurting her, slowly walked away, her hand still holding Bora’s wrist.
“I’ll be waiting for you later,” Bora said, pushing the blonde girl’s hand away from her. “You still look bad.”
She didn’t look back as she left, missing the opportunity to see a completely static Minji.
—
The day quickly turned into night and Minji was running down the dark street, a black sweatshirt covered her sensitive and icy skin from the strong wind that touched her as her steps got faster.
Her eyes were darker, as were her thoughts. A million things went through her head, and none of them brought comfort, only fear. She carelessly reached the stair steps of the house in front of her, knocking on the door in despair.
When someone finally answered, her next words staggered over her tongue.
“They have her, Changkyun. You need to come with me.”