Girlfriend Corporation

Girlfriend Corporation: Forty Seven

"I.." I started and swallowed the lump on my throat. I wiped my tears away and took a glance on Heejin Unnie who was subtly shaking her head. Clearly telling me not to say what I was about to say. 'Ryujin, no.' That's what she muttered. But I shook my head opposing her request. We've been here, Unnie. There's no way that I'm going to back down and give up now. Never. "I'm not.. I'm not going to leave Zephora." I bravely held my chin up and looked at my mother's eyes. I was surprised that I didn't faltered when her stares burned on mine. This is the first time that I've seen her this mad. If we were blood related, it would have been more easy for them to accept the situation at hand. But we weren't. And all I can do was to be thankful for the decade that they kept and took care of Heejin Unnie and I.

The moment I saw how my mom's veins almost popped out of her neck, I already knew that the worst was coming. I received a hard slap. That landed twice. On both of my cheeks. I felt myself stumbling on my steps. Falling flat on the floor. And the stinging pain of the slap on my face. I can feel the burning and the salty and musty taste on my lip. It was bleeding on how hard the slap was. I haven't even recovered yet when I felt that I was being lifted from the ground using my hair. Of course it hurt. But compared to the burden inside my chest,  it was far more heavy than anything else. Far more painful. I don't think even a hundred series of slaps as strong as earlier would still be incomparable. Make it a million.  It maybe would come close.

I couldn't hear anything else but my pounding heart. It was almost like it was tied up in a time bomb with merely ten seconds before it explodes. It was making the best to beat out of it. Like this is the last few seconds that it's going to pump and make me breathe. I was ready to scream but not because I wanted to take back my decision and choosing Zephora over our family. I wanted to scream why.. why I just can't. But that was until I heard my father's deep voice shouting my mother's name telling her to stop. Separated us both, stopping my mother from killing me right on the spot. All I could do was sob, ensure the pain as much as I can, and continue to live on right now without mg parents.

"I don't want to hear anything from the both of you ever again. Do you understand me?! You're not going to get a single penny from MY family. Understand that, Shin Ryujin, Jeon Heejin?!" That's the last thing I've heard before the door slum shut hard.

But I'm not going to forget my father's stares at  my direction. A sympathetic stare. But he didn't said anything and guided my Mom through the door. That's when I freely let myself cried in mess.

Lia's Point of View..

"Baby." Ryujin sighed and leaned forward to give me a hug after planting a soft kiss on my cheek. She might have thought that I didn't caught that subtle stare down of hers on Yeji's direction. "Where have you been? I told Yuna to take care of you. Tss." I snorted on Ryujin's childishness. Though I'm still curious as to why she seemed to be not affected by Yeji's presence behind me.

"I'm going inside. Happy Birthday again, Lia." Yeji said while tapping my shoulder softly to get my attention. I looked at her nodded with a small smile.

"Thank you. See you around." Yeji just nodded her head and throw an.. awkward smile on Ryujin before walking off inside the venue. All Ryujin have did to acknowledge Yeji's presence was curt nod. They might have ended in a bad note. No, scratch that. They absolutely did end on a bad note. It was so obvious from the thick and heavy tension between the two of them. The way Ryujin's smile slowly faded when I turned my attention to Yeji. And how she glared on Yeji upon seeing us together. It wasn't the usual stare of jealousy. It was a personal matter.