None of Us Saw This Coming

October, 2020: Daegu

It had probably been a week or two, she had lost count—not that she cared either, Irene had gotten used to her new routine back in her hometown. She had a tiny house not far from her parents' house, a place she bought so she could keep her family's privacy intact, just like she had always done for the longest time. It called for a time like that, she did not want her reputation to affect her family, so she tried to keep them away from the eyes of the public as much as she was capable.

She would be lying should she say that the thought of quitting did not cross her mind. But her parents did not raise her to be a quitter, so quitting was not an option. She knew she would regret it if she did anyway because she loved what she did and nobody could take that away from her. So away she went instead, to be better.

Irene had been going to a little park by the river near her parents' house. It gave her the same feeling that reminded her of the park where she usually went for some peace and quiet; a place that reminded her of Lisa—speaking of whom, she had been ignoring Lisa's texts and calls. She only answered her members' calls and texts so far, especially the youngest Yeri, who oddly had been contacting her the most for the past week or so. She did not know why she ignored Lisa for the longest time again, but there was no way she saw Lisa while being under such a terrible condition; she was a mess—an utter mess and she did not think her current self could control what she might do when she saw the woman considering how she was both vulnerable and unstable.

Irene usually visited her parents' place in the afternoon, when the sun was setting—that was because that was when her parents were home. Never once had she thought that that day would be different.

"Ah, Joohyun, your friend's here," her father greeted her as soon as she entered her parents' house.

Friend?

Here?

Wha—

—Irene accidentally swallowed her tongue amid her surprise. She entered her parents' house through the backdoor like usual, however, the moment she was inside the house, she was faced with an unusual scene.

It was very unusual.

She thought she had gone mental for a split second or perhaps, it was like a curse had been cast upon her that it was haunting her because there before her eyes, she saw the one person she had been sort of avoiding. Lisa was sitting next to her mother and little sister—who was a spitting image of herself, enjoying some tangerines her mother bought earlier that morning.

"Hello, eonni."

Lisa greeted her with an awkward smile and Irene did not know what hit her that she immediately rushed towards Lisa, grabbed her and dragged her into her room at her parents' house. She locked the door the moment they were inside and faced Lisa with an unreadable expression, it made Lisa nervous—as she should because then all the bottled-up emotion and rage out of the unjustified accusations towards her and the pressure she felt were about to be unleashed by the petite woman. It looked like the last straw of Irene's common sense just snapped.

"What the fuck are you thinking?!"

"I—I," Lisa stuttered failing to think of what she ought to answer the older. She knew it was unwise of her to go there, suddenly invading Irene's privacy but her worried arse got the best of her that she let it persuade her to put her arse on a flight to Daegu.

"Why are you here?!" Irene lost her temper. The temper that finally managed to slap Lisa's as well that it suddenly went sky-rocketing.

"I wouldn't be here if you answered any of my texts or calls!" Lisa's voice was slowly building up to match Irene's pitch.