The Tiger King (Chaelisa)

75| The Forest of Fear

trigger warning trigger warning (i'm serious, messed up stuff happens in here)

previously: chaennie went to Jisoo's parents to ask for their help, secrets about jennie's past were revealed, Jays attacked and killed the Kims, chaennie are on the run.

[cont. from prev. chapter]  

Irene came up behind Seulgi at the doorway to the living room, heart clenching when she saw Ella staring resolutely at the phone in her lap, as though willing it to ring. The cartoons playing on TV were long forgotten as the shadows in the room stretched longer.

"How long has she been sitting like that? I feel so useless," Irene whispered.

"It's okay Hyun. I do too. Sometimes, there's not much we can do," Seulgi comforted and patted her girlfriend's hand on her waist. So saying, she joined Ella on the couch. Irene was endeared to notice how Ella immediately leaned on her teacher's chest, glad that the girl had an adult that she was open with.

"Sorry I was gone awhile. What did I miss? Did Shin-chan twerk again?" Seulgi asked lightly.

Ella shrugged.

"Did Mommy call again?"

Ella shook her head. "Not since they arrived at the station."

"I'm sure she'll call soon. Wanna play a game? Or more cartoons? Or, if you won't tell Hyun, we can sneak some candy. I know where she's keeping her secret stash."

"Ms Kang?"

"I told you, call me Seulgi or unnie out of school," Seulgi chuckled.

"Ok. Unnie?"

"Yeah?"

"Why do you call Irene unnie Hyun?"

Irene was charmed by the question, happy to hear that Ella had confidence with her teacher. She leaned in to hear the answer, curious.

"Oh it's her Korean name, Joohyun. It's my thing for her. Like you call your friends nicknames, I call her Hyun. It makes me feel closer to her," Seulgi answered easily.

"Mm. Unnie?"

"Yeah?"

Ella fidgeted. "Is Lisa a bad person?"

Irene held her breath, taken aback by the abrupt switch. Even Seulgi took a moment to reply.

"No, I don't think so. Lisa helped me, she's my friend. She was there for me when I needed her, even though I wasn't always nice to her before we got to be friends," Seulgi said. She looked closely at the girl sitting next to her. "Do you think Lisa is a bad person?"

"I...I don't know. She didn't hurt Mom, she kissed her and hugged her lots and she was always really nice to me. But Jennie unnie was talking about all the bad things she did before..."

"You're still very young El," Seulgi said softly. "Most other kids your age don't have to deal with this kind of stuff until they're much much older. It's okay if you don't understand everything that's going on. But for what's it worth, I've seen bad people. Heck, I wasn't very nice to Hyun before, either."

"But you didn't...kill people?" Ella frowned.

"No. No I didn't," Seulgi conceded uneasily.

"But Lisa did," Ella whispered. Irene's heart gave a pang at the uncertainty in Ella's voice.

"That's true," Seulgi sighed, "it's a bit of an impossible situation. But I think Lisa was in a bad situation. She didn't mean to hurt people and she was ashamed of what she did. That's a big difference from bad people. Bad people don't care. I don't think Lisa is one of them."