Karma ━━ Jake Sim

𝟬𝟮 ͏͏͏͏͏͏ ͏͏͏͏͏͏ ͏͏͏͏͏͏⠀The Last Straw

"I was meant to go to some... meeting she set up this afternoon. Something about a... CEO? College admissions director? Can't remember." She scowls in a particularly unladylike fashion, tossing the emptied beer cans that litter the ground into a plastic bag.

Heeseung eventually catches up, bending down to help the girl erase her backyard of any remnants of a good time, "Sounds serious."

"To her? Sure." Sujin states, "Personally, I couldn't give less of a rat's ass."

Heeseung chuckles, "Evidently."

"Shut up."

Before the boy can fire back a retort, the breezy summer air is sliced through with a shrill and - very unfortunately - familiar voice.

"Han Sujin! Where are you, young lady?!"

Juliette Han appears through the sliding door in all her wicked glory, draped in a luxe beige pantsuit that - in Sujin's opinion - makes her look like some kind of ridiculous supervillain. That, or a loaded business woman with nothing better to do with her money than buy unreasonably priced garments for nothing but the pure sake of being able to say that she's rich enough to.

Same thing, she supposes.

It's not long before her mother is standing right in front of her, eyes ablaze with a fury that matches the crimson hue of her stiletto heels. A tall, balding man in a well-pressed suit soon follows through the door, standing behind the woman with a faint look of annoyance painting his features. The situation could almost be described as comical to an outsider; two professionally dressed, fuming adults standing before their polar opposites - a pair of sheepish, soaking wet teenagers awaiting their wrath.

"What do you think you're doing?"

Sujin replies with the best 'I swear I'm not doing anything wrong, please don't send me to boarding school' smile she can muster. "Heyyy, mom!" She drags the greeting out for several syllables too long for Juliette to believe she isn't up to any trouble, "We were uh... just about to leave, actually."

The girl spins on her heel to start making her way as far as possible from her mother, with Heeseung catching on to the excuse and following suit, but not before being stopped in their tracks with an ice-cold warning.

"Nice try."

The pair slowly turn back to the older woman with a collective sigh. Heeseung, wearing an awkward smile, raises his hand in some weak attempt at a greeting, "Nice seeing you again, Mrs. Han."

Considering the fact that the last time they'd come into contact ended with Sujin being forcibly yanked out of the passenger seat of his car, the pleasantries in his words don't quite meet his eyes.

"Heeseung." Juliette peers at the boy through narrow slits, owing him no relief of even a fake nice response.

It's no secret that the Han matriarch is less than approving of her daughter's choice of a best friend. After all, she blames their friendship for being the reason why her daughter is so... well, unlike herself. Where Sujin starts a fire, Lee Heeseung has always been there to strike the match. He's the reason she refutes all of Juliette's meticulous plans. The reason why she is the way she is - and Juliette loathes him for it.

The older woman's glare hardens when it comes back to rest on her daughter, "How many times does this have to happen before you stop being an ungrateful brat?"

"I have no idea what you're talking about." Sujin lies.

"Don't play dumb with me, young lady! I go out of my way to schedule a meeting with this kind gentleman -" She yanks him from behind her with a rough tug on his sleeve, "- Who, for your information, drove out and sacrificed his own time off for this. For you. And your future."