The last two words are a total hit to her ego, but she manages to force them out through gritted teeth to keep from escalating the situation even further.
There's a stifling pause at the other end of the line before Juliette speaks again, "Hm. Okay."
Phew. Sujin mentally pats herself on the back. Crisis averted.
"So," Juliette presses, "What do you think?"
"What do I think?" Sujin's frown resurfaces, "I think spending more than 10 seconds in this place should be considered a form of child torture."
"Sujin." Juliette warns, and Sujin imagines she has a hand stressedly rubbing at her temples, "Have you even had a chance to look around yet?"
"No." The girl murmurs quietly.
"That's what I thought." Her mother shifts around on the other end of the line before continuing, "Well, better late than never, I suppose."
"Huh?"
"I've taken the liberty of arranging a little appointment for you this afternoon."
An appointment? For the love of god, what could it possibly be this time?
"Does it happen to have anything to do with, oh, I don't know... giving me my life back?"
Juliette chooses to ignore that last sarcasm-laced quip, "You'll be meeting Jongseong for lunch, actually."
"Mom, what the hell?!" Sujin groans, letting herself fall face-first into the bed to stifle an oncoming scream.
Seriously?! She almost audibly whines. Of course. Of. Fucking. Course. Leave it to Juliette Han to find a way to control her daughter's actions even from an entire hemisphere away.
"Watch that tone, young lady." Juliette snaps, "The plans are final. Mrs Park told him to expect you outside the boys' boarding house at 1 o'clock. On the dot."
Sujin glances at the time on her screen - 12:03pm. Ugh.
"This is insane... Wh- I- You are insane!" She sputters, "Has it ever crossed your mind that I don't want to have lunch with the guy? Hell, he probably doesn't even want to have lunch with me!"
"You're going whether you like it or not, and you are putting on your best face." Juliette's tone is dangerously low now, and without a hint of flexibility, "Lie through your teeth if you have to - I don't care! But you are not about to bring embarrassment to our family name by flaking, young lady."
Sujin presses her lips into a tight line.
"1 o'clock, you hear me?" Juliette repeats, an unmistakable venom in her voice that Sujin knows better than to retaliate against, "Don't keep him waiting."
Another tense silence.
"Fine." Sujin hisses in defeat, slamming down on the End Call button before her mother has a chance to squeeze in any other snide remarks.
The girl practically throws her phone across the room as she gets to her feet, stomping her way to the unorganized stack of suitcases by her bed to get this whole thing done and over with.
As she gets busy ridding herself of all the remnants of the past day - namely, with a steaming hot shower and change of clothes - she finds a small voice in the back of her mind hoping, praying, that the next hour won't be a complete nightmare.
Maybe Jay's not all that bad. Maybe he's still the troublesome little kid she used to know all those years ago, and she'd finally have someone else around here who gets it.
Or - and this is the worst case scenario, she thinks - her mother was right. Maybe the last few years have melted him into the palm of the school's hand like cheap putty.
The latter seems thousands of times more likely, if she's being honest.
So with a final grunt of annoyance, Sujin shoves her phone and keys into the back pocket of her jeans and slams the door shut behind her.
Guess there's only one way to find out.
SAGE'S SPACE! 🗯️
WE GOOOOO ‼️‼️‼️🏃♀️💨
i don't have much else to say (this is a first for my loudmouth ass, believe me) so not really much of an author's note today - but i hope your weeks are treating you well so far and that you're all taking good care of yourselves and getting lots of rest 🫂 <3
til next time, sage ♡
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