Broken

33

To say Nayeon wasn't ready for what greeted her, was underplaying it by a lot. Jihyo was someone else completely, a very attractive young woman came into view, muscles just visible under her clothes, a very toned body that oozed confidence, perfectly tanned skin and a silky purple long hair cascading down her shoulders. The brightest smile came to said girl's lips, and Nayeon couldn't tell if she was still standing there, because her knees didn't support her anymore and the air had left her lungs. She seriously considered becoming a bad anime plot right then, sorry Momo.

"Unnie! You said you were coming tonight, this is the best surprise ever!" Jihyo greets, with the brightest smile her companions had ever seen.

The Im sisters go into the living room, where three girls and two boys were lazing around a lot of notebooks, books, pencils, and snacks, truly a mess from a group project. Sawako was laying on the couch, a bag of chips in her hand, seemingly stolen by the Chris kid, given his pout. But Nayeon was still stunned by what she was seeing, how could a few months change someone so drastically?

"Right, people, this is Nayeon, my older sister. These are Chris, Fee, Gina, Fei Fei, and my roommate, Amy." Jihyo introduces, pointing each one out.

The other kids greet the new arrival enthusiastically, she doesn't register much, just letting herself be guided throughout everything. The group, finally, decides to put their things away, and clean up the place they messed up terribly, mostly because one of the dorm leaders was hanging out right there and none would manage to get out of it. It was a normal thing, for the dorm heads to befriend the residents, and Sawako had taken a special liking to Jihyo after Francis had told her about it (they had been dating for two years) and the man had made it his personal mission to make sure Jihyo was well cared for.

Unbeknownst to the sisters, papa and mama Im had a talk with the principal, vice principal, head of her dorm, and homeroom teacher about the girl on the day they arrived with her to sign the paperwork. They all knew very well what had happened and were asked, by very caring and concerned parents, to look after their little girl. Francis, the overzealous big brother type he was, talked to his girlfriend and asked for help as well, he knew some things were 'girls talk' things and he would not be able to help.

The couple had become Jihyo's parents, making sure she was well cared for, even talking to Amy Lee, her slightly troublesome, free-spirited roommate, telling as much as they could, and asking the girl to take care of her as well. From all those people caring for her without her noticing (Jihyo wasn't used to that, don't judge), the girl had began going to the gym with Sawako, sunbathing on free mornings with Amy and learning to cook with Francis (he came from a family of cooks), and it all made her the eye-candy she became.

"Unnie, can you stop daydreaming and get your luggage to my room? We should be getting ready for lunch, everyone else is already at it." Jihyo says, and that manages to get her sister moving.

"Ji, I- you- How?"

"Yeonnie, I know it's been a while since we saw each other, but we video called each other two weeks ago. Why are you looking at me like you haven't seen me before?"

"Because I haven't? I mean, I knew you were growing up well, but this is just too much, and I don't think it's good for my heart."

"Alright, off to the shower with you. Just relax in there for a while and get changed, maybe washing the plane grime away will help."

So, Nayeon does. She gets the first clothes she found on her suitcase, her bathroom bag and her phone (she had managed to ask for the wifi password earlier) before going in, locking the door, and frantically calling Momo, praying to the old gods and the new that the girl would answer. Luckly, she did on the third ring.

"Nayeon, you better have an excellent reason to be waking me up at this hour."

"Momo, I'm in deep trouble. So, save the sermon and help me out here."

"What did you do this time?"

"I did nothing, I don't even think I spoke so far."

"If you kept your mouth shut, I don't know what you could have screwed up."

"Not funny, also not the problem."

"Then stop panicking and use your words."

"Jihyo is hot."

"I think we all know that."

"No, you are not understanding, she is way hotter than when she left, and I don't trust myself to not make a move on my little sister. Do you know how wrong this sounds?"

"I know how wrong it sounds alright. But I won't hold it against you if you do. Just enjoy your time together, and be honest with me about it."

"Mo, I love you so much. I'm gonna send some pictures and you can see for yourself how much I'm about to suffer. Right now I should be taking a shower, a very cold shower, and getting ready to have lunch with her and her friends."

"I love you too. And, hey, she has more friends now, that's great, huh?"

"Sorta, kinda, but not really. A boy answered the door when I arrived. A very nice, very handsome boy called Christopher Bang, that I'm not sure I like very much. There was also this other Felix kid that seemed way too at home at her room."

"Im Nayeon, stop trying to convince yourself that everyone is after your little sister, quit making it all about her and understand she is going to date at some point, and one of the kids you met today may very well be it."

"No, not gonna happen. She will forever be my baby and nobody is taking her away."

"I swear to Freyja that I'm murdering you and making it look like an accident if I so much dream you ruined anything for Jihyo."

"Bu-"

"No talking back. Now go get a shower and tame your jealousy, you are gonna be a great big sister, support our girl in whatever it is she has going on and take a lot of pictures because I'm very curious as how she looks."

Momo hangs up before another word is said, she knew Nayeon would try to rationalize her craziness and talk her into agreeing with whatever stupid plan she would come up with. Nayeon just huffs to herself and proceeds to get ready, she might as well just go and eat something before trying to get an afternoon nap, the flight made her tired, sure, but her encounter with her little sister had been much more draining.

The outing goes as well as Im senior had expected, the other kids were great, really, all very creative and talkative, maybe it came with being composers-in-the-making, Nayeon learned that Felix was Amy's brother, and great friends/roommates with Chris, that Jihyo had some beef, nobody really knew about nor cared enough to try and understand with Hwang Eunbi, that she refused to befriend whatsoever (everyone else just found it funny).

It made Nayeon happy, to see her girl building a life for herself, sure the five were there for her and would never leave, but they all knew she needed people who weren't them, and to experience new and exciting things that none of them would be able to offer her. Something warmed up in the older girl's heart, and she let loose, honestly enjoying the company, never forgetting to register everything so she could send the pictures to the girls later.

That week was going to be difficult.