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(cw : manipulating, uh angst?? a little angst)
You put on the last of your accessories, sighing as you catch sight or Vance leaning by your door, a scowl present on his face.
"Do you have to go, Y/N?" He asked, walking towards you as you finished your last touches. You continue to stay quiet. Finally checking your outfit one last time.
outfit visual:
(Masc and Fem)
"I'd feel bad if I didn't go, Vance." You glanced at the blonde who sighed and ran his hand down his face. "I'm just saying, that bitch has something up her sleeve." Vance pointed with his thumb.
"Vance!" You scolded, if there's anything you hated, it was vulgar language, you'd admit, you would find yourself swearing once in a while, but never as common as Vance.
"I'm serious though, she's fucking evil, I just know it." Vance rolled his eyes. "Look, I get that you probably hate when people try to get close to you," you start, turning around in your chair to face him.
"But Mi-Rae will be my friend, not yours." You pointed your finger at him, in which Vance rolled his eyes at.
"She will be my problem if she causes anything." To be fair, you felt like you would regret saying that as soon as the sentence left your lips.
"If she does anything, don't come screaming and bitching about it when I told you." Vance spat, finally leaving your room and giving you an uncomfortable peace.
You sigh and look at yourself in the mirror, a more annoyed expression took over as the doorbell rang. You could hear footsteps around the house. You guessed someone had opened the door.
Mi-Rae stood on the other side, a grin on her face as the door opened to Bruce, his face fixed on a scowl. Mi-Rae's smile broke for a little before the girl fixed it.
"Hey Bruce, I thought you'd be at your game or out on your date by now." Mi-Rae flutters her eyelashes innocently, almost taunting Bruce.
"We're actually just about to head out." Bruce spat through gritted teeth. He pushed through Mi-Rae, bumping shoulders with her harshly.
"I don't see why you're so angry that I'm going out with N/N." Mi-Rae leans against the railing of your dorm porch. "Because you aren't good fucking news, Mi-Rae." Bruce argued, looking at her with furrowed eyebrows.
"Who are you to say, if I'm good or not? You don't even know N/N that well," Mi-Rae barked back, stepping closer to Bruce. "and you're acting like a possessive boyfriend." She pushed her finger into Bruce's chest, poking harder and harder every jab.
"Whatever." Bruce scoffed, pulling back. He heard your footsteps from inside the house and decided to stare off somewhere to cool down.
"Oh, I didn't know you guys were leaving at the same time as me." You look up, looking at the annoyed duo. Mi-Rae held a pissed off expression while Bruce looked somewhere else, his fist balled up in annoyance.
You could feel the tension between the two, feeling awkward, you decide to compliment your roommate.
"Your outfit looks nice today, Bruce." You pat his back gently, trying to get him to loosen up. Bruce's gaze switched from the sky to your face. A small smile was plastered on it, a gentle gaze directed towards him.
Bruce's outfit visual:
He couldn't help but soften up, his eyes no longer held a glare but a gaze of softness towards you and only you.
"Thanks, N/N." He replied, bringing his hand up and ruffling your hair. You laugh and push his hand away. Suddenly a hand pulled you to their side.
"We have no time! We should go, the bingsu place will close if we don't hurry." Mi-Rae gave Bruce a hard stare, her eyes twitching slightly.
Mi-Rae was angry, pulling you with all her force without even saying goodbye to Bruce or Billy. You tripped over your shoes as you tried to catch up with Mi-Rae.
"N/N, hurry! I want to get a good spot." You felt Mi-Rae's hand on your wrist tighten as she took more and more aggressive steps, she reminded you of Vance in a way.
"Hey, Mi-Rae it's okay, really!" Stopping her by grabbing onto the hand that pulled you along with her. "The bingsu place doesn't close till later." You nervously laughed as Mi-Rae turned to you with a glare.
"How do you know? Have you gone on a date before?" She accused, a sour expression painted her face. You could feel an uncomfortable coil in your stomach.
"What? No! It's just, you're kind of-" you couldn't even finish before Mi-Rae groaned loudly, "Let's go, you're ruining this y'know?" She exclaims. Pulling you to the front of the shop and slamming the door open and taking a spot close to the big window of the shop.
You stayed quiet, scared to make Mi-Rae more annoyed than she already was. You felt bad that you were ruining the hang out, did she really mean it? But, you haven't even done anything..
You sat down quietly, letting Mi-Rae skim over the shared menu. "We should try the mango bingsu!" She chirped, looking at you with a smile. You were uncomfortable with her sudden changes.
One minute she's absolutely fuming and suddenly the next she's happy, you just decided to nod, feeling like you have to walk on eggshells with her.
Suddenly the bell on the top of the door rang, signalling another costumer, you looked up to see Billy and Bruce! You smiled, until you saw them with girls clinging to their arms.
You felt your small smile dissipate, opting to look down, you hoped they wouldn't notice you.
Mi-Rae watched as you physically deflated after seeing Bruce and Billy with their dates. She smirked, feeling an idea brew in her brain.
"N/N, be honest, do you like the guys?" She whispered, tapping onto the back of your hand to catch you attention.
Thankfully the boys were sitting in a completely different side of the store, with a partition blocking their view of you.
"Huh? What makes you say that?" You tilt your head, confused by Mi-Rae's question. "I think you do, and personally I think they know." Mi-Rae motions to the two boys, who were laughing with the girls about something.
You bit your lip, feeling this ugly green feeling from before return. You fiddled with your fingers, chipping off some of the skin as habit.
"I don't know. They're just my roommates, they're nice to me." You glanced at Bruce and Billy, who seemed to have a better time than you. "I'm just saying, they're boys N/N, they love causing trouble." Mi-Rae started to feed little insecure sentences into your brain.
Being upset with Bruce and Billy having dates made you exactly vulnerable as Mi-Rae wanted; she wanted you to depend on her separately. You sighed, opting to just focus on the window to the side of you.
Mi-Rae knows when not to rush things, so she just grinned and stood up, going to order for their bingsu. "Oh, you're here.." Mi-Rae turns from her back to see Billy and Bruce, a sour expression on their face.
"I'd suggest not freaking out, you're going to upset N/N, upset as they already are." Mi-Rae singed to the two, who's gazes went from furrowed eyebrows to wide eyes, looking back.
The two scanned the shop until their eyes landed on your bored self, your hand perched with your chin on it, looking outside the window.
Their eyes visibly softened before turning over to Mi-Rae who had finished ordering at the shop's counter. She smiled innocently at the boys. "Well? Order! You don't want your girls waiting, right?" She points to the confused girls at their table, looking at them curiously.
Billy sighed and shook his head, stepping up and bumping shoulders with Mi-Rae as she walked back to your seat.
"Do you really think, they're just causing trouble? For me?" You asked Mi-Rae suddenly, in her mind, she was jumping for joy, seeing that her feeding words to you was working.
"I wouldn't say that, but they're American, you don't know what they've been up to." Mi-Rae carelessly said, unfortunately loud enough for the boys to hear.
The two stood up from their seats and walked to Mi-Rae and Y/N, you jumped, seeing the two looking down at you guys. "What the hell are you doing?" Billy slammed his hands down on your table, your breath hitched, looking over to Mi-Rae who had a huge frown on her face.
"What? We're just, waiting for our bingsu." Mi-Rae put on a sad facade, as Bruce fumed even more. "Are you really telling lies to N/N? I heard what you said," Bruce crossed his arms; he really hated Mi-Rae.
"Ah, I'm right though? We don't know if you guys are being good influences on N/N, and I'm just looking out for them." Mi-Rae batted her eyelashes.
"Bruce, stop." You softly scolded, "you both are causing a scene, go back to your table." You glanced at the girls who seemed shocked at the sudden emotion change for Bruce and Billy.
The two didn't seem to budge; they couldn't afford to leave you with Mi-Rae.
"Bruce." You sighed, Bruce glanced at you, your eyes looked at him worriedly, but for some reason he could see disappointment in your eyes. Did he disappoint you?
His angry demeanour suddenly changed, his lips parted to say something, before just shaking his head and pulling Billy with him back to their table.
Finally, the tension was small enough that you and Mi-Rae managed to enjoy your bingsu.
"Are you upset?" Billy walked into your room, sitting on your bed.
You took the last of your accessories off, shaking your head. "No, I'm just tired is all." You tried to convince yourself as well. You had no idea why seeing the boys with anyone else romantically irked you.
You've only met these boys for a few days, and they don't even know you well, so why are you letting them make you feel like this?
"You're lying." Billy stated, looking at you through your mirror, seeing you look back at him. "I'm not." You argued, turning around from your seat on the vanity.
"Why? What did Bruce and I do? Is it because of the girls?" Billy pushed, seeing you sigh and shake your head. "No," you stared straight at Billy. "She was telling you things." Billy figured it out; he wasn't smart for nothing.
"No, she wasn't!" You annoyingly replied, standing up and getting yourself ready to retreat for the night. Billy shook his head, opening his lips to say something.
"Billy stop looking for signs that aren't there!" You finally lost it, Billy looked at you with wide eyes. "Mi-Rae's just looking out for me, is that so bad?" You spat.
Billy stayed silent for a while, before mumbling an okay, standing up from your bed and walking out of your room, closing the door softly.
Your furrowed eyebrows slowly relaxed before realizing what had happened, you groaned, falling back into your bed and squeezing the pillow around your head.
"I'm so stupid." You mumbled to no one. Billy was just trying to care about you, that's why he was asking.
A sudden knock on your door made you sit up and fix yourself. The door opened to Ms. Won, who looked at you with a soft and gentle smile. "Hey there, Y/N. I heard the commotion.." she brought up, walking into your room and closing the door.
She sat next to you on your bed as you held your pillow against your chest. "Is everything okay?" Ms. Won put her hand on your back.
"I don't know, I mean, so many things happened in such a little time." You mumbled to her, feeling your lips turn to a pout. "That's okay, you've been here for a week, it's going to feel crazy." Ms. Won comforted you, her hand running down your back.
"Ms. Won, if you met someone, and you've only known them for a few days, and you're already so affected by them, what do you call that?" You ask, looking up at her. She giggled softly before nodding.
"I believe that's called love, dear." She cheekily smiled, pinching your cheeks. You turn red, pushing your face into your pillow. "Ms. Won be serious.." you whined into the fabric, making your voice muffled.
"I am, if that's too embarrassing, you need to accept it." She poked, sitting closer to you and placing her arm around your shoulders to give you a reassuring squeeze.
"I'm sixteen! I can't be in love, I haven't even figured out what I wanted to be in the future yet." You felt like pulling your hair out, you turned to the side to look at Ms. Won.
"Well that's just what happens, life throws things at you, and you just have to learn how to deal with it." Ms. Won laughed. You groaned turning away from her.
"You'll be okay, child." She whispered to you, in which your eyes widened slightly, "you are bright, and you've been doing such a good job introducing the boys to new things." She continued, making your feel all warm and fuzzy.
You felt a hand on your head as you turned back once again to look at her. "I'm very proud of you, alright?" She pat your head. You smile softly and nodded, "thank you, Ms. Won." You thanked her, full genuine feelings of appreciation being put out.
"I'll slice some apple slices up for you, okay dear?" Ms. Won stood up from her seat, you gratefully nodded, fixing your bed.
Ms. Won gave your hair one last ruffle before heading out of your room, closing the door to give your privacy.
Your smile flattened as soon as you heard Ms. Won's footsteps sound afar. You laid back in your bed, looking up to your ceiling. "I miss my mama." You mumbled.
Your head replayed today's events to you, the whole ordeal in the bingsu shop, the argument with Billy and your talk with Ms. Won.
You let out a frustrated groan in your pillow, "I've gotta apologize to Bruce and Billy." You muttered. Your eyes started to close, today had taken a lot out of you, and it was evident on how you didn't even fight your sleepiness.
You were knocked out by the time Ms. Won had come back with a bowl of apple slices and candy on the side. "Y/N, I brought your—" she stops, seeing you sprawled out on your bed, sleeping peacefully.
Your lips were parted and your hair framed your perfectly. Ms. Won smiled, and just closed the door, taking the apple slices with her. Ms. Won decided to do her last round check of her group before she headed to bed herself.
She always wanted to take care of kids, or just her own, her mother used to tell her how she was going to grow into an amazing mother; she still hasn't disappointed.
She went up the stairs to Billy's and Vance's rooms. Ms. Won saw that Billy's door was opened by an inch. The adult peeked her head in, to see Billy fiddling with his blanket, obviously upset.
"What's wrong, boy?" She saw his lip quivering. Walking up to him and placing the bowl of apple slices on his bedside table. "I don't know.." Billy shrugged, bringing his hand up to wipe rogue tears away from his face.
"Oh, you poor thing." Ms. Won brought the boys into her arms, hugging him tightly as he sniffled and hugged her back tighter. She and Billy stayed in that hug for a good while, sending Billy really needed it.
Suddenly the boy pulled away gently, wiping the last of his tears away. "What's wrong?" Ms. Won asked again, listening intently.
"I just miss home, I miss my dog, everything." Billy whispered, pulling his legs up to his chest and leaning against his headboard. "I thought, maybe this would be nice.. but all I want is to go home." Billy shakily sighed, really itching to pet his dog, Lucky.
"I know Korea is a big change, and you have barely even started, but you're doing great already." She squeezed his shoulders like she did with you. "The other alternative is that you didn't get to experience a new world," Ms. Won's words didn't seem to go through Billy at first.
"But you chose to go to Korea, here, you're starting completely anew." Ms. Won knew about these boys, who didn't? Who didn't know what they went through, America loved to blast whatever they could on the newspaper and on media.
She knows about how the boys were kidnapped, how the boys had to go through hell.
Ms. Won was really happy when they had accepted to go, she wanted to give these boys another chance to do stupid things that they should've done, instead of going through what they had to in that basement.
"No one cares for your past here, you're completely starting on a blank canvas, and I want you to paint it how you want to paint it." Ms. Won leaned her head on top of Billy's who snuggled closer to her, seeing that she was the closest to a mother figure at the moment.
"Don't amount yourself to what happened to you, alright? You'll be okay, I know you will." Billy's eyes widened upon hearing that, he's been always known as one of the Grabber's victims, and he hated how he was only ever known for something he despised.
Billy nodded, shutting his eyes tight, a big breath of relief coming out of his lips. Ms. Won smiled and grabbed the bowl of apple slices on his table.
"Here, Y/N wanted you to have this, a snack." She placed the bowl in Billy's hands before standing up and leaving Billy to his own devices.
Ms. Won knew that you didn't really ask her to give it to Billy, but who is she not to help you guys make up?
He looked at the bowl of apple slices, they were cut into bunny shapes. A few of the pieces were browning, Billy grabbed a slice and put it in his mouth, sniffling his nose once in a while.
He really appreciated this, he needed it.
END OF CHAPTER 8