"I told you!" Tzuyu signed the bartender to bring more refills. "He came to me after the show and teased me again!"
They couldn't stop laughing. The bar was loud but their laughter was louder. Lisa invited her friends to celebrate her passing the exam. Chaeyoung was there, along with Jihyo, Sana, Tzuyu and Mina. They are the other friends group Lisa has, which is so active and always available to hang out together whenever one of them asks.
Lisa was enrolled later than everyone else in uni since she started 4 years ago at age 22, while some of them already graduated, so she thought she wouldn't know anyone with the same age as her in Yonsei at the time. But some people like Jihyo loved to revisit her alma mater to give lectures and seminars, which was when they met for the first time. They clicked instantly and kept meeting up at the cafe where Lisa worked. Jihyo later introduced Lisa to her friend group, and Lisa introduced Chaeyoung to them since Chaeyoung and Lisa were inseparable. That's what started their friendship.
"Two days ago he got serious and asked me to hang out." Tzuyu smiled bitterly, tucking her hair to the side. She drank another shot and Lisa could see how her face reddened as she continued.
"He didn't come. He said we'll meet at Hongdae and I waited for 1 hour. One hour! I called and texted him but he didn't pick up. Oh my God I was so stupid for falling like that..."
The whole group gasped and held her hands together. Tzuyu's tears started to burst out, even Chaeyoung cried with her.
She didn't deserve that.
Lisa remembered how kind Tzuyu was to anyone who had a crush on her. She was always being so polite and nice, but every time she opened up people always treated her like that. In Lisa's opinion, Tzuyu was the prettiest woman she's ever seen real-time. She could even be an idol! Tzuyu was soft-spoken, well-mannered and smart, so does the rest of the group. Sometimes Lisa wondered how she could be in this group after all, but when she said it to Chaeyoung Chaeng would smack her and yelled: "How could you think that way you dummy!"
Lisa still doesn't understand what that meant.
They drank a little bit more and soothed the sobbing Tzuyu some more. She was already asleep with her cheeks on the table when Lisa said she's leaving to the group.
"Whaat whyy so early?" Sana pouted drunkenly. Mina shook her head and pointed to Lisa's chair, "Sit down Lisayahh let's drink a little bit more."
Lisa grinned, she bowed to pinch Mina's cheek. "Nooo I should have left 30 minutes ago tomorrow I have training."
"Oh yeah yeah yeah I remember you said that. Okay okay Lisa you should go and sleep okay? Do you want me to go with you?" Chaeyoung wiped her tears, she was crying with Tzuyu along the story, she even cried more than the person who experienced the problem.
"No Chaeyoung-ah, it's okay. I've called Jimin to take you home 20 minutes from now, okay? Stay here and don't forget your coat, okay?"
Chaeyoung scrunched her nose and nodded, her cheeks and nose were so red.
Jihyo chuckled, "I think we both are the only ones who don't get drunk from only 5 bottles of soju and beer."
Lisa giggled. She agreed so much with that. Everytime they hang out Lisa and Jihyo will always be the ones who took them home. Most of the time Lisa would call Jimin and Jackson to pick up Chaeyoung and Mina, and then she would take Tzuyu home while Jihyo would be the one who goes with Sana.
"Is it okay you do it all by yourself?" Lisa said with concern. It's hard enough to handle Tzuyu alone, especially when she's sad and drunk, so she knows it will be harder for Jihyo to handle all those 3 woman-babies at the same time.
"It's okayy don't worry, I'll call my friend and take them all to my house. They will go home by themselves tomorrow." Jihyo pressed Sana's nostrils, playing angry cutely at them.
Lisa rolled her eyes. "Friend? Seriously? I told you to just confess, you both clearly like each other."
"No I don't!" Jihyo squealed, trying to sound calm.Lisa could definitely hear the panic in her voice. "Kang Daniel is just a friend to me."
"Stupid, stupid people." Chaeyoung mumbled, her head's on the table, facing Tzuyu. Lisa laughed so hard, holding her stomach.
"See? Even a drunk person knows it's bullshit!"
-
The air was freezing, Lisa tightened her thin coat. She forgot to wear her scarf-kinda. She felt so ridiculous wearing a scarf in autumn (even though it's actually normal) just because it's a little bit cold. Her tolerance of extreme temperatures is very low although she has tried so much to be more resistant since 5 years ago.
She sometimes hesitated to stay at her crappy apartment for any longer. The streets toward the apartment were sketchy and dark with very minimal lighting, and the apartment itself was a little bit creepy, but it was all she could afford with her income working 4 part-time jobs a week. Getting an apartment is harder if you don't have enough money, and if you're a foreigner it will be a bonus minus point.
Lisa is always tempted to move some of her parents' money to her Korean bank account to have a better living, but the idea of getting in trouble with the Chantharat family is enough for her to not do it.
"This is such a shitty room, you liked this kind of place huh?"
Exactly when Lisa switched the lights on, she heard him. The voice she despised the most, forgotten 6 years ago.
-
Jungkook didn't understand why Seokjin asked him to take this case. That man was always an angel. But this client was very annoying, he didn't know anything Jungkook explained but he acted like he knew better than him.
Jungkook knew immediately this person would want the best quality with the lowest price, so he drank 2 shots of espresso before he went to their second meeting. Although the location was quite far from the highway, the size of the land was pretty wide with perfect soil conditions to build an apartment.
When Jungkook went out of the building it was already night. He didn't realize he strained his neck to debate an old man that long. He brushed his hair with his fingers.
"I need a coffee." He sighed. His warm breath created a steam around him. What a cold day.
-
"Sooo what made my little sister never contact me again?" David grinned, blowing his smoke once again. He looked so slender, his hollow eyes socket and the dark circles was the sign of using narcotics. He looked so different from the last time she saw him. At least he looked healthy before, but the change of his appearance clearly showed that he's been wasted for at least 3 years.
Even though he looked high, his eyes never left Lisa's. The same eyes that groped and humiliated her before still have the gaze that was so intimidating and full of anger at her.
She trembled, felt scared and disgusted at the same time. She could swear that her heart was really dropped into her stomach right now. Her feet froze even if her brain kept telling them to run right now.
She put herself together and raised her chin, trying not to sound terrified, "Your little sister?" She gulped. "We're not even related, why would I keep in contact?"
His face went stern and dark. He stood up and took off his coat.
"Shut up."
Lisa felt the tense and felt more scared than before. She really wanted to pass out from the anxiety alone but she would never let her body be unconscious in front of this man's face.
"What are you doing here?" She tried to be more rational and ask questions to make him stay calm. I won't let him touch me even so slightly.
He looked a little more relaxed. He smoked again, looking around the room and opened her drawers. Lisa wanted to stop him but she was afraid he'd blow up with her smallest unexpected moves. All she wants to do is to calm him down and call the police. Somehow. She wasn't sure how, her mind still stuck on a short-term surviving mode.
"You should buy shorter fits, it suits your body better." David mumbled as he went through her clothes. He looked at Lisa and found that her eyes weren't pleased with that answer.
He sighed. "Father was sick. He's been sick for almost a year and a half." His fingers brushed her pile of pants while he licked his lips. Lisa thought she couldn't be more disgusted.
"He then met a businessman from Viet and they already arranged a marriage for you."
Lisa held her sarcastic laugh so hard. Arranged a marriage for me without my knowledge? She really found this family absurd a lot of times.
Suddenly David slapped her face, hard. His hand was literally swinging when he struck it. He knew she was smiling.
Lisa fell to the ground. Her head was ringing so loud from it. And abusive.
"He got sick again when he knew you never called him back, Bitch! Don't you dare mock my father."
"I didn't." She murmured.
"You did!" He kicked her stomach twice when she tried to get up. Lisa groaned, she wanted to cry right now.
David scanned the room and found her travel bag. He stuffed her clothes into it aggressively while Lisa was still trying to recover.
"Stop! What are you doing?" Lisa weakly yelled at him when she noticed what happened. David didn't even bother to answer, he opened another drawer and found her underwear there. He smelled it repulsively. "You're still so tempting, 'Liz'. Is that who you are now? 'Lisa'? You should know, Liz, if mother didn't tell me not to rape you I'd do it since the first day you slept in that room."
"W-what?"
Even with everything she went through with that family she never thought they'd think of her like that.
"Yeah," David got closer to her and grinned so widely. "Mother told me not to screw you so we don't have to deal with mentally unstable person in the house."
"What?" Lisa whispered, that word just slipped from her tongue like a wind. She couldn't process that information. Her eyes wandered around the walls looking for a grip to hold when she realized that David was no longer standing in front of the doorway.
She gathered her courage before she sprinted to the door and ran as fast as she could.
1826 words
Published 16 January 2023