Y/n wouldn't say she's a violent person; heck, She hasn't been involved in a physical fight ever since her and her friend got beaten up by some older students back in middle school for calling one of them a fat-ass.
Well, maybe she needs to reconsider that statement, because maybe she is a violent person after all.
At least if she's had some alcohol beforehand.
They say goodbye to the others and part ways with Momo and Sana since they live in opposite directions of the city.
Everything's fine at first; it's not the best district of the town, known for being the area where illegal (...) things tend to take place, but it's not really dangerous.
Y/n sees a shadow in the corner of her eyes, like someone's trying to push past them, and Jisoo abruptly turns her head with an irritated look on her face.
She turns back again just as fast and Y/n goes rigid at the look on her face; she looks scared.
Y/n looks over her shoulder and sees three guys walking a few feet behind them, clearly drunk, snickering to themselves.
"What just happened?" She asks her, making sure that Lisa doesn't hear it since she's already distracted by some kind of commotion on the other side of the street.
"Nothing. Keep walking," Jisoo says way too quickly.
Y/n doesn't. She stops walking and turns around to face the guys. "Hey!"
"Y/n-" Jisoo hisses, almost urgently. "Don't, let's just leave-"
"Y/n/n, what's wrong?" Lisa asks, eyeing the guys with a confused look on her face.
"What the hell did you just do to her?" Y/n asks them, and alright, that's definitely the alcohol speaking because while Y/n isn't exactly a coward She's also very aware that She's as skinny as a rake and couldn't take down any of these guys.
"What are you talking about?" One of the guys says, the slur in her speech giving away just how drunk he is. "Keep walking, kid."
"Let's go." Jisoo grabs her arm and tries to turn her around.
"Listen to that pretty thing." The one with the cap says, giving Jisoo a creepy smile.
"Dude, be careful what you're saying," Lisa speaks up and steps in front of her.
"Take it as a compliment, man. Your friend's got a nice ass; feels good, too." He laughs again and the other two join her.
"What the fuck?" Lisa looks at Jisoo. "Did they touch you?"
Jisoo glances at the guys with a worried look in her eyes and that's all the confirmation Lisa needs.
They say when adrenaline starts to pump through your body, you don't really think about what you're doing anymore; your body just kind of acts on instinct.
Y/n would like to think that's what happens in the next few moments.
Lisa strides over and punches the guy in the face, making him stumble to the ground. His friends look surprised for a second but after that, one of them shoves Lisa to the ground, kicking her in the stomach.
"Stop!" Jisoo screams, trying to run to Lisa's help but Y/n holds her back forcefully, and next thing she knows she's pulling the guy off of Lisa and punches him in the face.
And after that, she honestly has no idea what the fuck happens. She hears Jisoo screaming, and she sees Lisa on the ground getting kicked and she feels what has to be the most intense pain She's ever felt in her life in her lower abdomen, and then on the side of her face.
She's pretty sure the punch actually knocks her out for a few seconds because Lisa's trying to pull one of the guys away from Y/n when she opens her eyes, shouting profanities at them.
"Leave her alone!" Jisoo screams just as one of the guys kicks Y/n in the stomach again.
"Don't you know not to mess with guys twice your size?!" The guy grunts and is about to throw another punch in Y/n's face.
Something happens; Y/n hears a sizzling noise, like someone's spraying some deodorant or something, and then the guy above her howls in pain and falls backwards to the ground.
The guy starts sobbing and Y/n groans, blinks her eyes open. She sees Jisoo looking down at her with tears in her eyes and a tube of something in her hands, and a second later her eyes start burning.
"What the fuck!"
"W-What?" Jisoo sounds panicked. "Oh my god! Oh my god, Y/n I'm sorry I didn't mean to-"
"Fuck! Fuck what is that?!"
"It's pepper spray! It wasn't meant for you! I'm sorry, Y/n, oh my god, I didn't know what to do-"
And then the police arrive.
-
Y/n can't stop crying.
They're sitting at the police station, in the waiting room. The three guys are sitting in front of them on the other side; two of them only looking mildly beat up while the third is still crying her eyes out, his face blotchy and as red as a tomato. Y/n probably doesn't look any better.
If he wasn't the cause of Y/n's split lip and the awful throbbing in her stomach and on her swollen cheek, Y/n would feel bad for her because damn, pepper spray has got to be a weapon straight out of hell.
Jisoo sprayed that thing straight into the guy's face, while Y/n only caught a small whiff of it and honestly, it still feels like she's never going to be able to see again. Her eyes are watering no matter what, and She can't open them without them burning even though they've been sitting here for almost an hour now.
The police only give them an earful, telling them what could've happened if one of them got seriously hurt.
Lisa says she wants to press charges because one of the guys harassed Jisoo by grabbing her butt (which Jisoo finally admitted after the police officer asked her).
The three guys deny it. They say her friend dropped her phone and accidentally happened to touch her there, and that the only reason the fight happened was Lisa punching their friend for no reason.
And, of course, the police let them off the hook, because everyone involved (including Jisoo) were intoxicated when it happened and they can't fully trust anyone's statement at this point.
They're also really mad about Jisoo possessing a pepper spray, since it's apparently not fully legal to own one without permission.
They take it away from her, but that's as far as it goes; they're allowed to leave after that.
-
Y/n's entire body is just one single pain when She wakes up in the morning.
Her lip looks okay, there's just a cut on the side but her cheek is bruised. So are her ribs, and the front of her stomach. Her knuckles are bruised too. She's not nice to look at.
Showering is a nightmare. Walking hurts. Lying down hurts. Even eating hurts.
How lovely.
Lisa and Jisoo come over in the afternoon after forcing Y/n to take the day off from work; She calls in sick, because telling her boss that she got into a fight and ended up at the police station probably wouldn't be such a good idea.
Jisoo feels horrible for what happened. She thinks it's her fault and she's upset about hurting Y/n with the pepper spray. She gives Y/n a lot of creams and healing patches for her bruises, cooks food for Lisa and her before they leave again, Jisoo saying something about having to make sure Sana actually goes to her date this time.
Somehow, that information feels like another punch to Y/n's stomach.
-
The universe doesn't really like Y/n.
Because later that day, her mom calls her.
"Y/n? Y/n, baby, are you okay?"
Y/n blinks, her stomach dropping. There's no way she could know about it, how could she? "Mom? What are you talking about-"
"Chaeyoung told me you got into a fight! What happened?"
What the hell? Y/n feels anger and frustration bubble in her chest; how on earth did Chaeyoung find out about it, and why did She tell her parents?
And then She vaguely remembers all the unread text messages on her phone when She woke up. Chaeyoung must've texted her but Y/n honestly was too out of it to answer.
"Mom, it's nothing. Chaeyoung was just exaggerating-"
"She said you were at the police station! Y/n, are you okay? Do you know how worried I was when I heard?"
Y/n grits her teeth together. Damn it, Chaeyoung. "I'm fine. Trust me, it's nothing. I'm not even hurt. It was just a bunch of drunk guys looking for trouble."
"Are you sure? Chaeyoung said you got hurt, Y/n. Please tell me the truth."
"I'm not hurt." Y/n feels too tired for this. She's tired and She's angry at Chaeyoung and She's still in pain despite Jisoo giving her some painkillers before she left.
"Are you lying to me?"
"No-"
"I won't get angry Y/n."
"I told you I'm fine-"
"I'm just worried, please just tell me-"
"Mom, I'm not lying!"
It comes out too harsh. Too loud. She almost shouted.
Her mom is silent for a moment, Y/n's mind feels like it's filled with cotton. "Mom-"
"No, it's fine-" She starts and then there's some rustling and Y/n hears her complaining right before her dad starts speaking.
"Did you just yell at your mother?" He sounds angry.
Y/n is silent for a moment. "I didn't mean to."
"You know how sensitive she is right now, and you yell at her?"
"I said I didn't mean to." Y/n repeats. She wants to hang up.
"I'm disappointed in you, Y/n. Getting into fights? Ending up at police stations? Where was Chaeyoung through all of this? Did you leave her home on her own?"
"It's not as bad as it sounds. And She's staying with Tzuyu this weekend."
"What? I don't even know who that Tzuyu girl is, let alone her family. You can start going out again once our family situation has settled down, but right now there are more important things for you to do than getting drunk and getting into irresponsible fights..."
Y/n kind of tunes her father's voice out for a few seconds. Her temples are throbbing, her stomach is killing her, and her dad keeps raising his voice. He says he's disappointed in Y/n, once, twice, says it was a bad idea to leave Chaeyoung with her. He says other things, but it's nothing Y/n hasn't heard before.
"... time to get a grip, do you hear me?"
"Yeah."
"And don't raise your voice against your mom again, Y/n."
"Okay."
Her dad hangs up without another word, and Y/n feels kind of numb when She opens Chaeyoung's last message.
From Chaeyoungie:
> Y/n, are you okay?
To Chaeyoungie:
why did you tell mom? <
who even told you what happened? <
From Chaeyoungie:
> I talked to mom and it just kind of slipped out.
> I'm sorry.
> Jeongyeon heard from Lisa and then Dahyun told me.
To Chaeyoungie:
what the hell were you thinking? <
From Chaeyoungie:
> I said I'm sorry, Y/n.
> Are you angry at me?
To Chaeyoungie:
do you even have to ask? <
From Chaeyoungie:
> I was just worried about you.
To Chaeyoungie:
if you're so worried about me stop reporting everything to mom and dad <
that was a pretty damn stupid move, even for you <
From Chaeyoungie:
> I don't know why you're like this right now but don't take it out on me.
> And thanks for calling me stupid.
> I'll remember that for my next freaking math test.
Y/n glares at Chaeyoung's words, and She doesn't know if she wants to scream or punch herself in the face. She fucking knows how Chaeyoung feels about her grades, She shouldn't have said that but fuck-
She throws her phone on the couch and slides down the wall, burying her face in her arms as She takes calming breaths. She remains sitting there until the sun goes down.
-
Y/n tries to go to sleep early because it's too painful to do anything else anyways, and it would be a lie to say She isn't feeling like shit.
The fight from yesterday, her upsetting her mom, her dad blowing up on her like he always does and Y/n kind of blowing up on Chaeyoung when it wasn't really called for. She knows she should apologise but She doesn't think She has the emotional strength to do that right now.
It's still raining outside, it's dark in her room, and Y/n turns to lie on her side, wincing in pain.
She closes her eyes in hopes of drifting off, but her phone suddenly starts buzzing and when She blinks her eyes open to see who's calling her, She's slightly taken aback to see Sana's name.
Sana hasn't ever called her before, which is strange on its own, but it's almost nine in the evening. Shouldn't she be on her date with Jisoo's friend?
For a fleeting second, Y/n considers not picking up like she always does; if it's nothing urgent, they can just send her a message.
But this is... it's Sana.
"Hello?"
"Y/n?"
It sounds silent in the background. Y/n figures Sana must've gone to the bathroom. "Why are you calling?" Y/n doesn't mean to sound rude, but sometimes She just-
Yeah. There's no real excuse. She's a dick, straight up rude.
"Uhm. Sorry." Sana sounds a bit flustered and Y/n feels bad for being so blunt. "I just... I was with Jisoo earlier, and she told me what happened. I'm sorry we weren't there to help you guys."
Y/n shifts to lie on her back, blinking tiredly against the darkness of her bedroom. "It's not your fault."
"I know. But still... you and Lisa wouldn't have gotten beaten up."
"Yeah. That wasn't so much fun."
"Y/n." Sana sighs. "Are you okay? Jisoo said they kind of beat the hell out of you."
"I'm fine. It's not that bad."
"Are you sure?" Sana is silent for a moment. "You sound weird."
Y/n smiles. She doesn't know why she's smiling. Maybe she's finally going crazy. "Did you ever get punched in the face?"
"Can't say I did."
"You wanna know how it feels?"
"Y/n..." Sana's voice is soft, and Y/n hears her gulp.
"Feels like getting hit by a medicine ball."
Sana chuckles but it doesn't sound very happy. "Sounds painful."
"It is."
They're silent after that. Y/n listens to Sana breathing. It's soothing. "Sana."
"Yeah?"
"You shouldn't keep your date waiting. It's not very polite."
"What? How did you-"
"Jisoo told me."
"Oh." Sana clears her throat. "He already dropped me off."
"Isn't it too early? Did it not go well? "
"No. It was- uh. It was nice. But I..."
Y/n rubs at her eyes. "You what?"
"I couldn't really pay much attention. It wasn't fair."
"Oh... Why not?"
"I kept thinking of you."
"What?"
"I was worried about you. I'm- I still am."
Y/n gulps. "I'm fine, I told you."
"I know but... I'm fucking worried, okay?"
"Well. Don't be. I'm okay."
"Can I see you?"
"Uh, what?"
"Can I come see you?"
"Like- right now?"
"Yeah. I'll leave right after but I just- I want to see you, just for a minute."
There's a lot of things Y/n doesn't understand when it comes to Sana, and one of them is her agreeing to this.
-
Sana arrives almost an hour later. She's wearing a black dress, and Y/n doesn't even know why, but the sight makes her feel even worse. Sana's eyes immediately go to the nasty bruise on Y/n's cheek.
"Hey," Y/n mumbles, slowly closing the door behind her.
"Hi," Sana mutters, her eyes still glued on the bruise, and if Y/n didn't know Sana any better She might've been scared by the hard look on her face. "Fucking cowards. Three against two? How old were they? What the fuck- "
"It looks worse than it is," Y/n interrupts her.
"Jisoo said they almost broke your ribs."
"They're just bruised." Y/n sighs. "I'm fine."
"Can I see?"
Y/n crosses her arms in front of her chest, leaning back against the door. "That's not a good idea. I told you it looks worse than it is." Y/n awkwardly says and Sana's face falls.
"Y/n..."
"Sana, just drop it. People get beaten up way worse than this."
"I don't care about other people. They shouldn't have- " Sana's shoulders sag. "They shouldn't have done this to you."
"Yeah." Y/n chuckles, but it hurts her ribs so she ends up wincing and for some reason, it looks like Sana is the one in pain. "Shit happens."
Sana's eyes look her up and down once, and Y/n remembers that She must look like crap right now.
"Do you need anything?" Sana asks and the genuine concern in her eyes squeezes at Y/n's heart. "Painkillers? Did you cool the bruises?"
Y/n tries to smile but Sana worrying over her makes her feel all weird and dizzy; but maybe that's just the painkillers finally kicking in. "Jisoo kind of equipped me with everything I need. But- uhm. Thank you."
They stand looking at each other for an awkward moment before Sana speaks up. "I should leave."
You should stay.
Y/n nods but they both don't move at all. Y/n really doesn't want Sana to leave.
She feels weird. She doesn't think being alone will help.
"Y/n, are you sure you're okay?"
"Yeah." Y/n's throat is closing up and She kind of helplessly looks up at Sana, who looks clueless about what she's supposed to do. "I'm okay."
"What's wrong?" Sana asks gently, stepping closer.
"Nothing."
"Y/n... Please."
"You should leave. I was about to go to sleep-"
Sana hugs her.
She cuts her off by wrapping her arms around Y/n and pulling her close, careful not to press into her bruises, and Y/n's stiff in her embrace, not really sure what to do. Sana feels warm, and She smells so nice, her dress rough against Y/n's mouth where it's pressed against her shoulder.
"Does it really hurt that much?" Sana mumbles, holding her a bit tighter.
She's talking about her injuries, and yeah, they hurt, but Y/n is hurting in a whole different way.
"It doesn't hurt," Y/n says.
"Why are you lying?" Sana asks. "You keep lying. Do you think I don't notice? You cried yesterday; you said it was because of the contact lenses, but you weren't wearing them. You could barely read the menu card, Y/n."
Sana starts to pull away after a beat when Y/n doesn't answer - as if she thinks Y/n really wants her to leave. Y/n's hands shoot up to grasp the back of her dress, stopping her from going anywhere.
It's a huge step. Y/n isn't drunk, not one bit, and she doesn't know what any of this means or what She's getting herself into.
"Do you want me to stay?" Sana carefully asks. "Until you fall asleep?" She doesn't dig any further, doesn't demand an answer to what She said a minute ago, and Y/n feels like an asshole all over again.
She should tell Sana to leave before She messes things up even more, but She doesn't.
"Sana," She mumbles. "Why are you being so nice to me? I'm a dick."
"You're not a dick," Sana answers. "I mean, you act like one, but I don't think you're a dick."
"Thanks." Y/n snorts, and it hurts her ribs again and She instinctively presses closer against Sana, like She's stupid enough to think it'll take the pain away. Sana rubs a palm over her back, and really, it makes Y/n forget about her bruises, even if just for a moment.
"Y/n..." Sana sounds like She's smiling and Y/n feels her breath stutter when Sana leans her head against Y/n's shoulder. "Why do you think I'm being nice to you?"
"Because you want to get in my pants?"
"How did you know?"
Y/n pinches her back and Sana squirms against her, laughing softly. It makes Y/n smile. It makes her chest ache in a nice way.
God... this is so hopeless. It's so pointless. Y/n isn't stupid, She knows what this means, She knows why her heart is pounding so demandingly against her ribcage whenever she so much as thinks about Sana.
"You know, I asked you yesterday, how you can't stop thinking about the person when you like someone, right?"
"Yes."
"Yeah. You see..." Sana makes a weird strangled noise, and then - before Y/n can begin to freak out - "I can't stop thinking about you."
----