::
"We need to talk."
Everyone knew the magic words to being screwed. Yuri sighed, softly grabbing her hair in thought. She could roughly guess what it was that Seungcheol wanted to ask and the answer she could not give.
Yuri glanced around the room and the state of her own self. This was a mess. What were they doing, starting an argument in the middle of a hospital room? They were idols and the situation was nothing less than scandalous. Yuri let out a frustrated sigh, before beginning, "Cheol-ssi, we'll talk another time." She clutched her hand, looking everywhere but at him, "I pulled out my IV in a hurry and I need it looked at first and then sort out the situation with Jung Min. We need to make sure he keeps his mouth shut about the punch and—"
"Are you okay?" Seungcheol's swift words cut her off.
Yuri glanced at him, perplexed by the unexpected question. "What?" Wasn't this supposed to be about their relationship?
Seungcheol was frowning, angry almost but holding it all back to the best of his ability. But rather than it all, his eyes displayed pain. "Your hand," he spoke with his teeth gritted, gently holding the area above her elbow, "You fainted." He supplied simply, an explanation to the painted confusion on her face. "Are you even okay?"
Yuri realised then. There was a lot that Seungcheol had wanted to say. But he was holding back. The restraint on his face was obvious.
"I'm okay." Yuri breathed. She had been testing his patience without realising that it was much too dangerous a game to play. Seungcheol's protectiveness had taken leaps and bounds since the Yeon-Hwi incident and now it was reaching its peak. She had to do something to douse the fire, "I'm physically fine, I promise. This altercation was a one time thing and won't repeat itself."
Seungcheol let a forced nod as if pushing himself to adapt with the situation. Gaze stuck onto the dried blood seeping out her arm, he tried to erase the image of how weak Yuri had once been when the Police had finally rescued her from Yeon Hwi. He convinced himself she was as well as she described herself to be. Nothing was wrong.
"Okay." He answered her, disappointed in the lack of details. Like stones stuck in his throat, he found it difficult to say anything else and a strange silence swallowed them until a nurse discovered Yuri walking around without the IV. It had moved on promptly from then on. He had bowed silently as one after another the doctor and Yuri's group members had shown themselves in. Seungcheol made himself scarce after that.
Typing out a short message to Yuri informing her of his leave, SCoups returned to the shoot he had so hastily abandoned.
::
Yuri felt like a fool.
She could see Seungcheol's frustration clear as day but did nothing to remedy it. Her relationship had already begun fraying at the ends but now it was equipped with her blatant refusal to respond and his stubborn inability to ask her anything. But what was she to say even if he were to ask? Her past had always been taboo. Coups roughly knew of the truth but only the distorted simplified version that had managed to reach the airs.
He knew Yuri's mother had once abandoned her. But SCoups had no knowledge of the things she had done behind his back, to grow, to find her biological mother before she'd shown up to HYBE herself. And now all of it, along with Jung Min had become a ticking time bomb over her career and relationships.
She had to deal with it swiftly. So, soon after her discharge from the hospital, Yuri found herself sitting in front of a disgruntled Jung Min holding his roughly patched-up cheek as if the wound was larger than his bruised ego and the infamous villain herself—Yuri's biological mother.
Yuri looked around the place of their meeting. It was an elegant Korean sitting room with firm embroidered walls on each side overlooking a small fountain garden. It was a cafe primarily, seeing how she was handed a menu and the mutter of her proud mother, "Order whatever you like, my daughter. Your mother finally gets to have a meeting with you. Buying a meal is the smallest thing I can possibly do."
"But you're not my mother." Yuri's swift reply cut off the woman. It didn't matter if there were ears in the room. Facts we're facts. She pointed at one of the pictures on the menu to gesture to the waiting staff who understood her order and left the room. "And I'm perfectly capable of paying for my meals now. Might I remind you I'm not the same five-year-old who once vyed for your attention and depended on you?"
Her mother pressed her lips to a thin line. Yuri was much more different from a few hours ago, when she had shocked herself out of consciousness. But the woman tried her luck, "Children will always remain children in the eyes of their parents, Yuri-yah." She exclaimed, "You may think you've grown up but to me, you'll always be the same five year old."
Yuri scoffed, holding back a laugh at the statement, "It's because I really was a child the last time you saw me." It was ridiculous to think that anything usual or general even remotely applied to her mother, "Things have changed a lot since you abandoned me nearly two decades ago, don't you think?"
The disguise of warmth and love faltered for a second on her mother's face but the woman managed to conceal it before anyone could notice. The sharp words and nonchalant attitude was not what she'd expected of the daughter she remembered. But despite Yuri's strong appearance, her mother knew her weakness, "I heard my dear daughter Yuri searched for me quite a lot these past few years, no?" She smiled, assured by the facts known to her, "I know you'll always miss your mother no matter how much we're pushed apart. So, now I'm here to be next to you, my caring daughter. You don't have to worry."
It was a fact that Yuri had looked for her mother in the past. Jung Min had been the key for it. Ever since Yuri had found out that the friend she'd trusted, Jung Min, had become some sort of communication device for her mother, she'd been hoping to find the location of mother who had abandoned her.
Yuri nodded, allowing the woman in front of her the satisfaction of having confirmed it. "I did look for you." She began, sipping on the water they'd been served earlier. She seemed momentarily taken by the intricate glass in her hand. But a second later, the glass had touched the table with a bang.
Her mother flinched.
Yuri didn't wait, "But I don't really care about you." She explained, "There are people in this world who love me now. I looked for you so I could cut you off, so that the people I genuinely care about don't ever have to see your face." She gritted the words out, anger and voice rising with every world. Then, as if she could calculate the tension in the room, Yuri spoke in a low dangerous tone, "So, tell me what you want. I know you're here because you want something from me. It's why you showed up at HYBE, in front of the kids."
"Tell me," Yuri ordered, throwing out a bone for her mother to chew, "Put forth your demands so that we can be done with this nonsense and never see each other again."
The woman that had called herself Yuri's mother was startled. She was taken aback by the sheer hate that her daughter voiced but was also proud to see Yuri grow into a woman that could challenge her like this. She leaned back, sinking into her seat with a smile. 'Fine' is what her expression read without a word spoken.
"I hear you've forged my signatures to get adopted into my sister's family?" Yuri's mother gestured to her source of information, Jung Min who was standing with a cracked face. "In your current position as an Idol, are you willing to let the world, your adoptive parents and boyfriend included learn of this misdeed?"
"There's no—"
"Did you ask me to tell you what I want?" Her mother began before Yuri could get a chance to speak, "It's simple. Work under me."
Her mother procured a few documents she seemed to have stashed away earlier. They were papers of the company Jung Min had purchased and other land deeds tucked away in a transparent folder. Yuri chose this time to interject, "Why would I ever work for you?"
"Because you have no choice." Her mother supplied. "Or do you? You can well walk away and face the consequences. In hindsight, that is a choice as well." Her mother hinted he with a devious smile of her own. Passing the folder onto her, the woman continued, "I'll give you the company. 100% profit. I'll let you do whatever you want with your little group in there and play around for as long as you like. I'm only here to spend time with my daughter."
Yuri felt it was suspicious. There had to be a catch. She was giving away too much. And why would she want to spend time with the daughter she went to such lengths to abandon? Something was off. "Why now?"
"I'll only remain in this country for one year. Work under me for one year and I'll leave you alone." Her mother spoke, he smile sweeter than candy. "Isn't this a good deal?"
It was so sweet that Yuri was going to get diabetes. "And leave HYBE?"
"Leave everything." Her mother glanced down at her nails. There was a price for everything. "It's better than going to jail for mishandling government documents and impersonating my signatures, don't you think? It's not even legal to be adopted after turning 18." Her mother laughed at the absurdity, "You messed with dates, ages and pulled connections to make it happen."
The evidence was against her. Yuri knew to separate facts from fiction in these cases. While her mother may be the viper, she would not gamble on a losing bet. But the deal was too sweet, too suspicious. One year was short and owning the company meant keeping the group name. One question rang in her head instead, 'What did she get from this situation?'
It didn't seem as though the woman was going to take any more questions. She leaned forward, a greedy glint in her eyes, "So, what will your choice be?"
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