"Appa!" Hana called out to the man standing in the doorway. She ran up to the taller man, grinning from ear to ear. The man had a stern look on his face. The girl sensed the tension, immediately dropping her smile. "Get your stuff. We're going home."
Items were thrown around the house. A broken vase laid on the floor, fragments scattered all over the room. Haeun's eyes met with the girl standing in the doorway. "Let's go." Haeun grabbed the girl's hand, pulling her to another room. Tear streaks were noticeable on Haeun's cheeks.
"Haeun, what's going on?" The younger girl asked, frightened. "Appa is no longer going to live with us."
"What? What do you mean?" Hana's dad was her biggest role model, he was the one who introduced her to boxing. Haeun shook her head, beginning to sob. Hana couldn't stand it. She ran out of the room to her dad.
"Appa what-" Her words were cut off seeing two other figures standing in front of her. "Hana. This is your new mom and sister." Her dad gestured to the lady and an older girl by her side. "Hana come to mommy." The lady reached out to Hana.
"No! Where's my mom?" Hana frantically looked around, trying to find her mom. Her mom sat in the corner, against the call. Exhausted from crying. Her hand was covered in blood from the broken fragments.
"You ungrateful brat. Go to your poor mom then." The lady spoke coldly after Hana rejected her. Hana's dad stood there silently watching the lady berate her. "Your dad doesn't want you anymore. I'm his daughter now." The older girl smirked at Hana.
"Appa." Hana turned to her father. She wanted answers. "I can't do this anymore. I don't love your mother anymore. I'm leaving." The man spoke with no emotions in his eyes. "Appa. Please don't go."
"What is that she has that we don't give you?" Hana asked, starting to realize the situation. "Money." Hana's family was lower class even before she was born. Her mom got pregnant with her sister at the age of 19. Her dad's family despised her mom. They hated her for being poor.
Hana's face turned cold hearing the reason behind her dad's actions. "I don't need a wife and daughter like you. Useless."
"Appa, please, no." Hana begged seeing her family fall apart. "No. I'm leaving." Her dad turned away with the lady by his side, her daughter holding his hand. The door shut, letting silence fill the room.
———
"Is that why you left the academy?" Jeno asked, wiping his own tears. Hana nodded, wiping her own. The male never knew why she had disappeared and came back completely different from the younger Hana. Jeno pulled the smaller girl into his embrace, hugging her tight.
Hana sobbed into his shoulder, releasing all of her worries for the past 7 years. Hana was a young girl, barely turning 19 in a few months. She had to replace the role of her father to earn money for the family ever since she was 12. She worked 2 to 3 jobs everyday making as much money as possible. Her sister was no different. Haeun had quit college to find a job overseas. There she found her current husband. The pair didn't even get to have an actual wedding due to their financial situation. Her husband went back to law school while Haeun worked for the both of them. Her husband eventually became a successful lawyer. Her husband was the one sending Hana and her mom money every month.
Hana's father eventually moved to Vietnam leaving his own country. Hana hasn't had contact with him ever since he left and she would like for it to stay that way. Hana dreaded the idea of running into him here, the chances were slim but never zero.
The girl had to endure so much. Jeno always hated the way she kept to herself. She was always alone, it made Jeno think she thought she was better than everyone else. In reality, Hana was afraid everyone would judge her. Her family's event took the entire city by storm. Everyone knew it as the dad who had an affair for money. The team would discuss it for weeks, but they didn't know it was her family.
"I'm so sorry." Hana lifted her head, seeing the tear stains on Jeno's shirt. Jeno looked at the girl with confusion. "Why are you apologizing?" He asked softly, wiping her tears. "I came back to the academy and was so rude to everyone. Everyone was excited to see me again, but I acted like I wasn't. I remember you approached me asking why I was such a bitch." The girl laughed with teary eyes recalling the moment. Jeno rubbed his nape in embarrassment. "I hated you so much at that time. You made Jisung cry because you ignored him!"
"I didn't ignore him on purpose! I had my airpods in, I was trying to choreograph in my head!" Hana defended herself when she realized why Jisung cried. "You still made him cry!" Jeno retorted back to her response. Hana couldn't hold in her laughter seeing the pure disbelief in Jeno's face. The girl bursted out laughing, falling back. Jeno panicked thinking she was going to bang her head. His hand darted out to break her fall, catching her mid fall. Their eyes met, surprising her mid laugh. Her eyes darted across his face, avoiding his gaze.
He pushed her up to sit up right. "Stop hurting your back, your shoulder is already tired of you." He nagged at her. "Now I know why I hate you, Lee Jeno." Hana scoffed with the mention of her shoulder. "Yah. You can't be saying that after you kissed me DoHa." Jeno was hurt by her words.
"I know we're nothing to one another right now but you can't look me in the eyes and tell me you hate me after earlier. As much as you don't want to admit it, I know you are developing feelings." Am I developing feelings for him?
— — —
"You like her don't you." Jaemin spoke up among the chaos of the kids chasing each other around the arena. Jaemin's words took Jeno by surprise. Nothing could ever get past Jaemin. Jeno didn't reply, he averted his gaze to Hana's figure chasing Minjoon and Mijoo who were giggling brightly.
"Are you going to do it?" Jaemin asked, waving his hand in front of Jeno's eyes to get his attention.
"We kissed the other night." Jeno blurted out.
Jaemin, who was enjoying his Vietnamese coffee, choked violently hearing Jeno's words. "Excuse me?" Jaemin shrieked, realizing he spilled his coffee on his shirt. Jeno put his face in his hands, sitting there for a moment. Jaemin stared at the male in disbelief that it took him days to tell his own best friend. Jaemin sat there for a moment putting the two pieces together. "Was that why you weren't in your room the other day?"
Jeno was awoken by the buzzing right by his ear. He sleepily answered the call without looking at the caller ID.
"Yah. Open the door." Jeno opened his eyes to see who was calling.
Jae
Jeno shot up realizing who it was. Hana jolted awake from the sudden movement. Jeno ran to her door, looking out at the peephole to see Jaemin standing at his door.
"Hello? Are you dead there?" Jaemin's voice called out from the phone, bringing Jeno's attention back to the call. "Uh no. Can you get me some coffee from the lobby? My leg hurts too much to go down." Jeno replied hoping he would fall for it. Jaemin sighed. "Be glad you're my best friend." Jaemin hung up the call, leaving Jeno's door. Jeno waited for the sound of the elevator closing before making a run for his room.
"You- Her- Oh my god." Jaemin stuttered realizing why Jeno didn't open the door for him that morning. It also explained why Hana had thrown Jeno's hoodie in his face when they gathered for warm ups. Hana had used the excuse he had left it on the stage the night before. Jaemin thought Jeno was asleep in his room that night, thinking nothing much of it then. Now everything was making sense. "Did you guys .. you know?" Jaemin whispered in Jeno's ear.
Jeno's ears turned red hearing Jaemin's absurd question. "Yah. Jaemin. I'd beat someone to death for you, I'd murder for you but ask me dumb questions like that and I'd plain kill you." Jeno hissed immediately chasing Jaemin who was making a run for it.
"OW!"
"Jeno. Jaemin." A female voice called out. They both stopped in their tracks realizing who's voice it was. Hana glared at the two who just ran into Minjoon, making the boy fall. Jaemin turned to see where Minjoon was lying motionless. The male ran towards Minjoon, picking him up in his arms. "Aigoo, my baby Minjoon-ah." Jaemin apologized to the boy who was rubbing his head in pain. Minjoon bursted out in tears crying for his mom.
Hana sighed hearing Minjoon crying. Minjoon was already having a bad day because Mijoo had yanked his tractor out of his hand. Hana rubbed her shoulder, praying they would endure his weight for a bit more. The girl walked to the crying boy, reaching out for him.
"Come here Minjoon." Jeno reached out to the younger boy, putting him on his shoulder. The sudden height stopped the tears flowing from the boy's eyes. Minjoon began giggling when he realized how tall he was compared to Jaemin. Jaemin pretended to surrender to his height. "Oh noooo! I surrender Minjoon!"
The twins eventually left with their mom, relieving Hana of her babysitting duties. Even as a nationally ranked martial artist, it didn't give her a reason to escape babysitting. Taeyong entered the room with a mischievous look on his face. "You look scary Taeyong." Hana backed away from the older male. He bent down to whisper in Hana's ears before pretending nothing was happening. Hana looked confused, processing his words. "We're moving practice to later today. We'll meet again at 2:30." Hana announced to the team, confusing her team and everyone else.
Everyone dispersed, making plans for their free time. Only Taeyong, Jeno, Jaemin, and Hana were left in the room. "You too, Hana. Come back at 2:30." Taeyong shooed her out of the room with an apologetic look on his face. Or was it a smirk? Hana has never been more confused in her life.
— — —
"My granddaughter!" "Grandma!" Hana ran into the arms of an elderly lady. The elderly lady patted her head as Hana wrapped her arms around her grandma. "You have grown so much!" Her aunts and uncles surrounded her, hearing the commotion of her visiting. Hana pulled back to smile at her family. Nothing has changed about them except for a few wrinkles here and there. The last time Hana had seen her mom's side of the family was when she was 4. She hadn't remembered much besides how much everyone cried when the family had to fly back to Korea.
All of her cousins who were her age were eager to see her again. They were each other's best friend when they were little and it had been ages since they last hung out again. Her two closest cousins, Ara and Seojoon, tackled her to the ground, hugging their best friend like little kids again. "Bitch where have you been?" Ara cried out. Hana laughed at their reaction to her coming back.
"Are you here visiting? Oh my gosh, are you moving back here?" Seojoon asked, stopping midtrack. Hana shook her head no. "Nope. I'm here for a showcase." Ara and Seojoon were both visibly confused. "Showcase?" Hana smiled knowing this was the perfect chance. "It's next Friday, I came to invite the whole family." She passed out the flier to their showcase with all the information.
"Is it dance or what?" Ara asked while reading through the flier. "Rising Dragons." Seojoon mumbled to himself. He whipped his head to Hana with wide eyes. "Rising Dragons as in Ace Lee Jeno Rising Dragons?" Hana was even more shocked to hear Jeno being associated with the word 'ace'. Ara caught up to Seojoon's train of thought. "Oh my god. You're in the same group as Jeno and THE DO HANA."
Hana threw her head back laughing. She was laughing so hard, tears were starting to form in her eyes. "Byeol. Why are you laughing?" "Mate. Do you know how hard it is to see The DoHa PERFORM?" Hana's phone rang, cutting their conversation short.
Jeno calling...
Seojoon yelled in excitement. "Yah! Byeol! Lee Jeno is calling!" Hana giggled as she answered the call. She put the call on speaker so the other two could hear their idol.
"Hana-ah, where are you?" His breath was heavy, probably from working out.
Ara and Seojoon looked at each other. "Hana?" They whispered to one another. Ara and Seojoon never knew what Hana's Korean name was, they only referred to her as Byeol, which was her nickname. They were too young to understand what each other's real name is.
"DoHa. Are you still there?" Jeno called out again hearing the two other voices whisper. "DOHA??" Seojoon screamed hearing Jeno refer to Hana as DoHa. "Why is he calling you DoHa, Byeol?"
"Byeol? Who's Byeol? Hana, who are you with?" Jeno spoke up, reminding them he was still there.
"Jeno, these are my two cousins, Ara and Seojoon. They're big fans of you."
"Me? Fans? Hana, you're the one with fans, little Miss captain."
Seojoon and Ara's jaw dropped hearing Jeno's words. "You're Captain of Rising Dragons? As in Do Hana? Nationally Ranked MMA?" Hana nodded at their realization.
"I'll send you my address, come pick me up."
"Alright my love." Ara's jaw dropped even lower hearing the last two words. Hana checked her phone to make sure Jeno hung up before turning to Ara. "Pick up your jaw bro."
"Byeol. You're telling me that MY cousin is THE Do Hana, THE DoHa, THE captain of Rising Dragons, THE Youngest Nationally ranked MMA Female." Hana shrugged at Ara. "Why did I not know this?" Seojoon tilted his head in confusion. "And you're dating Lee Jeno, the ace?"
Hana's eyes widened hearing the words 'dating' and 'Jeno' in the same sentence. "We're not dating Joon." She shoved the male out of embarrassment. "Enough about him. Update me on everything."
— — — —
"No way!" Hana exclaimed at the news she just heard. "So she just left with all of the money?" Ara nodded. "She even fled the country." The girl added, making Hana choke on her water.
"Byeolie! Some macho man is here for you!" Hana's aunt's voice called out to her. Her phone buzzed in her hand.
Jeno: I'm here.
"Jeno's here." Hana said to her two cousins. Before she could react, they were already running down the stairs. Hana followed them down the stairs. "Woah." Ara stopped in the middle of the staircase. "Yah! Ara!" Hana banged her head into Ara's when she stopped abruptly. Hana followed their gaze to see what they were looking at.
Jeno was outside. He was in black ripped jeans and a black muscle shirt that showed off his toned arms. His hair was damp from sweat. He was leaning against a motorcycle that was the same color as his outfit. "Jeno, I'm giving you exactly 2 seconds to get off my bike before I cut you from the showcase." Hana called out, sending fear into Jeno. Jeno did not want getting cut at all, if he was cut, his plan would fail. Hana would be lying if seeing Jeno didn't do something to her heart. She has been viewing Jeno in a different way after their time spent together.
Hana pushed past her two cousins who were frozen on the stairs, gawking at their idol. Hana approached Jeno, whispering something in his ear before turning back to the cousins. "Are you going to stand there staring or do you want to meet him?" Ara and Seojoon rushed down the stairs, nearly falling over one another.
"This is Ara and Seojoon. They're my cousins." Hana gestured to the two. Jeno smiled at them. "Nice to meet you! I'm Jeno, Hana's co-captain." Seojoon was the first to speak up. "Are you dating Byeol?" Hana quickly covered Seojoon's mouth. Jeno laughed at the sudden question.
"I'm working on it."