𝙂𝙊𝙊𝘿 𝙂𝙄𝙍𝙇𝙎! 𝙣𝙘𝙩 𝙙𝙧𝙚𝙖𝙢

"she's really not coming?" ren questioned danbi, her arm linked with hers and their voices gradually getting louder as they approached the house, music drowning out their conversation.

danbi pulled out her phone from her back pocket and glanced at her screen, yet again receiving no text message from their friend. they assumed she'd change her mind as she usually does, but this time it was starting to look like she was really keeping her word.

"she'll cave, give it a good twenty minutes." ren added.

as every neo party they've gotten used to was, the place was packed from the inside out. people spilling out of the doors onto the front yard, dressed in layers to keep themselves warm as they held onto cups and comfortable conversation.

the group were somehow able to squeeze past everyone, keeping each other clear insight as long as they good before everyone began to separate once they finally made it inside.

mark and jaemin stuck to each others side as they went to the kitchen first for a drink. although it was now far too late, jaemin was starting to rethink his decision in coming in the first place, knowing the only think he'd been able to think about was yun. somehow it only made it worse not seeing her there.

jaehyun appeared in the corner of marks eye when he approached him, turning his body fully to see him accompanied by another recognizable neo. unfortunately the friend group didn't care all that much to remember all of their names.

"what's up," jaehyun greeted, bro-hugging the two boys stood at a kitchen bar, "this is johnny, johnny, mark and jaemin."

the taller now-named man nodded his head with a small grin, shaking the two of their hands before shoving his own back in his pocket. "did yun come with? have you seen her?" jaehyun asked.

jaemin felt his heart skip at the sound of her name, reverting his eyes and allowing mark to answer. "nah, she's not here. not sure if she's even coming."

jaehyun nodded, realizing she wasn't lying when she told him she wasn't interested in going. he swallowed the slight feeling of disappointment and the four engaged themselves in conversation.

haechan felt annoyingly bored without her presence, as the two of them usually struck by each others sides at parties. most of the time they were accompanied by jisung or ren and the night never got dull with this group. but god did it feel different without her.

his eyes scanned his surroundings after he'd wandered off from the group, quickly spotting kyong just a few feet away leaned against a wall, isolated from everyone else the same way he was. the boy couldn't move his eyes from her and spent a good minute contemplating if approaching her was a good idea. his feet moved before his mind could decide and before he knew it, they were inches apart.

"yes?" kyong asked, lifting her eyes to meet his.

"great party, huh?" he attempted, "kidding. imagine if i really talked like that."

the shorter couldn't fight the grin tugging at her lips at his instant jokes, almost unable to hold back a chuckle. "you'd sound so stupid. kinda like you already do."

haechans jaw fell slack to the floor in a playful manner, a small gasp leaving his mouth. "wow, i came to make sure we're good but yeah that says it."

"we're good, haechan." the girl replied, trying to ease the visible stress over his face.

"i'm sorry," he ignored, "i fucked up. i should've been honest with you and myself from the start."

kyong waved him off, "don't worry about it. i don't want anything to be awkward so let's just be cool, alright?"

she could both hear and see sincerity from the boy, his confidence drifting away as he moved his pride to the side to make things right. she couldn't find it in her to hold a grudge even when she felt like he wasted her time, and they both knew it wouldn't be good for any of them to be bitter towards each other.

kyong wanted to drop the topic all together, but curiosity took over. "so, do you like her?"

with his lips on his cup, haechan almost choked on the hard liquor falling down his throat at the sudden question. "yeah, i like her. a lot. it's bad."

"knew it."

"yunyeong, can we please talk to you?"

yun sat up in her bed as the sound of her fathers voice came from the other side of her door. she usually would have refused, but hearing him sound so desperate to fix the tension among them she couldn't this time.

she took a dreadful walk to her door, twisting open and coming to face the older man. he gave a sad smile before turning to allow her to walk ahead until they reached the bottom of the stairs.

the woman who made yuns life a living hell sat neatly at the couch in front of their glass coffee table, straight posture and hands clasped over her lap. yuns heart suddenly beat in her chest faster than normal, knowing they were about to confront their dysfunctional relationship.

the girl stopped at the doorway, feeling her dad pass her to face the two of them. he inhaled a breath and exhaled before speaking. "there's obviously things we need to discuss, and since yun has been old enough to speak for herself for years, we really need to clear everything up.

yun subconsciously held a glare at her mother while the woman stared straight ahead blankly, only making yun grow angrier. "well i have lots to say."

it wasn't until the last of her sentence slipped off her tongue when her mother finally looked up, perked eyebrows as if saying 'spill it, if you so dare.'

"not that i want to fix whatever corrupt relationship we have," she began, "but i think it's finally time for you to know how fucked up i am now because of you."

"and yes, i am blaming you, because i never had the chance to think or speak for myself until i left for school and let me fucking tell you," she scoffed, "life has never been better. i don't even like calling you my mother because you never did a thing for me."

"never? i never did anything for you, yunyeong?" the woman finally spoke back, seemingly ignoring every other thing her daughter said. "i did everything i could to make sure you had a good life. we kept a roof over your head, food on your plate—"

"because you had to!" yun leaned off the doorway, hands flung up and tears welling. "you had to do that because you're my mom. you never cared about me. never. just my future, yourself, and your stupid reputation."

"that is not true. i wanted you to have the life you've always wanted."

"you're not listening. i never wanted that life, you did. you pushed all your insecurities onto me because you never got the life you wanted."

for the first time in her entire life, yun saw her mothers expression go soft as tears welled in her eyes. "i can't believe you just said that." voice coming out quieter than intended.

all the younger could do was shrug, tears now fully streaming down her face as her dad watched the interaction go down, face in the palms of his hand.

"it hurts, doesn't it? it hurts to hear something so fucking cruel? just like when you almost completely lost me, you still couldn't look me in the eye and tell me you love me."

the words cut through her parents like a knife, almost like reality was hitting them. "you remember that day? i do. waking up in the hospital all alone. i still have nightmares about it."

"stop. i get it, yunyeong, i do," her mother pleaded.

yun knew she didn't get it and she fully believed she never would, and she couldn't find it in her to say it anymore. no one said a word and for a minute the only thing that could be heard was light sniffles and yuns heart beat ringing in her ears. the silence became unbearable and she didn't waste a minute turning her heal.

"where are you going?"

"a party."

it was crystal clear that the very last thing the girl needed was to be at a party, but she couldn't stand another second around her parents. she was already drunk on her emotions when she let words slip past her lips, talking more with her heart and hardly thought before she spoke.

she was already half way to her destination on foot, taking a 15 minute walk to the address of the party hosted by none other than the neos. she had no idea what she was going to say to her friends when she arrived, why she changed her mind, how she even got there, why there were tear stains across her cheeks.

and she couldn't find it in her to care when the smell of alcohol flooded her nostrils, stepping up to the front door and letting the adrenaline take over. the music was loud enough to where she couldn't even hear her own thoughts and there were sweaty drunken bodies all around her.

it somehow didn't take long for her to spot one of the friends, renjun talking to someone she didn't recognize. his eyes mindlessly scanned the party, chuckling lightly at the conversation he was engaged in as he locked eyes with yun looking more lost than ever.

he quickly excused himself and pushed through everyone to get to her, watching her scratch her head. "yun! you're here!"

"mhm." she hummed, though it was too loud for him to hear as he engulfed her in a hug.

"you alright? what changed your mind?"

she sighed when he pulled away, shaking her head. "nothing important. i need a drink."

before he could protest her very obvious out-of-character behavior, she was already pushing past him to the kitchen and pouring herself a drink before he could even catch up.

"you're absolutely insane," he laughed, watching her down whatever it was in her cup. she couldn't hold in a cough as she dropped it, scrunching her face in disgust.

"that's fucking gross," she huffed.

"yeah, you don't seem like you're in the right state to drink tonight."

"oh i'm not. do you think jungwoo would wanna hookup again?"

"yun... no."