+ twenty nine

It had been about a week since they returned to Korea from Mexico and about two weeks since Narda had been put on probation from her work. She instead quit her job and was searching for a job somewhere else. At the moment, she had no income, but had enough money to cover her rent and other expenses in her savings account. Having learned through Oriana that his sister was out of a job, her brother Aldair was sending money her way as well, but he continuously called her on the phone to check up on her and ask her why she wouldn't just come home now. She had nothing left for her in Korea, as he saw it. Yes, there was Chanyeol, but they could continue to see each other while she was back home with her family.

Narda saw it as a blessing that everyone seemed to be helping her in her time of need. Her brother was sending money, Chanyeol had vowed to pay for anything she needed and was working hard to help her find another job. Even Baekhyun was sending over envelopes stuffed with cash to her apartment. All of which she would send back with Chanyeol. When he would try to send them back to her, Narda started giving the money to Florencia, for her Free Smiles Club organization.

She told her friend they were donations to her on behalf of Byun Baekhyun.

Florencia tried to help her as well, giving her a raise in her job as a secretary at the organization. But most of the work that people did for her was voluntary. They were essentially a non profit who stayed afloat thanks to donations. They didn't charge the families that they helped out.

Kyungsoo and Nari also tried to help her out. Nari assured her that as long as she didn't have her teaching job anymore, she wouldn't have to pay any expenses at the apartment. Kyungsoo promised that he would pay Narda's share of the rent. But Narda declined their offer. She noticed the way the two of them seemed to be having problems and arguments of the last few weeks, and she didn't want to burden them further, having to cover all of her expenses. One of the things Narda did accept from Baekhyun was a letter with information on all the places that were hiring English teachers in the area.

There was one position on the list that had been highlighted and he had written a note to her in English, which she was hardly able to read, but she understood what he meant. It was something along the lines of: Jongin says his friend Jimin knows this place is hiring for sure. His hyung Yoongi has a sister who goes to that school and they already put in a recommendation for you.

He also left a phone number and an address for her. 

The first thing Narda did was to call and ask if they had anything open. The woman who answered the phone explained to her that it was a teaching assistant position, but Narda had no room to protest. Any teaching job to her was a good one. She told her that all she needed to do to apply was to turn in a copy of her resume, and they would schedule her for an interview within the next few days. So Narda rushed out of her apartment and went to the nearest print shop.

She made a copy of her resume and took the bus down to the school. It was a bit further than her previous job, but it was in a very upscale neighborhood and she was still able to get there by bus. She arrived at the school and was directed to the front office by one of the security guards at the front. The moment she stepped into the office, the woman at the front desk seemed to guess that she was the girl who had called earlier. "Here to drop off your resume?" She asked her with a smile.

Narda gave a shake of her head. She got the resume out of her book bag and handed it to the woman at the front desk. She then grabbed a post it note off her desk and wrote something in English. Recommended by Lilliam Pierce (student, family contributions high), and Min Yoongi (Miss Pierce's step-brother).

She then looked up at Narda and explained, "I will hand this over to our principal who will make the final decision. But your recommendations are stellar. The Pierce family have donated a lot of money to this school, so their recommendation will be taken highly into consideration." She tapped the small stack of paper from her resume. "We will be in touch to schedule an interview. Thank you for coming by."

Narda couldn't help but smile at the fact that things were starting to look better, at least for the time being.

As she left the office, she was stopped by a young girl who was waiting outside. She had long blonde hair and bright blue eyes, definitely foreign. There was a warm smile on her face as she regarded Narda. "You must be Narda." She guessed. Although it must not have been too difficult. There weren't very many foreign people in the area. Except at that school, there was. It was a school for foreign children.

Narda gave a nod of her head, confirming. "Yes."

"My brother told me about you." She explained, without going too much into details. But Narda already knew. Jongin had talked to Jimin about it, probably trying to help her out. Jimin had mentioned it to Yoongi who just happened to know a place that needed English teachers--the school where his half-sister attended. It was all a stroke of luck which had gotten Narda there. "So I thought I would help you out."

"Why?" Narda raised an eyebrow at her.

"Because," The girl paused, giving a small shrug of her shoulders as though it weren't a big deal. And to her it probably wasn't. She had money, and because of that she had influence. Narda could have been a horrible person and Lilliam's recommendation would have still spoken wonders for her. "I know what it's like to feel lost and alone in a foreign country."

Narda was taken by surprise at first, that someone as young as her, looking no older than sixteen, could feel like that. It wasn't a stretch. It was just hard to imagine since she was wealthy and beautiful, could probably get anything she could ever want. Yet, she still knew what it was to struggle somewhere new. Narda had been feeling like that with each problem that got in her way. She had been just about ready to give up, the final straw being the hate she was getting when it was found out that she was married to Chanyeol. But she saw the way people were going out of her way to help her, even people like Lilliam or the members of BTS, who had no idea who she was. And it made her have hope in the world again.

There would always be people who would try to take her down. But that wasn't nearly as important or bountiful as the amount of people waiting there to pick her up.

Narda was so happy that she couldn't stop herself from throwing her arms around the sixteen year old and pulling her in for a tight hug.

She returned to her apartment soon after in a great mood and felt inspired enough to make a big dinner in order to celebrate with her friends. She made all the traditional Mexican dishes that she knew how to make and asked Nari if they could throw a party at the apartment. Her friend thought it was okay and they invited the EXO boys. Florencia and Acacia were still away in Mexico, but would be returning soon enough. 

Narda had even invited Baekhyun, who she wanted to thank for giving her the tip on where to apply first.

She took him by surprise when she tapped him on the shoulder and asked for him to follow her. He did without asking questions, knowing that it was his only chance to be alone with her. When would he get another chance like that?

With a drink in hand, which she chugged down as soon as they were alone in the hallway in order to gain some bravery, her nose crinkling as the bitter liquid traveled down her throat, she said to him with a hint of hesitance, "I just wanted to say thank you for helping me out, even though you didn't have to because you hate me and all." She said the last sentence with bitterness lacing every word. But it wasn't due to the alcohol. It was because it still stung to think that she had loved him so much and gave him everything. Meanwhile he'd go back to Taeyeon and laugh at all the things she confessed to him.

It hurt to know that a person she had trusted so much turned out to be someone horrible who was just playing with her feelings. It didn't even have to be her. It could have been anyone. Maybe he just saw her as an easy target because she so blindly loved him and so blindly believed that he was a good person.

"Guti..." He sighed, eyes full of hurt that she would believe such things.

Then again, he knew his behavior towards her could have easily been seen like that. He pretended for so long that he didn't like her, when he did. Then he suddenly had a change of heart? That's why it was so easy for her to believe that he was lying.

"Look Byun," She started again, with a sigh escaping her lips. "With this, I think you can feel better. You are absolved of your debt to me. You don't have to continue stalking me and trying to help me. Go back to Taeyeon and live your life without regrets. That's what I'm doing. Even if our relationship wasn't real to you, I'll always think of it as something beautiful."

Without saying anything more to him, she walked away and left him alone in the hallway. 

The party ended around midnight and the EXO members went back to the dorms to get some sleep. Their schedules obligated them to wake up the next morning bright and early, but they were used to not getting as much sleep as they wanted to. 

The very next morning, Narda got two very important phone calls. The first was from the school she dropped her resume at--Greenland Academy for Foreign Students. "We have good news for you." The receptionist who had talked to her the previous day told her with excitement. "Our principal looked at your resume and she thinks you would be a perfect addition to our school."

Narda grinned at that. "Great. So when is my interview?"

"Well, we were in the process of scheduling one when Mr. Pierce donates a generous sum of money for our library!" She gushed, "So our principal thought an interview was unnecessary. If Miss Pierce trusts you and thinks you would be good for our school, then we agree with her as well."

She informed Narda that in the following week she would need to come in for a tour of the school, as well as a signing of her contract, and she would also be given her teaching uniform. Narda was beyond happy when she hung up the phone. The second phone call that came in was from a phone number in Busan, and it made her uneasy. She found out just what it would be about as she answered the call.

"Hello?" Narda said into the phone.

"Is this Miss Gutierrez Lozano?" Someone said from the other line.

"Who wants to know?" Narda gulped.

"I'm calling from the Busan Police Department." When Narda heard that, she felt her heart drop. She knew what the phone call was probably about, and it was something she had been trying to bury in the back of her mind. It was the one part of the Mariachi festival that she had been wanting so badly to forget, but it was the same one that she still saw in her dreams. 

Her stumbling back to the hotel when she'd suddenly loose consciousness. Then she'd wake up lost and confused on the beach with Chanyeol and Baekhyun looking desperately for her. The pity and powerlessness reflected in their eyes upon seeing and guessing what had happened to her. The rage she found as they realized they couldn't be there to help her and protect her. And finally relief that at the very least she was alive and she was okay. At least they got to see her again. Many people went missing and were never found. At least she was still with them.

"We found the culprit of your incident." The man on the other line continued to explain. "We need you to come in as soon as possible for another interview to see if you maybe remember anything new and then a trial."

Narda felt her mouth go dry, and the phone slipped out of her hand.

She was going to have to confront that once more. But she didn't want to do it alone, she couldn't. She felt selfish when she realized two people came to mind.

-

eleven more chapters before this story is finally over. and now we finally start to see a bit more of baek. so is he making his comeback? maybe. maybe not. anything can happen in eleven more chapters. so please stay tuned for that, everyone. 

for now, i'm going to placita olvera with my sisters again. we went last week but we didn't do much because we were broke.

but now we have money so we said we're gonna spend money like there's no tomorrow. lol

me always.

-clary