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DAEGU
MORNING
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✧──────✦ jaehwa had the best sleep of her life.

not once was the temperature too hot or too cold, just right. she'd gone straight to bed after causing a scene with her mother that deserved every second of it. the satisfaction of getting the least word in made her giddy even into the next morning.

her alarm went off every seven minutes as she smashed the snooze button, ultimately resulting in her rushing to get her uniform on and walk the few blocks to school. she pulled leftovers out from the fridge and grabbed a spoon to choke down some bites before she had to leave.

she'd even caught herself tapping her foot on the ground and humming in content.

as expected, mina left without her and the house was empty. jaehwa knew mina would be mad at how she treated their mother, but how could she help it when the chance was sitting right in front of
her. her mother had most likely just paid for inflight wifi on the lengthy plane ride back to her father.

nature was finally healing!

jaehwa shut the gate and turned to walk to school. she tried to hide her happiness behind a stone cold face that only kept its state when she bit down on her tongue.

"better day?" taehoon had asked as she sat. for once he'd been on time, and early for that matter, even earlier than her.

she nodded her head and let a slight smile peek. "i had the best sleep last night. do you want to know what i dreamt about?"

"not really," he'd propped his head on his palm and waited for her to explain the dream.

"it was like that one street fighter game, except i was the fighter."

"who'd you fight?"

jaehwa wasn't going to tell him that she fought her mother, who also happened to be a good fighter in her dream. she wasn't expecting him to actually be interested.

she racked her brain for a quick answer, "a bear wearing a bikini." jaehwa could vaguely remember it being an avatar on some game. "and by the way, i won."

she in fact did not win in her dream. it was an unfair fight. as jaehwa's weapon was just a singular throw pillow while her mother had an unlimited stash of brooms and slippers. it was still a fun dream when her mother didn't resemble a demon spawn.

during lunch, mina stopped by the classroom to drag jaehwa to an abandoned classroom. "why would you treat mom like that?"

"do we really have to do this at school?" she shifted her weight onto her other leg and let out a soft sigh in order not to seem threatening and agitated.

"you're such a stuck up brat. mom gave you everything you wanted and you treat her like shit." mina was nearly seething and jaehwa really hoped she didn't have to lose her sister too. just when they started to enjoy each other.

"quit being ignorant. she's never treated me like a daughter. the only time i saw her during the week was at those stupid mandatory dinners. i'm just so sorry that your mommy's uncomfy when i speak." she turned to walk back to taehoon, they had plans for lunch that she didn't want to miss.

her hand gripped the handle and pulled it open, unintentionally taking longer to see if mina had any apologies for her. the only thing out of her mouth was silence and jaehwa took off down the hallway.

mina's footsteps caught up to hers and she gripped her shoulder to turn her towards her. jaehwa's head turned down to the ground. cheek red from impact. why was everyone slapping her now.

"you were always spoiled. i don't even know why i tried to get along with you in the first place."

she laughed. "spoiled? our parents nearly forgot my birthday. they didn't even show up to the hospital after my surgery." jaehwa pushed  her shoulder hard enough for mina to stumble. "and you. you didn't show up either."

"i had more important things to do."

"sorry, i forgot you and mother had brunch that day." mina fell backwards onto the dirty tile of the hall. jaehwa walked over to her and placed her shoe on her chest, keeping her from getting up. "i hope mother gets tired of you. i really do."

the sound of a tantrum echoed through the halls as jaehwa walked away from what would've been a crime scene had she stayed there for a few minutes longer.

taehoon was never one to interfere with family affairs, or anything in general. so he stood around the corner with jaehwa's bag, waiting for her to finish up whatever was going on with her sister. originally he was going to pull her away, but turned around after seeing her face full of pure anger. the foot on the chest scene was oddly familiar to him.

"you heard didn't you." the waiter had just brought their food to the table and jaehwa spoke up first.

"heard what?"

"don't play dumb. you've been way too nice to me since we left campus." she referred to the numerous dishes on the table, all of which were her favorites. he just shrugged and continued to eat.

"don't let mina near me otherwise i'll probably hit her halfway across the country." jaehwa dug into her food after her stomach growled.

"i wasn't going to let her anyways."

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jaehwa and taehoon ran out of the arcade, bumping into who knows how many people. minutes before, they'd gotten sent a text from hobin.

"in trouble help"

taehoon pulled the door open and held it open for jaehwa as they entered the restaurant filled with unfamiliar faces.

"master park!" hobin nearly cried out.

"i'm here too." taehoon glared down at him.

a tall man with a man bun smiled at them. "hobin, can you tell me what's going on?" even jaehwa got chills from the obviously fake facade the oddly handsome, man put on.

hobin's face paled and he got serious. "i was impressed by what you guys were doing. so let me introduce, the hobin yu company!"

rumi strutted into the room, completely not reading the room. "what'd i miss?" jaehwa pulled her to the side and shook her head.

hobin continued on with his speech. "we have rumi, a beauty newtuber who doesn't stream about beauty, mangi, a bald wrestling newtuber, taehoon, who's going to debut as a gaming channel, and jaehwa!"

"what does she do?" a man with a parrot on his shoulder asked.

"nothing!" her eye twitched at that. "we also have jihyeok our camera man and gaeul our editor!"

hobin began to sweat as the group looked at him. none of them had even heard this idea before he brought it up as an argument.

so now they had him tied up on the floor as they demanded answers from their new so-called ceo. taehoon and jaehwa flipped through the yearbooks together while the others kicked at a defenseless hobin.

"he looks like a fucking dweep." taehoon laughed at his yearbook portraits and jaehwa smacked the back of his head. "yours aren't so nice either, hotshot."

the group untied hobin and he sat on his knees. "i'm going to make a ton of money. i need all of your help."

"what makes you think we'll say yes?" rumi questioned, pulling out a curling iron from a purse that definitely could not fit it.

one by one, everyone said yes and jumped in a huddle. jaehwa felt bad for jihyeok because he was directly under mangi's armpit.

"taehoon, jaehwa, are you in?"

"sure."

"look away unless you want to die." taehoon flipped the page of the yearbook and straightened his posture as he felt the eyes of everyone on him.

"i know how to get him to join!" jihyeok pranced over to his side and whispered something in his ear. within half a second, he stood up.

"i'll join."