Chapter Text
'FUCK.' THAT WAS all that Sae-byeok could think of. A repetitive curse inside her head followed by the reminders of last night's occurrences. Her eyelids twitched and snapped open to witness the most unbearable sight she's ever seen.
The blinding bright pour of the fiery sun through the long cream curtains filled every inch of the small room. The darkness of the night must have hid the dullness of the place for everything was almost as bare as a blank canvas.
There was nothing else but black, cream, white, and a tint of faint pink that caught her filmy eyes. She laid her head back on the pillow to rest and took a second glance before furrowing her eyebrows. 'What's that?'
She focused and processed the image in her fuzzy head only to find it being a pair of heart shaped lips slightly parted letting out soft snores in between. That's when she felt the light sensation on her forehead.
Sae-byeok slowly looked up and mentally groaned as she grabbed Seon Mi's hand and threw it aside making her stir in her sleep, hurting her chest. "Hey! Get up!"
The girl groaned, "Five more minutes."
"You're laying on top of me. Get up."
She didn't reply and resumed to snore, this time, louder than what 67 heard earlier. "This is why I didn't want to sleep overnight. Get up, 134. I'm warning you, I'm sitting up. You're going to fall over."
No response.
She sighed and sat up resulting for 134 to topple over her legs. She whined and stretched, "Can you, like, give me more time to sleep? It's literally so early!"
Sae-byeok watched her open her eyes and adjust to the sight of her emotionlessly looking down at her. 67's hair was all over the place but it never failed to give 134 the feeling of what she imagined was the morning Parisian breeze.
Her face was articulated; As if the heavens took their time to create an art set in stones. The gloss of Sae-byeok's skin made her want to hold her carefully like fragile glass. Her eyes held the world for the first short moment it shone an earthly colour of striking brown. Their lips were parted and they couldn't help but examine the way they looked under the light.
Seon Mi didn't know how or what it was, but the longer she gazed, the more her eyes gave her an unwavering feeling and a series of memories that felt new and young.
"Wow, how do you not have a double chin?"
67 clicked her tongue, livid by the sudden question and the situation they were at. She put her hand at the back of her head and swiftly moved her away from her lap. As soon as she stood up, her head pounded as if her skull was bashed on a wall overnight.
She hissed in pain and brought her hand up to her forehead, looking back at the girl who suffered the same as her.
They both groaned and glared at each other for a while, "What are you looking at? You could've told me to move and not grab my head harshly!"
Sae-byeok didn't listen to her further rambles, resumed to wash her face and gargled the mouth wash in the bathroom cabinet. After that, she grabbed her jacket and hung her wet clothes.
"The hotel has a lost and found storage down this floor next to the elevator. You can grab clothes there so you won't have to suffer with soggy ones. And, one thing about this cheap hotel is that they give out women necessities for free. On the bottom right shelf of the wooden closet, you'll see a bunch of towels and under them are undergarments," Seon Mi said from the other side of the door.
The bathroom was silent as 67 contemplated how she knew the place very well, then proceeded to follow her instructions carefully. She slid the wooden closet door and found the exact materials her company mentioned.
"I'll get some aspirins on the way to your brother. We'll both need it. Does he have a favourite?"
Sae-byeok didn't answer. She went from the closet to the sink and continued to wash her face to wake her senses.
"I'll go grab clothes for you."
Her hands were shaky on the porcelain edges. What else was there to do to cheer her brother up? She knew far too well that her arrival without her promise would paint a whole work of disappointment on his face fit for the era of Great Depression.
A few more minutes of coming up with colourful lies, a knock was heard on the door. "I have them. Not really sure if they're your style but I took what I could get."
Seon Mi sighed and leaned on the door frame with the clothes she stole for Sae-byeok and her. She tapped her index finger on the fabric as she waited.
67 was a difficult character. She's tough and cold. She barely talks unless you give her something tough like - 'God, the soju bottles!'
The door opened but the former odd numbered player was nowhere in the view, "Jennie?"
"Drop the clothes to the floor," she heard Sae-byeok softly instruct. The girl did as she was told but before she could turn to leave, 67 mumbled something from the other side.
"Cheol has attachment issues. Don't do anything stupid that could hurt him." The door closed.
"THIS PLACE IS huge. How does your brother not get lost in a place like this?" Seon Mi asked. As she admired the place, Sae-byeok started to roam free, heading towards the woman in charge of the place.
"Your brother probably wants ice-cream. I'll go buy him one - uh, I think I need to buy the cheapest because obviously, I have not much cash left."
She turned her heels and found her companion talking to a woman about as tall as her and Sae-byeok. Five feet and nine inches.
"Okay, I'll catch you later, then," she mumbled and went to a nearby store.
A few more minutes went by. Cheol slowly walked up to her sister with small band aids all over his face and a glum expression.
"You didn't sit on the spot like you used to," Sae-byeok said.
The little boy didn't answer. Not a word escaped from his lips nor a single sound. He sat down just as his sister did so. She took something out from the bag Seon Mi had stubbornly fought her into using.
"Kids! Come here and have some ice-cream!"
Loud cheers and laughter from jovial children surrounded the playground area as Sae-byeok turned to her sibling with the ice-cream in her hand.
She shifted and offered the cool desert only for it to get silently rejected.
"What's wrong? I thought you wanted ice-cream," she sighed and turned forward again, looking at the container in her hands.
She knew exactly why he was like that. She knew him. She just wasn't satisfied by the quiet thinking. 67 wanted an answer.
"What happened to your face? Did you fight with your friends?"
No response.
"If you keep being silent like that, I'm leaving."
He still had no reply other than the same blank expression facing the ground. She was bluffing, but the only way to get him to speak was to make him think that she wasn't. So, she instantly stood up was a bout to take a step away when Cheol finally plucked the courage to say what's been stuck in his mind.
"I don't want to stay here. You said you'd bring mom and we'd all be living together if I just waited a month."
She was well aware, but to see that it's her brother who barely turned ten, she couldn't help but feel her heart break into pieces. The young woman sat back next to him, "Cheol. It's - "
"All the kids say you lied. They said I'll never leave this place and you'd abandon me here!"
Upon this sudden spillage of truth, Sae-byeok was quick to throw her arms around her own flesh and blood, giving comfort to the crying child.
"No. Mom and dad are going to come. I'll make sure they do. We'll all get to live together under the same roof next year," she ran her thumb below his eye and wiped his tears as she continued, "You know me, right? I always keep my promises."
He nodded and from that moment on, he had his hope shining bright again. Cheol accepted the warm embrace his sister offered.
As they stayed like that for a while, approaching steps began to fill their ears. Both of them pulled away and turned their heads towards the direction of the noise and saw a girl as young as Sae-byeok's age, audibly gasping for air as she rested her hands on her bent knees, tongue sticking out like a dog.
Sweat covered her forehead. Her brown knitted vest made it hotter and harder for her to breathe. Luckily, her plaid skirt of the same colour going down above her knees gave her a little comfort and was able to let her feel the breeze to cool down. Her beige converse shoes that looked old and thrifted somehow fit the aesthetic of what look she was going for.
Normally, she wouldn't even describe how she'd look, but since she had the moment to raid the lost and found, maybe it was time to be stared at. Her half-tied hair wasn't really all that effective with cooling down the back of her neck.
Having long hair really is a bothersome thing.
In her hand was a medium-sized grocery bag made of fabric containing a bottle of water, a bag of chips / crisps, and a few sweets.
"Jennie, I was looking everywhere for you," she said breathlessly, almost choking on her spit from all the deep breaths she's been trying to catch up on.
The girl held her hand out towards Sae-byeok whereas Cheol furrowed her eyebrows and looked between 134 and 67 with the painted blues of incredulity.
"Jennie?"
Sae-byeok mentally froaned as he turned towards his brother, "My other name."
He nodded even though he was badly curious as to why his sister had another name to go by unlike all of the people he knew his entire life.
"Who are you?" 67 suddenly asked 134.
Seon Mi scrunched her nose and stood up in a leisure pace, "What?"
"I asked who you are."
She started laughing, "Stop pretending you don't know me. I literally ran to the store which is, to inform you, a lot of blocks away to buy all of these with all the money I have left. I sacrificed my capability to breathe at the right pace, right time, this is my payment?"
Cheol raised his eyebrows. 67 looked at her brother in defeat, "Uh, this is A-Yeon."
"Is she your colleague?" The boy asked.
They both laughed and nodded, "Actually, I'm her - " she looked at 67 for a hint.
She shrugged and at that time, her mind was blank. 'I assume Sae-byeok hangs out with guys a lot. I guess that's an assumption slightly accurate. Let's it give it a try.'
"Girl - " she was cut off by Sae-byeok's wide eyes and immediate interjection.
" - friend."
Cheol scratched his head, bewildered by the games he thought they were playing. What was this to them? A hard word game? It's easy for him. Somehow, the girl that newly joined their company made the atmosphere feel lighter yet he was still cautious and puzzled as to who she was to his sister.
"You're her girlfriend?" Cheol asked with innocent sparkling eyes making both of the young women cough and swallow their spit. "You like each other and hold hands?"
"N - "
"I don't know. Your sister's kind of rude."