THE FIGHT

At dawn, Qing woke up with a loud yawn and a long stretch. She shuffled into the bathroom with heavy eyes and when she emerged, she saw her mother leaving for the shop. Their eyes met for a brief moment before they both turned away, pretending the other didn't existed. Ms Gown walked out with a frown, while Qing returned to the bathroom, equally displeased.

Min-Jun and Ari observed the tense atmosphere between mother and daughter. To Ari, it was usual and definitely will only last few hours.

"Are they okay?" Min-Jun asked Ari, who nodded in response, packing her lunch and left in a minute.

Qing later emerged from her room, fully dressed. It doesn't look like she was going to the restaurant, Min-Jun slowly observed. "Aren't you going to the restaurant?" Min-Jun asked and she shook her head, checking her face at a medium size mirror.

"Why not?"

She turned to look at him, her expression serious. She had to remember him of her mother words at dinner. "She has been holding that in for a long time and I'm glad she finally spill the bombshell."

"I don't think she meant it like that..."

"Well, I don't care," Qing interrupted. "I'm actually glad she said it. Now I have the whole day to myself. Isn't that nice?" She explained and laughed lightly.

Min-Jun watched as she released her ponytail and apply some lipgloss on, smacking her lips. He just couldn't help but wondered how they manage to still be on the same roof if they fight this much.

"Now If you'll excuse me, I'm going out to catch some fun." She said dropping the mirror and about to leave but then, Min-Jun voice came up.

"Wait," He said, "Do you have a spare phone?" Min-Jun asked.

"No, why?"

"I really need one. You know I lost mine." He said. Maybe if he get a new phone, he might be able to contact Hari and let her know he's safe atleast. He wanted to wait. till he got his first salary but it was getting too long and he's having a bad felling already.

"Yeah, that's true." She said and went into some thinking for a moment. She then left the living room and then returned with some cash. "Here," she said, stretching the money over to Min-Jun.

"Where did you get this?" he asked, glancing back toward the direction she entetered and came out from before returning his gaze to her. That's definitely not her room.

"Did you...?"

"They're mine." She said curtly. "Are you taking it or not?" She asked her hand still hanging on air with the money.

"I'm only lending you this money for a reason, but if you don't want it, I won't force you. So, are you taking it taking or not?" She asked again.

At the electronic shop, Min-Jun was having a tough time deciding on a new phone. The models he liked and used to were all above his budget, and he was getting increasingly frustrated. Qing tried to persuade him to just pick one, but he refused and wandered deeper into the store.

Qing soon got tired of wandering around with him while he's still not making any choice, she plopped down on a nearby sofa to wait for him.

While sitting, she overheard a group of girls gossiping, and it was clear they were talking about her. She ignore them, letting them indulge in their chatter. After all, she'd gotten use to gossips about herself and her family.

She keep her cool until her anger flared when she caught a snippet of their conversation about Bo Muchen and her Dad. At first, she tired to laughed it away but the whispering keep coming, setting ablaze the little endurance she had left.

"And her fiance dumped her too, just like her father did to her Mom." One of the girls whispered, loud enough and an humorous laughter follows.

Fuming, Qing stood up and marched over to them. They stopped and stares up at her angry eyes. In an instant, she slapped the girl who had spoken, leaving her holding her cheek in shock. The other girls jumped to their feet, furious. "What the hell was that for, you lunatic?" One of them yelled.

"Call me that one more time!" Qing shot back and she did call her boldly, having the other girls stand at her back

In the blink of an eye, the situation escalated, and soon both girls were on the floor, grappling on each other hairs, pushing, pulling and screaming.

Min-Jun, hearing the commotion, turned around and was taken aback to see Qing in a scuffle with three girls.

"Jezz!" He exclaimed. Just few minutes he'd left her and now she's pulling in with three girls at a time. Is she trying to get herself killed?

He rushed over and pulled her away just as the security guards were approaching. As he was dragging her out, she was yelling, "You all got lucky, the next time I see you both, I'll break your tiny legs and send you home crippled!" But deep down in her heart, she was grateful Min-Jun came to her rescue.

Min-Jun found himself sneering to it. She speaks as if she won but she was messlessly dealt with.

Once they were home, Min-Jun helped her tend to the cuts she had gotten from the fight. He glanced at her face, her roughly hair and her heavily breath. He felt a laugh bubbling up, but he held it in, not wanting to fustrast her further or get her even more angry.

"Just laugh if you want to; I can take it," she said, noticing his struggle and he burst into laughter at once couldn't contain himself any longer but he quickly stopped when he caught her fierce straight gaze at him.

"Sorry! I wasn't going to laugh, but your face…" He trailed off, realizing he had better tread carefully. He continues applying the ointment on the bruises.

"Why did you do that anyway?" he asked, trying to steer the conversation back to a serious note.

"They started it! I can't stand it when people talk about my dad or that jerk Muchen. Can't I just have some peace without people spreading lies about my life? They know absolutely nothing, yet they act like they're experts," she spill like she'd longed to be asked, ending with a touch of sobbing.

"And who's Muchen?" Min-Jun asked, genuinely curious. With the way she speak about it, and how she suddenly get angry when her mom brought it up the last time, he must be someone close to her.