Intertwined Souls (JiTzu)

Chapter 37

Monday Evening: 8:00 P.M

3rd Person POV

It took an hour for Nayeon and Jeongyeon to convince Jihyo to go home and rest. The younger woman was adamant about having to spend as much time as she could searching for Tzuyu. It hurt Nayeon and Jeongyeon, and everyone else by extension, that Jihyo was in this state. It was only thanks to Mina talking to Jihyo that the latter was finally convinced to go home as it was clear that no new information was going to come in.

The moment Jihyo walked through the front door, her heart dropped. Tears started welling up in her eyes as the potential future hit her like a train. As much as she tried to hold her tears back, as much as she fought the urge to cry, it was all for naught as her tears streamed from her eyes. She was scared, petrified even at the possibility that she could lose both Tzuyu and Gucci.

Jihyo tried her best to calm down, to recompose herself to have a clear mind, but nothing worked. She found herself reliving the events of the night that she thought she lost Tzuyu forever. Even though she went through many years of abuse under her father and experienced so much pain, the thought of losing Tzuyu was a pain far greater than any abuse she experienced. Her heart felt numb, while her head felt like the world was spinning around her.

Jihyo found herself lying on her couch shaking. She pulled out her phone and called the first contact that she saw. Mina picked up the call and asked, in a worried voice, if everything was okay as it was not normal for Jihyo to call her. Jihyo shakingly begged for Mina to come over. Mina quickly said she was coming over immediately and then hung up the call.

Minutes later, a knock came at the front door. Jihyo struggled to get up but was eventually able to at the backdrop of rapid knocking. She opened the front door and was immediately met with both Mina and Chaeyoung giving her a hug. This caused her to start sobbing uncontrollably.

"Shhh, it's okay," Mina cooed, "Chaeng and I are here for you."

"Exactly, just let it all out, Jihyo-unnie," Chaeyoung whispered.

Jihyo let out all of her emotions as she felt her knees go weak. Mina and Chaeyoung brought Jihyo to the living room couch where they could get in a more comfortable position. Jihyo started to feel numb the longer she cried. Even though she knew that she should not blame herself for anything that happened, she could not stop. She could not stop her mind from believing that all of this was her fault, that it was her fault that she could lose her girlfriend to the man who had already ruined her life once before. Even though both Mina and Chaeyoung were reassuring her right in this instant, it fell on deaf ears.

Jihyo eventually fell asleep, completely exhausted from her mental ordeal. Mina asked Chaeyoung to call Nayeon and Jeongyeon to explain the situation. Chaeyoung pulled out her phone and went off to make the call. All the while, Mina picked Jihyo up and brought her to the first bedroom that she saw. She gently placed Jihyo down on the bed and tucked her in. She then went back to the living room to find Chaeyoung sitting on the couch.

"What did they say?" Mina asked as she sat down beside her girlfriend and side hugged her.

"They are coming over," Chaeyoung replied before her eyes started to glisten, "We need to find Tzuyu. I hate this. I hate seeing Jihyo-unnie like this. I hate that Tzuyu was kidnapped. I hate Jihyo's father for hurting them. They deserve the most in this world after everything they went through."

Mina wiped the tears from Chaeyoung's eyes before her eyes glistened as well, "We will find Tzuyu. We will get rid of Jihyo's father. Then, the two of them can live happily together. We can bear witness to how they decide to shape their lives once every obstacle is gone. Until then, we need to stay strong for both of them. We need to show the world that we will not let it get in the way of our friends' happiness."