Catch The Stars

Chapter 5

The next day is characterized not that differently from the day before.

Jennie helps her grandmother carry a basket full of oranges from their garden to an old lady in a house further away and sees Nayeon and Seokmin bickering together at the bus stop. They spot her and call her over and her grandmother assures her that she doesn't need her help for anything, so Jennie walks over to join them since she doesn't have anything else to do and she thinks they're both nice anyway.

"Sorry we left you hanging yesterday," Seokmin says. "I was just really starving and Y/n was really fucking stubborn about not leaving for some reason."

Jennie looks at the ground, wondering if Y/n seriously just didn't wake Jennie up to make sure she got some more sleep.

"Why didn't you come hang out last night, though?" Seokmin asks.

"Was I supposed to?"

"Uhm, yes?" Nayeon pouts. "I invited you, didn't I?"

"Well, you didn't mention it again." Jennie shrugs. "How was I supposed to know?"

"Stop being so stuck up." Seokmin snickers. "We're always at the school at night. Just come say hi, the others don't bite."

"The others?" Jennie asks. "How many others are there?"

"Not that much," Nayeon says. "There are a couple of others who are older but they're not always here so we're not really close with them, and there's also Joohyun and Taehyung ." Nayeon shrugs. "Taehyung is Y/n's brother, by the way."

"Huh, I didn't know she had a brother."

"Yeah, she's the same age as me." Seokmin hums.

Nayeon narrows her eyes at her. "Don't get any funny ideas. Y/n will bury you under six feet"

Jennie rolls her eyes and she just really wants to say Dude, don't worry, I'm probably more interested in his sister but she knows better than ruining her reputation here over a stupid joke. "So are they are the rest?"

Seokmin nods his head. "I mean, technically there are more, but let's be honest; who wants to spend their summer here? Joohyun said Seulgi might still come."

"Oh man, I hope so." Nayeon sighs, falling off the stairs when Seokmin shoves her harshly.

"That's your noona, you brat," Seokmin snorts, turning to look at Jennie again. "You seriously have to be careful what you do or say around here. Word gets around so fast. They might all be nice but they'll tear you apart like a hungry pack of wolves if there's a rumor about you."

Jennie laughs nervously and feels a drop of sweat run down her spine.

"Yeah, do you remember what happened to Sunmi noona?" Nayeon asks and he shakes his head. "There was this girl, I think she was twenty-two back then?" She glances at Seokmin for affirmation and the latter nods his head. "A rumor went around that she was pregnant. I mean, I guess it was true, given what happened after that. Do you know what happened to her?"

Jennie looks up and shakes her head.

"Her parents married her off to a random dude ten years older than her," Seokmin continues. "She didn't even get to say anything. The wedding was fucking horrible. She couldn't stop crying the entire day. And then she was just sent off to live with that man."

"Are you serious?" Jennie asks, eyebrows knitted together in disbelief. She knew stuff like that used to happen a lot back in the days but she had no idea it was still a thing. "How the fuck could her family do that to her?"

"That's how things run around here, man." Seokmin shrugs. "I know it's horrible, but people are really fucking behind with their mentalities and beliefs. I only realized that when I went off to study in the city. Before that, I honestly didn't see anything wrong with the ways things are handled here."