Metro {DAERIN}

Chapter 9

"I said, my parents killed your parents,"

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Haerin was in complete disbelief at the statement. Was she dreaming? Did she hear that correctly? She turned away from Danielle who was now a silent mess of tears and stared straight at her sister, trying to gauge what was on her mind.

Hanni was completely blank. But she made eye contact with Haerin and Haerin felt relief when the older girl indicated with her eyes that she wasn't going to change her view on Danielle just because of that. They were on the same page.

Meanwhile Danielle was trying to hold back her sobs as she wiped her tears with the back of her hand. She could tell just by the way Haerin had turned away. The cat eyed girl hated her. Haerin was going to leave her. And she had to witness this. She didn't want to witness it. Why didn't Haerin just let her drown?

Danielle drowned in her thoughts. But she was brought back up to the surface upon hearing Haerin's light laugh. She immediately jolted her head up, her eyes displaying obvious confusion. But a part of her thought maybe it was sarcastic. Danielle wasn't good at reading if someone was being sarcastic.

"Dani...why would you think I'd leave you over that?" Haerin asked, still chuckling. Danielle felt a wave of relief wash over her. But she also felt ripples of confusion. This was not the reaction she was expecting. It was far from the reaction she was expecting.

"My parents killed your parents," Danielle repeated like a broken record or a lagging radio.

"And? What has that got to do with you?" Haerin questioned, raising her eyebrows.

"They're my parents! And now their daughter is befriending you, wouldn't you hate me?" Danielle shot back. Haerin only smiled in response as she pulled the chair beside the bed and sat facing Danielle.

"You had no control Dani, you weren't involved. I'm not going to leave you over that, so please don't drown yourself again," Haerin spoke softly, her voice a warm hug in the middle of a winter storm.

Danielle felt the tears bang at her door again. She felt so warm inside. She felt relieved. Her emotions came breaking down her facade, like earthquakes knocking over buildings, She pinched herself. It wasn't a dream. Haerin had forgiven her. Haerin was still here. Haerin was staying with Danielle. That was all Danielle wanted. She hugged Haerin tightly, and the kitten immediately reciprocated the embrace. 

After a while of hugging, Danielle pulled away and turned to look at Hanni, who was still by the door, leaning against it with a seemingly blank face. She felt the pit of nervousness grow again. But it quickly dissipated like gas when Hanni let a comforting smile appear on her face as she indicated with her expression that she didn't blame Danielle either.

Hanni had a way of communicating through facial expressions. Haerin had to learn her older sister's language but now she was an expert.

"DANIELLE!!" the door suddenly burst open and a teary Minji came running in, ignoring the fact that she had pushed over Hanni who was now on the floor, paralysed in shock. Minji hugged Danielle so tight, Danielle felt like a balloon about to burst. Her protests of annoyance at her best friend's aggressive hugging style were muffled so she resorted to punching Minji on the shoulder.

"Don't do that," Minji warned sternly.

"She was crying the entire way here," Taesan said, walking towards them after helping up Hanni, who seemed unbothered by the door attack. "By the way you just hit this girl here," he added, nodding towards Hanni.

"No, no it's ok," Hanni protested softly.

Danielle was sitting alone on Haerin's bed, cross legged and looking out the window. The moon shone its gentle rays into the room, creating a relaxing vibe. This was a much needed break. After all the chaos of the past week. Danielle was doing better. But she couldn't help but feel somewhat responsible. Haerin was able to get Danielle's parents to be arrested because there were many pieces of evidence that pointed towards them because they were pretty terrible and covering their tracks. However since the Marsh family was quite well known, they were let off. This thought sort of angered Danielle, but what could she do? Status and wealth is important in this world, it's all people care about.

"Dani," Haerin ran into the room, and jumped onto the bed, smiling widely as she looked very excited. "The court trial is tomorrow," she informed, a little less enthusiastically. Danielle's breath hitched. The court trial. The moment of truth. She was confident, but a limgering sense of doubt kept nudging her. And it was hard to ignore. 

"Anyway, we've got one of the best lawyers in the country, Miyawaki Sakura! She's the daughter of one of my parents' colleague and friend. She's actually from Japan but she moved here when she was young, so she's pretty fluent in Korean and has many successful cases under her belt, so we're in good hands," Haerin said, as though sensing the doubt that washed around the washing machine in Danielle's head. "Come, we invited her for dinner today...oh and I invited my only other friend, Hyein," 

Haerin dragged a whining Danielle out of her bedroom. Danielle just wanted to sleep, all this information overload was making her head hurt. Two unknown people sat at the table. One looked concerned while the other looked like she was trying to hold in her laugh. Eventually Danielle slumped in the seat next to Haerin, pouting as she crossed her arms. The girl who looked rather amused by the situation burst out laughing, earning a death glare from Haerin.

"I know you love me Unnie," the girl cooed, making her cutest face.

"Hyein, wipe that aegyo off your face or I will kill you," Haeri threatened.

Hyein gasped dramatically like she always does. Haerin always thought that the younger girl would make a great actress.

"Sakura Unnie, did you hear that??" Hyein fake sobbed, while turning to Sakura who now had her lips pursed, seemingly holding in her pending laughter. Haerin scoffed as she turned away from a giggling Hyein who was having the time of her life. Teasing her Unnie was her favourite thing to do. 

"You must be Danielle?" Sakura asked suddenly, steering the topic away from the playful banter.

"Yes, Sakura?" Danielle replied nonchalantly, earning a nod from the lawyer. Hyein was no longer laughing and was staring curiously at Danielle like a baby chicken. But her curious look quickly turned into a smirk. And Haerin rolled her eyes, preparing herself for another one of her friend's teasing sessions.

"Your girlfriend?" Hyein asked, her voice heavy with mischief. Haerin choked on her own drool upon hearing Hyein refer to Danielle as her girlfriend. She glared at Hyein as she continued coughing. Danielle was also shocked to her core. She felt her heart start fluttering and her cheeks turning red from blushing. She was sure she was as red as the tomato Haerin's frog plushy was clutching. She put her hands over her mouth as she turned away, trying to process the overload of emotions that Hyein's truck had unloaded. Hyein was enjoying the mess she made out of the two. But teasing aside, she could imagine the two as a couple.

Sakura cleared her throat, gaining the attention of everyone.

"Danielle, are you ok with coming to the hearing tomorrow?" Sakura asked gently. She would think that Danielle would not be comfortable considering it was her parents after all. If Sakura was in the same position she wouldn't be comfortable either. But then again, they were different people and they grew up in different households, so Sakura kept her mind open.

"Yes, I'm ok. They treated me like trash anyway, I want to see justice being served," Danielle replied, determination evident in her voice. Sakura nodded, not surprised by the answer most people would find surprising. 

"Don't worry, you're in good hands," Sakura answered with a smile.