Roadkill - catnipz

Chapter 4 - Small Mannerisms

"So Minji has to go to these meetings, in the third ring. None of us would go there that often, but whenever one of these meetings is called, Minji has to go. Sometimes Yunjin will go with her," Danielle tilts her head in Yunjin's direction as she explains, Haerin nodding along.

From where she's sitting at the table, talking to Kazuha, Yunjin perks up to look at them at the mention of her name. "What?"

"I'm telling her about Minji's meetings. You go with her, sometimes,"

"Oh, yeah," Yunjin's face shifts into something displeased. She's holding a deck of cards in her hands, which she shuffles absentmindedly. "They're a pain. They have them in the morning, because everyone's busy at night obviously, but the traffic in that ring is crazy, holy shit. You've to get up so early, you probably know," she gestures at Haerin, speaking to her now. "Minji's probably long gone before you're even awake,"

Haerin nods her head accordingly, humming in affirmation. "Yeah, usually,"

Yunjin's lip curls, leaning back in her seat, taking off her cap to push any stray hairs away from her forehead, before securing it again. "They spring them on us at the most random times too, with practically no notice. And it's not like she can just say no," she scoffs, clearly disapproving. "I hate people from the third ring. Think they're hot shit,"

Danielle laughs. "I mean, you're not wrong,"

Yunjin nods her head once with finality, closing the conversation and turning back to Kazuha, who'd watched the interaction with an amused glint in her eye.

"So does she just... go to these things then?" Haerin asks, Danielle returning her attention to her. "Like does she have to do anything?"

Danielle purses her lips at that, thinking. "I suppose Heugoni Pa don't operate at all in The Outskirts really, so Minji's their only link. It's also to do with The Cookie, we're heavily tied with them, obviously," she shrugs. "Again, they're not all that often. I doubt she has to do like, loads, but it would probably be seen as disrespectful if she didn't go," she looks at the watch on her wrist, glinting in the low light. "What's taking Hyein so long?" she mumbles with a sigh.

Yunjin doesn't even look up from her cards. "She stole my skateboard again this morning, so she stopped off at mine and Kazuha's first, probably delayed her a bit,"

Next to her, Kazuha laughs. "You knew? You were so surprised before,"

Yunjin throws her an incredulous look. "Of course I knew," she huffs out. "She never puts it back in the right spot," she looks up, then, at each of them. "Don't tell her I know, though. She thinks she's slick,"

Kazuha rolls her eyes, insincere, crossing her arms. "What did I say. Wrapped around her little finger,"

"It's called building up a child's confidence. Important for growth,"

"You'd let her away with murder,"

"I would, actually,"

"I- oh come off it, you know what I mean,"

From upstairs, the trap door leading into the basement opens up with a loud creak, snatching everyone's attention. Light footsteps begin to make their descent.

Danielle stands up, dusting herself down. "That's probably her," she cranes her neck. "Hyein-ah?"

Very faintly, Haerin picks up on the soft sound of music, so quiet she can barely figure out what kind of music it is, causing her to frown.

Instead of Hyein coming down the stairs like Haerin had expected, is a bright flash of pink, and inside her chest, Haerin's heart takes a nosedive. Hanni rounds the corner, hair bright against the dark of her clothes, and once again trapped by a pair of headphones that cover her ears. They're plugged into, what, a gaming device of sorts? It has her attention completely undivided, whatever's on the screen, and her fingers fly over what Haerin's assuming is a ray of different buttons, eyebrows pinched together in concentration. She hardly even looks up, reaching the bottom step and stepping off of it without even having to think.