Seulgi headed home, picking up Yeji on the way. Everyone was pretty sure that things were over, but they would continue to take precautions for just a little longer anyway.
Besides, Yeji was good company.
Today also showed that Seulgi was not nearly as healed as she thought that she might be. Suppose she had another ‘episode’ Yeji would be equipped to be able to handle the situation. JooHyun and Bhuwakul are formidable backups as well.
She didn’t think anything was going to happen, but she thought the same thing in the doctor’s office. She was thinking that while she was able to rely on Yeji for now, this was not a long-term solution. She was going to have to find something else out.
Well, she continued thinking, that was one of the reasons that she was going to counseling. She mentally shrugged and kept thinking of things to do.
Yeji, being Yeji, was able to see that Seulgi was thinking hard. She gave her the space to think, making sure that Seulgi knew that she was there, but not making her presence known to the point that she derailed the train of thought.
Thus, they rode back to Seulgi’s apartment in companionable silence. Yeji knew that this silence was more precious than any gold because once they collected Seulgi’s parents, there would be no silence or respite allowed. Part of that would be the group they’d meet up with at the restaurant. The rest would be her mother.
Yeji liked Alfred. She was pretty sure that he liked her, too. His kissing her forehead like he did his daughter attested to that. That small action left a small, warm spot in her midsection. She was not used to feeling all warm and girly. She found that she liked that feeling.
She was not so sure about Seulgi’s mother. She came across as your stereotypical Helicopter Parent, even if her daughter was over thirty and had been out of the house for a bit over a decade. Some people could not give up control. Her family had tried that with her, too – to their regret. There are parts of her extended and immediate family that she was still in no contact with because of how they thought they could run her life.
Funny, Yeji thought, she was a mirror of Seulgi. She could not get along with her father but worshiped her mother. Her father was a relic of the past, trying to control her because she was his daughter. He was under the impression that his family was still living a thousand years ago when women were property and the patriarch was everything.
Well, after years of polite to vicious arguments, and multiple physical altercations with him and her brothers, they learned to leave her alone. No one could beat her in a physical one-on-one. She could hold her own with a two-on-one. And she might win a three-on-one on a good day. She was able to bruise all of them when they dog-piled her.
Their fights were always serious. However, the males were handicapped by trying to limit themselves to beating the snot out of her, but not breaking any bones or any permanent damage. Once she figured that out, she applied the same rules to herself. It was more than friendly sparring, but not actual killing matches. There were, however, as few close calls when her father was involved.
Whoever failed to go all out would get their butts whipped. She could still feel a few aches from the last bout when Brother Number Three pulled a sneaky move she had never seen before. She found her floating through the air, eyes widened in surprise and landed flat on her back with an ‘Oof!’ knocking the air from her lungs. She got dog piled by all her brothers right after that. She took a heavy beating that day.
She had been plotting her revenge for the past couple of weeks. She was nearly ready, too.
With that thought in mind, they made it to the apartment building. Bodyguard mode was reactivated, she got out of the parked car and observed the surroundings. Seeing an elderly couple ambling toward an equally elderly Mercedes, a security guard who was on a walking patrol, and a random cat that looked nothing like Suki, she motioned Seulgi that it was clear to get out of the car. The security guard saw what happened and nodded at Yeji while greeting Seulgi by name from a half dozen car lengths away. Seulgi was not surprised that the massive Samoan knew her as she was on first-name basis with all the guards. She knew that the guard also had beautiful tribal tattoos from one wrist to the other. She asked the shift manager to borrow him one afternoon a few years ago to have him bare his arms so she could draw the tattoos. He blushed like a schoolboy when she did this. He was still blushing two hours later, when she was done.
The rest of the crew never let him live that part down. He had no shame when it came to this incident.
The guard ‘just happened’ to be heading the same way that they were. So he followed them into the elevator and, purely coincidentally you understand, and just happened to be heading the same way, to the same floor that they were. So, he followed them up to her floor and kept an eye out on them until they got to her apartment door.
Our boy was as subtle as a brick to the teeth, so they both smiled fondly at him as they entered her apartment.He should have been wearing sunglasses as he was nearly blinded by those smiles.
Upon entering, Seulgi was unsurprised that she was getting cussed out for no reason. She didn’t even get her shoes off before she was being reprimanded. She hung up her jacket under the duress of a severe tongue lashing. She dropped her keys into the key bowl and thought that she had enough of the badgering.
She picked up her small, fuzzy assailant and buried her nose in the soft belly and blew a raspberry then said: “I’m home, brat.”
She repeated the greeting to the house in general, “I’m home!”
Alfred’s head popped from around the corner and said “Welcome home, dear. Hi Yeji. Good to see you.” All three smiled at each other.
Seulgi and Yeji’s smile congealed when they saw her mother who said “It’s about time you got home. I’m hungry. Let’s go.”
“Not yet, mom. I need to change clothes first. These are a bit sweaty. I need to take a quick shower to wash the stink off, too.”
Yeji, wrinkling her nose, stated, “Yes. That is a good idea. I don’t know what you have been up to, but you need a shower after having finished it.”
Seulgi didn’t bother looking, she just playfully smacked Yeji’s shoulder while the source just laughed. Seulgi pulled a haughty voice that was so insufferable that her mother could not have bettered it, and while ignoring Yeji, said “Yes, once I have taken a shower, I’ll be ready pretty quickly so we can go.”
Suki was purring in her arms while all this nonsense was going on about her. So, Seulgi continued to baby-talk to her while being carried into the bedroom. Suki was impressed with herself that she could tolerate the baby babbling from her Personal Idiot. So, she tolerated it until they made it to the bedroom. She had just managed to get comfortable when she was unceremoniously flipped over and tossed onto the bed. She squawked as flew the short arc to the bed.
Revenge was necessary. She started plotting the swift, brutal attack when she was distracted by being pushed over onto her side and started getting gentle, graceful belly pets from Yeji who was begging for clemency for her human.
While being saved by Yeji’s preventing her wanton destruction by Suki, Seulgi got into the shower and did a quick but full cleaning of herself. Her hair would take too long to dry, so she just scrubbed her body. True to her word, it did not take her long to dry, dress, and be ready for her next misadventure.
