Post-Session 7 [Part 2]

Y/N opened the door to her apartment softly. It was already midnight by the time she was back. Tiredness seemed to weigh down her entire body, as if each step just made her heavier. She could feel her mind slowing down, finally taking a rest from such an eventful couple of days.

She turned towards the living room only for her eyes to catch the one thing she didn't think she would see again.

A sort of fear spread through her chest in the form of her airways burning and almost closing up.

"Irene?" She said softly as the brunette stood up from the sofa.

She turned around, her face calm and serene, but her posture and slight shaking told Y/N a completely different story.

"What are you doing here?" She asked, her mind running into high alert.

"I worked so hard, you know? Keeping the information secret, finding a way to evade certain doctors or detectives, making sure San was kept warm and safe down there." Irene clicked her tongue, the sound echoing through the empty apartment. "But your sorry ass had to come into the picture"

Y/N swallowed as her hands began to get clammy. She had to find a way out. Irene was not here on good terms and Y/N could see it in the storm resting inside her pupils.

"I thought I could start again without San for once. Get a worthwhile friendship and just live life. But no. That's not for people like me it seems." She said, coming around the couch.

Y/N took a step back on instinct. Something felt wrong. As if she was walking on thin ice that was about to break and allow the water to drown her whole.

"I fell in love" She said almost breathlessly. "That's all I did. I never killed anyone"

Something bitter and almost acidic wanted to rise up Y/N's throat.

"I heard that you were planning a case against me" She said. "Over what? You're a psychology student, not a lawyer, or a detective. You don't know these things"

"And neither do you" Y/N said taking a deep breath in. "We both are on the wrong here"

"So now you regret your decision? Really?" Irene said, a dry laugh coming out of her mouth. "You're as bad as I thought you were. You are ruining my life"

"As if you didn't do it first" Y/N interjected, feeling the knots in her stomach get tighter.

"That was San" Irene said, anger seeping into her tone fully. "He ruined it"

"You cheered me on. You told me to keep going. Irene, deep down you knew someone had to find out, but you forgot your hands are as dirty as San's" Y/N spoke quickly. "You are as bad as him"

Irene bit the inside of her cheek, her head shaking in the process. Y/N took this as her chance. She was not going to live the choking thing for the third time in her young life. Not under her watch.

"Irene" She called out softly. A part of her memory could see her trying to reach San that day. Or trying to see if her brother was responsive. "You need to understand one thing and one thing only. This entire mess has an origin and that's you."

Y/N could see Irene's chest rise and fall quickly.

"But you know that and like any normal person out there, you want to survive, be free, it's normal, Irene. Breathe" She said, lifting her hands up.

It could be seen in many ways as a sign of surrender, but both of them knew the other's methods. Y/N looked smaller. Defenseless.

"We can work this out" She said. "If you tell me your side, maybe we can turn this around. Maybe I'm wrong, but, Irene, I have nothing else but his words to trust. Give me something different then"

"That is a heck of an effective method" Irene said, her eyes looking right at Y/N. "But you are more than aware using my name so many times won't work"

"I am" Y/N said. "But it leaves us on the same page"

She moved sideways, placing the sofa between them.

"You play mind games" Y/N said. "And I play mine"

Irene lifted an eyebrow, an amused expression taking over her soft features.

"San broke under you. I won't" Irene said, bitterness lacing her words. Her stance was firm. She was confident. But the sway was missing.

San did learn all of it on his own, didn't he? But Irene could have picked up on it. But not well enough. The rest of the guys had it. Point 1.

"Correction" Y/N said. "He decided to let me help. He showed me. I didn't rip it out of him"

Point 2. Misconception of surroundings. She can't read emotions well.

"Your analysis was always bullshit." Irene said. "I've known him way longer than you have"

"I can't ever take that away from you" She answered. "And I won't try to"

Point 3. Blame.

Y/N lowered her eyes and noticed Irene's white knuckles. She couldn't keep the act up fully. She was either out of practice or had yet to get used to it.

"But, one thing we can know for sure is that your next move will fail" Y/N said. "Using my family is like throwing air my way. It can't hurt me directly"

"But indirectly is just as fun" Irene said, her hands relaxing. "Especially when San did the same thing Lucas dared do. It was bold"

Y/N scoffed as a smile made its way to her lips.

"I can't say it wasn't" She said. "But it was your fault in the end. Adding more to that case file of yours"

Irene stiffened ever so slightly.

"You're quite the talker" Irene said. "Bullshit is efficient"

"In certain cases, yes" Y/N said. "It worked for you"

A mischievous smirk stayed on her face. She knew she looked too relaxed for the situation she was in. Irene probably broke into her home. She was in an unstable state. And Y/N was poking her in all the wrong places. She had to play it correctly or this was the last of her time. As if her loudly beating heart and wobbly legs were not enough proof of it.

"I hate seeing him in you" Irene said. "He rubbed off on you and that disgusts me"

"He's a memorable interaction." Y/N said. "That's why you went for him in the end, isn't it? Why you came back to the facility? Why you saw him again?"

Something about what she said cut a string in Irene. Her eyes narrowed ever so slightly, just as her jaw tensed up, a neck vein surfacing ever so slightly.

"You can't lie to me like you did with him" Y/N said. "You and I studied that"

Irene let out a laugh. "You believed everything he said."

"Correction number 2" Y/N said. "You did too"

Y/N leaned her hands against the side of the couch, her weight resting on them.

"And you never even noticed. But he did" Y/N said slowly. "And that is not a good look for the soon-to-be victim"

Irene's shoulders dropped. Point 4. Too easy.

"You're a bitch, you know that?" Irene said, tilting her head to the side. But it was as if she moved just a little more, fire was gonna burst out of her limbs.

"I do" Y/N said. "Many men have told me that before"

Irene's knuckles went back to white.

"But never have I heard it from a friend Irene" Y/N said. "I wouldn't have been able to get so far without you. I wouldn't have heard that conversation and maybe I would have finished getting a normal out and none of this would be happening right now"

A weird silence fell over them and Y/N swore she was about to puke her guts out.

"But you lied to me. And I'm not the only one affected, you used Mingi for this as well" Y/N said. "And he likes you. Sounds like something out of a cheesy movie, but you know affection is the best trick"

Especially when you used it so many times.

"And what about you?" Irene said, anger taking over her actions. "You have been a surprise for everyone. You came out of nowhere and everything is crumbling because of you"

"It was already tumbling apart way before I arrived" Y/N said. "It was falling by the time you were in college"

Irene's eyes widened slightly. Point 5. College.

"You didn't plan any of this. You didn't expect the first one to happen" Y/N said, stepping around the couch slowly. Not moving at all.

Irene's eyes were suddenly lost somewhere else. She was in her memory. And Y/N was to keep her there.

"But you twisted him and made him do it. San was not there entirely. You rubbed off on him way more than anyone could have ever predicted. And Lily was collateral damage" Y/N said softly. "Jisoo, Emma, Jiea, Mian, Jieun, Yue, Yuna, Yoonhee..."

Their names seemed to make Irene's blood run cold.

"Azalea" She whispered, and Irene's eyes turned glossy. "They were collateral damage to this scheme because you wanted to see how far it could go and test a love you didn't give back. But when Riley and Samantha came into the picture, you lost all control and by the time Yeojin was there, you knew it."

Y/N was a few inches away from her by now.

"San was not yours to begin with and you wanted him" Y/N said, looking for any signs of aggression, but she was lost in her own head. "You finally found something you wanted, but life was unfair like it is and you couldn't have it"

Y/N held onto Irene's shoulders softly, bringing her back to the present. She knew Irene was finally seeing the effect. The tired eyes, the sunken skin, the messy appearance. She had turned Y/N into a walking disaster. And she knew she saw it in San too. In Mingi. In Hongjoong, Wooyoung, Jongho, Yunho, and Yeosang. What she had done.

Point 6. Acceptance.

"Irene" She called out. "Denial is a strong weapon. But you are not a psychopath. You never were. You learned from the wrong people. You had a childhood like mine. You had a life like mine. But you were never able to break free."

Y/N gave her shoulders and reassuring squeeze.

"College was your chance. But you took it the wrong way." Y/N said. "And there are consequences to every action"

"I don't wanna die" Irene whispered.

Y/N brought her in for a hug. A sense of relief cursed through her veins. Irene's hands were squished between their bodies, she couldn't attack her suddenly. She was safe for now.

"I know you don't." Y/N whispered into the woman's hair. "There are ways for that to happen"

"But they won't believe me. Just like before." Irene sobbed.

"But they will believe the lawyers and they will believe the documents." Y/N said. "Irene, you can live"

Irene's kness finally gave out and Y/N felt her lungs working properly again. She sank to the floor with her and soothed her.

Y/N pulled out her phone and typed away, hoping Jongho or Seonghwa was fast enough.

"I never wanted to hurt them," Irene said, her voice muffled by Y/N's shirt. "I found it fun, because it felt distant like it was not really happening. And then the meat hangers happened and I wanted to feel powerful"

"But you knew it in the end." Y/N said as she pulled a large knife out of Irene's pocket. Her heart stopping for a second as she threw the thing over the couch, away from reach. "And you didn't want to admit blame."

Irene cried harder, holding onto Y/N for dear life. Y/N could feel exhaustion take over her. She did it. She actually managed to make it work.

The door to her apartment opened and Jongho walked into the living room. Y/N could feel the tears of relief slip past her eyes and down her cheeks.

She parted the hug, fixing Irene's hair.

"You will be okay" Y/N said, as Jongho extended his hand forward.

Irene took it and he guided her outside.

Y/N waited a few seconds before she launched forward and towards the first bin she could find. Her guts slipping out on instinct.

She heard steps go around until the familiar head of blonde hair appeared where she was.

"I think I did it" Y/N said, her voice hoarse from her previous actions. She sniffled a little. "You guys are a bad influence."

Seonghwa crouched next to her.

"I guess we were" He said.

"Do you know how she came in?" Y/N asked as she leaned against the wall.

"The old fashioned way" He said "Guess the password"

Y/N rolled her eyes, just as a sense of weird happiness settled in her chest.

"Do you know what the verdict is?" Y/N asked.

"San is not getting off" Soenghwa answered. "He's being accused in the end"

Y/N nodded.

"You can say I tried" She muttered.

"He's getting much less than Irene though" Soenghwa said. "He'll get to meet my children"

Y/N pushed herself up.

"Am I able to attend the trial?" She asked.

Seonghwa shook his head.

"Not after last time" He said.

Y/N nodded.

"Thank you" She said. "You can say I'm relieved I didn't get stabbed."

"I guess we'll see you around" He said, walking away. "Take care."

"You too" She mumbled as his stapes faded away and the door closed.

Y/N felt the tears take over. Finally. Tears of fucking joy. For once.

For once in fucking forever.