a year of sundays || Chaennie

September

There are, depending on if there is a leap year or not, fifty-three Sundays in a single year.  Which if you were to live to an average age of eighty-five then you'd have lived through four thousand, five hundred and five single Sundays. And yet, it took Jennie less than fifty-three to fall in love with the right girl at the wrong time.

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September Jennie stands outside of the church and huddles beneath her little jacket. Her stubborn side refuses to look at her father as he chuckles deeply to himself at her attire. Before she had left the house with her parents he had asked her to put on a longer coat, requested in fact that she dresses a little more appropriately. However, the hem of her skirt was at finger length when she put her arms to her sides and there was no way she was being caught outside in some monstrosity of a winter coat when she had her reliable leather jacket to keep her warm. Granted, of course, Jennie hadn't quite expected Angang to get as cold as it has so quickly--even Jisoo had mentioned how unseasonably chilled the air was--but she wasn't willing to hear her dad's teasing "I told you so," just yet. 

Behind her, her parents are busy talking to Pastor Song and, for a family who has only just moved into the small town of Angang a few months ago, a lot of people know who they are. Jennie's mother is the Chief of Surgery at Pohang City Hospital, a prestigious title in and of itself, and Jennie's father owns a car repair shop; specializing in rebuilding old cars. That was how she met Jisoo. She had been busy leaning over Jennie's father to see inside some car--(a 1955 Hudson Hornet her father scoffed when Jennie hadn't looked as enthused as them)--and she had been sat on his workbench, watching in amusement as this spunky teenager impressed her dad so easily. Jennie's father had liked her, Jennie had liked her. She was nice.

She's watching as her parents continue their act of 'Wholesome Christians' by talking to every single influential person they can and she can't help but roll her eyes as she hears her mother call her over. Her voice is sickly sweet as she asks Jennie, quite fiercely if she knows her well enough, to pay attention. "Jennie, darling, come and meet Pastor Song's son. He's thinking of University of Ulsan too so you can compare majors."

Mino looks just as uncomfortable as Jennie at being introduced to each other, but she gives him a dutiful smile that the daughter of successful parents would give. Jennie's father has moved off to talk to someone else and she wonders if she could warm her hands on the pride that her mom practically radiates next to her. Mino is handsome and his skin has Jennie mesmerized for a short moment, a moment long enough for him to realize she isn't going to make her introduction first, and she flushes when he holds his hand out towards her with a quiet murmur of, "It's lovely to finally meet the girl my father speaks so highly of."

"I hope I live up to the hype that I've clearly been given," Jennie returns hesitantly, brow furrowed as she tries to recall even a singular moment that the older man could have brought her up in conversation. She looks to her mother sees that look in her eye, that set determination that makes Jennie shudder, and she knows the answer before the question really fully forms in her mind. Out of the corner of her eye, she can see her father's protective glance but he makes no move to walk over, trusting Jennie to hold her own. "You're going to the University of Ulsan?"

Mino genuinely smiles at that and gives her a nervous little shrug that makes her tummy swoop pleasantly. He's obviously beautiful and his eyes are the kind and gentle sort that she itches to draw and perfect during her classes. But he's clearly aware that this is a setup too and Jennie kind of wants to save him. "I don't know yet. There are a few schools that I'm looking at but I know my father would like me to stay close to home and Ulsan is just as good a school for teaching as any other." She can see it in the way that his eyes dip, how he shrugs his shoulders in a resigned kind of way, that he doesn't completely believe his own words and she narrows her eyes in thought.