Sincerely Yours (Namjin) ✔️

Chapter Sixteen

Going back to school was as horrible as Jin expected it to be and so much worse. Aside from having to see Namjoon in the halls several times a day, no matter how much they both tried to avoid it, everyone else was also a cruel reminder of their breakup. 

As gossip did, the events of that terrible night and their split spread like wildfire throughout the halls. There was no escaping it. 

Jin was doing his best to keep his grades decent, but how could he? After everything that happened, doing his assignments seemed like the most absurd waste of time. How could he care about calculus problems when he wasn't sure where he would get to call home anymore?

The Parks never questioned when he was leaving nor made him feel as if he had to anytime soon, if ever, but it had been a month. A month of staying in their guest room, being an extra mouth to feed, and worrying Jimin's parents. They weren't struggling, but he knew he couldn't keep putting that dent into their income. Even though he tried not to eat or use too much of their things, he was still an added expense and he couldn't keep doing this to the people he cared for so deeply. 

The problem was that he was still seventeen and no one from his family wanted him. His mom hadn't even spoken about him returning back to the house, not that he wanted that in any shape or form. His dad still hadn't responded to his pleading messages. His one set of grandparents were deceased and his other consisted of his widowed grandma, who lived in a nursing home. His dad was an only child and he was forbade from reaching out to his mom's sister. 

There really was no where for Jin to go. 

The fear of ending up on the streets was beginning to make Jin sick. He had started applying for jobs, hoping he could find something that would give him just enough money to get by, but he hadn't heard back.

The bell rang, breaking up Jin's scattered worries. He glanced down at his notebook, which only had a few things jotted down from the first couple minutes of class. 

"Mr. Kim, a word?" Mrs. Gim said.

Some students exchanged a glance, but as always, everyone rushed out of there, ready to head off to lunch and talk about the mundane things of being a teenager. Jin had forgotten what that was like.

Jin put his things away in his bag and walked up to the front, taking a seat at one of the desks there. Mrs. Gim waited and closed the door once all his classmates were gone. Never had he ever been alone with his teacher and nor had he ever wanted to be. Out of all of his teachers, Mrs. Gim was certainly the scariest. She was his mother's age, but had a certain hardness to her features that almost made it seem like she was older. Small talk and pleasantries weren't in her nature. 

"If this is about my grades, I know they haven't been the best lately," Jin began to say. "I'm sorry, I'll work hard."

Mrs Gim held up a hand to stop him. "No, they certainly have not been the best. Quite frankly, that's the least of my concerns today Seokjin."

He swallowed. "Oh...then why am I here?"

"I'm not a foolish woman. I stand up here everyday, I give you hard lessons and amounts of homework that you consider unfair. I give you exams that you have to study for on hours. It's not because I'm ignorant or sadistic. I want to challenge you so that when you move on from me and go to do these things, they will be easy. However, I know that's a hard thing for teenagers to understand."

Jin nodded a little, not certain where this was headed. 

"I pay attention to all my students," Mrs. Gim continued. "Especially to those with great promise, like yourself. No, you're certainly no mathematician, but you're an extremely talented boy."