love bath|seochangbin

-eighteen-

"Wait here. I'll run in and get my uniform." I instruct as ChangBin glares at me in annoyance.

"Why can't I come in with you? Even if your dad is here, all you have to say is your friend woke up sick so you called me to pick you up. Is it really that hard to say? What if he's suspicious because your friend isn't with you? Hm? How are you going to explain that to him? Honestly, your best bet is going with my story. It's not like he'll be able to tell you slept at my place last night." ChangBin rants aimlessly as my heart drops in my chest. My dad stands behind ChangBin in complete shock.

"Dad--it's not like that--" I hurry after him as he storms toward the gate. He tugs it open and slips inside without a word.

"Shit--I didn't know he was there--I thought he was already inside." ChangBin tries to apologize, but I'm too far gone to care. I just disappointed my dad in the worst way possible. I broke his trust and did something I swore I would never do. The fact that he found out this way makes it even worse.

"Inside now. Both of you." Dad instructs as he sticks his head outside the gate. He disappears as quickly as he appeared.

I hesitantly grab ChangBin's arm and drag him inside. Dad stands at the door and patiently waits for the two of us to slip inside. He steps in front of us and points us toward the floor near the couch. I fall to my knees without hesitation. ChangBin glances down at me then back at my dad. He swallows hard before falling down beside me.

"Nabi—why didn't you tell me? I'm not mad—well—I guess I am—not because you have a boyfriend—because you didn't tell me." My dad falls down on the couch in front of us. His eyes fall on me as I slowly lift my head to look at him.

"I—he's not—I'm sorry." I take a shaky breath as disappointment falls over me. I know better. I know that he loves me and wants me to be happy. I know he wouldn't have cared if I told him. I was just worried he wouldn't approve of him.

"It's my fault. I wasn't the nicest person at first. She didn't want to commit to anything. I was the one that was clinging to her. Before we knew it we were in deeper than we'd realized." ChangBin takes my hand in his and squeezes as he steps up. My dad looks toward him and sighs.

"I like you. You didn't seem like a bad kid when you were here last. We had fun. I just—I don't know you well. I don't know your family. I don't know if you're trouble." Dad's focus completely abandons me and he acts as if I don't exist. He's too intrigued by ChangBin's fearless outburst.

"I'd be lying if I said I was an angel. I'm not. My family has more money than we could ever use. My dad is never home. I don't have a mom anymore. However—no matter what it takes—I'll always put her first. She is always going to be the most important thing in my life—even if you don't want us together." ChangBin states firmly as he scoots closer to me. I hesitantly look over at him--slightly shocked with how direct he's being.

"I know you're not an angel--look at your face." Dad shakes his head as he motions toward ChangBin. His face is still not healed from the assault he took to protect me. It won't be completely healed for awhile.

"You should thank him. He got hurt helping me." I whisper as I slip my hand out of ChangBin's. I grow more confident in my decision to be with him. I wrap my fingers around his bicep as I recall just how much he's actually done for me.

"What?" Dad's head snaps towards me and I lift my head without hesitation.

"A group of kids who don't like him came after me after they saw us together. He came looking for me--they had me in an alley. I didn't know what they had planned. I was scared, but then he came. He couldn't take them all on, so he just took the beating until his friends got there to help us. He got hurt so I wouldn't." I rest my head on ChangBin's shoulder as he tenses from the memory. I can only imagine the amount of pain he was going through. It must've been unbearable, but he didn't fight back. He didn't want to give them another reason to try and take it out on me.