"JUST YOU" [Yoonmin]

"Respect"

Jimin was beyond livid. He couldn't believe how his day was going. What God or devil was after him and why? Whatever did he do to be treated like this?

He was always one to think too much, and sometimes not enough. Sometimes he was too naive for his own good.

He ALWAYS thought that if you worked hard, things would fall into place naturally, especially for him.

He was smart, good looking, the top in his high school AND college, the most athletic and most awarded, always very popular. He skipped 2 grades for crying out loud. He thought that once he had that diploma in his hands, he would just be able to move out, get a good job, make lots of money, and never have to worry about anything ever again.

But boy was he wrong. No one ever told him that the real world actually sucks! That you can't continue to live in the past, that adulting is really hard and exhausting. He was never taught how to cook, to do laundry properly, about class status, check books, credit cards, credit in general, and most importantly experience. He learned quickly about what internship and "passion pay" was! About how money talked, and people were just horrible.

He never experienced bullying 'til he started to work for big corporates. When he moved to Seoul after graduation to pursue a dream job HIS mother wanted for him, he was seen as fresh meat, new bait. Just a pretty face. He was handed tasks that weren't particularly in his field, forced to make coffee and lunch runs, and he was either looked down upon or was eye candy to both boys and girls.

They expected him to use his face and body at dinners and clubs "after hours" to do "sexual favors" in return for partnerships, positions, promotions, and raises. Which of course he would always decline, earning him bottom of the totem pole status. So instead of doing the executive jobs that he was originally hired to do, he would end up with low paying tasks and errands to run that would normally belong to an intern or a secretary. The belittling and bullying got so bad that more than half of the new employees including the interns would quit before their 90 day trials were up.

His dad on the other hand, was always VERY supportive of him pursuing his dreams in track, and fought every day for his son to be an individual, be independent, to do whatever he wanted to be. He always called to encourage him to keep fighting, to not lose hope, to always be himself.

His mom on the other hand? Not so much! She always pushed him to study, to try harder, work harder, do better, become a businessman where he was guaranteed a better life, a better paying job, to marry and have kids.

So, he was beyond nervous when his dad became ill and Jimin got a phone call to return home. Although he had to come back to where life was simpler, where life made more sense, he was still scared of not being able to have his freedom.

But what he didn't know was that once you leave home, it's harder to come back to a life to where it was. To where relationships used to be like. How friendships and family was supposed to be. It wasn't easy like when you were a kid and didn't have a worry or care in the world. All that hard work, staying up late at night studying, pushing back his passion and dreams, all boiled down to a mediocre job that he was barely good at.

He started to have to help with bills, get his license on his own, and do chores around the house. His dreams of making it big and going to the Olympics were crushed. They were diminished the moment he graduated and left for Seoul, and he didn't even know it until he came back home. Home where it all began.

His life had always been molded and planned by everyone else! To make his parents and teachers happy, to make the town happy, to always make everyone else happy.

He's been home for about a year now but was lucky enough to move out on his own and find a place by himself. He moved close though, just in case his dad needed him. But not for her, NEVER for her!