dancing with a stranger

XI

jaerim dreaded the day. she woke up on the wrong side of the bed and everything seemed to going so 'not-well'. she tried cleaning the apartment to the best of her ability. place the pillows back on the sofa, clearing the fridge of expired goods and getting rid of all possible dust bunnies within the place but something always seemed quite off. 

well, everything seemed off when her parents came to visit. it was the weekend and and her parents finally had the day off from their busy careers as doctors. they lived a few hours drive away from the place so in reality, they could have visited any time they wanted but they couldn't with their jobs. jaerim always thankful for that. she enjoyed the peace of her small house. 

she looked over at her phone after a good few hours of cleaning the place. she saw two texts from hyunjin. it was the usual, asking about the assignment. she felt a little disappointed, that all the texts exchanged between the two were about school and the assignment.  she promptly replied the boy. 

rimmie 

can't meet today :( parents are coming over

seen

"this kid is ALWAYS leaving me on read" jaerim rolled her eyes. just then the doorbell rang and instead of its usual uplifting jingle, the tune sounded hauntingly eerie that very day. she dragged her herself towards the door and peeped through the hole to make sure it was her parents. sure enough, the both of them stood there, their presence emanating through the wooden door. 

"hey mom, hey dad" jaerim said with a still tone while letting her parents in. 

"hey sweetie, how have you been" the two adults went over and hugged their daughter. although jaerim disliked them visiting, she must admit, she missed hugs like with her parents. it instantly transported her to her childhood days. 

"just the usuals. been busy with schoolwork. i've been looking for a part-time job to fill the time but the academic year has been pretty tight so i'll probably continue my search during the semester breaks" jaerim made some tea for the both of them while her parents got themselves comfortable. 

the usual parent-daughter conversations took place. asking questions about school and work and regular catching up. it felt nice, it felt like old times. but jaerim knew the dreaded question and topic would surface. it always did. 

"have you reconsidered our offer? this chance comes literally once in a life time" jaerim's mom asked. ah, there it was. the one in a million offer. the offer where two of most renowned doctors in the city ask you to study in the university hospital that they work at. the offer that made jaerim move out. 

"no. the answer is still and will forever be no" jaerim frowned. 

"but why!" jaerim's mom began to raise her voice. an argument was coming and it was like this, almost every time the both of them talked. 

"first of all, although i have the grades for it, what would people think of me when they know the both of you are my parents? oh, she got in because of them. she didn't earn her spot in the university" jaerim mimicked the imaginable mocking from students. 

"secondly, i don't want to be a doctor. i don't want to study medicine. i love what i'm doing" jaerim said, an exasperated tone coming forth. anyone could tell that this argument has been made countless number of times.