Found my world in a small town | Winrina

Chapter 3- Dog-lovers grudge

"Hey, can I talk to you for a second?"

Just as Minjeong came back upstairs after fetching herself something to drink, she encountered Jimin- who awaited her at the top of the stairs.

"Uh, sure," Minjeong said. She was a little surprised at the fact that Jimin wanted to talk to her. When Minjeong had returned from her visit at Mr Lee's shop, Jimin had still been gone. Only Winter had been there to welcome her back, lazily wagging her little tail. Jimin's mother had come home almost at the same time as Minjeong and shortly after, the other adults arrived. Jimin had be the last to come back, red cheeks and her skis in hand. She had ignored Jimin — and her parents — and had disappeared into her room. There, she had stayed until now.

"Is something wrong?" Minjeong asked when she noticed that the blonde girl at the top of the stairs was looking a little displeased.

"I guess you could say that, yes," Jimin said, crossing her arms in front of her chest, "where were you today? And why didn't you tell me you were planning on going out?"

"I'm sorry, what?" Minjeong replied completely caught off guard.

"I came home for lunch around one and you were gone," Jimin explained, "you left Winter alone."

"Is... is this about your dog?" Minjeong asked, still utterly confused.

"Winter is fourteen years old," replied Jimin, "you can't just leave her alone for hours on end!"
"Well, how was I supposed to know that?" Minjeong asked defensively. Jimin was hovering over her and still blocking the way up the stairs. Also, Minjeong really did not like the way Jimin was talking to her but also did not want to provoke a fight. Still, she thought that her host's behavior was a little unjustified.

Jimin opened her mouth to answer but a voice from downstairs interrupted their conversation:

"Dinner is ready!"

Jimin groaned and walked down the stairs with her arms still crossed, squeezing past Minjeong. Without thinking about it, Minjeong extended an arm and grabbed Jimin's sweater by the sleeve.

"Look, I'm sorry I left Winter all alone," Minjeong said calmly and conciliatory and took a step towards the taller girl, "I didn't know, okay? I'm really sorry."

"Whatever," Jimin just shook her guest off and ran down the stairs. Minjeong sighed and followed slowly, not taking her eyes off her glass of water.

In the kitchen, Jennie had cooked some chicken and vegetables for everyone. Minjeong went over to her own parents who were sitting on the couch, looking at some plants and other nature-objects they had spread out on the coffee table.

"Oh, is this what you collected today?" Minjeong asked and carefully picked up a pine cone.

"Yes, these are some of the things we found," said Baekyun, "but let's look at that later, dinner is ready."

Minjeong nodded and followed her parents back to the table, sitting down on the same seat she had already sat in yesterday. However, the situation was now a little awkward since every time Minjeong looked up from her plate, she was looking directly at Jimin. The other seemed rather icy; she did not meet Minjeong's gaze a single time and stared at her plate throughout the whole meal.

Her parents tried to get her to engage in the conversation but Jimin stayed silent except for short answers to questions and a request for a bottle of water.

"It was very delicious," Baekyun complimented his colleague and leaned back in his chair, "absolutely magnificent."

"Thank you, I appreciate the compliment," Jennie smiled, "shall we take a look at what you collected today? I'd love to see all the photos you took!"