Found my world in a small town | Winrina

Chapter 9- Changed Behaviour

The weather these days was not on Minjeong's side. When she left Irene's property not even an hour after arriving, cupcakes and leftover chocolate cake in both her hands, it was snowing heavily. Thus, she ditched her original plan to stay outside for as long as possible.

When Minjeong entered the house, she prepared for Jimin to metaphorically jump at her throat the minute she stepped into the living room. Strangely, something entirely different happened: Jimin was still sitting on the couch and quickly looked away from Minjeong when she entered the kitchen and set down the baked goods on the table. It might have been just an illusion but she looked like she had been crying.

"I brought some cake," Minjeong said, "you can eat some if you'd like."

"From the café?"

"Yes," Minjeong could barely stop herself from adding a snarky 'from the lesbian'. Instead, she went to her room without another word. Weirdly enough, Jimin did not even sound annoyed or angry, as far as one could tell from three words only. Maybe she was not homophobic after all? Minjeong remembered the conversation from a few days ago and shook her head. Who would react that way if it were not out of dislike for the LGBTQ+ community? What other reason would Jimin have to dislike the café? She had explicitly said that she stopped going there because Irene was in a relationship with another woman. Then again, why did she care? Homophobic or not, Jimin hated her anyway.

In the days following the closing of the café, Minjeong spent as much time outside as she possibly could. She still left around the same time she usually did and took a long morning walk around the village, walking on the hills behind the house until she reached the broad road that led to the village. After taking a long stroll, she payed a visit to Mr Lee, staying away from the house for as long as possible. Most of the times though, the weather was the reason why she returned home earlier than she wanted to.

But it also seemed like she was not the only one who dodged potential conversations in every way possible; Jimin was avoiding her, too. One or two times she excused herself from dinner, something she had never done before. She stayed in her room most of the times even when Minjeong was home instead of occupying the living room like she had done before. When they walked past each other in the hallway or met by coincidence, Jimin avoided eye contact and looked the other way. She did not do this in her usual arrogant way but more in a shy and uncertain way.

Once or twice, she looked as though she was about to say something, like when they met in the hallway upstairs after being called downstairs for dinner. Jimin looked anxious and would open her mouth but then close it again. They would get interrupted or Jimin would snap back to reality and the moment was over, the two girls going separate ways again. On top of that, Jimin seemed like she was lost in her thoughts often. She did not react when her parents said her name and looked off into the distance more than usual.

Finally, the first day of Jimin being allowed to ski again came. Doctor Choi had visited her the previous day and — to both Minjeong's and Jimin's joy — had declared that tomorrow she could go out again. Her foot had healed apparently very nicely and apart from a special 'sock' to stabilize her ankle, it was as good as new.

Since she did not have to avoid Jimin that day, Minjeong slept longer on her first 'free' day. She expected Jimin to have gone skiing first thing in the morning, meaning that she would not have to leave the house herself to avoid her host.

But when Minjeong came downstairs in her pajamas around 9:30am, rubbing her tired eyes and running a hand through her unbrushed hair, she was shocked to find Jimin sitting at the dining table. She was fiddling with the handle of her tea mug and looked like she was thinking deeply about something. Why was she here? She had not noticed Minjeong yet so maybe the latter should just go upstairs and stay there until Jimin left. If she even planned on leaving. Before Minjeong could truly contemplate disappearing in her room again though, Jimin looked up and gave her a wonky smile. A smile?