Obsession | winrina

7. Her

Jimin kicked me out of the bathroom immediately.

She left me naked in the bedroom and I had no extra clothes to wear. The air conditioner kept blowing out chilly breeze, making my hair stand up and shiver. It's cold. I had no choice but to wrap myself up with the blanket in bed, which I did. My mind was floating, thinking about nothing, everything. Then there's that memory of my first love and how I first met her.

—

I remember she had always wanted to go to South Korea. They said it's amazing there. So here she was, sixteen, a high school transferee at that. Much to her parents' disapproval, she successfully convinced them to allow me even if she had no choice but to be alone in a foreign country.

She remembers waking up so early, scared that she might be late since she always takes long baths and showers. She remembers smiling widely at her first day of school, excited to meet new people and make friends. Sadly, it wasn't all rainbows as she had expected.

Well it was -the fact that she was unappealing, chubby. weighing approximately a hundred and ninety pounds. If only she was taller, (her growth spurt didn't hit yet. ) Maybe she wouldn't be so fat. She thinks so. She was five foot four after all by her age of seventeen. She wears a pair of lenses because of her poor eyesight. Actually, she is opting to get a surgery for it, but her parents wouldn't allow it unless she is of legal age, which happens to be soon enough.

Afterwards, it didn't take long for that excitement she felt before into going down the drain.

She was bullied.

Labeled as an outcast.

She called her parents back in America, telling them how she wanted to leave Korea as soon as possible. They told her, however, that she had to finish the academic year here. She couldn't convince them otherwise anymore. She brought it upon herself anyway, so she had to suck it all up.

It was a mistake to come here.

She may have cried here and there though she tried to be positive as much as she could, doing her best to learn the language, get straight A's in all classes -she tried really but physical education just wouldn't let her get at least a B, she had C there instead, barely passing the subject.

Time skip, it's the last day of school.

It's the end of the academic year.

Tomorrow morning, she's leaving.

She's going back to America.

Back home.

She was just about to head out of the school gates and unlucky as she was, the rain had started to pour. She ran back to the school lobby and rummaged her bag for an umbrella.

No to avail, she has to run all the way to the apartment.
And that is where she met this glasses girl wearing the same uniform as she does, soaked from the rain, she stood right below the roofing at the entrance of the lobby. The glasses girl was shivering, and her conscience continued to eat her while staring at the shivering girl. She contemplated on being a kind human.

That shivering glasses girl was me.

"H-hey," I was startled when she called out. "Would you like to come at my apartment so you can dry yourself up?"

I blinked, noticing how she was looking at my uniform from head to toe.
"I didn't have my umbrella either so -don't worry I-I don't bite."

Cute.

"I'm sorry, I was just surprised." and the corners of my lips curved upwards a bit, "If it's not a bother. This rain isn't stopping anytime soon."

She smiled back and led me to her flat in the sixth floor of the building. She left me standing by the couch while she took some towels from her room. She hands me one and I thanked her. She heads back to her room, coming out later on with a change of clothes and some spare in her hands, a spare for me just so she could have my uniform and hers into the dryer. It did happen.

And something else too.

I don't know when it all started but first was a conversation, a casual talk but I remained quiet most of the time. Then things went heavy. I continued to listen to her babblings, thoughts, her insecurities, and herself as a person. My face kept this straight expression while I watch her talk, intently absorbing every word that came out from her mouth, mesmerized by her brown eyes.

She was crying soon after.

And me, I pulled her into an embrace.

My heart sank hearing her sobs, watching her weep.

She was depressed.

Just like me.

I don't know either when she started to lean in closer, a few inches away from my face. I catch her glancing at my lips like how I glanced at hers. She licked her bottom lip once before it turns into an obvious and sexy lip bite. I swallowed the lump in my throat while she closes the gap.

I could see her hopes getting crushed by the slight push I did bringing her back to reality.

My reality.

"I-I'm sorry." She panicked, "I shouldn't have done that. I guess I'm just not attractive enough." The last sentence was a mere whisper of shame and sadness, I could tell.

Immediately I denied the misunderstanding I created, shaking my head, "No, trust me when I tell you that I don't find you unattractive at all. We just met, but I see you as someone cute and nice. You let me in even if you don't know me." My eyes drifts somewhere else,
"To be honest, I would've kissed you but l'm not someone whom you should link yourself to be with."

"What?" She looks at me as if I was being ridiculous.

"Why?"

But I am.

"I'm Kim Minjeong."

l am sure I had her mortified by the news.

"Oh."

Obviously.

Who doesn't know me in school? The Kim Minjeong.

The freak.

The dryer dinged and I let out a small chuckle, shuffling my feet after to get my uniform back. I was readying myself to leave.

"Kim."

Hell, I already have very bad eyesight so I wear these thick-rimmed glasses, the tears forming in my eyes did not help me at all.

"Let me just change then I'll leave."

I took my borrowed shirt off in the process. The pair of shorts was next but she suddenly pushes me to the nearest wall firmly.

"You're not leaving." Her intimidating gaze took me aback.

I stood frozen.

"My name is--"

—

Yizhou suddenly popped out from the door, "Where is Yoo?"

"What did you just say?" asked, my eyes widened at the familiarity of the name.

"Uhh I'm asking where Jimin is?" Yizhou frowns at her weirdness.

"Before that."

"Where is Yoo?"

"I'm here, Yizhou."

My attention diverts to the black-haired woman from the opened bathroom door.

"It was you." I muttered.

Now it all made sense to me.

The 'Minju' I've been thinking all along was right here with me all this time.

My kidnapper, my first love.

Her name is Yoo Jimin.