WITH YOU (WINRINA AU)

CHAPTER 25

Jimin snuggles into her blanket, feeling a little cold even though she's aware of the sunlight hitting her face.

"good morning."

"morning." Jimin replied, turning he body away from the window. "oh, god!"

Minjeong got startled and gets up panicking.

"what, what happened?" Minjeong noticed that Jimin is already awake. "you scared the hell out of me." she sighs as she lies down again.

"how? Why did I sleep on the floor?" Jimin asked.

"you thought I'd be cold, remember? So, you insisted that you joined me." Minjeong closed her eyes again.

"no way I did that." Jimin furrowed her eyebrows. "did I?"

"you did."

Right at that moment, the door opened, revealing Gunhoo who's dumbfounded.

"Mrs. Kim?" he raised his eyebrows.

"hey, kid." Minjeong just lifted her hand, waving it.

"why are you on the floor?" Gunhoo asked innocently. "you should've told me you're coming!" he runs towards them and gets in between them. "ah.... family."

"family..." Minjeong sleepily repeated. "family?" she turns her head quickly.

"family sleeps together in the morning. Well, they do everything together. Like us!" Gunhoo snuggles on Minjeong's back, hugging her.

"if that's what you wanna call it, then, okay." Minjeong sighs.

Jimin can only watch them getting comfortable with each other. She's happy, of course, but, on the other hand, she feels sorry for Gunhoo. He must've missed the feeling of having a father or a second parent figure.

"you want us to be a family, buddy?" Minjeong turns around, facing him.

"yes! I have a friend that has two dads. I can have two moms!" Gunhoo excitedly said. "that'd be so cool."

Minjeong averted her gaze at Jimin. She noticed that Jimin is looking down, probably contemplating on what Gunhoo said.

"hey, you said you want to go to Charlie's house. how about you get ready while mommy tells Mrs. Smith that you're coming?" Minjeong caressed his head.

"okay."

Gunhoo gets out of the room happily. Meanwhile, Minjeong sits up and faces Jimin.

"he doesn't know what he's talking about." Minjeong nervously stifles.

"believe me, he knows." Jimin pressed a smile and looks at her. "he's happy to have you around."

"what about you? are you happy that I'm around again?"

"well, you make my life easier. I'm less worried when you can spend time with him instead of me just leaving him alone with nothing to do." honestly, Jimin likes her more than before. "it's just scary to start again."

"it's hard for me too." Minjeong looks down. "so, what do you say? We both can start over."

"you can take him to Charlie and I'll see you after."

-

Minjeong is on her way back to Jimin's apartment. while enjoying he ride, listening to news on the radio, her phone suddenly rings. It said Giselle on the screen.

"hey, what's up? I'm driving." Minjeong put her phone on speaker.

"the case for Monday and Wednesday are ready. I'll send it to you so we can discuss it. also, there should be a hearing next Saturday. Can you attend it? if not, I can ask for a reschedule."

"can you reschedule all the hearings that'll be held on the weekends? I wanna have some leisure days." Minjeong smiles to herself.

"absolutely, ma'am. Do you need anything else?"

"just make sure I can go home before five pm." Minjeong then looks at her phone. "wait, before three. I need to take care of some things."

"on it! can't wait to see you in action."

"thank you. have a good day." Minjeong then hangs up the call.

-

"I'm back!" Minjeong enters the apartment.

"I'm here!" Jimin replied from the kitchen.

Minjeong goes to the kitchen and she can already see a feast on the dining table.

"are you preparing for something?" Minjeong is a little confused.

"nothing. I just wanna do something more while Gunhoo is not here and I have a guest." Jimin smiles at her. "try this smoothie. I found the recipe online."

"nice." Minjeong take some gulps of it before keeping it in her mouth. It taste... 'healthy' "what's that? that's horrible."

"oh." Jimin just laughed it off. "I thought it wouldn't be as bad as it looks."

"I was suspicious." Minjeong quickly goes to grab a glass and drink some water. "great attempt, though."

"I was thinking that we should spend some more time before Gunhoo comes home." Jimin smiles at her as she sits on a barstool.

"and how are we gonna do that?" Minjeong leans on the island counter. "shopping, movies, series, sleep, there are many."

"since you like to be at home, let's just watch something while we eat these snacks." Jimin suggested.

"nice! I'll pick the show."

-

"I can finally make a good use of my brain. My dad used to watch this kind of shows. he said it'll get the gears going up here." Jimin commented.

"so, you like it?" Minjeong looks at her.

"you learn something new every day." Jimin looks back at her. "it brings me back."

"you choose." Minjeong placed the remote on her lap. "watch what you like."

"last time, you walked out on my show." Jimin squinted her eyes, looking at her. "clearly you didn't enjoy it."

"I was sad, okay? I can be sensitive too." Minjeong responded with a little hint of joke.

"how sensitive can you be? As far as I know, from Gunhoo, you're a jokester at school." Jimin folds her arms.

"you have to be when there are children. Also, I was a teacher. I was supposed to make them happy. Make the school a happy place." Minjeong shrugs.

"make sense. You're a good woman."

"not a good parent." Minjeong looks down.

"you need to forget about your past if you wanna start again. I'm not saying that you should forget them, though. I already moved on with everything. I hope you can let them rest in peace as well." Jimin shared some words of advice.

"thank you for your understanding. I sometimes need a distraction. Always, maybe." Minjeong looks back up.

"I'll help you, Minjeong."