i'm yours to keep | winrina

- 3

Making a garden is unexpectedly hard. Perhaps it's just because Minjeong isn't known for her fantastic upper body strength, but she quickly learns that yardwork is not her thing. At all.

What makes it even worse is Jimin.

Not like she's actively making anything difficult— actually, it's the exact opposite; she's digging with a sort of single-minded determination, making almost twice as much progress as Minjeong. It's starting to make her feel inadequate, to be perfectly honest.

At least she gets to see what Jimin looks like in shorts and a tank top, and it is really nice.

And really, really distracting.

She has surprisingly toned legs, the muscles of which tense under her skin every time she hefts a dirt-laden shovel out of the ground.

Her cheekbones are an adorable rosy red and she exhales softly with each effort. The tops of her shoulders, and her collarbone. Minjeong never thought she had a particular interest in that body part, but Jimin's look absolutely gorgeous.

Minjeong's eyes track a drop of sweat dipping into the hollow of her neck before it meanders further south, disappearing under her shirt—

"I didn't ask you here so you could stand around." Jimin annoyed voice breaks her reverie.

Minjeong quickly averts her gaze, glad her cheeks are already flushed from exertion and not from completely checking out Jimin. Well, whatever. She's a healthy teenage girl with eyes, of course she's going to occasionally ogle an attractive person.

"So sue me, I'm not cut out for manual labor." Minjeong retorts after regaining her bearings. She takes off her cap and lets her short hair fall so she could make a small ponytail. She notices Jimin following the motion, but ignores it.

"This shit is hard."

"Yes, which is why I wanted you to help me." Jimin says irritably. Her own hair is twirled into a bun, though a few strands have come loose to frame her face. "Can you remind me who exactly is responsible for ruining my previous garden?"

"Alright, alright." Minjeong hold her hands up in surrender. "No need to be so sassy."

Jimin simply glowers at her, and Minjeong responds with a cheeky smile before returning to digging just to annoy Jimin a little more. At least they were almost done for the day— Jimin had plotted out the area and they had spent most of the morning pulling up the grass and digging out rocks, roots, and other debris. The last step would be to sprinkle yesterday's coffee grounds over the area.

After ten more minutes of digging, Minjeong leans on her shovel and points towards the house. "Could I bother you for a drink?"

Jimin lifts one last pile of dirt out of the ground, wiping the sweat off her forehead with the back of her arm.

"You're already bothering me, but I want a drink too."

Minjeong follows her lead towards the house, taking off her sneakers before entering the gloriously-cool space; even she can be civilized if she really wants to. She scans the place with interest and a little envy; the floors are all dark wood and thick rugs, and the kitchen Jimin is heading towards has granite countertops and stainless steel appliances. Minjeong feels painfully out of place, and for a moment she wishes she and her mom lived in a place as nice as this.

She silently slides into a stool opposite of Jimin, who had busied herself with getting a couple of glass out of a cabinet.

"Do you take ice with your water?"

Minjeong just shrugs, leaving it up to Jimin. As long as it was cold and liquid, she'd take anything. The freezer whirs as it dispenses ice, and a few moments later Jimin places a cup in front of her— one that's almost entirely composed of ice cubes, with only an inch of water at the bottom.

"Seriously?" Minjeong asks, exasperated.

For whatever reason, Jimin is still hot and cold around her, though today she's definitely sliding more towards the 'cold' side of the scale. It seems like every step forward they take, Jimin moonwalks back to where they started. Minjeong's at a loss of what to do— she hasn't acted any different since first meeting Jimin the other night, so she doesn't know what exactly is bothering the girl.

But whatever, two can play that game.

Minjeong plucks one of the ice cubes out of the glass and pops it into her mouth, crunching on it as loudly as she can. She hides a smirk when one of Jimin's eyebrows twitches in agitation.

"So, what's your old man up to?" She says between crunches. The cursory look she had given the place didn't reveal any principals lurking around the corners, but perhaps he was upstairs, just waiting to get the jump on her.

"Why? Are you worried?" Jimin asks, taking her place on the other side of the table. Her glass has the perfect ice-to-water ratio, which is just rude.

"Of course I'm worried!" Minjeong freely admits, waving away the question with a lazy hand. "He's likely to kill me if he realizes I'm in his kitchen, drinking his water, corrupting his pride and joy."

Jimin chokes on her water. "You're not corrupting me—"

Minjeong shoots her an impulsive smirk. "Not yet, I'm not." Though she can't deny how fun it'd be to see Jimin loosen up, to hear her laugh again, to feel that smooth skin under her lips—

Ah, well. She probably shouldn't wander too far down that road, even if she thinks it would be quite an enjoyable trip.

Jimin doesn't seem to notice how Minjeong's smirk has turned just a little softer. "He's out of town for some conference." She eventually mutters, staring down at her glass.

"He won't be back until this weekend." Something about the way she says the words sucks the fun out of Minjeong, and her smile fades. Jimin's holding herself differently than she has before— her shoulders are stiff with unhappiness, a contemplative frown settles on her face, and her eyes refuse to leave her glass. She just looks sad, and frankly it's bothering Minjeong.

Whatever's causing Jimin's mood today, Minjeong would bet good money her dad is behind it. "Hey." She says, leaning across the table towards her, wanting to inexplicably cheer her up. Jimin finally looks up, eyes widening at the sudden lack of distance between them.

"You have a smudge of dirt on your face..."

She reaches her arm out, hand coming slowly towards the smudge so Jimin can have time to smack her away. But Jimin stays perfectly still except for the bobbing motion her throat makes when she swallows hard. Minjeong's hand reaches its destination, brushing aside a lock of hair and rubbing at the dirt on her temple in an attempt to make it fade away.

Maybe it's just Minjeong's imagination, but Jimin's eyes seem to flutter shut for a moment before she jerks away, nearly toppling over in her chair. "I can clean my own face." She snaps, but her quickly reddening cheeks betray her real feelings about Minjeong's action.

Minjeong simply grins as she leans back, one of her hands victoriously clutching Jimin's glass. She pointedly takes a sip from it, enjoying both the taste of actual, liquid water and the total surprise on Jimin's face. "You're right, my bad."

Jimin stands up and crosses her hands over her chest, glaring at Minjeong.

"Let's get back to work." She tells Minjeong before she stomps towards the backyard.

Minjeong trails behind her, satisfied that she was able to distract her from whatever was making her unhappy. But somehow, she feels like her work isn't done yet. As she grabs her shovel and resigns herself to sore muscles and smelly clothes, she plans how she can get Jimin to smile again.

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