He's got the whole world in his hands | Jeongin

Chapter eighteen

Jeongin didn't like the way Minsi's question rattled him. As he stared at her now, he was convinced she was hiding something. The lump in his throat was too big to swallow, so he washed it down with a sip of his latte. "Seriously, why'd you ask that?"

"I'm a psychology student who wants to go back and study criminal justice, remember? Do you think I paid attention during confessions? I always wormed my way out of them by being sick. Obviously, I want to know if you'd tell the cops or keep it hidden."

"Do you plan on being a cop?"

Her eyes narrowed as she stared at him. "I'm not sure if you forgot or if you're just an idiot. I told you that my goal is to become a forensic psychologist."

"Do you always speak so harshly to everyone?"

"Only the people that I'm weary of."

"You don't trust me?"

"I've barely known you for two days, so why would I?"

She made a good point, but it still caught him off guard. He expected her to trust him because he was a priest. Everyone trusted priests, right? They were the holiest kind of people that one could come across.

Jeongin sighed and rubbed his temples. He was going about this the wrong way. A conversation with Minsi was like a conversation with Seungmin. Seungmin knew how to hit every button to annoy him when he was in a playful mood.

"I don't know, I just thought because I was a priest that y-"

"That I'd spill every sin I've ever committed? Get on my knees and repent? Find the light after being in the dark for so long?"

He shut his eyes and let out another soft sigh. "Minsi, I don't know what you've been through, but it's not my intention to judge you or make you feel ashamed for not following my religion. Your mother is worried and I just-"

"Do you even care about how I feel?" A wave of anger washed over her. "If this is all this is, if it's only to calm down my mother, you can take that latte and shove it up your ass. Why are you really here, Jeongin? Do you care about me or do you care about my mother? Is this some type of stupid intervention where the two of you eventually jump me and drag me to a church and yo-"

"No! No! No!" He waved his hands with wide eyes. "Of course not! You have the wrong idea about this. Yes, I care about your mom, but I'm here for you."

"Why?"

The words were thrown her way with sincerity. "Because I'm truly worried about you! I'll be the first one to admit that I don't know you. You're taking the steps towards building a career. You've been at a college and your mom says she barely talks to you. She's worried that you might not have friends or if y-"

"So you're just pitying me?"

"I..." The lump returned in his throat and he couldn't get out any words. The truth was that he was. He felt pity towards Minsi and he couldn't help it. He didn't know what she faced on her own. Did she have friends? Was she entirely alone? He didn't know and it hurt his heart.

Her chair loudly scraped across the floor and caught the attention of the baristas behind the counter. Without anyone else in the cafe, the place was entirely empty. The three had been wrapped up in their own conversation until the loud noise broke through their voices.

"I don't need your pity or my mom's pity either. I don't want your thoughts and prayers. I don't want your biblical advice. I want you to leave me alone and pass the message along to my mother, so she knows not to wake me up to meet a priest."

The chair slammed into the table and the table pushed against Jeongin's stomach. He winced slightly, but Minsi didn't seem to care as she grabbed her tea and continued to speak. "I'm certainly not possessed and I don't need your assistance. I think we're done here and just in case you didn't get the message, go to hell, Father Yang."

All he could do was sit there flabbergasted as she stormed behind him and disappeared outside. The three baristas shared looks with wide eyes and confusion. He took another sip of his latte and the sweet french vanilla flavor turned bitter. He shut his eyes and tried to pull himself together.

After sitting for a few moments, he stood up and calmly pushed in his chair. When he caught the baristas staring at him, the tips of his ears turned bright red. As if it was the most normal thing in the world, he strutted towards them, pulled a few dollars from his pocket, and placed them in the tip jar. Bright and colorful stickers wrapped around the bubble letters that spelled out tips.

"I'm so sorry about that. My latte is delicious, so thank you and have a nice day." He spun around on his heel and quickly walked towards the door. The three of them shared more looks of utter shock before the whispers began.

Outside, Minsi's heart ached. She didn't mean to snap at Jeongin, but she was so angry at her mother. She was angry that her mother treated her like some incompetent child. She pulled her car keys from her pocket and through teary eyes, she tried to hit the unlock button. To her surprise, she accidentally hit the alarm button instead.

She cursed beneath her breath and frantically hit buttons, a pathetic attempt to get the car to stop making so much noise. When she finished, she pawed at her teary eyes and sniffled. Right as she reached the handle of her vehicle, a voice called out her name.

Out of all the people she thought she may run into, it certainly wasn't him.