Almost like back then (JJK fanfic)

Chapter 36

***Later***

After we finish eating, Minho drags me into the living room, sits me down, and says, "I called my friend from the hospital, Jinki. He'll be there in a few minutes and he'll take a look at your hand." I say, "Minho oppa...." He interrupts me and says, "No, I'm not letting you get away with this." The twins run up to me and both hug me. Daniel says, "Noona, we missed you." Dominika joins in and they both sit down on their own sides.

I look at both of them and say, "I missed you both too, little ones." Dominika asks, "Did you bring us presents??" I pat her head and say, "Of course I brought you presents, sweeties. I'm your godmother, I couldn't help but bring presents. But you'll get them when the others do, okay? Just to be fair to the others." They both nod and out of the corner of my eye I see Jungkook and some girl whose face I can't see sit down on the other side of the couch.

I bite my lip and start talking to the twins to distract myself from them when a few minutes later someone rings the doorbell. I immediately jump up and say, "I'll answer." I quickly leave the living room and head towards the front door. I open the door and there's Jinki. I let him in and he comes in and takes off his coat.

I start walking to the kitchen and Jinki follows me. He hugs me tightly and says, "Hey, beautiful." I smile at him and he smiles back. Then he puts his bag on the table and says, "Well, show me your hand." I obey and raise my hand, showing it to him. He says, "Oh wow..And that's just from a glass??" I nod and he says, "That was one big glass." I smile and say, "Yeah, it was a lot."

I look at Jungkook again out of the corner of my eye and see him coming towards the kitchen with a girl. Now I notice her face and recognize her. It's a girl named Park Jiwoo, she was two grades below me and she's a year younger than me, so two years younger than Jungkook.They both enter the kitchen and I look at them quickly and then look away again. Jinki asks quietly, "How are you feeling?? About.....him??" He nods his head imperceptibly towards Jungkook. I answer, "You know what... I've somehow learned to live without him and thinking about him doesn't really hurt anymore, but the thought of him being with someone else really hurts me."

Jinki says, "If it helps, I heard that there's nothing serious between them yet, that they've only been together for about a month and a half or less." I swallow and say, "No, unfortunately it doesn't. But I guess I'll have to get over it. There's no other choice." He smiles and I say, "Anyways, I'll get you a glass to drink." Jinki smiles and says, "Maybe a mug would be better??" I smile and ask, "Do you want juice, coffee, wine, something else??" Jinki says, "I could get a glass of wine, but then you have to drink with me in company."

I smile and say, "Will do, sir." I want to go to the shelf where the wine glasses are, but Jungkook is in front of me. I say, "Sorry, but could you please step back a little?? You're standing in front of the shelf." Jungkook apologizes and takes two steps away. I tell him and tiptoe to reach for the glasses, but I can't reach them.

I see Jungkook take a step closer and assume he wants to hand me the glasses, but then I feel a hand on my lower back. Jinki, who touched me, says, "Let me, beautiful." I blush and step aside, letting Jinki hand me the glasses. He hands me the glasses and I take the bottle. We walk back to the edge of the kitchen and Jinki says, "Sit on the table." I obey again and sit down, but then Jinki notices that I'm wearing a short skirt, so he takes off his sweater and covers my legs with it.I smile and say thank you, and then I look at Jinki, scanning him with my gaze.

For my surprise, he is very muscular and fit. Without even realizing it, I reach out and touch Jinki's arm, his muscles. He laughs and asks, "What are you doing??" I recover and pull my hand away, then I say, "Sorry...but I didn't know you had muscles. Don't get me wrong, I always thought you were...well, soft for some reason." Jinki laughs and says, "Don't worry, you're not the only one. A lot of people think that. I just don't usually show my muscles, so everyone thinks that."

I answer, "You don't show them for no reason. You look good." He smiles and says, "Thank you, of course. But out of the two of us," then he leans into my ear and whispers, "and out of ALL of us...you're the most beautiful here." He pulls away and I laugh, then I ask, "Do you really think that??" He looks at me and says, "Are you kidding?? Absolutely. If you weren't my best friend's little sister, I would absolutely want to be with you."

I look at him and he pauses, then says again, "Not that I don't want to now, it's just that Minho would be against it.....but again, it's not like it's mutual either." He looks down and whispers to himself, "Well done, dude." I laugh and say, "Aww, you're so cute." He blushes and then after a moment says, "Anyways. Your hand."

I nod and then Jinki turns to Jungkook and says, "Uhh....you..." Jungkook says, "Jungkook. My name is Jungkook." Jinki nods and says, "Right. Jungkook, can you please find some booze??" Jungkook looks at Jinki in confusion and then Jinki says, "For disinfectant." Jungkook says, "Right." He leans over to the shelf and grabs some booze, then comes over to us, but Jinki says, "Min Lee, I think you need stitches. Is that okay??"

I nod and when Jungkook comes over with the booze, Jinki says, "Since I wasn't expecting anything big, I didn't bring anything I needed. Sorry." I say, "It's fine." I go get a needle and thread, then hand them to Jinki. Jungkook asks, "Can I help you in any way?" Jinki looks at me and then says, "If your girl doesn't mind, can you please hold Min Lee's hand?? Because it's about to hurt like a bitch. Because I don't have any anesthesia with me."

I say, "Jinki oppa....." He interrupts me and says, "Trust me, Min Lee. You need it." I nod and Jungkook looks at his girlfriend. She smiles and says, "Sure. It's not a problem. Can I help you with anything??" Jinki says, "Uhh, I don't know, but if anything happens, you can come and stand here just in case." She obeys and stands next to us.

I pull Jinki's sweater down, covering more of my legs. Jungkook looks at me awkwardly and takes his hand in mine. Jinki disinfects my hand, threads the needle, and starts stitching. I grit my teeth and try to endure the pain, which turns out to be much worse than I expected. Tears well up in my eyes, but I swallow, take a deep breath, and blink them away.

Jungkook, who knows my pain level is high (that things hurt less than others), notices the tears in my eyes and, without anyone noticing, pats my hand. I freeze, and Jinki notices it, but doesn't say anything. When he's finally done, he cuts the thread, puts it aside, and smiles at me, then says, "Wow, respect, beautiful. I'm surprised you were so calm and didn't even cry. I know it hurts a lot."

He takes our wine glasses, when Jungkook lets go of me and walks away, he hands me one and when we clink, he says, "Let's drink to you." I laugh and say, "Okay. To me." We drink the wine and then he helps me get off the table. Everyone starts to slowly return to the table to eat dessert, and mom, coming over to Jinki, says, "Jinki, honey. Please stay. You helped my little Min Lee, so I want you to stay and at least eat dessert with us."

Jinki and I look at each other and we both smile, then he says, "Thanks, but I don't want to be a burden to you, ma'am." Mom looks at me and says excitedly, "Did you hear?? He called me ma'am." I laugh and then she turns back to Jinki and says, "No, please. I insist."

Jinki and I look at each other again, I lean closer to him and say, "Trust me, it'll be better if you agree. She won't leave me alone anyway." Jinki smiles and says, "Of course I'll stay." Mom smiles contentedly and comes over to Minho. He says, "Hyung, you can sit next to Min Lee. The twins have already gone to bed." Jinki smiles wider and says, "I'd love to."

We all sit down and then Mom asks, "When are you going back to America, honey??" I pull my phone out of my pocket and, opening the group chat, I say, "Uh. Let me take a quick look." Then I read the messages, look at Mom and say, "Well, uhh...judging by the fact that we....we made it to the next round, I'd say in a couple of days." Mom looks at me and asks, "You made it?? That's great."I smile and then say, "Originally, I was supposed to stay for about two or three weeks, but since we made it to the next round, I have to go back to practice in a few days." Mom smiles and says, "It's okay. At least we got to see you a little bit." I look at her and say, "Mom, I'm going to finish my cheerleading performances and then I'll come visit you, okay?" Mom nods and we start eating.