Flawless Attraction

Chapter 39 - Husband and Wife

POV JIMIN

 If I keep looking at his long legs and nice thighs I'm gonna have an accident. "How's that brother of yours?" I ask, changing the subject.

He's waiting to beat you again at checkers."

"Is that right? Well, tell him I was goin easy on him. I was tryin' to impress you."

"By losing?"

I shrug. "It worked, didn't it?"

I notice him fidgeting with his shirt as if he needs to fix it to impress me. Wanting to ease his anxiety, I slide my fingers down his arm before capturing his hand in mine.

"You tell Mark I'll be back for a rematch," I say.

He turns to me, his brown eyes sparkling. "Really?"

"Absolutely."

During the drive, I try and make small talk. It doesn't work. I'm not a small talk kind of guy. It's a good thing Taehyung seems content without talking.

Before long I park in front of a small, two-story brick house.

"Isn't the wedding at a church?"  

 "Not for Elena. She wanted to get married at her parents' house."

I rest my hand on shoulder as we walk up to the house. Don't ask me why I feel a need to claim him as mine. Maybe deep down I am a Neanderthal.

When we enter the house, Korean music blares from the backyard and people fill up almost every inch of space. I check out Taehyung's reaction, wondering if he feels like he's been magically transported to Korea. My family doesn't live in big houses with swimming pools like he's used to.

Hwan and a bunch of my other cousins yell greetings to us. They all speak Hangul, which would seem normal except that my dates family barely speaks Hangul in their house. I'm used to being kissed to death by my aunts and given hearty slaps on the backs by my uncles. I'm not sure he is, though. I nudge Taehyung closer to me as a sign that I haven't forgotten him, and attempt to introduce him to my family but give up when I realize there's no way he'll remember all their names.

"AYEEE!" comes a voice from behind us.

I turn to Namjoon with his girlfriend Brienna. "What's up?" I say, slapping my friend on the back. "Taehyung, I'm sure you've seen my friend around school. Don't worry, he knows not to tell anyone he saw you here."

"My lips are sealed," he says, then like a dork pretends to lock his mouth and toss the key away.

"Hi, Namjoon," he says, laughing.

Hansol sidles up to us, wearing a white tuxedo and a red rose in his lapel.

I slap my cousin-to-be on the back. "Yo, man, you really do clean up nice."

"You don't look too bad yourself. You gonna introduce me to your friend, or not?"

"Taehyung, this is Hansol. He's the poor guy ... I mean, lucky guy, marrying my cousin Elena."

Hansol shakes his hand and then hugs him. "Any friend of Jimin's is a friend of ours."

"Where's the bride?" Namjoon asks."

She's upstairs in her parents' bedroom, crying."

"From happiness?" I guess.

"No, man. I went in there to give her a kiss and now she's thinkin' of callin' it off, says it's bad luck to see the groom before the wedding," Hansol adds, shrugging.

"Good luck," I say. "Elena is superstitious. She'll probably make you do some crazy shit to make the bad luck go away."

As Namjoon and Hansol contemplate what Elena will make him do to erase the bad luck, I take Taehyung's hand and lead him outside. A live band is playing. Even though we're outside Korea, we definitely keep our traditions and culture close. Our food is here, our families are big and close, and we like to dance to music that makes our bodies move.

"Is Namjoon your cousin?" Taehyung asks."

No, he just likes to think he is. Baekhyun, this is Taehyung," I say when we reach my brother."

Yeah, I know," Baekhyun says. "Remember I saw you two swapping spit. That's when I knew you liked boys."

Taehyung is stunned into silence.

"Watch your mouth," I say, slapping Baekhyun on the back of the head.

Taehyung puts his hands in his pockets. "It's okay, Jimin. You don't have to protect me from everyone.

"Baekhyun takes on a cocky stance. "That's right, bro. You don't have to protect him. Well, maybe except from Mama, but I still love you and look up to you."  

 That's it. I exchange heated words with Baekhyun in Hangul quickly so Taehyung can't understand completely. Is he trying to make my date have a shitty time? With a huff, Baekhyun heads for the food.

"Where's your other brother?" Taehyung asks.

We sit at one of the many small rented tables in the middle of the yard. I drape my arm over the back of his chair. Hoping my family assumes I date him instead of asking. I'm sure they're hella confused right now."

"Jackson is right there." I point to the corner of the yard, where my little brother is the center of attention doing imitations of barnyard animals. I have yet to inform him that talent isn't as much of a chick magnet when you get into junior high.

Taehyung's eyes are focused on my cousin's four little kids, all under the age of seven, running around. Two-year-old Kayla has decided her dress isn't comfortable and has tossed it in the corner of the yard."

They probably all look like a bunch of rowdy rats to you."

He smiles. "No. They look like a bunch of people having fun at an outdoor wedding. Who's that?" he asks as a guy in a U.S. military uniform walks past us. "Another cousin?"

"Yep. Paul just came back from the Middle East. Believe it or not, he used to be in the Korean Ironers, a gang. Man, before the Marines he was really fucked up with drugs."

He flashes me a look."I told you before, I don't mess with drugs. Not anymore, at least," I say firmly, wanting him to believe me. "Or deal them."

"Promise?"

"Yeah," I say, remembering at the beach when I got fucked up with Bang Minah. That was the last time. "No matter what you've heard, I stay away from the coca, 'cause that stuff ain't no joke. Believe it or not, I'd like to keep all the brain cells I was born with."

"What about Namjoon?" he asks. "Does he do drugs?"

"Sometimes."

He watches Namjoon, laughing and joking with my family, desperately trying to be a part of it, instead of his own. His eomma left a few years ago, leaving him in a crap situation at home with his dad. I don't blame him for wanting an escape.

My cousin Elena finally appears in a lacy white dress and the wedding starts.

While the vows are recited, I stand behind Taehyung and gather him into my arms, holding him snugly. Not even caring about family thinking I'm attracted to this boy. I wonder what he'll be wearing at his wedding. He'll probably have professional photographers and videographers capturing the moment for eternity.

 "이제 남편과 아내." the priest says. The bride and groom kiss and everyone applauds.

Taehyung squeezes my hand.