『 POLISHED METAL 』 ⇢ Park Jimin

Chapter 21: Home Sweet Home

•Eunjin's POV•

"Eunjin?" From the voice, I could tell it was Jimin.

"The door's open," I replied as I fixed Mickey's collar.

Jimin slowly opened the door, stepping foot into the room before closing it and walking towards me.

"Uh—are you alright?" He asked as his gaze went from Mickey's sleeping form on the bed to me

"I'm fine," I put the collar down and turned my head to look at him, "Why'd you ask?"

"Nothing, nothing," he cleared his throat before pointing at the collar in my hand, "What happened to Mickey's collar?"

"It broke."

"Oh," He took a seat next to me, "how?"

I shrugged, "I don't know, it was broken when I came inside the room and Mickey can't tell me what happened since she can't talk without her collar."

Silence hung in the air for a while so I was about to go back to fixing Mickey's collar but stopped halfway when Jimin spoke up.

"You...hated the mall, didn't you?"

I sighed before turning towards him, "Yes, wasn't it obvious already? Those...people scared the heck out of me, I couldn't take it. I was so scared—I don't think I could do this anymore. I wanna go home, I wanna go back to the beach."

"Hey there, it's fine. I mean, it's understandable. Not everyone goes over their fear that easily. Maybe we could try the park next time or—"

"Jimin, just stop please," I shook my head, flashing him a small smile, "It's no use. I really appreciate what you're trying to do for me but I can't do it."

"Yes, you can!" He exclaimed, taking my hand in his, "Look—if you were able to face Mina, the guys and me then you can face the whole world if you had a bit more courage."

"I-it was only because I let my guard down, I wasn't being myself for these past few days." I stuttered out as I started to gather my clothes from the closet.

"No, you were being yourself and you were facing your fears. You can't live your life in fear, Eunjin." Jimin stood in front of my luggage and spread his arms out, blocking me from packing my things.

"Yes, I can, Jimin. That's how I've been living my life this past 18 years."

"B-but, you can't leave! Not yet at least..." He exclaimed.

"Why not?"

"Because...I said so!"

"That's not a proper excuse." I tried to push past him to proceed packing but he snatched the clothes from my hands and hid it behind his back.

"Proper excuse or not, you're not leaving Seoul until you have conquered your fear." He stated, looking at me straight into the eye.

I returned the stare, hoping he would let me go but it looked like he wasn't planning to.

I let out a deep sigh, "Why?"

"Why what?" He tilted his head.

"Why are you so determined to help me overcome my fear?" I uttered.

"T-that's because...I want to."

"That's not a very specific answer."

"I don't care—look, I don't want to see you suffer from this fear. You could be doing so many amazing things if you weren't so scared of people. You could be changing many people's lives and you could be seeing so many beautiful things."