bleed me | jin ✔

T H I R T E E N

My love,

Yesterday, I left home and made it to the training camp. My mom cried when I entered the building where I enlisted. My dad looked me in the eyes and told me he was proud. I don't know why, though. It's not like I had the choice to enroll.

So I went to the bathroom and did like my mom did: I cried.

J. 

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"I just hate it sometimes, you know? History is fun, but the kids can be so annoying." June said as she played with the straw of her drink. 

It was her third of the night, and it was only 8PM. 

Jin nodded although he didn't know.

"And it's not like I can just quit and find another job in this economy." She pouted, earning a small smile from the boy in front of her.

She had always been overly pessimist when she drank. Overly pessimist, and somehow insanely attractive.

"My parents say I should go back to Daegu, to care for them as they grow old. But the idea of moving back to that place is just ugh." She made a disgusted face, and he knew exactly what she meant.

Daegu, their hometown. Every time he visited, he was reminded of why he'd never move back.

It was an ugly city, underwhelming compared to Seoul, of course, but it was also the place he felt the loneliest.

It held so many memories. Memories of their youth and their love story, beautiful memories that were tainted by the passing of time and the pain of loss. It always made him remember that he was alone now.

"What about you, do you like your job?" She asked, not wanting to talk about the past. 

He stared at his drink pensively. He was still on his second beer, and he wasn't sure he would finish it. 

"It's okay, I guess. It pays the bills, you know?" He murmured, unsure of if he should told her that he actually hated it.

Didn't he used to like his job? He couldn't remember. But surely there was a moment in the last year where he had been happy to go to work. Right?

"I heard Shinhan pays well. So, tell me, Jin, are you rich now?" She murmured loudly, like it was a secret that was meant to be heard by everyone. A smile was displayed on her plum lips.

He let out a laugh at her question, and she chuckled back.

"If you consider that being rich is living in a one bedroom and owning exactly two cooking pans." He wiggled his eyebrows.

She gasped loudly. 

"Excuse me? Jin, the almost-professional chef, owns only two pans?" She exaggerated her shocked expression.

They were just messing around, but her statement made him freeze. 

It all came back to him then, how three years ago, he cooked, a lot. A lot. And he loved it. 

And now, well, he didn't.

He shifted awkwardly and looked down at his beer that was still half-full.

"I don't... I don't cook anymore. I've stopped in the army, and just never started again." He said, sounding like he was confessing his sin, and that he knew, deep down, the priest didn't want to hear it.

June's smile dropped.

"Oh." Was all that she could say. 

She escaped the silence by having another sip of her drink, eyes trailing on the napkins that were neatly folded by the side of the table.

They both looked down for a few seconds, trying to think of some way to make the uncomfortable silence disappear. 

He couldn't help but think that uncomfortable silences are usually there for a reason.

But the reason here was problematic, and he usually avoided problems. 

"How is your brother? Still being an annoying brat?" He looked back at her. 

She let her tense shoulders relax, thankful that he spoke first. Thankful that he brought them back to a safe subject. 

"No, he's even more of an annoying brat. My mom screams at him daily because he says high school is stupid and wants to drop out." 

Jin's smile reappeared. 

"Well, high school is stupid." He answered. 

She playfully rolled her eyes. 

"Maybe for you, Mister Genius. You barely needed high school, you could have gone straight to college. But most of us has to suffer through it, you know?" She smiled and rolled her eyes.

He chuckled, and finally relaxed too, because they were back to messing around, back to being Jin and June, back to how they used to be. Back to ignoring the sword hanging over their heads.

She finished the last sip of her drink, and he finished his beer, and soon they were outside of the bar, walking side by side in the street. 

"Jin." She said softly.

He turned to look at her, warmth in his eyes.

"I missed you." 

Her voice was low, so low he almost didn't hear her. But he did, because as she spoke, he was staring right at her mouth, at her plum lips. 

Those lips that were oh-so inviting, those lips that he loved, those lips that he missed.

So he did the thing that he had waited three years to do again, the thing that kept him up at night.

He reached in and kissed her.