Not Your Boyfriend (2PARK✔️)

Lesson Twenty: Meeting

"Woojin and I can be out in ten minutes-"

Sungwoon's head shakes slowly, dejectedly. "You've been invited anyhow. Your father mentioned you to my father, and they're both expecting you to be present during the 'Business Brunch'." His voice drops an octave to imitate the thundering voice of his father, his eyebrows scrunching as he does so.

"But Hyung-"

"Just get washed up and I'll find you some nicer clothes for the meal." He gives me a quick once over, sighing at my disheveled facade. "And try to lose the bedroom eyes by the time your father gets here. I don't need him accusing me of converting you to my lifestyle again."

My cheeks burn slightly as he turns on his heel and stalks down the hall towards his own room, muttering all the time to himself. "Thank you!" I call after him, to which he merely waves.

I close the door and lock it once again, pressing my back against the wood nervously as the bathroom door pops open. "What did he need?" Woojin whisper-shouts, stepping out in a robe when he catches sight of my expression. "What was it?"

I puff out my cheeks, pulling in the deepest breaths I can muster to try and keep my head clear. "My father is coming here," I say quickly, lifting my gaze to hold Woojin's. "My father is on his way for a business meeting with Sungwoon's father, and all their other partners."

I push off from the door and towards the bathroom, weaving between him and the narrow doorway the best I can without hitting either with my shoulders. Woojin grabs at my wrist before I can make it all the way into the bathroom, his grip solid but far from harsh. "Jihoon, what the hell am I gonna do while everyone is doing family time?"

I glance back at him over my shoulder, taking his hand in mine and helping him release my wrist slowly. "I don't know, but I need to take a shower right now. We can figure it out once I've had a bit to clear my head." I'm not sure how I could clear my head at a time like this. In reality, I'll probably sit down under the stream of hot water and try to keep from crying into my knees. I've never been good with surprises, and this is surely one of the worst ones I've ever been given.

I close the door between us and sigh, pushing the heel of my hand against my temple to ward off the colorful migraine today will bring. I start stripping down, shivering as my feet touch the cold marble of the bathroom floor. Reaching past the shower's glass door, I turn the water on and wait for it to heat up, grabbing a towel to toss over the door in the meantime. The glass cubicle steams up quickly, and I step in tentatively, my overactive mind slowing to a crawl as the hot water hits my tense back muscles first.

I merely stand still, making no attempt to wash anything but the palpable stress from my skin. I'm lost in my thoughts of my father. The last time I spoke to him was over the phone over a year ago, when he called to tell me that he had become engaged to a younger woman. The last time I even saw him was... When everything else in our lives happened.

Without even realizing, my pale hand reaches up to stroke the thin scars left across my ribs. The grooves of the stitching permanently etched into my skin, speckling the long lines I gave myself as the only punishment I knew. The only punishment I thought I deserved for disappointing my family, and letting myself be ruined.

I drop my hand in fright as the shower door suddenly pops open, my throat scraping harshly as a shout gets caught behind my clenched teeth. When I catch sight of a nervous Woojin between the crack in the door, I let out a startled squeak and turn towards the wall, tucking myself into the corner of the shower to try and avoid his gaze. "What the hell do you think you're doing?" I ask between harsh gasps.

His voice comes muffled, and I can't hear what he's said over the sound of the shower. I glance over my shoulder at him and feel my eyes widen in surprise to see him also turned away. I can only see his profile as he speaks, his eyes never straying towards me, and his hand holding the door in place so it won't reveal any more of me to the cold bathroom. I still can't hear his words, but the way his brow has furrowed and his lips have puckered tells me it's something I should hear.