Park and Kim

16

Jae slowly opened her eyes, she could more or less feel the consequences of her crying yesterday. Her face felt puffy, dry, and raw. She inwardly groaned, I probably look terrible. As she opened her eyes she remembered just how last night had ended.

She looked over at the boy beside her, his hair was all over the place, and his lips were pulled tightly shut. Their faces were only inches apart, and she would swear that she could feel his breath on her as he breathed in and out.

She watched him for a few silent minutes, just taking in every curve and line of his face. He had helped her immensely, and she didn't know why he had. They were rivals at school, and sure, they had kind of become friends during the camping trip. But he seemed to take an interest in protecting her, she wasn't completely blind, she had realized just who had convinced the group to watch over her. And the way he stood up to Sujung and Mr. Lee. Jae smiled to herself, Jimin was like a hero from an old story.

"If you're gonna kiss me you should just do it, instead of fantasizing about it." He said groggily as he reached for her and pulled her tightly against him.

"What?" Jae slapped his chest and he chuckled quietly but didn't let her go. She made no move to pull away, so they just laid there together. Jimin thought it was almost surreal. How the hell did this even happen? I'm laying here in bed with Kim Jae Hwa in my arms. He wasn't sure why or even what he felt about her. But it was as though, in only a few days she had become something that he needed to protect, something precious.

"Jimin?" Jae whispered his name so softly he wasn't even sure if she had said it. He opened his eyes and looked down at her. She was staring up at him, eyes questioning.

"Your mom is going to kill you guys." Jae and Jimin jumped, knocking heads as they looked over at the doorway where Brandon stood. Jimin jumped up and off of the bed, making his way toward the door.

"How long have you been standing there?"

"Long enough to know you didn't sleep on the floor like your mom thought you would." Brandon laughed as he pulled Jimin in for a hug. "Don't worry, I'm not going to tell her that two slept together."

Jae stood from the bed and also made her way toward the door. "Sir, we didn't... "

Brandon laughed as he let Jimin go and cast his glance toward Jae, "You don't have to convince me, you're both consenting adults. But if you guys are going to be loud, go somewhere where Yujin can't hear you." He looked back at Jimin. "Don't do that to your mom, she still feels like you're six. She left for work an hour ago, I'm on my way out. It was nice meeting you Jae."

With that he was out the door, and a few seconds later Jae could hear the front door open and close. Her and Jimin just stood there at the threshold of the door. "Hungry?" he asked, she nodded and then followed him to the kitchen. "You're in luck, student, I'm actually a pretty good cook."

---------

"Are they still not answering?" Jae hung her head low as she stuffed her phone back into her pocket.

"My dad is probably at work."

"What about your mom?"

Jae shifted uncomfortably on the bus seat. "Sometimes she doesn't have her phone." Jimin watched guilt pass over her face and leave as quick as it came. "Anyway, it will all be fine."

"Do you want me to talk to them about what happened with Sujung?"

"No. Like I said, it will be fine." Jimin could hear the doubt in her voice, her eyes roamed across the bus, finally falling on a small boy sitting next to his father. "Are your mom and Brandon married?"

"Yes," Jimin smiled. "My father left when I was six, I don't really remember him much. He was a prick that beat my mother though, I remember that clearly enough. Brandon was her boss at the company she worked for and he would see my mom at work with bruises on her face. He is actually the reason my dad left. Brandon came to the house one night to talk to him and ended up beating the crap out of him. He left that night and never came back. My mom was so worried he was going to press charges against Brandon, she just kept crying. They started dating a few months after that and they got married when I was nine."

"He's...interesting."

Jimin laughed and looked out the window, "He's a better dad than someone like me could ever ask for, and he has always worshipped my mother." He turned his body to face Jae head on, "Why is Sujung living with you? Are you guys actually engaged?"

Once again she let her eyes fall to her lap, of course he was still curious. "Yes, we are. But it wasn't really my choice, so I try not to acknowledge it right now." A bitter smile etched itself onto her face. "I guess that's my family's coping mechanism. When we don't like something or we can't stop something from happening, we just ignore it."