When It Comes To You |j.k

72: 茶壺

"Mother?"

I quickly raised my phone and let his mother look at him. The lady squints her eyes with her eyebrows in a knot, "Where are you, son?"

Did Jungkook not tell her about his business trip?

"He's in Canada, Miss Jeon." I informed when Jungkook made no attempt to tell. There was a split second where her firm facade tumbled, but she picked herself back up with a tight grin. The hurt look on her face made me feel bad, somehow. But that was all I needed to prove that she truly loves him. Behind all the layers of her cold behaviour and selfish actions, she still cares.

"I see." Her eyes casted down to the floor, with the stretched grin not faltering at all, "Well, I came here to visit my son, but it would be impolite if I just left without acknowledging you, wouldn't it?"

I realized she was talking to me now. I put my phone back down to my side, probably making Jungkook look at the side of my pyjamas.

"Oh-" I stuttered, "It's okay Miss Jeon, I know you're a busy person. You don't have to spend time on-"

"How would you feel about having some tea with me?"

Oh, what?

"Uh-"

"It'll be nice," Her voice was prim and elegant as usual, yet also somehow threatening, "I should get to know my daughter-in-law. I know you'll be around for a long time."

***

So I found myself in a tea house with the mother of my fiancé. It's the first time I've ever been to one of these places. We were in our own private space, with tatamis covering the floor. The walls reminded me of the japanese shoji doors.

Ever since I reunited with Jungkook, I've had an awful lot of dates with people in closed-spaces. We all like our privacy, but only the rich can truly afford it.

"Thank you." I spoke as Miss Jeon poured oolong tea into my tea cup.

"So, Aera," She began while placing the tea pot back into its place, "Tell me, what is Jungkook like? With you, to be precise."

I had to be careful with what I say. They have such a tense relationship. Mentioning Miss Jeon in front of Jungkook has always been awkward, and it's not any different the other way around.

"Jungkook is a very...sensitive man. Whenever we run into issues, we don't have silent treatments and neither of us waits for the other person to magically understand like most. He is horrible at lying, and really has all his cards out with me. Even if he is trying to hide something that he's feeling, he'd tell me by the end of the day. It's just in him to want to communicate."

A smile sneaked upon my lips as I spoke, and I couldn't conceal it or even take control of it. My mind seemed to have left the tea house as if travelled into the images of Jungkook's gentle expressions and personality.

"He doesn't like to raise his voice, and you rarely hear him swear," Which I do much more often, but Miss Jeon doesn't have to know about that, "Jungkook values physical contact a lot, not in a pushy or needy way. Even just the small gestures of it is a lot to him, like sitting closely, or having a hand on whichever part of me, even when we're not talking. And he's so patient with my moods, with the conflicts we run into. He doesn't run away from these things, and he's always there, even when things are bad. And I think that's rare, as important as it is. So many people will only love you when you're happy."

It didn't even matter that I was talking to Miss Jeon anymore, it didn't matter how much she intimidated me. I couldn't help myself from appreciating all these things about him, and if anyone else should know how beautiful he is, it would be his mother.