Falling Comets (Jungkook Fan fiction)

Chapter 24

The front door to Hyunsoo's family home opened up to reveal the housemaid. She wasn't dressed in her typical every day clothing, today she was wearing a formal black dress, the kind people would wear to a funeral. Hyunsoo beamed at her.

"Hyunsoo, welcome home," she said smiling, gesturing for both Hyunsoo and Jimin to enter.

The name on her tag read 'Yeonhee'. Hyunsoo grew up with Yeonhee since she was in elementary school, so they had developed a really good relationship together. Hyunsoo thought of Yeonhee as a mother she couldn't have. Her real mother was never there for her, so it was always Yeonhee who picked Hyunsoo up from school, or dropped her off. It was always Yeonhee who made the meals that Hyunsoo loved so much, and it was also her who looked after Hyunsoo whenever she fell ill.

"I've missed you," said Hyunsoo excitedly. Yeonhee had been the only one she was looking forward to seeing. "Oh, by the way, this is my friend from university, Jimin. Mother told me to bring a friend along this time. Don't worry though, I trust him."

Jimin, like a gentleman, shook Yeonhee's hand and introduced himself again. He also complimented her dress. Yeonhee looked flattered and Hyunsoo nodded to herself, as if satisfied with her choice of person to bring here.

"My name is Yeonhee, I'm the housemaid for this family. Thank you for your kind greeting, I do appreciate it. I don't know if Hyunsoo told you this, but... no, it's not my place to say. I will let Hyunsoo inform you..." said Yeonhee, looking at Hyunsoo as she trailed away.

For a second, Hyunsoo thought Jimin might say something about the 'housemaid' part, but he didn't. There was a part of Hyunsoo that questioned why she didn't explain anything to Jimin beforehand, but there was a bigger part in her that knew that Jimin would be able to understand as everything unfolded. There was no one else she could think of who might have been a better candidate to bring along. Unless it was Hoseok, but her mother would have said that specifically. The fact that she said 'friend' was enough to understand that her mother was testing to see what kind of people Hyunsoo was surrounding herself with at university.

"Don't speak to Yeonhee in front of the other guests too much, especially my parents," said Hyunsoo to Jimin. "Like I said in the car earlier, I'll explain once everything is over."

"You can count on me," replied Jimin. He looked confident, which helped Hyunsoo loosen up a little too.

"You should hurry on through Hyunsoo, I'll take your coats. The guests have started arriving already. Your father is on the phone but your mother is available in the grand living room." Yeonhee took their coats and hung them inside a closet as she said this. "Good luck," she added.

Hyunsoo did a thumbs up and smiled. She took a deep breath and looked at Jimin, who was watching her. He did a 'fighting' gesture at her and linked arms, guiding her to the next room where Yeonhee had pointed at earlier.

"Nervous?" asked Jimin, smiling at the people that suddenly appeared around them as they entered the room.

"I always am when I'm here," admitted Hyunsoo, then added, "But I'll be fine."

"Of course you will be, I'm here with you." He did his eye smile as he spoke.

To be honest, rather than being nervous due to her parents and the dinner, she could feel her heart quicken its pace more due to the fact that Jimin was so close to her, and she even had her arm linked around his arm!

"Ah, Hyunsoo," said her mother behind them. "You're finally here. I must say though I'm rather disappointed in your punctuality. As the daughter of the host I expect you to arrive earlier."

She made a couple of gestures with her hands as she spoke, and Hyunsoo noticed from the corners of her eyes that Jimin was getting distracted by the hands and her mother's outfit. It was an amusing sight, though she couldn't let herself burst into laughter right there and then. She did think though that the dress looked too extravagant to be worn indoors to a simple dinner with a few guests.

"I understand, but I was kept busy at the university," said Hyunsoo.

"Don't talk back." She spoke without looking at her daughter. Instead, she was examining Jimin. "And who may you be?"

"My name is Park Jimin, it's a pleasure to meet you ma'am," said Jimin in a smooth voice.

He was looking so cool, thought Hyunsoo and hid her smile from her mother.

Hyunsoo knew that this introduction alone impressed her mother, because she was watching them both quietly probably trying to find a flaw in her friend. She also knew that whatever Jimin did would impact on what her mother would say about the university she was attending. Her parents were constantly looking for reasons to pull her out. Luckily, they knew they couldn't do it by force. What would the others think? They would say.

"Mother, I was wondering what this dinner was for actually, because we only recently had an event. We wouldn't normally have something else this soon," said Hyunsoo, distracting her from staring at Jimin, who must have started to feel uncomfortable.

"Yes." She finally turned to look at Hyunsoo. "This is a celebration dinner dedicated for your father and Seokjin. Their business together will bring a lot of success, so naturally you would want to celebrate that, would you not?"

"Of course," said Hyunsoo without feeling. "Well, I better entertain our guests here then."

"Yes, you do that, and make sure Jimin here learns his table etiquettes before it begins," she said with another glance at Jimin. And then, she walked off to the other side to speak to Seokjin's wife.

"I'm so sorry about that Jimin," said Hyunsoo sadly, letting go of his arm and turning to face him. "I hope you didn't mind that too much."

"No worries, that's not anywhere close to fazing me." Jimin was laughing, which surprised Hyunsoo. "So, will you teach me some table etiquettes now?"