39. Afford

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❝ afford ❞


The only thought of the presence of his uncle had already taken away her confidence and on top of that, no wonder how many people were waiting for them. The couple was escorted into a spacious area with a large table in the middle and a few people sitting around it.

The number of people helped her to relax a bit.

Exactly five people were there with two familiar faces. One was, of course, his uncle and another one was his sister. "JUNGKOOKIE!" and the most excited one was the chief. It was weird for her to see him like that, a completely different person.

"There she is your soon to be daughter in law, " he began to talk about her and continued with unwanted praises on how she had tasted the success in the medical field within a small period of time.

Next, she was introduced to the unfamiliar ones, his mother, father, and aunt, the chief's wife. The dinner table was arranged soon after they were done with it.

Everyone was ready to eat and Mr. Jeon had even put his food into his mouth when Mrs. Jeon stopped her. "Put that down and take your medicine first, " she ordered and that made him obey her with the help of their daughter.

Right at the moment, the youngest couple, who were sitting opposite to each other, met their eyes. Jungkook showed a thin smile to Jihyun and looked back at his food.

"I told you she was so beautiful. Isn't she?" Junghee whispered to her mother and both of them got busy whispering to each other.

Taking a chance, she sneakily picked the pack of the medicine and read the name of the drug. That one time interest in cardiology helped her to recognize the name and his father was still in medication and recovering from it.

The dinner passed smoothly.

After that, all of them decided to part ways. The chief and his wife left first, Mr. Jeon and his son excused themselves and got busy with each other, leaving Jihyun with Mrs. Jeon and Junghee. "I wanted to thank you for a lot of things, " Mrs. Jeon started out awkwardly.

"I won't call out all the things, but you're one of the reasons for the happiness to come back in this family. Thanks a lot, " she thanked, having the latter nervous.

"No, it's okay. I'm glad to be one of them, " she replied out of awkwardness.

It was good that Junghee noticed and intentionally broke it. "Oof, you just made me tear up, " and the moment turned into laughter.

Soon later, three of them decided to leave them alone. "I hope you'll come to visit us sometime. I mean it's the first time Jungkook brought us to meet his partner, " Mrs. Jeon joked about it before bidding goodbye.

"Mom's not wrong. You are the first person, " Jungkook agreed with what his mother said after they left. "I'm really sorry, " Jihyun apologized out of nowhere, right when she realized how she still had a hint of doubt on his words, but not after this.

Of course, it would confuse him. "Why?" he asked. "I love you, " she answered with some unexpected words. "What did you say? You what?" he was surprised but ended up teasing her. "Forget about it, " she rolled her eyes and walked away.

"JIH!" he ran out to find her, assuming she must have gone to the parking lot.

And there he bumped into a woman, someone known. "Long time no see, Minisu?" he asked, not sure if that was her name. "Minsu, " she corrected him. His face clearly showed how much he disliked this person after she told Jihyun about them.

"Oh, sorry. And what are you doing here? I don't think this place is something you can afford, " he expressed an unnecessary remark to put her down.

"Excuse me, I don't think that's how you talk to a woman. Didn't your parents teach you any manners?" a guy walked between them, who somewhat looked familiar.

Those words caused his hand to turn into a fist and crack his knuckles. "Seems like you've got another rich hunk, huh?" he commented with a smirk. Jiho was about to punch that smirk away when a familiar voice interrupted.

"What's going on here?" Jihyun eyed her man, causing him to widen his eyes and shut his mouth. "Jihyun? Are you with him? Oh wait, is he that patient you've talked about? The one you are dating? Someone with no manners, " he asked, pointing at Jungkook.

It made her unable to make eye contact with her friend. "I apologize from his behalf. I'm sorry, " she apologized, looking down. "Learn some manners, Mister. " Jiho slipped his hands around Minsu's waist and walked away with her.

From how Jihyun apologized, it was obvious that she heard the conversation. "I'm sorry, Jihyun, " and Jungkook apologized to her.

"I think I'm also one of those people who can't afford to be in a place like this—"

"No, I didn't mean that. I just can't bear her since the time she told you about us, " he admitted how he felt. "Why? She told the truth, right?" she asked, only to receive a slight nod. "So you'll go around and act like an asshole just like that?" she scolded him.

No response, as expected. "Are you gonna fight with me now that I've scolded you?" she asked again. "I'm sorry, I'm an asshole. I'll apologize to them, " he said, regretting every single word he spoke earlier.

It somewhat made her happy on how much her words affected him. "Good, but you're not an asshole and don't try to act like one, " she finally smiled and ruffled his hair. "That means I'm forgiven, right?" he tried to seek forgiveness with his puppy eyes. "Only after you apologize, " she stayed with her words.

"I promise to apologize."

•••

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