Did You Order An Assassin?

Chapter 14| Peaches and Cream

After getting over the scene that happened earlier, Sohyun quickly got back to work like nothing happened, not worried about the few mummers about the topic and stares that came along with them.

The time she’s been desperately waiting for, closing time, finally arrived.

Being told to take a break and just relax while everyone else cleaned up, Sohyun propped herself up and slid back onto the counter with her earbuds blasting music through her ears. Her ears tickled as the melody and mellow voice brushed against the tiny hairs in her ear. A feeling of security, like everything was being lifted off of her shoulders as she was placed in a protective bubble. The music took her away from reality for a brief moment. It took her to a whole different world, a much happier place that she wished to stay in.

Even though she was being pitied by today’s outcome of events, she knew she was still capable of finishing her job. She wasn’t going to let something like that affect her capability or let it get to her, she’s been through worse. She wasn’t going to complain or argue through, she didn’t mind giving the rest of her work to the others.

Sohyun opened her eyes as the song ended, her fake reality slowly tearing apart as it faded away. The next song played shortly after, causing Sohyun to have a small smile on her lips as she nodded her head to the frantic beat. She hummed happily as she gently swung her legs around. Just as she was entering another state of euphoria, the music taking her to another new place as the music picked up, suddenly a red-headed guy appeared in her vision, causing her smile to turn into a scowl.

She lowered the volume of her music as she eyed him, waiting for him to speak.

Jimin smiled at her nervously, her intense stare seeming as if it just might melt Jimin to the floor. Trying to beat around the bush, he asked, “What are you listening to?”

“Music,” Sohyun replied, ready to turn her music back up and ignore him. “Something you probably wouldn't like.”

Jimin wasn’t satisfied with the answer but dropped it as he had something more important he wanted to say.

He let out a sigh and wiped his clammy hands against his pants. Jimin came towards her and reached out for her earbuds, pulling them out of her ears. The faint sound of background music and inaudible lyrics surrounded them as the atmosphere tensed. Noticing Sohyun turning her music off and looking him dead in the eye, about to act out, Jimin quickly talked before she could do anything.

“I’m sorry, Sohyun,” he blurted. “Not just for how I treated you, but for my actions in general. I know it’s useless to apologize for how I acted to others to you, they deserve their own apology and I know that. And if I could, I would apologize to every single one of them that I treated wrongly. You made me really realize how wrong my actions and intentions were. And I’ll own up to all the wrongs I’ve done. I’m disgusted with myself and how I acted. I don’t want to live like that, not for my whole life. I know what I did was wrong and I was so oblivious to it then.”

“Once a girl confronted me, called me out, it opened my eyes. It made me really think and I realized how wrong I actually was,” Jimin said. “When it was just a guy saying it I thought nothing of it. I thought they were just jealous that they didn’t have the ba- the courage to do it, but it was just me being a fucking pervy jerk. Now that I finally see that, I’m disgusted with myself. It’s what I’m used to and it helped with missions, but that’s no excuse as I took it too far and made it a regular thing. I’m horrified with my actions. Saying sorry isn’t enough for the things I’ve done but it’s a start. A start of me changing myself into a more open-minded and respectful person. A better version of me.”

The silence that engulfed the room worried Jimin, what she might be thinking and might say. The worse scenarios played throughout his mind.

“I’ll forgive you, Jimin. But you better make sure you're committed to changing. You owning up to your mistakes is the first, and it’s a big step,” Sohyun said.