Mochi

CHAPTER FOURTEEN

Our stroll through the garden on our way back to the ballroom is leisurely, neither Jimin nor I are ready to face everyone else.

For the last hour or so, we've been in a bubble, on cloud nine so to speak. But I'm not sure the feeling will survive facing my father, and my grandmother too.

Actually, especially my grandmother.

Father won't care, I know that he will be happy as long as I am happy. But grandmother will be absolutely furious.

"I'm sorry that I made you cry, " I murmur softly.

Our hands are intertwined, and he leans over to peck my cheek softly.

"It's only fair, if you really think about it." He replies, smirking softly. "Or are you saying that you never cried over me? And you claim to love me."

I smile so brightly that my cheeks hurt. It's so good to see Jimin return to life.

"You're a brat, " I tease, feeling a bit more like myself again the longer his hand holds mine.

He chuckles dryly, and I laugh as he attempts to manhandle me, to push me against the shrubbery. I dodge, of course, and stick my tongue out at him. I can't help but smile as his eyes pick up an odd spark.

He lunges for me, and I step just behind the next wall of flowering bushes.

I wait for a moment, sure that he'd only be just right behind me. But all is silent. Slowly, I peer around the corner, wondering where Jimin has gone.

Did he get lost?

But a sudden pair of strong arms around my waist from behind startles me. Hand over heart, I attempt to catch my breath and turn to face my assailant. I smile, despite my minor irritation at having been startled.

"Jiminie, " I whisper, entranced by the way his breath feels against my throat, "I love you. I will always love you."

"I know, " he confesses breathily. "And I love you too. More than words can express."

My own voice hitches in my throat, one of his hands has begun to wander. I feel the whisper of his fingertips against my side, and when he turns me about to face him, I gasp.

His eyes are absolutely molten with liquid desire.

"I promise to be good to you, " he says.

"I know you will be."

We both smile, but there is something else there as well. A slow, subtle heat, the kind that has me clenching my legs together in a vain attempt to ignore it. Jimin simply looks at me as if he knows, and somehow, I don't doubt it.

His gentle touch, fingertips against the skin of my cheek, somehow only serves to make it worse, make it more, and I blush when the small sound that escapes my throat sounds a terrible amount like a strangled moan.

Jimin groans, and pulls away, leaving me dazed and confused.

I blink, and he chuckles dryly.

"I want you Oli, " he admits, voice strained and eyes heavy with the truth of his desire. "But I don't think this is the right time for a sexcapade."

I frown slightly, recalling the first time I'd caught him sleeping with a stranger.

"It's not like it would be a first for you, " I grouse.

The fog that I'd been lost in is slowly clearing, and while I understand Jimin's intentions, and am proud of him for showing a little self restraint, it is also frustrating.

I'm so hot and bothered at the moment, I'm afraid I might spontaneously combust.

"No, " Jimin replies, eyes softening. "But it would be the first for you. And you deserve better than this."

"You're probably right, " I admit, "in fact we should probably get back to the party."

His lips purse thoughtfully as he nods his head. "That would probably be best for now, " he agrees.

He holds his arm out for me to take, and I oblige gratefully.

This time, we head straight for the ballroom. The closer we get, the larger the thrown open doors become, the louder the music. Everyone within must be dying to know what happened between Jimin and I, though you'd be easily fooled into thinking otherwise by seeing them now.

A few people sway elegantly to music provided by the accompaniments, the hand full of nearby performers playing an assortment of instruments. One plays a violin, another, the flute. I think one of them even has a cello, but I don't know terribly much about musical instruments, I'll admit.

The majority of people though, seem to be spread out at all of the refreshment tables, eating and speaking amongst themselves with hushed voices.

"No matter what happens in here, " he tells me softly, "remember that I love you. I'm with you. Sink or swim, there's no other option for me now. Everything will be okay, and I am here. Just let me love you, everything else will work itself out."

He links his hand in mine, and sweeps me across the floor, making a full stop before my father, who watches us with a smile.

"Look at you two love-birds!" He exclaims, pulling Jimin into a tight hug before doing the same to me. "Don't hurt my little girl now boy, I like you. Don't ruin that."

Jimin gulps visibly, and nods.

"I'll be good to her sir, " he promises.

"Have you seen where my fiance's gone off to?" Appa asks, looking to me expectantly as he releases me.

I frown, shaking my head.

"No, " I reply tersely.

Jimin pulls my hand back into his own, and nudges me gently. Just behind father I can make out what appears to be my soon to be stepmother conversing eagerly with grandmother. I gesture with my free hand to my father, who turns around and spots them for himself.

"I really wish you'd give her a chance, " Appa says. "I know it's been rough for you, growing up without your mother. I just want you to have a real family."

"Appa…"

I soften, realizing that my father only ever has my best interests at heart. And I've been a spoiled brat. I also realize that despite how petty I've been about it, it's okay for me to feel like I do. What's not okay, however, is the way I have handled it up until now.

"I love you appa, so, so much. And I already have a real family, I don't need a mother or a sister, I'm perfectly happy as things are." I take a deep breath, and continue on. "I want you to be happy, from the bottom of my heart. But I don't think your happiness is her chief concern. I don't like her, or her daughter."

"That's really how you feel?"

My father breathes a sigh of relief as I nod my head. It must have been weighing terribly on him all this time, raising me alone and without eomma. I'd never even realized that he might feel guilt over eomma's death, and right now, I feel like the world's worst daughter.