A Thousand Miles (Revamped)

Turning Gray

Having said her part Dami stomped off.

"Never mind her," Jongin said. "You want to compare notes later?"

"Your notes are probably illegible," she murmured.

"I have nice handwriting," he argued.

Namjoo gave him a side eye but said nothing more.

Once classes started Namjoo couldn't focus. She thought about the conversation Jongin's father had whipped up that morning out of the blue. Like he knew something. The more she thought about it, the more she was 1000% confident he knew she'd seen him that night.

This was his warning.

Keep your mouth shut. Turn a blind eye. Maybe he was afraid she'd tell Jongin about his infidelity.

If he knew, what would he do? Confront his father? Go berserk? Would he hurt the days coming?

Namjoo glanced at Jongin's back. Maybe he might hurt like her. Maybe not. She didn't know.

The only thing she did know, was that this new marriage was not going to work out. She and her mother were going to lose their place. All because her mother couldn't stop from seeing other men. Begging for attention from elsewhere.

And Namjoo was angry at her mother. For being like this.

It was unfair.

Didn't her mother think about her at all?!

These thoughts made her want to combust at the end of the day, so when she got home and saw her mother in the kitchen, she immediately tossed her backpack to the ground. Leaving Jongin behind she pulled her mother out of the kitchen. Crossing the hall into the parent's bedroom. Slamming the door close Namjoo spun around to face her mother.

"You crazy girl," her mother muttered frowning.

"Me?" Namjoo touched her chest. "Crazy? No." she shook her head. "That's not me. It's you, mom!"

Yanking her arm pulling her close, her mother asked in a low voice, "What is wrong with you? Stop with your diva act and go outside and study."

Namjoo fiercely shook her mother off. "Mom, you just got married. Why are you doing this?"

She received a glare. Fed up her mother turned toward the door.

Namjoo felt her heart break into tiny itty pieces. "We just got here. Why are you doing this again? Don't you care about me?"

Her mother turned toward her deeply sighing annoyed. Softening, she touched her shoulder. Speaking soothingly, "Namjoo, you're still just a child. You wouldn't understand. Now go outside and study."

Tears pricked the back of her eyes when her mother left the room. Leaving her behind. Biting her lower lip, Namjoo stalked out of the bedroom. Passing a dumb stricken Jongin as she dashed outside.

She didn't run anywhere, but to the huge Oak where the swing was swaying with the breeze. Thinking about the first time she saw it the first night she moved in. Once yearning to ride the swing into the air on a fine summer day. With her wind billowing in the wind. Prettily like a commercial model.

Slowly day by day she had imagined doing more here.

Namjoo reached out touching the dark bark, strong and sturdy like some kind of guardian watching over the house.

"Do you want to ride it?" She turned to find Jongin standing behind her. Quickly turning away embarrassed she wondered how much of the argument he had heard. As if reading her mind, he said, "I just came out. Did you fight with your mom?"