Til Debt Do Us Part

038

I made sure that I had assigned all the cleaning up work to the helpers and I made my brother take over. Fortunately, he agreed to do so but not after I bribed him with some money.

I then started looking for Jimin and found him sitting by the patio of our house.

"Why are you here?" I asked him.

"Why? Do you want me to go home already?" Jimin asked back, "But I told myself I'm not going anywhere without you."

"I'm not escaping Jimin, nor trying to lock myself in this hometown. I just came for the reunion and I will be back tomorrow," I replied as I sat beside him.

"Really?" he said as relief washed over his face, "I thought you'd be gone forever."

"I'm not dead," I retorted.

"Yeah. But I couldn't see you. I couldn't even talk to you. You disappeared so suddenly and I wouldn't even know that you are here if Jungkook did not tell me," Jimin replied.

Oh. So it was Jungkook's fault. For an ex-boyfriend, he was susprisingly really supportive of Jimin.

"You should thank Jungkook, then," I told him.

"No. Not in a million years. God. I hate that guy," Jimin remarked.

"He's a good person," I mumbled.

Jimin snapped his head towards me with a glare, "For starters, he broke your heart. Second, he's just too good to be true. Why is he so kind? Third, your family likes him too much. Everyone in that reunion is fond of him, even your mother and brother. Hell, for once, I am grateful that your father hates him more than he hates me."

"You could've waved the CEO card and everyone would instantly flock you," I suggested.

"I figured that but for once, I wanted to fight Jungkook fair and square without my riches," Jimin replied, "But hell. I guess he already won everyone's hearts long before. He even won that game with you! No matter what I do, Jungkook seemed like he's just ten steps ahead of me just because he had been with you first."

I chuckled seeing him so infuriated that his nostrils actually flare up.

"Wow, you're laughing at me," he complained.

I chortled, "Why are you even so mad?"

"I guess I'm threatened okay? Or scared even," Jimin confessed, "The woman I love has this perfect ex around her once again who makes her smile so bright and who knows all her favorites while I couldn't even answer any of those questions a while ago!"

"What did you say?" I asked.

Despite the fact that Jimin was indeed blabbering, I knew I caught the word 'love' in his sentence.

He stopped and stared at me, and his countenance looked like he was a kid who was caught breaking a vase by his parents.

"What did you say?" I asked him again, slowly this time.

"I slipped, didn't I?" he asked back.

When I just continued staring at him, Jimin buried his face on his hands but I saw how his ears blushed red.

"Oh God. This is not the way I planned to confess," he complained, "It should have been with fireworks or some billboard display or at least a candle-lit dinner!"

"It shouldn't be like that," I commented, "Something simple would do."

He finally looked at me and whispered, "But you deserve nothing less than grand."

I shook my head, "Just three words would suffice."

"Uhmmm," he seemed to contemplate, "Can you wait until I planned everything enough?"

I rolled my eyes, "You better say them now before I'm back to avoiding you."

He released a long breath before locking his gaze with mine as he whispered, "I really love you, Dahyun."

He then furrowed his eyebrows as he said, "But that's five words though including your name."

I wanted to scream in happiness but I wanted to clarify a few things first so I asked him, "What about Mina?"

"Mina's going to be my sister," Jimin replied, "I've actually confessed and told her that I would continue loving her as my sister."

"You're just choosing me because she's getting married," I muttered.

"I would choose you in any time, in any place and even in any life I could ever have," Jimin whispered, "Because it's you that I love."

My eyes welled up as my heart did with happiness.

"Please don't cry," Jimin seemed to notice my tears as he brushed his thumb against the lids of my eyes, "If your father would see me making you cry, I know he'd kill me."

I laughed and Jimin in turn, smiled brightly.

Without any warning, I snaked my arms towards the back of his neck and kissed him in the lips. When I broke contact, I saw the surprise in his face, but that was quickly replaced with glee when I whispered the words I always wanted to tell him.

"I love you, too."

Jimin then pulled me closer and leaned in to take my lips once more.

"If you don't release my daughter in the count of three, you'd see your head rolling over the ground," my father announced.

That was the only time Jimin and I realized that my mother, my father and Sungmin had been there all along. Jimin immediately created space between the two of us, but then I scooted over him closer and hugged him tight.

"I won't let you do that, Dad," I told father, "Because I love – "

"Yeah. I heard that part. No need to repeat that again," father replied with much disgust. Then he glared at Jimin before saying, "If you break my daughter's heart, I'd wipe your face off this Earth."

My mother then suddenly slapped my father's arm and said, "Don't be too harsh on our daughter's first boyfriend – "

"He's not my first – "

"First boyfriend after a very long time," my mother corrected, "Come on, very-handsome friend turned boyfriend and join us for some dessert in my kitchen."

My mother then locked her arm with Jimin's and brought him inside, while my father followed after shaking his head. Yet when my father spared me a glance, he gave me a gentle smile.

On the other hand, my  brother was snickering as he teased me, "Jimin and Dahyun, sitting on a tree. K-i-s-s-i-n-g!"

I glared at him as I replied, "Do you want me to cut your allowance in half?"

"No, sis. Love you!" Sungmin ran inside the house.

As I made my way to the dining area, I found Jimin sharing stories with my family. A smile then spread my lips as all the people that I love the most are gathered in one table.

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AN: This is actually the last chapter. Tomorrow I would post an epilogue. Happy Dahyun Day everyone! Please don't forget to watch Dahyun's cover of Feel Special and her vlive later! Greet her with the official twitter hashtags too #OurShiningLightDahyun