sold to the park's | p.jm

|008|

Time seemed to stop for a minute. Carli simply tried her best to keep the stern look on her face as Jimin practically broke down infront if her. He kept opening and closing his mouth as he tried to speak but the words kept getting caught in his throat before they could leave. He took a couple of deep breaths to compose himself and looked down to the milk seeping beneath the floorboards.

"Can y-you let me clear t-this up first?" He continued looking at the floor as the words came stuttering out. Emotions came through thick in his voice and Carli could tell he was trying his hardest not to let the tears fall.

"Okay. I've waited this many years for the truth, I can wait a few more minutes." She sighed and walked over to his bed. She layed down and let her body sink into his unbelievably soft mattress. She stared up at the ceiling and became lost in thought as the door closed behind Jimin.

As much as she wanted to know the truth, she was scared to hear it at the same time. Doubts and worries swam through the depths of her mind as she let herself overthink it all. The one clear worry that was playing on her mind was that some of what he said might have been true. "What if it was true when he said he never truly cared about me? But surely he wouldn't have kept everything all this time if that was the case."

Just as she finished her thought, Jimin came back into the room with a cloth and some disinfectant. He kept his head low and Carli could only assume it was to hide the fact he had obviously been crying. She could tell that his eyes were bloodshot and puffy and his cheeks were stained a pale red. Seeing him like that tugged on her heartstrings. After all, even if he had hurt her she still cared very deeply about him.

She watched as he picked up the broken bowl with trembling hands and carefully placed the pieces on the cloth. All she wanted to do was go over and hug him and tell him that everything would be okay and that she forgave him. She knew she couldn't do that though. Mainly because she had no clue what she would be forgiving him for. She had no clue what lies he had told. Also, you know, he had literally brought her. That weighed pretty heavily on the side of non-forgiveness in her eyes.

He left the room, once again, and as quickly as he left he was back again, obviously having gotten his emotions under control in the short time it took him to clean up. He closed the door gently behind him and shrunk in on himself as he walked over to her. He was playing with his fingers and looking at the floor, too nervous to face her. He knew that if he looked at her he'd lose all composure that he had and he needed to have a grip on himself for the conversation they were about to have.

She sat up and faced forwards at the wall as he sat onto the bed a good foot or two away from her. She let him take his time to begin talking. If he was the same as he was before she knew that it would just be harder for him to explain it all properly if she pressured him into talking. Eventually, he let a few words tumble from his lips.

"I'm not sure where to start..." He trailed off in a quiet voice.

"The beginning?" She suggested.

"Well when I moved to your school my parents and the school came up with a false name to go by. In my last school other children had taken advantage of me and used be for my money because even though we were young everyone still understood the concept of money. So I hid my actual identity to prevent that from happening again. The longer we were friends for the harder it got for me to tell you because the lie had gone on for so long. I wanted to more than anything but I was scared you were going to end up being like they all were and I didn't want to lose the only actual friend I'd ever had. Either that or you'd be mad that I'd been lying the entire time."

"You know I wouldn't have reacted that way." She muttered quietly.

"Well I realise that now but I was a kid, Carli. I had major trust issues and had no idea of what real friendship was like. I just assumed that's what would happen if I told you because I knew nothing different." He kept fiddling with his hands, trying to distract himself from how vulnerable he felt.

"I can understand that. What I can't understand is what you said to me before you practically disappeared off the face of the Earth."

"I'm so sorry about that. I didn't mean any of it. Once again, I was a stupid kid. Basically my parents sprung it on me that they had a business thing and we would have to move back to South Korea. I didn't know how to say goodbye and I knew if I said I was moving halfway across the world you'd be so sad. So I thought it would be easier for you if I just made you hate me. That way you wouldn't miss me because you'd never want to talk to me again. I can hear how stupid that is now but somehow I thought it would be easier for you to manage hate than thinking you'd never see me again. I've regretted saying that it was all a bet since the words came out of my mouth."

"That was a really shitty thing to do, not gonna lie. It messed me up so badly and I've never trusted anyone it made friends with anyone since because I thought everyone was just trying to talk to me as a bet someone made. I know you were just a kid and I can see that you've changed now but I'd always rather know the truth than lies, even if you think the truth would hurt me more. However, that doesn't excuse the fact that you literally brought me." She crossed her arms as she finished talking and stared at him accusingly.

"Your parents seemed to be pretty set on selling you and I didn't know what kind of person you'd end up with if it wasn't me. As you know, I made a little slip up in my words and my parents forced me into this whole thing. First off, I'd rather be with you than some fake ass bitch who just wants my money and name. And secondly, there are some horrible people who buy their wives. I wanted to make sure you were safe because you could have been with a disgusting human who abused you and did whatever they wanted to with you. I just wanted to protect you from that." He sighs and flops back onto the bed, relieved that she finally knew everything there was to know. Well, almost everything but that was for another day.

"That makes a lot of sense. Well, I guess all I can say is thanks for saving me from the possibility of that. Look, I forgive you-" She jumped in shock as Jimin jumped up from the bed and stared at her excitedly.

"Really?!" He exclaimed.

"Yes but I need some time to think and process everything. Just give me a few days to think about all this, okay?" She looked over to him and saw him nodding, the smile still prominent on his face with tears mixed in. She leant over and gave him a small hug before she left the room, the look of shock on his face not going unnoticed.

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(A/n: I'm highkey proud of how this turned out. Feel free to tell me if there's anything you're still confused about and I'll gladly clarify anything!!)