Reflection (Kim Namjoon x Reader)

Chapter 1

Somewhere outside the window, the rooster announced that it was time to wake up. After a few minutes, the flock of birds joined in on the chorus. To ensure that you will actually get up for work, the sun crept up from behind the mountains and burned through your curtains to blind you in your dreams. Another day of being under this roof, and laying on top of this small bed. Another day of being stuck in this town, another day of mundane routine.

An outsider might tell you that it was possible to leave, but with what means? Living in the middle of essentially nowhere where resources are limited, you were lucky to even have a job. Saving up enough money to move to the city was a luxury you absolutely can't afford. Not only that, but your grandmother would never leave the home her parents built for her. It was the same home she raised her children in, the same one her only granddaughter was born in, and the same house where she had to bid goodbye to her son and daughter-in-law, believing that they would return alive. She spread their ashes somewhere on top of the mountains while holding your hand and telling you everything will be okay.

You don't remember much about them, which is okay, because you don't think you would want to be reminded of something so horrible. And besides, halmeoni wouldn't want you to be reminded and grieve. She felt that it was enough that she endured the pain and not her fragile granddaughter.

She was already in the front yard feeding the chickens before you woke up. Even though you told her numerous times to not do such heavy work, she never listens. "I have to keep my bones strong," she had told you once. You couldn't argue with her, halmeoni was the strongest ahjumma in town. Breakfast was already set up and you ate some vegetable pancakes while watching baby chicks stumbling on top of one another for food. It was a taste you never grew tired of and a sight you could never get enough of. The gray-headed lady trudged over and sat beside you on the steps of the house, taking a bite of her creation.

"I could sell these for a living," she mused.

"Halmeoni, you do that already," you chuckled. "Along with kimchi, dried fish, jerky, the vegetables from our garden, old furniture-"

"Yeah, yeah, yeah," she nagged.

"I'm just saying. You need to take a break, to enjoy your golden years," you explained. You always had to choose your words very carefully because the strongest ahjumma in town is not just some baseless nickname. She will chase you down the street, as she has in the past when she found out you skipped school to go work at a small food stand near the school. It was good money, more than enough to support the two of you along with whatever she makes at the market. But she scolded you and said she will work day in and out as long as you went to school like a proper student. Seeing how passionate she is about it and how hard she had worked over the years motivated you to make her proud. She felt more at ease once you graduated college at a nearby town, but was concerned when you moved back here instead of looking for a job in the city. You told her money was a big reason, but she knew the biggest obstacle was her.

"I am enjoying my golden years," she remarked. "And I would enjoy it more if I had a great-grandchild in my arms soon."

Her statement made you choke on the pancake, spitting it out and coughing your lungs until nothing was left of them. Halmeoni didn't even bat an eye, and only continued to drink her warm tea. It wasn't the first time such a statement has been made, but it was the first time where she sounded serious. Getting married and having babies are quintessential activities of human beings, especially in this town where people marry young because it gets lonely. All of halmeoni's friends are already great-grandmothers, only her granddaughter was slacking in this town.

But it's not like it's entirely your fault. Any suitable boys your age are either already married or they left for the city to find rich wives. Unfortunately, only you were left without a partner and according to halmeoni, your prime time is running out. It also didn't help the population of the town was around a couple of hundred people with the majority of them already being halmeoni's age. Your graduation class had around 20 students. "I can't control these things, halmeoni. It's not like a decent guy will drop out of the sky this instant."

"You never know," she cooed. "If you really want it, it'll happen. You just have to think about positive thoughts and it will come to you. The laws of attractions."

"I definitely do not want someone falling from anywhere." you nodded, not thinking much about such whimsical ideas she probably learned from the fish ladies down in the market. After finishing whatever food was left, you kissed her cheek and hopped on a bike, heading for work.

The hospital, despite being smaller than those in the populated cities, had all the equipment needed for any kind of procedure. The head doctor, Kim Taehyung, grew up in the city but he grew bored of it so he opened up a hospital in this town. He also, on occasions, have said rice fields and sunsets over the mountains were more suited for him than the city air. The handsome doctor is sometimes called the main attraction of the town. People from other small towns often travel far just to be treated by him. All the girls swooned after him, and their hearts were broken when they found out he was already dating policeman. You gotta hand it to Yoongi for snatching Taehyung up so quickly. But seeing them together at the clinic made you gag sometimes.

You couldn't say anything, Taehyung is still your boss after all. You were amongst the few nurses he employed, but the only one he hired from this town. While he's an easy talker and jokes around a lot, when it comes to his practice and treating patients, he selects staff with a keen eye. You were lucky that he gave you a chance despite not going to a more prestigious college. He said you reminded him of his brother in the city, but you were sure it was because halmeoni always gives him fresh kimchi.

At the thought of her, you chuckled at what she said earlier. Would the perfect man actually fall out of the sky?