hide your heartbeat - vmon/taejoon

fact #8

1232 words//

8. He is his mother's boy.

He calls her first — he always does.

"Hey, mama."

"Hey, baby. God, it's so good to hear from you," she greets back, and her relief can be heard through the phone. "How's my young doctor doing?"

"I'm fine," he says. "How's dad and Minah? Everything's okay?"

"Well... your father's working on a new case. He says it's big," she tells him. "He's a little stressed out. You know how he gets."

Namjoon purses his lips. He does know. "And Minah?"

"You know what she's like," she sighs. "She's good. She's not like you, though."

"Mama."

"What?" She huffs. "She's difficult, so hard to deal with. I'm only saying this because I love her. Will you talk to her, Joonah?"

"She doesn't want to go to law school," he says. "She wants to become an author. Let her."

"I am letting her become whatever she wants," his mother snaps, her tone threatening and her voice two notes higher. He flinches and he's just glad she can't see him, because he knows that would only make her angrier. "I'm just guiding her. Like I did with you. Like any sane parent does. The only difference here is that she's stubborn and refuses to see what's best for her."

"Okay."

"You'll talk to her, won't you?" She asks again. "She listens to you."

"Sure."

"So, tell me," she says after a while, her voice lighter. "How did your week go?"

"It was fine. Our lab went up in flames, but I had nothing to do with that. I also passed all my quizzes," he says casually, but he's actually proud of himself, and he grins when she praises him. His pride dies down when she reminds him that passing isn't the goal, though, and good grades are. "Guess what happened though."

"Yeah?"

"I got trapped in a janitor's closet with Kim Taehyung," Namjoon says. "Remember—"

"Kim Taehyung? I talked to his parents recently," she says. "God. What's he doing in Seoul?"

"He moved here this semester," Namjoon tells her. "Didn't his parents tell you that?"

"It was last year."

"Oh. That's not recent, mama."

He can hear her shake her head. "Is he finally studying medicine? His parents were really torn up about him going with art instead."

"He's not."

"Ah, well," she says nonchalantly. "It's a shame, but I think he'll be fine. He's really good and he has what it takes to be successful and make a livin—"

"I think Minah does, too."

"Joonah, let's be real for a moment here—"

"I'm being real," he says. "She's got what it takes. And so do I."

"He's an artist who paints and sculpts," she hisses. "You make — you made rap songs."

"You know what? Let's not even go there," Namjoon argues. "Let's just not—"

"At least you're not into satanic music," she adds.

"—but know that I do have what it takes to be successful and to make a living off of this, not that these are the only things that matter in life."