Interwoven ✔️

7~ Blame

"Mom!" I gasped when my mom halted a couple inches away from where the oil covered the floor. "Dad? What are you doing here?"

My parents lived in one of the metropolitan towns around the main city where my Sharehouse was, almost an hour's drive away.

"You!" Mom ignored me and jabbed a finger at Jimin. "Let go of my daughter, alien."

I realized Jimin was still grasping my arms where he'd been smearing oil. His dark eyes were wary, along with another emotion I couldn't identify. He slowly released me, eyes never wavering from my mom's.

"Mom no." I snapped my head back and forth, trying to understand her hostile behavior. I knew my parents had prejudice against the Outworlders. But I'd never known for her to be so openly adverse. "It's not... we were just having fun."

"Fun?" Now my dad was standing beside Mom. His eyes glared at Jimin contentiously. "You really think having fun with a terrorist is a good idea?"

My jaw fell open. Jimin looked absolutely taken aback but he remained silent.

"What the hell? Mom! Dad!" I tried to stand but only slipped again. "What is your guys' problem? How can you say something like that?"

"Have you not seen the news yet?" Mom demanded.

"What? No but..."

"Follow me. Both of you." Mom whirled around and marched towards the living room. Towards the TV.

I looked over and exchanged looks with Jimin. He just shook his head, clearly as baffled as I was.

It took a few moments for both of us to get on our feet and even then the short journey to the TV where Mom was flipping through the channels angrily was a precarious process not to fall.

"There!" Mom finally settled on a news channel just as Jimin and I reached the living room.

We both halted, neither of us daring to put a single oily step onto the thin rug of the living room. Nevertheless, we could clearly see the screen from where we stood.

My stomach twisted at the sight. A shaky footage of what looked like a mass of twisted metal and smoke filled the screen. Red headlines at the bottom of the television screen read: 'DEADLY AIRCRAFT CRASH. KILLED HUNDREDS. OUTWORLDER SUSPECTED AS CULPRIT.'

After the Outworlders landed on earth and became more integrated in our society, they also introduced some of their forms of technology. Airplanes became faster, more efficient, and safer. The planes also evolved into larger aircrafts for transporting goods, architecture, you name it. Air travel had become almost as common as taking the local city bus.

"You see?" Mom gestured at the screen with dark triumphant.

"I see that there was a tragic aircraft crash," I began slowly.

"'Tragic'? Read the headlines, Jiyeon. It was a terrorist attack!" Mom yelled. Dad silently crossed his arms, eyes smoldering.

"It does not say terrorist. And besides, what the hell does this have to do with Jimin?"

"Jimin?" It took a moment for my dad to realize who I was referring to. "You guys have known each other for just a little over 24 hours and you're on a first name basis huh?"

"What is wrong with you two?" I knew I shouldn't talk to my parents so disrespectfully but the shock of their accusations and hostile behavior pushed me past caring. "Just because an Outworlder was suspected for this crash doesn't mean you can just start pointing fingers at every Outworlder out there."

"Naive girl." Mom threw the remote down on the couch furiously and stalked over to me. "You weren't even alive when these... these creatures invaded Earth. But I've always known the moment I saw those massive airships of death in the sky it'd be the doom of us. They're too dangerous. They don't belong here with us."