Chasing After The Wind [P.JM]

XII

KIM YUN-SEO'S POV

오전 8시 39 분

The results had come out and I wasn't even surprised that I topped the class again. It was no longer as exciting, and maybe it never actually was, I just never noticed. My parents were thrilled, on the other hand, but that's just it. I never get any credit for working hard, since all they ever say is, "I knew you could do it."

Scanning through social media, I found a perfume shop that had recently opened somewhere in the city. Apparently, it was a new branch of an international brand, which I knew quite well because I loved to collect perfumes. I'd love to be a perfumist but my parents don't think it's a decent job. Finding my passion took me long enough but of course, they had to dictate that one too just like how they push me hard enough to shower them with my high scores.

For some reason, I randomly thought of Jimin, who was probably busy at this hour. He would never say no to me, right? Or even if he wanted to, I never give him a choice. Dialing his number, I waited for almost a minute before he picked up. "Park Jimin-shi! Can you come with me to a perfume shop? I just want to take a look!"

"Why me? Don't you have friends or something? I'm at work, I'm busy. I'll hang up now—" He was talking without a pause but I managed to butt in before he could end the call. "I don't think so? Aren't you in the shower? I can hear the shower. I wonder how you look right now. Oooh..." I teased, hearing the faint sound of the shower as we spoke. Does he really think I'm that dumb to believe his lie?

Jimin groaned without a word, so I spoke once more to convince him. "I got the highest scores in our last exams. Your presence could serve as a gift for me, please? Plus, they have some great scents, you might wanna buy one!"

"Fine. I'm only doing this because I'm a bit bored today. Don't misunderstand. I'm hanging up." He ended the call without letting me speak, but I was delighted either way. Men aren't usually this 'hard-to-get' type, I don't get why this lame dancer is like this.

After agreeing to meet at the place, I found myself sniffing so many samples inside the luxurious-looking shop, with Jimin following me around. He didn't seem to like the men's perfumes so he just followed me around while fidgeting with his smartphone. A certain smell caught my attention, and a woman who worked there seemed to notice it as well. She greeted me politely and began explaining about the scent I liked.

"It's made of an infusion of flowers and mainly edelweiss, finely made in Switzerland. It's actually our bestseller in our other branches." The woman explained and I nodded, asking her for the price. My mouth agaped when she stated that it was 1,200 USD, almost as much as my monthly allowance. "Oh, is that so?" I forced a smile and dragged Jimin to the other part of the shop. "Why didn't you buy it?" He asked.

"It's too expensive, I'll just ask my mother to buy it." Shaking my head at the enormous price, I tried to avert my attention to the other scents which seemed to be less luxurious, but somewhat above average. While doing so, a girl approached Jimin with a phone in her hand. "By any chance, are you Park Jimin?" She looked like that crazy high school fangirl who would hit on any handsome boy with no shame.

I avoided them but secretly glanced often as they took photos, and what sorcery is this? Park Jimin gave her his number right away? Waiting for the girl to leave, I bit my lip in slight anger, finding it unfair that he would literally give anyone his number while I had to go through some people just to have him block it.

"What the hell was that?" I raised an eyebrow, while he looked rather calm and composed as if it was nothing new. Maybe it was not nothing new but I've never seen anyone give away his number to a random person. "What? She asked for it."

"How could you give her your number just like that? Do you do that often, huh?" I folded my arms over my chest. His brows furrowed in a way that I had never seen before, and his calm expression changed in a second.

"Listen here. Come to your senses. Get out of your imagination, Kim Yunseo." He shook both my shoulders, staring at me intently. "You are so immersed into that stupid role of yours. You are not my girlfriend. To me, you are a stranger."

My mind somehow buffered for a while, until I finally came to a conclusion that he was indirectly telling me that he hated me. Was it that annoying? "Ah. I see." I said before walking away and out of the shop. It wasn't even halfway through the day but things just really don't go my way. Maybe I was getting too delusional. However, it wasn't something enough to make me overly emotional. On the bus ride home, I was just plainly spacing out, thinking how I hate disappointing people and now I seemed to disappoint someone again.