An Old Memory// Yang Jeongin x Reader

ℂ𝕙𝕒𝕡𝕥𝕖𝕣 𝕋𝕙𝕣𝕖𝕖

Jeongin's POV:

"You finally came back, Dimples."  

   She does still remember. 

   Five years later, and she's the same old Y/N. I wish there was a way I could've told her I was coming back to Korea; I had been thinking about Y/N since Mom told me we were moving back. 

   If I had things my way, I would had never left her.

   The moment I left Korea, I couldn't stop thinking about how I was going to get back to her. Contrary to popular belief, it wasn't my choice to go to America. My mother made it out to be that way, however.

  "My son is going to the most prestigious high school in Los Angeles! He's been begging to go there since he was a child!" She always bragged to her Western friends. Her Western, rich friends. I wasn't going to a prestigious school, by the way; I was attending a normal high school. I didn't even know the academy she always referred to existed. Yet, my mother, being as toxic and narcissistic as she is, only cared about what make her friends happy.

  "It'll be a fresh start! Plus, I'll be happy there," is what she always told me. 

   Right. She would be happy, but did she ever consider that maybe her son, the person who's happiness she claims always comes before her own, wouldn't be?

   I wasn't, in case you were considering it; I was downright miserable.

   I knew Mom didn't want a "fresh start," as she had claimed. She wanted to escape her past. She wanted to outrun the streets her and her delinquent friends strutted through in their teenage years, vandalizing abandoned convenient stores and running from the blaring red and blue lights of police cars. She wanted to escape the various clubs and bars, one at which she met my dad, and a one night stand turned into a twelve year marriage deprived of any love. Most of all, she wanted to escape that house. The house where I grew up, but where the only thing my mother could remember were nights of her drunken fits and how they ended ninety-nine percent of the time with either her, my dad, me, or all three on a bad night in the emergency room.

   I never saw the point of getting out of that hospital. Why not just stay there forever if I was just going to keep coming back every week? I never had a reason.

   That is, until I met Y/N. Y/N kept me alive during those times. She visited me every time my mom's abuse landed me in the hospital. She snuck me out every time my parents were fighting. With one call or text, she was there in a heartbeat. 

   She was my reason.

   When Mom told me we were leaving, the first thought that came to my mind was, "I have to leave Y/N?"  I didn't know how to tell her, and when I did, my heart dropped down to my stomach. It was already hard enough, but seeing her cry made it worse. I thought about turning around at the airport that day. I almost picked Y/N over my mom. I can't explain why I didn't. I guess I just thought that even though I had a great amount of resentment for my mother, I didn't have the guts to leave her. After the messy divorce and my dad taking everything from her, I thought that the least I could do was be there for her.

   Those thoughts quickly changed once we landed.

FLASHBACK:

   Jeongin looked at his mother like she had lost her mind.

   "Mom, what are you doing?" Jeongin heard a quick beep before his mother powered off his phone and handed it back to him.

   "Nothing important. Now, go unpack." Jeongin reluctantly did as his mother told him, still wondering why she could've needed his phone. After unpacking his stuff in his new, fairly small room, he powered on his phone to text Y/N that he arrived safely. However, when he opened his contacts, he immediately noticed Y/N's contact was gone. He went into the kitchen, knowing his mother had something to do with this.

   "Mom, what did you do?" Jeongin asked his mom sternly.

   "No idea what you're talking about," she replied without looking up from the box of kitchenware she was unpacking.

   "So, you're going to tell me that you take my phone, Y/N number disappears, and you 'don't know what I'm talking about?'" Ms. Yang chuckled quite coldly.

   "Oh. Her. Yeah, you don't need her in your life anymore." Ms. Yang paused briefly to comment before going back to unwrapping the fragile dishes. Jeongin's mouth gaped wide open.

   "What the hell is that supposed to mean?!" Ms. Yang snickered again before walking over and cupping Jeongin's cheeks.

   "Honey. You have a new life now. You can't have any...reminders of your old life dragging you down. Especially not Y/N. "

   Upon hearing that, Jeongin shoved his mom's hands off his cheeks.

   "New life? I don't care about a new life! She was the one reason why I didn't want to leave my  old life! Just because you and her mother hated each other in high school, it doesn't mean you have the right to ruin our friendship! Grow up!" He stormed away with tears in his eyes. He slowly turned around to face his mother once reaching the door of his room.

   "I will never forgive you." He slammed the door behind him...