home, jaemin

chapter seventeen

her mind was soaring with different thoughts, some possibly good while some definitely bad.

she didn't know what to think of the situation. if anything, she didn't want to believe what her mind was telling her at the moment.

in a rush, she pulled the blankets off and stood up- not caring that her eyesight went black for a second as she slipped some socks onto her feet.

she was hot, extremely hot. never had she ever not been able to control her body heat except during her occasional panic attacks.

but even then, she'd be able to calm herself down. right now, she could not bring herself to stop the shaky breathing and viciously shaking hands from going back and forth.

she made her way out of the bedroom, not caring to grab her phone or anything else as she stepped into the kitchen.

she took a second to think if she should take her car keys. she knew she couldn't drive well in this state.

fuck it

not bothering to grab the house keys, she finally made it outside- leaving the door closed yet unlocked.

her mind swayed back and forth, too many possibilities circling and a foreign feeling clouding her chest as she tried to process everything.

nothing about the dream actually made sense. nothing at all.

who was minji? who was the lady screaming? the man shot? why were there guards? why did the man who took the baby sound so much like her father?

they were all questions she had absolutely no answer to and it was itching not being able to know and fit together all the puzzle pieces.

too distraught and covered in sweat, she didn't notice she somehow made it to a convenience store that shined brightly against the pitch darkness.

her body made its way inside the almost empty store and walked to the back- grabbing an ice-cold water bottle from inside.

feeling the sudden urge to puke, she made her way into the girl's bathroom- glad to see that it was only one and didn't have any stalls.

her hands frantically pushed the door shut and locked it as her legs lurched forward over to the toilet.

too disgusted at the thought of touching an unsanitized toilet, she gripped her hair into her palms and stood as all the body fluids inside her came up.

she couldn't help herself as everything came out of her sick body. she just wanted to lay back down and go to sleep but there was no way that was happening tonight.

she began to feel dizzy, dizzier than she had ever thought possible and it was like the entire world was just spinning faster and faster around her.

her balance wavered as she stretched her feet farther out beneath her, trying not to fall over.

more minutes passed as she finally regained a bit of composure and could stand without the feeling of dropping grabbing at her ankles.

she couldn't understand why this dream, or rather memory it seemed like, would cause her so many problems. it couldn't be that bad.

but then again, whatever this was, it had resulted in the loss of a child and a dead father, along with a traumatized mother. so no matter what, it wasn't very good.

ten minutes had already passed before she could drag herself out of the bathroom. but once she did, she walked over to the self-paying register and scanned her water bottle.

only then did she realize she didn't bring any money with her.

she could feel tears begin filling her eyes. she didn't even take a second longer- just leaving the water bottle there as she turned around and tried to speed out before anyone actually saw her.

but to her despair, she managed to run into an all too familiar figure. na jaemin.

their bodies collided with one another, sending jiyoung a step back as she regained balance all over again while jaemin stood there with no sign of emotion towards the girl but anger.

"idiot, watch where you're-"

she panicked and cut him off, "going. yeah, yeah, sorry."

he was a bit taken aback as he watched her figure swerve around his and practically run out the door as if her life depended on it.

looking at where he saw she had just stepped away from, he glanced at the single water bottle sitting on the scanner.

"here."

jiyoung looked up from her bench with cloudy eyes. she had come back to the same place chenle had found her to try and get fresh air and let tears fall.

she could barely manage to lift her head even at the sound of the familiar person. but she did so, taking the water bottle from jaemin with no words coming from her mouth.

for jaemin, the encounter was more than awkward. while for jiyoung, she couldn't even manage to carry any emotion for the exchange.

she wanted to thank him for buying the water bottle but no words would come out. if she tried to speak it would only be choked sobs.

after letting her take the bottle, jaemin quietly left- seeing no point in sticking around any longer than he already had.

although he thought he wouldn't be able to find it in his heart to really care for the girl, he couldn't help but wonder about the white eyes he just saw stare back at him for less than a second.

this got super intense 🧍🏽‍♀️