Playing Matchmaker (BxB)

Chapter 40

Hope you like it!

Trigger warning: mention of abuse

"I wonder if everything is going well downstairs," Parker mumbled to himself as he continued scribbling some stream ideas in a notebook on the floor. His pen shot to the side when the door slammed open. He looked startled at Eunwoo who was exhausted after talking to Eunha the whole time.

Eunwoo giggled after seeing Parker sitting on the carpet with his legs crossed. "It seems like you didn't have any trouble to enjoy yourself," she smiled, petting Parker's head.

Parker put his hands on his head and moved them to his face, trying to cover his forming blush. "I-It wasn't that hard, to be honest," he grinned, dropping his hands.

"Okay," she mumbled, averting her gaze from Parker.

After she said that, both of them didn't utter a single word. It was an uncomfortable silence for them which Parker wasn't a fan of. He wanted to break the ice but didn't know what he could say to ease her worries.

"So..." Eunwoo got out of her daze and met Parker's eyes. "Are you in the mood to order something instead? We can go out to that Italian restaurant too if you like to. My treat," he suggested.

"That'd be amazing," she smiled, her mood instantly brightening. "But first, let me change out of this."

"Do you want to take the bus or walk to the place?" Parker asked as he turned to the wall for Eunwoo to change.

"I'd rather walk," she replied, putting her black leather pants on. "Phew! Oh, how romantic it is to go out on a date on Valentine's Day," she said and giggled. "Just kidding~"

"Haha, of course," he laughed awkwardly as Eunwoo tucked her loose sweater in her pants.

"You can turn around now! And? How do I look?" She asked, twirling around and striking an over the top pose.

Parker spun around and smile faded. His face transformed with awe as he watched her joke around. "Pretty," he whispered.

Eunwoo's eyes widened at Parker's sincere expression and put her hands on her flushed cheeks. "Thank you," she giggled as Parker put his notebook in his bag and got up from the floor.

"You ready?" Eunwoo nodded enthusiastically. "Let's go then."

Together, they went downstairs with Eunwoo making a stop at the living room. "June! We're going out!" Eunwoo said happily.

"Don't stay out too late. You guys have school tomorrow," she replied, keeping her attention on her book.

"Yes, yes! Bye!"

After a few minutes of putting their things on and talking about what they want to eat, they went out of the house and walked to the city.

"The weather's still bad," Parker commented as he kicked into the wet snow.

"Yeah," she chuckled and grew silent again. She bit her lip, glancing at Parker who was talking about how it feels like he's stepping on slime. "I'm sorry you had to witness all that drama," she apologized. "I'm sure it wasn't a pleasant sight to see Kyung screaming his lungs out."

"Don't worry about it," he said. "I'm sure he had a good for it."

"He did." Eunwoo looked up at the sky, mesmerized by the soft pink and orange color blending perfectly together. "Eunha left Jumin when he was five because of his father. That man was already abusing her on a daily, but when she left, he switched his focus onto Jumin. It was hell for him. There were days he couldn't go to school because he was badly beaten or was forced to stay in his room. And when he went to school, everyone ignored him. They thought he was "weird" and "creepy"." Eunwoo scoffed. "Like he could've done anything about it."

"How did he end up here?" Parker asked after a moment of silence.

"He got taken to the adoption center after they arrested him. That was more than a year since Eunha left him. A teacher began suspecting the abuse and called the cops on that man. It turned out he was also dealing with some illegal business which I don't know much of. The only thing I can remember is him bitching about not having enough money and going out late at night," she explained and felt a cold chill running down her spine. "It's getting pretty cold, isn't it?"

Parker looked at her rubbing her hands together and gave her his scarf. "Déjà vu," he thought, wrapping it around her neck. "You guys get cold easily, huh?"

"Yes," she replied, laughing a bit. She put her hands in her pockets while sighing loudly. "It was hard for Jumin to get used to his life in the center, but he didn't stay there for too long luckily. June adopted him after three months of being there. When I asked her the reason, she told me she saw that she felt some kind of sympathy for Jumin. She only was in the country for work though and I still wonder how she pulled that off."

"Huh," Parker whispered. "Are you planning on telling Jumin about all of this? Or can you like, show the memory to him?"

"I really don't have a choice anymore," she chuckled. "He's been annoying us about it the whole time so I can't avoid it anymore."

Parker rubbed his chin. "And he met Kyung when he was ten, right?"

"Yeah, I think around that age. I came a few weeks after him," she replied, smiling by herself. "We've been together for so long already. For me, it feels like we're actual siblings caring for each other. Of course, they can be the most annoying people on earth, but I still love them to death."

Parker ruffled her hair. "And I know you're doing an amazing job, noona," he grinned and noticed they're almost at the city. "That was fast."

"Speaking of that, how are your lessons going?" she asked, feeling a sense of relief by Parker's reaction.

"Good. I'm lucky my Japanese teacher also knew Korean. I asked about changing the language from time to time and she didn't have a problem with it. It's kinda refreshing, you know?" He turned to Eunwoo. "And my question to you is, can you guys still speak Korean? Because that could be a huge help with fluency later."

"Jumin's kinda rusty, but the others can. Some better than the other. You can also ask June for some pointers when she isn't busy," she replied and smiled sheepishly. "But we know how it is with June."

"Yeah... pain," he muttered. "But that's a problem for later. Now, it's my priority to make this the perfect date for you. Isn't that right, my lady?" he joked, holding his hand out.

"Thank you, my kind sir," she giggled and intertwined their fingers together.

A/N pain. And happy birthday to Jumin!! Here's the new chapter. I've been having weird dreams lately and now, I'm not in the mood to go to bed. And it's gotten even worse now that my sister is staying with us till Sunday. There goes my sanity... Anyway, I'll see you guys Friday again. I'm not sure what the next chapters before their exams are gonna be like though. It's going to be a little more school-related, with them thinking about their futures. I'll think about it more and don't kill mice

-Jerry Da Mouse