The Road Trip

CHAPTER 8

After visiting hours ended everyone went to their vehicles. Eunji immediately left in her old 1999 Volkswagen while everyone else loitered around Yuri's car, for which Namjoon was grateful. He didn't like the looks Eunji was giving him, Jin, Jungkook and Taehyung. Like they were something disgusting she stepped on and wanted to wipe off her shoe. Yuri, David and Jungkook welcomed him as a member of the family while Taehyung kept an eye on him. Something that didn't surprise Namjoon in the least.

"So, Namjoon, where are you staying?" asked Yuri.

Namjoon looked surprised for a moment before answering. "Oh, actually, I was just going to rent a hotel room..." he started before Yuri interrupted him.

"Nonsense, you'll be staying with us," she said. "There's plenty of room at the house."

"I couldn't..."

Jin pulled Namjoon over to whisper in his ear. "I wouldn't try arguing. She'd get her way in the end."

Namjoon decided to take the advice and smiled gratefully at Yuri. "Thank you," he said. "I would love to stay with you."

"Great!" said Yuri, happily clapping her hands. "Jin knows the way. You'll take the second guest room. Taehyung and Jungkook are staying with each other."

"Of course," said Namjoon.

Yuri and David went to their car while Taehyung and Jungkook went to their bikes and they drove off. Namjoon turned to Jin with a humorous smile.

"Your family is...interesting," he said.

"Thanks," said Jin, taking it as a compliment. "And I'm sorry about Aunt Eunji in advance."

"Why?"

"Because every time I bring a guy home, no matter if he's gay or not, she immediately assumes he's my boyfriend and starts her 'burn in the fires of hell' speech. She did that to my best friend, Yoongi, and he's been in a serious relationship since high school. We've never even dated."

"Why is she like that?" asked Namjoon as they got into the car. Jin started the car and drove down the street as he talked.

"She's seriously old school religion. No Halloween, no Christmas as you know it, not even presents. She spends the whole day at church from dawn till midnight. No meat at all during Lent, not just on Fridays, no swearing or taking the Lord's name in vain and all she reads is religious books. I told you what happened when I first came out."

"Yes," said Namjoon.

"Ever since then, she's been trying to convert me to hetero. At social functions, she'd push woman after woman at me, all God fearing of course. But a lot of women are understanding nowadays and left me alone after the functions. She didn't even like that I opened a restaurant. She wanted me to work at the doctor's clinic, even though I'm more than happy to let Yuri take over."

"Sounds tough."

Jin smirked as he turned to glance at Namjoon. "We've learned to ignore her," he said.

Namjoon chuckled and the rest of the trip was in the comfortable silence as they drove past the town and went into the countryside.

Namjoon watched as they passed farms and corn fields. He found it strange that he found a sort of contentment with driving down the road with a person beside him. He was so used to the sounds and bustle of the city. Over the past couple of days, the silence of the country had been uneasy at first, but the quiet had a strange lulling to it, especially when with another person.

Somi didn't care much for the quiet life. Once when her brother invited them to a wooden retreat, she complained about how disgusting nature was compared to city life. She said that it was unhygienic and dirty, but if you thought about it, the country was actually cleaner than the city. In the city, everyone was cramped together, so viruses and colds were easier to spread, but in the country, everyone didn't catch it as quickly or had a stronger immune system because of all the time working outside. Namjoon actually liked the country. It wasn't as fast paced as the city, and the sky and air were clear. He could see himself living in the country sometime in the future.