im not yours

chapter twelve - i love you

"oh! how have you been? i'm sorry i haven't gone to the shop in a while, ma'am!"  hyunjin bowed deeply to the older woman.

"ahh well, i'm getting old! things are getting to me more than they used to, but i'm okay.. how have you been? how is your friend, too? i hope the soup made him feel better that time." hari's mom turned out to be the owner of the kimbap store that felix and him had gone to.

"i've been well! your daughter has helped me a lot recently. your soup nursed him back to health quite quickly! i believe felix is well, too. we haven't been in touch."

hari was frozen. the entire conversation shocked her so much to the point she couldn't do anything but stand there and listen for a while.

"ahem," she cleared her throat and finally regained composure while her boyfriend and mother continued exchanging polite conversation. "you two know each other?"

"ah, well-" hyunjin started to think how to explain but was cut off by further questioning.

"mom, you know felix, too?"

"if that's what his name is, then yes! i know him! he and hyunjin came into the shop around when we had first opened. and they also asked me to make soup for them a couple times," mrs. kang turned her attention back to hyunjin. "why don't you and him talk anymore? you two were so close before! i could tell just from the one time you i saw you, and when you asked me to make soup when he was ill! and he seemed like a sweet enough boy, too. very caring.."

"you dont know everything about everyone, mom." hari was clearly annoyed with how highly her mom was speaking of felix. hyunjin just kept his head down and didn't really respond.

the tension lingered for a while.

hyunjin expected mrs. kang's questioning to force him to ponder on his and hari's relationship, but it seemed worse that it made hyunjin think about his and felix's again. why did they stop talking? where did it all go wrong? the only thing he could really say to truthfully explain the situation wasn't even something he could say to her. he couldnt exactly tell mrs. kang that he got into an argument with him over her own daughter.

during the visit, hari asked hyunjin to take her car and drive to the local pharmacy to pick up some medication for her mom.

"just tell them you're picking it up for kang hari, and she'll give it to you," hari explained while she walked with him to the car. "the pharmacist there has known my family for a while, so you can just tell her that i'll pay her back another time." she spoke plainly, clearly still upset from earlier.

"okay," hyunjin nodded. he stopped walking and pulled her back, pulling her closer before giving her a kiss on her head. "i'm sorry felix got brought up." he whispered, hoping it would soften the blow of the situation to hari.

"it's fine, i told you my mom was still a handful," she laughed shortly, but the laughter hung heavy in the air. she crossed her arms. "drive safe." she turned on her heel and walked back into the house without another word.

clearly, it wasn't fine.

~

"what do you mean you're picking it up for kang hari? you're not hari." the pharmacist looked hyunjin up and down skeptically.

"yes, ma'am, i'm her boyfriend," he planned to pick up the medicine and go, but she was making this harder than he expected it to be. "please, i just need to pick up her mom's medicine."

"boyfriend, huh.." she gave him another narrow eyed look. "where does she work?"

"mosii cafe as a barista. i work with her. that's how we met." not necessarily all true, but it works.