You're The One I Want | Winrina

I Would Have Said Yes

But then... there was something about the way Jimin was keeping them busy, getting so sucked into a job that she didn't want to talk to her, having them do errand after errand after errand so they never got any time alone, flopping down exhausted on the bed at night and then sneaking out in the morning before she woke up. Jimin always had time for her, she'd always wanted to talk, she'd always wanted to be around her; but now, it was like she couldn't bear to be in the same room.

It took a week before she grew tired of it.

They'd been sent out to the barn to put some decorations up, and somehow, Minjeong had found herself on a stepladder, pinning silk to the rafters while Jimin watched her, as gormless as ever, her arms hanging uselessly at her side. She clenched her teeth around the pins sticking in her mouth - a part of her thinking that she'd really like to stick pins in Jimin- and kept going, the desire to be helpful winning out over the desire to throw the towel in.

Down below, she felt Jimin's eyes leave her, and then she heard her talking to someone else. Even from up high she could hear the change in her voice, and could tell that she didn't want to be talking to whoever it was. Curiosity piqued, she turned around to see who it was, the ladder wobbling underneath her.

Bad idea.

No sooner had she turned was she falling through the air, toppling down and smacking into a pile of hay. She swore as pain spread through her leg and up her back, and she squeezed her eyes shut, her hands balling into fists.

"Minjeong!"

She could hear her rushing over, and resisted the urge to scream. She knew that she'd be there, hand out, eyes filling with concern, and right now, the last thing she wanted was Jimin to be nice to her.

"Don't touch me, Yu," she hissed, and slapped her hand away.

She hadn't seen Jimin's mother enter the barn, but the next thing she registered was Tiffany pulling her to her feet, and helping her walk back outside.

"Honestly, Jimin, why weren't you watching the ladder?" Tiffany had chastised as they passed ber, and Minjeong couldn't help but feel a strange, mean-spirited kind of satisfaction when she saw the look of guilt pass across Jimin's face.

Tiffany kept propping her up the whole walk home, one arm firmly behind her back to keep her upright.

"Really, Tiffany, I'm fine," Minjeong said, watching as Tiffany attempted to find her keys with one hand and hold Minjeong up with the other. Minjeong shrugged out of the embrace, proving she could walk on her own. "I'll have a couple of bruises tomorrow, but I didn't really fall that far. The hay broke my fall."

"You sure?" Tiffany said, holding up both her hands as if Minjeong might fall again.

"Positive."

"That's a relief," Tiffany said, breaking out into a full smile, finally able to find her keys and let them into the house. When they were inside, Tiffany regarded Minjeong with a look she couldn't decipher, before saying, "Let's have drinks on the patio, I've been meaning to get some time alone with my daughter's girlfriend."

A pit formed in
Minjeong's stomach. She'd long since stopped being afraid of Jimin's mother after the few moments they had talked at the reunion. The image she'd had of Tiffany as this imposing woman with eyes that bored into the back of your skull and saw all your secrets had completely faded away now, and she blamed that image entirely on Jimin. The number of stories Jimin had told her about her parents had twisted her view of them, but now she couldn't place these sweet, kind-eyed people in the stories she'd spun.

And yet, there was something about being with Jimin's parents that made her uncomfortable. The constant scrutiny from them - even when it was affectionate - felt heavy and too much to bear. The guilt was already too much to handle, it had made its forever home in her stomach, and it wasn't going to leave any time soon. She didn't want to think about how Jimin was going to tell them the truth.