You're The One I Want | Winrina

It Was My Love Actually Moment

"Because I didn't want to mess with your image," Jimin said. "Because Mum looked so happy when I said that I was bringing someone, and because for once, I didn't want to be the disappointment."

"You're not-"

"Don't say that I'm not," Jimin snapped. "Don't say that when you look at me like I'm a mistake."

Siwon took a step back, for once, shocked into silence.

Once Jimin had started, she found it hard to stop. "I can never meet your expectations, not a single one. Ever since you look at me like I'm a huge disappointment. And you drag everyone else into it too. Why d'you think Minjeong left? If you hadn't made such a big deal about us coming here - ordering tickets behind our backs without telling us, like it was some big favour, maybe she'd have stuck around. And you know why? It is exhausting being a part of the Kim family and it is suffocating being your daughter."

She was yelling by the time she'd finished her speech, and as her last sentence rang out and the room turned to silence, Jimin's heart sank as regret filled her stomach.

The silence continued, as Siwon's expression shifted from hurt to anger, her eyes turning to dark pools, hands rounded into fists.

Jimin's face softened. "Dad, I-"

"No," Siwon said, his voice dangerous. Jimin closed her mouth. "You do not get to speak right now. I will admit that at times me and your mother have been a little overbearing. If you feel that we've not been supportive enough of you, well, that's your opinion. But do not-" she took a step towards her and Jimin shrunk back- "do not blame us for what happened with Minjeong. From the moment you introduced us to her, we have done nothing but be welcoming, because you told us that she was someone you cared about a lot. You're not a teenager anymore, it's time to stop blaming your parents for your problems and own up to your own mistakes. We didn't drive Minjeong away. You did."

Her father turned on his heel and marched out of the room, slamming the door behind him, leaving Jimin alone in the silence.

**

Minjeong's flat felt horribly small and empty in comparison to Jimin's childhood home. It was exactly as she had left it - clothes all over the floor, kitchen a mess. She had to pinch her fingers over her nose when she opened the fridge, assaulted with the putrid smell of all the rotting food she should have thrown way before she'd left. Of all the talk she'd given Jimin about being a responsible adult, packing for yourself and calling your mother so she wouldn't worry, clearly she wasn't much better. That was a bitter thought, and she slammed the fridge closed, stomping off to look elsewhere.

She scrabbled her way through cupboard after cupboard, but there wasn't any sign of anything edible, not even in the drawer she always kept stocked with chocolate bars and biscuits for emergencies. Everything was empty, and she cursed herself for not thinking about this before. She closed the drawer and let out a shout, covering her hands over her face and kicking the cabinet.

After a moment of sitting still on her kitchen stool, leg bouncing up and down with restless energy, she snatched her keys up from where she'd left them on the counter top, storming outside, slamming the door behind her.

She hadn't given much thought to where she was going, but as she turned the corner, her eyes found a destination, and for a moment, she stood outside, wondering if she should go in. Then she gave a sigh, and marched through the door.

The bar looked the same as it always had - grubby and dingy, the counter top sticky and the stools horribly rickety. She slid onto a seat in front of the bar. The bartender blinked at her, and Minjeong inwardly screamed when she realised it was someone she recognised, and instantly regretted her decision to come in here instead of any other nondescript bar in the city where she could be fully anonymous. The shame of what she'd done - leaving her job to run off with a girl - still burned hot under her skin. Perhaps that was why she had come here; it was her punishment for the way she'd acted.