PITYING THE PRISONER | p.jm

t h i r t e e n - c o r a

"Hi, Jimin-ah," Mom greets. "It's been awhile."

"Hey, Jimin," Dad adds.

"Sorry for just barging in here, someone wasn't answering her phone." He looks to me as he speaks, and I instinctively reach into my pocket. Sure enough, my phone is on silent and I've got three texts from Jimin.

"Sorry about that," I say.

"Eh, it's no problem," he replies, walking over and offering me a hand. At that point,  he sees Myungjun laying on the couch, and his attention is no longer focused on me.

"Hey, Myungjunnie!" He says happily, crouching down next to my brother. "How are you doing?"

"Jimin hyung!" Myungjun exclaims, jumping up and giving Jimin a hug. "I missed you!"

"I missed you, too, kiddo." He smiles, picks Myungjun up, and spins him around before setting him back down.

"And of course, I've missed you, too," he speaks to me now, a smile on his face. He again offers me his hand and I take it, letting him pull me up off the couch.

"You look lovely," he says, pecking me on the cheek.

"I could say the same to you," I reply. We then walk into the kitchen where my parents have speedily prepared lunch.

"Hope you like American food," Dad chuckles. "It takes less time to cook."

"Fine by me," Jimin replies, taking a seat next to me. Mom puts a plate of lemon chicken on the table, and it looks quite appetizing. Jimin and I both take pieces and wait for everyone else to get theirs.

As we eat, my parents make idle chat with Jimin. It's not awkward, it's comfortable. Jimin seems to have a pretty good relationship with my parents.

"So, Jimin-ah," Mom begins. "We saw your comeback today."

"You did?" Jimin asks, a bit surprised. "Cora showed you?"

"Believe it or not, they wanted to watch it without any of my encouragement," I say.

"Well, I hope you liked it," he addresses my parents, blushing a little.

"We really liked it, actually," Dad says. "You and your group are really talented."

"Ah, thank you," Jimin replies, smiling and blushing more. "It means a lot."

We continue to chat as we eat, and when the food is gone, Jimin and I decide to go outside. In the backyard is that tree with the fairy lights from the picture, and Jimin gives me a sad smile as he walks towards it, holding my hand all the while.

"I can't believe we're graduating tomorrow," he says wistfully, looking at the tree he stands beneath.

"It's kind of unbelievable," I reply.

"It's sad, though. I'm not going to see you as much anymore. I'll be busy with work and promotions, and you'll be doing university. I'm going to miss you to death."

"Don't worry about it, Jimin," I say. "It's going to work out." Little did he know about my plan to work as a producer for Big Hit so I could spend time with him. That's a surprise.

"I know it will," he says. "I love you too much, anyway. I'd always come back for you."

"I know."

He turns to me, smiling deviously. "And I'm coming for you right now!"

He runs towards me and I flee; the two of us running around the backyard like idiots as Jimin tries to catch me. I turn my head to look behind me, he's gaining on me. I'm running out of steam, too, so I just decide to let Jimin win. I stop dead in my tracks and face the boy running full-speed towards me. He tries slowing down, but his momentum keeps carrying him forward. He runs into me and we fall to the ground, unhurt and laughing like fools.

I look up at Jimin, who fell on top of me, and I finally realize what this is.

This is what the perfect life could be. I could have a stable family, a bright future, and a loving boyfriend willing to do anything for me.

I could have it all.

But instead, I'm stuck in my miserable reality; leg bleeding, body aching, and coldly lying on the ground in a bush with a sobbing Jimin on top of me.

• ♔ •

special update!

by special, i mean i'm sick and stayed home today, and as such had nothing to do. so, i wrote another chapter early (like hella early) because i love you.

on the topic of loving you, thank you for 500 reads! i never expected this book to get this far, so i'm suuuper excited about this! thank you!

hey, on the topic of k-pop, i recently (as in yesterday) wrote this hella long profile in my other book entitled "light club," and i think all y'all kpoppers would like it. check it out if you're down.

listen to history,

sam

• ♔ •