SLOW RIDE | jumin han

| CHAPTER TWO |

—

The speed in which she was driving was far from safe.

Her need to see her father, safe and sound, was too great for her to care about the rules of the road. It was the last thing on her mind as she drove to the hospital, which was many hours away, as she fought tears the entire time. The ride was slow and quiet, unable to find it in herself to even attempt to enjoy her usual playlist and break the torturing silence in her car. A drive that would take the usual, safe driver four hours to accomplish took [Y/N] a grand total of two, and the moment her mother saw her, she scolded her.

"Why did you get here so quickly? He didn't die! Think about your safety!" her mother exclaimed, but then pulled her into a tight hug, not wanting to feel anger towards her child after not seeing her in so long. "I missed you so much."

"Sorry, Mom," [Y/N] said, rather sheepishly as she reluctantly removed herself from her mother's comforting arms. She looked over to the room her father was resting in, wanting nothing more than to hurry up and barge in there. "Is he awake?"

"Yes. He is speaking to Mr. Han right now," she informed her daughter, and [Y/N] visibly relaxed at the news of the regaining of his consciousness. The entire ride to the hospital, she imagined the worst, but now that she was finally there, all she could feel was relief—and the urge to see him as soon as possible.

"Can I go in?" she asked, not thinking too much about how he and his boss might be talking about something important. All she could think about was seeing him again, healthy and all in one piece.

"Maybe after their conversation, hon—" Before her mother had even finished her sentence, a tall and handsome man exited Driver Kim's hospital room, who [Y/N] assumed was her father's boss. He looked pretty banged up, with his arm in a brace due to his dislocated shoulder and with scrapes and cuts sporadically placed across his face. She froze for a moment, not entirely expecting her dad's boss to be so young, but broke out of her trance once she heard his deep, apologetic voice.

"I am very sorry for what had happened," he said, giving [Y/N]'s mother a sympathetic smile. "I hope he has a quick recovery, but I don't expect him to return to work until he is fully healed."

"Thank you, Mr. Han, but I see you haven't left unscathed either. Please, take care," her mother said politely to her husband's boss, and he gave her a small, grateful nod. He then turned his attention to the young lady beside his driver's wife, only just then noticing her presence. "Oh! This is my daughter, [Y/N]," her mother introduced, making [Y/N] internally scream for being forced into a social interaction with such an intimidating man.

She shot her mother a quick, panicked look before turning back to Jumin Han with a polite, forced smile. "Pleasure to meet you. My father has said great things."

He nodded to her, keeping their conversation quite short. "Likewise." He then faced [Y/N]'s mother again to ask her a rather odd question. "What sorts of food does Driver Kim enjoy?"

"He has an obsession with Indian food, that boy loves all things spicy," Mrs. Kim said with an amused shake of her head. "If you don't mind me asking... Why did you want to know?"

"The hospital food wasn't to his liking, and I, frankly, quite disliked the taste as well. Indian food.... Hmm, that is surprising," he said the last part quietly to himself, but then lifted his gaze back to [Y/N]'s mother after the short thought, declaring, "I will go order some Indian food. Please, excuse me." He then left the two females on their own, surprising them both at his sudden decision to buy their injured family member dinner. Though, [Y/N] wondered whether or not Indian food was such a good idea.

After a moment of silence between the two, Mrs. Kim breaks it with a small smirk. "Oooh, he was handsome—"

"No, Mother," [Y/N] interrupted, knowing exactly what the older woman was implying. She walked into the hospital room, wanting to escape before her mother mentioned anything else related to her father's boss and his young, good looks.

But the moment she saw her father, her face fell. He looked terrible. Bruises and cuts, bandages and gauze, her heart broke at the sight of her beaten up father. He looked better than she had originally assumed he would have looked, but he was still in incredible pain; she could tell, and it hurt her seeing him like that.

"Sweetheart, I'm okay," he reassured her, knowing exactly what she was thinking by the look on her face. "I'm doing just fine." She clutched onto his hand, not entirely believing his words, but he smiled a smile that instantly calmed her. He was so strong despite being broken and bruised. "Anyway, let's talk about you! I haven't seen you in months. How's my baby girl doing?"

"The same as usual," she said, reluctant to change the topic to her and her life, but she realized that maybe he needed the distraction. "Studying, mostly."

"So, when are you going to give me some grandbabies?" The random topic of conversation immediately got her choking on her own spit, and her father worriedly patted on her back in hopes that it would help with her sudden coughing fit. "[Y/N]? Are you okay?"

"I—I'm fine! W—what's with the sudden question," she asked and coughed, trying to clear her throat and have the ability to properly breathe again.

"Your mother and I aren't getting any younger you know," he joked, putting his hands back on his lap once he was positive she was stable. "Your siblings have children—or at least the ones that want them—so when's your turn?"

[Y/N] shrugged after a moment of thought. She usually avoided this topic when speaking to her mother.  "I haven't given it much thought... I need a husband first, of course."

"Well, yes! Common knowledge." He winked. "But really... no boy has caught your eye?"

"No, Dad..." she said, desperately wanting a subject change. Her love life hadn't exactly been a success as of late, so she eventually gave up. She wanted to focus more on her school anyways.

"Well, I guess, I'm glad you're not growing up. Honestly, it was your mother who's constantly bugging me to bring up the topic," he explained his reasons for bringing it up and lightly laughed. [Y/N] wasn't surprised by her mother's intentions. "I want to be your favorite man in your life for just a little longer."

"No one could replace you, Dad."

"When you're in love, you won't be saying that anymore," he said with a sad sigh. She looked down at her lap, avoiding her father's eyes as she admitted something to him that he—and certainly her mother—wouldn't be all too thrilled about.

"Hmm, I don't know if I want to fall in love." She stared down at her fingers, fiddling with them as she waited for a response, but it never came. Hesitantly, she raised her gaze to question why he hadn't answered when she noted the thoughtful look on his face. He didn't seem mad or upset: just thinking, as if about a million things, and she couldn't figure it out. That was, until he spoke again with a teasing smile:

"You don't need to fall in love to have childr—"

"Dad!"

He laughed but immediately cringed at the pain in his abdomen from the sudden squeeze caused by his chuckling. "I'm joking. I'm joking. But falling in love isn't always a bad thing, [Y/N]. Just get to know some people. You don't have to marry anyone just yet."

"I know... I'm just not interested, I guess."

"When the right guy comes along, you'll be interested. Trust me," he said and placed a large hand on her folded ones in a comforting way, giving it a light squeeze. "I'll tell mom to be patient. Love doesn't always happen quickly."

She rolled her eyes, but smiled nevertheless. "If it happens, it happens, but don't get your hopes up."