SLOW RIDE | jumin han

| CHAPTER SIX |

—

The drive to C&R was far too quiet for [Y/N]'s liking. Jumin Han was, after all, the first wealthy person she has ever had the pleasure of being in the company of, so her topic ideas were very limited. She couldn't stand another moment of the silence, though, so she asked him something that she immediately regretted afterwards.

"So... What's got you so stressed?"

"Excuse me?" he asked, quite taken back by how casually she was speaking to him. She glanced quickly over at him in the passenger's seat and awkwardly laughed to ease her nervousness. Did she say something wrong?

"By the time you went in there and came back, your stress seemed to have gone up a good... 600%. Did the meeting go well?" [Y/N] continued, too afraid to stop talking and return to the silence now that she had started. Jumin Han didn't say anything for a few seconds, but then:

"It's none of your business."

She flinched at the surprising coldness in his tone. Resisting the urge to sigh, [Y/N] continued driving as normal. She didn't know why she asked, and now she wished she hadn't.

"Sorry, that was rude of me," he apologized soon after, and she simply shook her head, eyes flickering towards him for a moment. His arms were crossed over his chest, and his eyes were intently focused on the road ahead. No matter how hard she tried, she couldn't figure him out. "The meeting went well. Thank you for asking."

She smiled softly, pleased that the conversation wasn't a complete disaster like she had thought it'd be. He relaxed into his seat, leaning his head back into the headrest, eyes closed, and she guessed that he was trying to get in a few minutes of sleep before work.

But at the next red light, her curiosity got the best of her. She looked over to the quiet corporate heir and ended up studying his sleeping face. His usual tired expression disappeared, and replacing it was a calm, innocent-looking face of a young man. She hadn't really focused on it before, but her mother was right. Her temporary boss was handsome. Totally off-limits, but indeed handsome.

A couple of car honks woke her from her daze, and she looked up to see that the light ahead had turned green. Jumin lazily opened his eyes at the noise, but closed them again, and muttered, "The light is green, Miss [Y/N]."

"Y—Yeah," she said, taking her foot off the break, continuing to drive. She blinked a few times and ran a hand through her hair, trying to return herself to the real world. What was that? She completely forgot where she was for a moment.

To push those previous thoughts away, [Y/N] started another conversation. "So... I hear you have a cat."

She thought this would've been a good subject. She remembered the large number of cat projects his company had had in the past, her father's complaints about there being cat hair left on his backseat, and her father earlier that day was talking about Jumin Han's cat. She had no idea that cats were the absolute last thing that he wanted to talk about.

"Yes, I did."

[Y/N] looked over to see his eyes now open and glaring at the space in front of him with furrowed brows. "Oh." She didn't want to pry or be annoying, but she couldn't help but be curious. But, curiosity killed the cat, after all. "If you don't mind me asking..."

"I do mind."

"Sorry, Mr. Han, forgive me," she immediately apologized, dropping the subject, but she still wondered, so instead of asking what had happened, she complimented his work: "I—I saw the cat food from your company in a magazine. Is the model yours? She's beautiful."

"I told you not to talk about her, but yes, she was the most beautiful thing in this world." Was.

"Not even a girlfriend?" she joked, trying to lighten the mood, but if anything, her comment only made things worse.

"No."

The rest of the drive was silent. [Y/N] didn't feel comfortable saying anything in fear of saying the wrong thing like she had been doing for the majority of her time with him. When they finally arrived to C&R, she dropped him off and quickly drove away, wanting to get far from him as soon as possible.

[Y/N] went straight back to the hospital. She decided that tomorrow was the day she was going to go back to her university. She didn't like missing too much school since it was a pain to catch up, so since her father seemed to be healing nicely, she wanted to return quickly. She went straight to the hospital after dropping Jumin off, to spend as much time with her parents as she could.

"So how did it go?" Driver Kim asked, and she groaned at the reminder.

"Terrible. I had no idea what to say to the guy, and when I did say something, it was always the wrong thing!" she exclaimed, banging her head on her dad's hospital bed to somehow punish herself.

"It couldn't have been that bad," her father said gently, and lightly patted her back to comfort her. She lifted her head and shook it, a fearful look on her face when she remembered the whole butt-kissing conversation.

"I mentioned his cat, Dad! I didn't know it was--it was dead. Oh, my God, he probably hates me now. What if you get fired?" she said slapping her forehead and muttering, "Stupid! Stupid! Stupid!"

Driver Kim laughed. He held her arm to stop her from hitting her forehead and smiled softly at his daughter. "You're overthinking, don't worry. I won't be fired, and he doesn't hate you. You didn't know, so he'll understand."

[Y/N] calmed down and sat back in her chair, but that didn't stop her leg from anxiously shaking. She crossed her arms over her chest and sighed. "Anyway, how are you feeling?"

"Definitely better. Now what is this I'm hearing about you leaving tomorrow?" he questioned, and she awkwardly laughed.

"I can't miss any more school, Dad."

"I know," he said, understanding but sad. "But—"

"[Y/N]!" a familiar voice suddenly exclaimed. [Y/N] and Driver Kim turned to the room's entrance.

"Mom..." she greeted, awkwardly smiling, suddenly dreading the next conversation.

"How did it go with Mr. Corporate Heir?" her mother asked, far too excited. [Y/N] sighed, her smile disappearing instantly.

"Honey, no need to overwhelm her like this. Besides, Mr. Han has no interest in dating," Driver Kim interrupted, waving his hand to ease the tense topic her mother had brought up.

"Doesn't mean she can't get close to him, Dear," her mother sang happily, making [Y/N] groan with annoyance. Drive Kim smiled apologetically at his daughter. "Ah! Imagine our daughter being married to a handsome and rich man like him!"

"Can't wait."