Reversed

☆43☆

He locked eyes on her at the sound of her voice and with his hands shoved deep into the pockets of his hoodie, he quickly made his way over to where she sat. Jimin was at a loss as he studied her features. He felt like he hadn't seen her in forever, when in actuality it had only been a few weeks.

"Want to sit down?" she asked softly, looking up at him.

He stared at her for a moment. The sun was now up and the light caught her features just right causing him to stare even harder. He finally realized what she said to him and without taking his eyes off of her, he gingerly sat down.

The two sat in awkward silence. Neither knew how to start or what to say.

"You wanted-"

"I wanted-"

They laughed softly and Jimin motioned for her to go first.

Nari breathed deep and then slowly spoke. "I wanted to apologize for what you saw last night."

Jimin sat back against the bench, his leg beginning to bounce slowly. He balled up his hands in his pockets and tried not to let the aggravated feelings bubble up again.

Nari turned slightly towards him and marked his reactions. "I know it upset you. I'm sorry. But if you'll let me expl-"

Jimin sighed and looked straight ahead. "You don't have to explain, Nari," he said in a soft tone. "You want someone who's more stable. Someone who can make you happy and take you places where you don't have to worry about being seen. I get it. I was just caught off guard. But I'm okay. I'm happy for you." He smiled bitterly.

Nari felt confused for a moment but then she laughed lightly causing him to look directly at her again.

"What's so funny?" he demanded. "I just said everything I've been practicing to say." He looked a little affronted and turned away from her again.

Nari stopped laughing but a smile was still resting on her face. "I wasn't laughing at you. But you're very wrong, Park Jimin," she said.

"Hm. Am I..." He tried to act cool and looked off into the distance. His heart was pounding in his ears. If he was wrong, then that meant-

"I didn't accept Jun's offer. It's for the best. He is still grieving over the loss of his former girlfriend anyway."

Jimin looked at her out of the corner of his eye. "So, you're saying if he wasn't, you would have agreed to be his girlfriend? Or whatever it was he asked you." Jimin immediately thought about the other levels of relationship barista boy could have asked for and then he rationalized how absurd that would be since they hadn't formally dated. Or did they? He felt a bit panicked now.

"No!" Nari laughed. "No, I turned him down because," she paused and took a deep breath before continuing, "because I think there's someone a lot more interesting I would like to get to know more." 

Awkward silence fell on the pair and Jimin peeked at her out of the corner of his eye once again.  He saw her blushing and his heart pounded even more. "Really?"

"Mm hm."  Nari smiled and looked away. 

Jimin felt his palms grow clammy in his pockets and he quickly removed them to get some air to his hot palms.  He wasn't sure what to say next.  His mind was scattered and he felt nervous.  He had never been in a relationship before.  This was all new territory to him.  Wait, were they even in a relationship?  What could he call this thing they were starting?