ONLY YOO

chapted 54: two men and eight bottles

"What's wrong? Do you know her?"

Jimin was surprised to see his to-be father-in-law look so surprised at the mention of the name "Han Seungyeon".

Yoojung's dad finally closed his gaping mouth and blinked a few times, as if trying to get over the shock as best as he could.

"Yoojung didn't tell you?"

Tell him? Tell him what?

"No, what about?"

Yoojung's dad poured himself another shot and downed it at one go. He shook his head.

"Yoojung's childhood friend. But some things happened between them and... they fell out."

So they did know each other after all. No wonder every time Yoojung saw Seungyeon, she looked so awfully uncomfortable. And he was dumb enough not to catch on...

"What happened? Was it bad?" Jimin asked, taking a another shot. He was already feeling tipsy, yet he couldn't stop drinking. He was getting increasingly worried about what kind of unpleasant things might have happened between the two girls.

Yoojung's dad kept silent for a long while.

"I don't think I'm in the right position to tell you this. If Yoojung didn't tell you anything, she must have her own reasons. So just pretend this conversation never happened in front of her alright? I told you this just to help you try to understand her position better, so I hope it helped."

Jimin nodded, and despite feeling awfully sorry towards Yoojung, he managed a smile. "It sure did. Thank you, abeonim."

Yoojung's dad was evidently getting tipsy too as he reached out for the soju bottle and grabbed the air instead. He let out a little chuckle before successfully grabbing the bottle and pouring both of them some more soju.

"You know, Jimin? That's why I like you." He raised his glass to clink it with Jimin's. "Always so considerate and polite. I know my daughter is in safe hands."

Jimin nodded silently.

"On that note... I'm sure you don't know this, but Yoojung really, really loves you a lot too." Yoojung's dad took a swig of soju directly from the bottle. "She's not very expressive, and hides her feelings well, but I've never seen her this happy."

Jimin grabbed another soju bottle, popped the cap off and took a swig from it too.

"You don't know what Yoojung was like before joining the TV show. Quiet, reserved, negative. I myself was so shocked to see her be so comfortable around you on TV and seeing it in real life... it really makes me so happy. It reminds me of the days me and her mother were dating... It definitely was the best decision of our life to help her sign up for it... You know that?"

Yoojung's dad grabbed Jimin's hand and tried to focus on him, though his eyes were already out of focus. They rolled backward and he slumped on the table, passed out, not before mumbling. "Thank you, Jimin-ie..."

Jimin smiled, silently making a vow to never let Yoojung get hurt, ever again.

He dialled Yoojung's number into Yoojung's dad phone, mumbled a slurred "I love you" into the phone, and that was the last thing he could remember before passing out.