home, jaemin

chapter thirty-eight

making friends was never easy for jiyoung until she finally met the eight people she could call friends.

yes, eight.

over the course of another few days, she and jaemin had managed to become more friendly with one another, both of them managing to open up and talk without a weird awkwardness and tension surrounding their heads.

jiyoung could even slightly say that without soojin's glare burning holes into her skin, jaemin was probably one of her closest friends besides nayeon.

"yo, what's up bitch."

jiyoung tossed her bag next to the couch, throwing herself onto one of the soft brown beanbag chairs sitting close by.

jaemin ignored her for a moment, too entranced in the game he was playing. renjun came from the stairs as he straightened his shirt out, "he's been playing all day."

jiyoung softly laughed, standing up to follow after renjun. the two had also got close since she spent so much time at his and jaemins house for tutoring and hanging out.

"what?" he asked, noticing she was eyeing his clothes.

she squinted, examining a bit farther, "you should wear a cardigan or one of those sweater-type things on top."

he looked down at his outfit. a white button-down and black jeans. simple. "a cardigan?"

she nodded. "yeah. a brown one if you have any. it will go well with the fall leaves outside and it'll keep you warm." she smiled.

"i'll take the advice," he said, retreating out of the kitchen and back to his bedroom.

jiyoung walked over to the refrigerator, grabbing a soda, and returning to jaemin.

"oh, come on," he complained, throwing his back against the couch.

"damn, that sucks." she laughed, taking a seat next to him as she read the word SECOND on the screen.

jaemin scoffed, slightly pushing her left shoulder in a playful manner. only then did he realize she was opening up her soda.

"you're lucky i'm good at keeping my balance," she smacked him back. taking a sip, she placed the soda can back on the table.

"whatever. wanna play?" he asked, tossing her a second remote before waiting for an answer.

she fixed her position into one she found more comfortable, chose her character, and then they were off racing one another.

"you know, you suck at this game?" she taunted him teasingly.

"you're just a cheater."

"how am i a cheater," she laughed, "you can literally see my screen!"

they continued playing for a bit before deciding to just watch tv and hang out since jaemin was upset about losing to her over and over again and she knew he wasn't gonna be in the mood for studying if he was being cranky.

while jiyoung grabbed some snacks and jaemin searched for something to watch, she heard his phone begin to ring.

walking back inside she could just barely read the contact on the screen.

mom

she placed everything down on the table and took a seat next to jaemin and his ringing phone, looking at him weirdly.

"what?" he asked without turning his head away from the tv.

she raised an eyebrow, "you gonna get that or...?"

he didn't check the phone before shaking his head no, ending the call there as he finally found good shows to choose from.

they watched a bit before it went to commercial break and jiyoung couldn't help herself from asking the same question that had been bugging her since the day she saw him while she was working.

"what's up with you and your parents?"

jaemins shrugged, "are you really asking to understand, or are you just wanting me to tell you so it'll stop bothering you?"

she sat there unfazed, "both, i guess."

"well," he began, "a while ago i was having trouble with school. like worse than now. they got mad at me and didn't believe i was actually trying hard so they threatened to kick me out and stop paying my school tuition fees if i couldn't bring my grades up. i knew i wasn't gonna be able to do it since i suck at school so i asked renjun for a room since his parents are back in china while he lives here. and now every time they try and call it's blah blah blah come back home blah blah blah what about paying for school blah blah blah we were just trying to prove a point. you know?"

she nodded, not wanting to interrupt.

"and it's been like that for a while but as you can see, i'm doing just fine without them."

she nodded again, processing it all before coming to a question, "what do you do about school?"

"what do you mean?"

"like your parents said. how do you pay for your school tuition? you don't have an educational scholarship or play any school sports."

"the truth? soojin."

"i'm sorry, what?" jiyoung gawked, sitting up straighter as she looked at the boy with big eyes.

"soojin. she said that if i go along as her boyfriend for the rest of high school she'll cover all of my school expenses cause she apparently knows some people."

"so you'd rather date her than go back to your parents?"

jaemin pondered for a second as if rethinking what his whole plan was and why he originally chose going out with the girl instead of going back to his parents.

"do you even like her?"

jaemin huffed, "of course not. you see the way she treats people. she's like the devil in disguise."

jiyoung chuckled, popping an m&m in her mouth. "okay so why not just make up with your parents instead of having to put up with her?"

"it's not that easy."

"how so?"