"I'll go with you. Let's go see Holly."
Yoongi couldn't believe what he just heard. It felt like one of his dreams, where Jieun was nice to him again.
Are my dreams finally turning into reality?
He started driving, feeling bittersweet emotions of mixed worry and happiness.
—
Thirty minutes have passed, yet there was still silence between the two. Neither wanted to start a conversation. The song on the radio was on its low volume, making it a bit uncomfortable for the both of them.
"Jieun—"
"Yoon—"
They both started speaking at the same time, making it even more awkward.
"You go first, Jieun-ssi."
"No, you go first. Mine's not that important anyway."
Yoongi stopped insisting further because he knew how Jieun was so short-tempered with such arguments.
"Uhm, I was just gonna ask what made you decide to go with me."
"I don't know, I think I was worried about Holly. I mean, I haven't seen him for a long time and when you told me about what happened, I got scared." Jieun faced the window and watched the bright spring skies. "Also, I don't think you should drive alone."
"Are you worried about me, Jieun-ssi?"
"Yes. Ah, no!!! Of course, not! I mean, I think you hardly had any sleep and it's my fault so I guess it's just proper that I'm here to assist you if you get tired of driving. Don't get the wrong impression, okay?"
"Okayyyy." Yoongi wore his gummy smile once again. He knew that Jieun was lying, but he allowed her to get away with it. "Holly will be happy to see you again."
"I don't think he'll still remember me. But I hope he does. And I hope he's okay now."
"I hope so, too."
There was another moment of silence. Yoongi turned up the volume of the radio to avoid the awkward atmosphere.
"Is that your voice, Yoongi-ssi?"
Yoongi felt embarassed. It was too late to change the song now. "Yes. It's from my mixtape."
"You have a mixtape?"
"Yeah. I released it last year before I went back here. It's...it's nothing, really. I guess it's a flop."
"Well, this song doesn't sound like flop to me. It's cool."
Yoongi was surprised. He wanted to take a look at Jieun's reaction, but his eyes were fixed on the busy road.
"I thought you don't like hiphop."
"People do change, Min Yoongi. Now let me listen to your full mixtape."
Yoongi couldn't be any happier. The sudden change of Jieun's attitude towards him is almost too good to be true. He selected his mixtape on his phone's playlists and they began listening to the tracks. Two hours later, they found themselves vibing to the beat of his songs.
"Hey, I'm hungry. Let's grab some lunch. I think you're also tired of driving." Jieun suggested.
"Okay, let's look for somewhere to eat."
They found a small kimbap place where they had their lunch. After eating, they continued driving until they reached Daegu. It was almost three in the afternoon when they arrived at the veterinary clinic where Holly was brought.
But Holly was not there. The veterinarian told them that Yoongi's brother brought Holly at the clinic earlier, but was sent home soon because the dog was not seriously hurt.
"Aish. We went here for nothing. I really hate hyung." Yoongi grabbed his phone and called Geumjae. The latter answered, telling Yoongi that they were already home and that he forgot to call him earlier.
Yoongi felt disappointed. He wasted three hours of his day just because he wanted to see his favorite dog who was no longer at the clinic anymore. However, he also felt thankful that nothing bad happened to Holly.
"Let's go back now. Holly is already safe. There's no need for us to worry anymore."
"Where is he now?"
"Hyung brought him home."
"Then let's go there. Let's visit Holly."
"But—"
"Min Yoongi. We spent three hours on the road. You can't just go home not seeing him. Let's go."
Yoongi couldn't even say no. He hated the idea of going home, but with Jieun beside him, it somehow felt different. He still wanted to spend more time with her.
On their way to his house, Yoongi informed Geumjae in advance in case their father was there. Lucky enough, he won't be home until the next week. Yoongi's anxiety was suddenly relieved.
They arrived in front of a simple house filled with plants outside. The flowers were in bloom for the springtime. They got off the car and not long after, an old woman came rushing to them. She immediately hugged Yoongi while speaking some words which Jieun could hardly understand.
The woman let go of Yoongi and looked straight at Jieun. The latter became conscious, not knowing what to do. She just bowed her head without saying anything.
"Eomma, don't scare her." Yoongi was holding his mother's hand. "Jieun, this is my mother. Eomma, this is Jieun."
"Are you the girl named Lee Jieun? The tan—"
"Eomma, let's go inside. I'm hungry. And I wanna see Holly." Yoongi was just in time to interrupt her. Noticing how his mother's face lit up upon knowing that the lady was Jieun, he thought that visiting Holly was not a good idea. He wanted to go home right away.
Inside the house, they were greeted by Geumjae with Holly in his lap. Yoongi ran towards the brown dog who immediately recognized him. Jieun was left standing by the door, silently observing how happy Yoongi was to see the dog.
"Jieun?" Geumjae almost thought that he was fooled by his eyes. "No way."
"Hyung, behave." Yoongi whispered.
"Jieun, take a seat." Geumjae called her excitedly. "Do you still remember our Holly?"
"Yes, of course. But I'm not sure if he still remembers me." Jieun smiled.
Holly stood from Geumjae's lap, trying to find where the voice came from. When he saw Jieun approaching the couch, Holly jumped and ran towards the lady.
Jieun was surprised. But unlike their first encounter, she was no longer scared to meet the dog.
"Holly, how are you? You still remember me."
"Don't you sometimes wish that you're a dog?" Geumjae secretly teased Yoongi. The younger just glared at him, annoyed with his brother's comment.
"He really likes you, Jieun-ssi." Yoongi was smiling fondly while looking at Holly being held by Jieun.
"Yeah. He's so cute. I'm so glad he still knows me."
—
"Okay, gather at the table. Let's eat." Yoongi's mother prepared an early dinner for them.
Yoongi was delighted to see all his favorites served on the table. He missed the dishes only her mother could perfectly cook.
"Jieun dear, eat as much as you can. You can't be hungry in this house. The last time Yoongi visited us was before he left to study in London, so I know he missed all these food."
"Thank you, ma'am." Jieun was still shy around Yoongi's family. She wondered if they know anything about her.
"You're too formal, dear. Just call me eomma."
"What?!" Yoongi stopped eating when he heard his mother.
"Your friends used to call me eomma. What's wrong with that? And if it's okay with Jieun, then it's not a problem. Right, Jieun?"
"Yes...eomma."
Yoongi was speechless. The day was indeed in his favor. Earlier, he hated the idea of visiting Daegu, but now he could only thank Holly for bringing them home.
The four of them continued eating and telling stories. They spent hours at the dining table with Yoongi basically talking about his life after he left his home. He missed his hometown so much. He missed his family even more.
Jieun was already feeling comfortable around Yoongi's mother and brother. She felt like she already knew them for a long time.
"Thank you so much for the food. Everything was delicious. Now I know where Yoongi got his skills in cooking." Jieun actually did not intend to speak what's on her mind. Now she couldn't look at Yoongi.
"Oh, Yoongi is a good cook like Geumjae. I taught them when they were still kids. I'm glad you liked it. If you want to eat these again, you can always ask Yoongi to cook for you. Or better yet, you two can visit here anytime."
Yoongi and Jieun looked at each other at the same time. The latter smiled shyly which made Yoongi blush. He hates how he always get shy around her.
They kept on talking, catching up with things. Yoongi's mother even prepared them some tea. No one noticed the time until Yoongi asked Jieun if she wanted to go home.
"Why don't you two stay for the night? It's already dark outside and I'm worried about your trip back."
"Eomma, we have work tomorrow. We can't really stay—"
"If it's abeoji that you're worried about, he's on a business trip so he won't be coming back home today." Geumjae suddenly interfered.
"No, hyung, not really." Yoongi was in denial. In fact, he really wanted to leave. He loved the idea of spending time with Geumjae, Holly and his mother, but he was anxious about suddenly seeing his father whom he haven't seen since he left. Each time he visited his mother, he made sure his father was not home. "It's just that we have to work tomo—"
"We can stay." Jieun cut off Yoongi's words. The man was left stunned with another surprise.
"Good! Jieun dear, you stay at Yoongi's room. Yoongi, you stay with your brother. Give me a moment. I'll just prepare the bed." Yoongi's mother left them and headed to Yoongi's room.
"Why'd you say that?" Yoongi was still wondering with Jieun's decision to stay.
"It's already dark. Besides, I know you're tired. You need to take some rest before driving again." Jieun explained without looking at the man.
Yoongi had no choice but to stay. He decided to just sleep on the couch with Holly. He missed his dog so much and wanted to spend more time with him before they could leave.
Jieun went inside Yoongi's room to take a rest. She was amazed to see the room—things were very organized: with piles of books on the table, old posters of his favorite artists on the wall and some kumamon figures and few trophies diplayed on the shelf. She could almost see young Yoongi busy reading books in his room or writing songs in the middle of the night. Somehow, she wanted to know about him as a kid.
After hours of tossing and turning, Jieun gave up on trying to sleep. She went out of the room and tiptoed her way to the door, then to the porch.
She let out a deep breath after holding it for so long. She made her way out without bothering anyone, only to get startled with a silhoutte of a person sitting at the corner.
"Coffee?"
***
a/n: I'm excited for the next chapter🙈☺️