Saturday
- Sunni PoV -
This week was probably the hardest week of my life, but... I made it through like a champ.
I'm allowed to cry, get angry, and feel like the whole world is on top of my shoulders. It's okay and to everyone who ever felt that way, everything is going to be okay. I've learned that the hard way.
With people who love me by my side, I've learned to be comfortable to rely on them.
With Jungwon's status of being the class president, he was able to dismiss those rumors about me at school. Even though I still get a couple of stares, with Jungwon's secret smiles and occasional visits to the gym just to give me a hug, I feel content to stay at Daeil just a little longer, even if it means an hour bus ride.
I've spent the evenings with my mom. I don't leave until they basically kick me out. She still doesn't have her memories back, but just like Yuni said... at least she's alive and physically getting better. I just hope I'll get her full self back.
Halmeoni and Ms. Go hasn't had a lot of time with her since only one person can visit her at a time, so I thought... today would be a perfect day to fulfill my master plan!
"So you're just planning on showing up to her house?" Questions Yuni as she leans on the door frame of my room.
She watches me as I finish packing my bag.
"Yep!" I exclaim zipping up bag.
"Okay, but like Jungwon... wouldn't he need to pack a bag and like didn't you say people tail him?" She continues to ask more questions.
I sling my backpack over my shoulder, "First, I told Jungwon to spend the night with me at the hospital so he should pack a bag and two, Jungwon's been avoiding them as of late so we should be fine."
"How are you even going to get to Daegu?"
More and More questions curious George...
I pull out tickets from my back pocket, "The train, now I should get going."
"And how you are going to pull off going there without Jungwon getting suspicious-"
"Go Yuni," I glare at her.
She puts her hands up, "You know I'm all about information, don't act surprised."
I roll my eyes, "Some things never change huh?"
I move past her and down the stairs to the café.
Sitting down at one of the tables is Jungwon as he's having a conversation with Ms. Go.
He notices me and instantly smiles.
"Look who finally came down the stairs," he teases as he stands up once I approach.
I playfully smack his shoulder, "I'm not that late."
"Mhm," he giggles then bends down towards me.
He points at his cheek. Gosh...
I look at Ms. Go who's staring at us.
She huffs and looks the other way.
I smile then quickly give him a kiss on the cheek.
"Can I turn back now?" Ms. Go asks.
"Yes," I say before pinching Jungwon's cheek.
"Ya ya ya ya," Jungwon says in pain trying to detach my fingers.
"Hehe, I'm too mighty for you!" I joke.
He obviously did not take it as a joke as he suddenly picks me up and slings me over his shoulder.
"Ya!" I yell.
"Who's the mighty one? Who?!" He teases me as he starts to spin.
"Don't you guys have a bus to catch?" Yuni comes down the stairs.
Jungwon puts me down and gives me a smug look.
"I'm JungONE for a reason," he says dusting off his shoulders.
I roll my eyes, "We're off!"
"Be careful Sunni, let us know if anything happens," Ms. Go says handing me a brown bag of goodies.
"We'll see you guys there, no worries," Jungwon says oblivious.
I let out an awkward laugh, "Right, we'll see you guys there!" I grab Jungwon's arm and rush out of Ms. Go's café.
*******
"Oh, this is our stop," Jungwon says as he's about to press the red button on the bus.
I grab his hand, "I actually wanted to pick something up from this one store."
He raises his eyebrows, "Suddenly? Where is it?"
I look down and fiddle my fingers, "I-It's near Seoul Station..."
He nods and looks at the time on his phone, "I just wouldn't want you to miss any time with your mom."
I shake my hand, "It's fine! Halmeoni is probably there already. She'll get to spend some time with her while I'm away."
The bus soon reaches the stop for Seoul Station to which we got off.
Jungwon's face scrunches up more and more once he realizes we're entering the train station. I almost burst out laughing seeing him confused.
"What store exactly is in this station?" He asks.
I clap my hands together once, "Ah! I forgot to tell you that it's a little further than expected."
His face scrunches up again, "What do you mean by that?"
I pull out the tickets from my back pockets, "It's in Daegu!!" I jump up and down excitedly.
He shakes his head in disapproval.
I stop jumping, "What?" I whine.
"Why do you want to go shopping in Daegu?" He questions.
I let out a sigh. May the acting begin...
"My mom's originally from Daegu, so I feel if I get her something from there, her memories will come back," I lie pulling off my best sad pout.
He exhales through his nose, "I didn't know your mom is from Daegu... your halmeoni has a Seoul accent."
"Ya! Halmeoni lived here for a while so of course she'll adapt!" I practically shout.
I then go back into a pout, "Please? It'll be fun!"
"I know, it's just so sudden and what if something happens to your mom-"
"It'll be a quick trip!" I cut him off. "I promise!"
He sighs, "Alright, no distractions!"
"No distractions!" I grab his hand and hurry to our train.
- Jungwon PoV -
There wasn't many people on the train once we arrive. A lot of old couples and maybe a few younglings, but no one our age.
We find our seat, and I let Sunni sit by the window.
"Do you know what store exactly we're going to?" I asks her seriously as we get situated in our seats.
She nods, "Yes!!"
"And what exactly you're getting?" I question.
"Yes!!" She nods again with her bright smile.
I look at her as she giggles at me. She's seriously too cute.
I pull up the arm rest that was causing us to be divided and scoot closer to her.
"Of course, I have no personal space when I'm with you," She jokes.
"You know you love it," I say pinching her cheek.
"Mmm!" She lets out nodding. She intertwines her fingers with mines and lays her head on my shoulder.
"I've never been to Daegu," she starts to say. "So, I'm excited to being going for the first time with you."
I softly smile as I put my head on top of hers.
I always wanted to go to Daegu too.
When Halmeoni was kicked out, she left a note in my room. The note had her exact address to where she moving to. For a while, I contemplated on visiting her. Of course, I was too scared to.
"My grandma lives in Daegu," I softly say.
Silence.
I look down to see Sunni's eyes closed. She's always sleeping on rides I swear.
I giggle. "I wonder if she still lives there," I continue talking. I then start to reminisce.
"My grandma really loved flowers.. she had a whole garden back at home, she was really good at it," I then say.
I snuggle up to her a bit more. "Maybe... maybe we should go see her. Help her with a few things around her home... and possibly even garden," I suggest with my voice fading at the end.
I haven't seen or talked to her in so long. I would love to be in her embrace again.
Back then, we used to do so many things together. Go shopping at the food markets, go on walks, and talk for hours. I would send her my dance practice videos and she would always be so proud of me.
Whenever I was sad, she would comfort me and told me everything was going to be okay. It was so simple yet it meant everything to me.
Halmeoni practically raised me. Everything I know is because of her.
Since I have Sunni by my side, I feel even more secured to go.
But as I look down at Sunni, I think about how she really wants to bring home to her mom. Maybe me going to see halmeoni would be too selfish and time consuming.
It was a bad idea to begin with...
*******
"Um... Sunni... it doesn't look like there's a shop around here," I say as she's dragging me on an empty road.
We're basically in the middle of nowhere. With only a few houses appearing, I doubt there's a store near here. Unless she wants to pick up flowers or shrubs for her mom...
She stops in her tracks and looks at me with her arms crossed. Here we go...
"I know where I'm going," she sasses.
I then cross my arms also, "Oh really? We've been walking for almost an hour..."
"Trust the process!" She grabs my hand again and continues to drag me for at least another hour.
"Sunniyaa!~" I whine. "I think you're lost..."
My voice fades as we approach a small house. This.. this isn't a store...
I watch her as she knocks on the door.
"Ya, Sunni where are we?-"
The door opens as a confused elderly lady opens the door.
"H-Halmeoni..." I stutter softly in shock.
Halmeoni gasps as she covers her mouth with her hands. This is a shock to the both of us...
I run to her and wrap my arms around her tiny body.
I can't believe who I'm hugging... who I'm seeing. Suddenly all my problems just disappeared. My grandma is here, well and smiling.
"My boy!" She pulls away then cups my cheeks.
We stare at each other with our eyes glossy.
"It hasn't even been a year since I've last saw you and you've grown so much!!" She says laughing.
"Halmeoni! I missed you so much!" I go in for another hug. She laughs as she pats my back.
"And who's this?" She pulls away looking behind me.
- Sunni PoV -
I awkwardly put my hand up.
"Hi," I softly say smiling.
Jungwon grabs my hand and pulls me forward.
"Halmeoni, this is Kim Sunni... my girlfriend," Jungwon introduces as he looks down smiling at me.
"Oh!" Halmeoni exclaims.
She then grabs my cheeks and squishes me in admiration. I see where Jungwon got his love language from.
"She's Ms. Kim's daughter," he informs.
Her eyes sparkle even more from just hearing that.
"I was trying to pin point where I've seen you from! You look exactly like her my dear!" She pulls me into a hug. She's like a small teddy bear. So warm and soft.
"Come in, come in!" She pulls away and shuffles inside with the both of us following her.
After a couple of minutes, Jungwon is moving things around, cleaning, and reorganizing things in the kitchen.
"Jungwon was always my little helper," halmeoni explains as she places a cup of tea in front of me. "Since he was little he loved to help me even if it was the smallest task. It's in his nature!"
She sits down in front of me smiling at me dearly. I see why Jungwon loves her so much. Just her smile alone leaves you feeling happy.
"I brought him here so he can spend time with you maybe I should force him to stop," I suggest.
Halmeoni shakes his head, "That's the way he is... plus... he won't tell me about his troubles, but I know you will."
I look at her with my eyes wide.
"Jungwon doesn't really talk about his feelings as you know. Especially to me... he never liked to see me worry," she explains.
She's right. It took Jungwon awhile to open up to me, and today.. was the first day I ever saw him teary-eyed. He's always so calm and collected, you wonder if he ever feels emotions, but really, he's just really tough.
She places her hand on top of mines.
"Please tell me. Since I've moved, I've only worried about him. I know how his parents are like," she begs with her eyebrows furrowed.
I tell her everything. From the time I knew his parents were treating him wrong, till now. I explained the first time I met his dad and how he hit him, to the arrange marriage, to the spying, and to me and their disapproval.
Halmeoni looks down at her hands and sighs when I tell her about my mother.
"Jiyoung's husband is as evil as it gets," she quietly says shaking her head.
"Jiyoung?" I question.
She looks up at me, "That's Jungwon's mothers name. When she first introduced me to that man, I knew he was as heartless as the devil himself, but she insisted on marrying him."
"He was always like that?" I further question.
"Yes my dear, when he kicked me out earlier on in the year, his eyes were so scary," she explains. "I'm sorry my love, but I believe he's behind it."
I've only met Jungwon's dad once. To see him hit him in front of so many people shamelessly, I do believe it to. I know about those eyes she's talking about, I saw them that day.
"Jiyoung didn't help the company during their first few years of their marriage, and those times where the best," she starts to say with a faint smile. "She was so full of life and so kind! She was the best mother... but once business started to get mixed in, it's like her children weren't a big concern to her."
Her smile fades away, "The anger her and her husband showed the day they found out of Jungwon's lessons... was unbelievable... I couldn't care less about them kicking me out, but for them to stop Jungwon from his dreams hurt me."
"You know..." I start to say. "Jungwon is really good."
She raises her eyebrows.
"I mean.. I want to be a singer too, and before I knew about his parents, we were practicing together-"
"Oh my!" She exclaims in glee. "You're my savior!"
She gets up from her seat and grabs my cheeks.
"Sunni, I have a mission and only you can do it!"
A/N
Hello my loves!! I hope you all liked this chapter! It's very less dramatic/sad than the previous ones , so I hope you still found this chapter worth your time!
A couple of things...
First, I obviously do not know Jungwon's mother's real name, so don't believe that's actually it lol this is just fiction after all.
Second, oh my gaawd... did you guys see Jungwon's first solo Vlive? It was so cute and comforting!! He talked about his grandmother briefly so I tried to incorporate it into the chapter.
And lastly stay tuned for more happy/cute chapters and possibly a double update in the future!! My summer is nearing it's end, so that means the story will too~
Till the next chapter~