"Jagiya!" Jimin yelled as she ran across the hallway towards Minjeong, who was walking alongside Ryujin.
The girl was expecting to be tackled into a hug from the older girl so she shut her eyes, waiting for the impact. But instead, she heard a slight grunt from her right to find Ryujin with a wide grin on her face as Jimin engulfed her into her arms.
"J-jagi. I can't breathe." Ryujin stuttered out.
Jimin giggled and pulled away, but kept her at arms length. "Sorry, I just haven't seen you in a while."
Minjeong furrowed her eyebrows after observing the two. She doesn't want to lie, but hearing Jimin call someone else 'jagi' kind of hurt her. She, herself, reserved that nickname for Jimin and Jimin only, but she guessed it wasn't the same for her girlfriend.
Minjeong's POV
Jimin unnie turned to me and finally acknowledged my presence. "Oh, hey Minjeong. Didn't see you there."
Wow. So it's jagi for Ryujin, but it's plain Minjeong for me.
I gave a tight-lipped smile and walked away without saying anything else.
Before I got far, I heard Ryujin ask Jimin unnie, "Is Jeongie okay?"
Thanks for noticing, Ryu.
I heard Jimin unnie's voice this time. "I don't know. She'll probably get over it." I turned around, in slight shock to see the two of them still on the same position. "Now, we have lots of catching up to do so let's go find Yeji and Aeri."
I saw Jimin unnie link arms with Ryujin as they walked the opposite way.
Why didn't she bother to invite me? I'm close with them too.
I turned around and walked back to our waiting room to find Aeri unnie sitting on the couch on her phone. I slumped next to her and sighed as I stared at the ceiling.
Did I do something wrong?
Aeri unnie turned to me and nudged my side. "You good, dumb?"
"Yeah." I responded as I closed my eyes to forget about what just happened in the halls.
Aeri unnie scoffed and she dropped her phone. "Come on Jeong. What is it?"
I waited a moment as I debated whether to tell her what's on my mind, but before I could, the door opened again.
"There you are!" Jimin unnie walked in with Yeji and Ryujin trailing behind. "Come on, Aeri. We're gonna film TikToks for our fans. Ning's already doing it with Winner sunbaenim."
Aeri unnie got pulled up and Jimin unnie turned around without even looking in my direction.
I must've done something wrong.
Fortunately, Yeji unnie saw me and walked closer to me. "Hey, you wanna do it too, Minjeong?"
A smile partially formed on my face when I was about to answer, but I was cut off before I could.
"Didn't you say you were tired, Minjeong?"
I looked towards the door to find Jimin unnie stopping mid-way to turn and look at me with her hands still intertwined with Aeri unnie and Ryujin.
"I..." I felt a certain pressure building up in the back of my eyes. I knew what that feeling was so I quickly looked away before smiling back up at Yeji unnie. "It's fine, unnie. Some people might think five is a crowd."
Yeji unnie shook her head and leaned down to grab my wrist. "Nonsense." She said as she pulled me up. "There's always room for everybody."
I smiled gratefully and allowed myself to be dragged by the caring unnie.
_
The day finally ended and the four of us went into the car to go back home. I sat at the very back with Ning as I tried to drown out all of their talking so I could sleep. Unfortunately, it didn't work and all I could hear was Aeri unnie and Ning laughing out loud at a TikTok that they found. Usually, Jimin unnie knows that I like to sleep on the way back home and would tell the two to quiet down, but I noticed she was busy on her phone texting someone.
I could feel the change in our dynamic. It's, honestly, been building up over the past couple of weeks, but I've tried to reach out and make us reconnect like we used to.
Maybe she is falling out of love with me.
The tears pricked my eyes again and I turned more towards the window, so my members wouldn't see. I let out a silent breath as I tried to control my emotions.
Not now, Minjeong. Just wait a little bit longer.
The car arrived to our dorm and we all filed out quickly so we could wash up and sleep.
Finally, as I laid in my bed, I could only release a sigh at the thought of losing Jimin unnie.
I turned my head when I heard the door creak open and was slightly surprised to find Jimin unnie come in, but I didn't show it. Of course, she's come in on multiple occasions to either sleep with me or watch some movies together or just talk the night away. But that hasn't happened in a while and I had no idea where this would lead to.
"Hey, could I come in?"
I sat up on my bed and nodded. I looked down at my fingers as I fiddled them and heard the door shut as Jimin unnie shuffled across the room to settle down next to me on the bed.
I looked up at her. "Did you need something?"
"Is everything okay? You seemed kinda off today. Ryujin noticed it too."
I internally scoffed and bit my tongue before I said something worse.
"It's nothing. I'll get over it." I replied, emotionlessly.
Jimin unnie scoffed and shook her head. "Come on Minjeong. Don't be like this."
"Like what?"
"This! Why are you shutting me out and acting so different lately?! I'm your girlfriend, you should know that you can tell me if something is bothering you."
I chuckled at the irony of it all and bit my lip. "Really? You're asking me why I'm the one acting different?" I felt the tears building in my eyes again as I turned my body towards her. "I've been meaning to ask you that for the past couple of weeks. You really think I'm disconnecting from you? You don't even come into my room anymore. You make excuses to cancel our dates on our day-offs. You've been avoiding all of my kisses. You won't even let me hug you or hold hands, even though you know that it could be regarded as platonic if we were to get caught. You could've told me if you wanted to break up with me or if you had someone else-"
I felt a stinging sensation on my left cheek as the sound resonated throughout my room.
"M-Minjeong."
I could see Jimin unnie's shaking hand as she tried to comfort me.
"Y-you...you were the one who said we'd never lay a hand on each other." I cried out. "Just...get out unnie."
I pushed her hand away and looked at her in the eyes, telling her that she's hurt me way too much.
"I-I'm sorry...please...I didn't mean to." I saw her own tears falling as she fought my resistance to try and get close to me. "Listen...Minjeong...please."
I tried my best to push her away as my sobs kept getting louder. She was able to get on top of me as she straddled my waist and pushed me down to lay on the bed. My arms got stuck underneath her legs and all I could do was move my head from side to side as Jimin unnie tried to cup my face and calm me down.
Once she got control, I looked at her helplessly. "Please stop. This is enough." I pleaded as I felt my bottom lip trembling to keep another sob from escaping.
"No-Minjeong...just listen...please." Jimin unnie heavily exhaled and I could feel her hot breath hit my lips. We gave it a couple moments before Jimin unnie decided to speak up again. "The company was getting suspicious of us."
I frowned at that statement. "What?" I whispered.
"PD-nim called me and our managers into a private meeting last month. He warned me about the consequences if his accusations were true and I denied them, but believe me, it was the hardest thing to do." Her own tears ran down her face and all I could do was stare. "Manager unnie was told to watch us carefully at home, which is why I couldn't visit you as much anymore. I...I know it might seem like I was avoiding or neglecting you, but I needed to. I needed to prove that there was nothing between us, at least for now. I don't want our group to fall because of this, but I also don't want to lose you. Damn it, Minjeong, I can't live without you." I felt her brush her thumb against my bottom lip softly. "I thought...I thought that if I told you, you'd feel guilty but now it seems like it's just hurting us even more." I waited a moment, just letting it sink in. "Please say something."
I caught her eyes and that's how I knew that everything she said is true.
"Did you lock the door?" I asked quietly. Jimin unnie nodded her head and waited for me to continue.
I tilted my head up and captured her lips in a long awaited kiss. I felt a wet lick on my bottom lip, making me slightly open my mouth and to have Jimin unnie's invade mine. Our tongues fought for dominance but I was in a losing battle after hearing and feeling her moans coming from the back of her throat.
We pulled apart from the lack of air and stared at each other as our hot breaths fanned our faces. When I finally caught my breath, I knocked my forehead against Jimin unnie's and glared.
"Ow! What was that for?" She lifted her hand to rub the numb spot and frowned.
"I'll tell you if you let my hands go." I made my statement even more dramatic by struggling to free me arms.
She rolled her eyes and laughed as she lifted some of her weight off of me to let me release them. The moment they were free, I grabbed her waist and flipped us over, trapping her underneath.
"Hey, you cheated!" She whined. I chuckled and bit the tip of her nose. "Ah! Now what's this one for?"
Through gritted teeth I spoke, "The first one was for not thinking straight and hiding it from me."
Jimin unnie smiled sheepishly and briefly glanced away. "Well I am dating you, so it's kinda hard for me to think straight."
"Oh my gosh, you just love to get on my nerves, don't you?"
"Yes, but I also just love you too." Jimin unnie pushed up on her elbows to place a peck on the tip of my nose, making me smile like an idiot. But then I remembered why I was sulking earlier today.
It kinda made me sad again.
Jimin unnie must've noticed my change in demeanor and worriedly cupped my face.
She smiled and tried to catch my eyes. "What is it, Jeongie?"
"You and Ryujin seem close." I eased into the topic.
Jimin unnie simply nodded. "Yeah, we are. Is there something wrong with it?"
"No, no. I just heard you call her 'jagi' at the music station today, so..."
"Oh, yeah. I use that for my close friends, even Aeri and Yeji."
"So am I just a close friend?"
Jimin unnie had a wave of realization hit her and she widened her eyes before shaking her head. "That's not what I meant. Of course, you're way more than that. I mean, you and I both know we have other endearments for each other, right bubba?"
I have a small smile before nodding my head. "I know. I just kinda remembered how we reserved it for each other before we debuted and before, you know, we got together."
I saw Jimin unnie smile fondly at the memory. She pulled me down a little to nuzzle my nose against her's. "Pre-debut was such a good time. Just you, me, Ning, and Aeri doing whatever we want without having to worry about anything. But I wouldn't go back." She took a pause and leaned up a little to peck my lips. "One, because I love our fans and our group. And two, because, now, I have a cute little puppy that I can call my girlfriend." Jimin unnie kissed me again and held my face to keep me in place. We smiled as we pulled apart, but she kept me close and rubbed our noses together. "And don't you think bubba suits you better?"
"I guess. But only if it comes from you."