MINJEONG
Jared's family are the nicest people I have ever met in my life. They didn't hesitate to be warm-hearted towards me and treat me like a normal person. It feels great to be around people who won't judge every step that I take or every food that I eat.
It's long past midnight and the two girls hanging in the tree haven't come down yet. I'm wondering why they are taking so long. I know they are close and they haven't seen each other for a while, but I'm starting to be worried.
What if they are stuck in there?
Since Ningning is involved, there's a high possibility they either have a deep conversation about life in general or they eat chicken wings and beers. Perhaps, they are doing both, I'll probably never know.
"Are you okay? You seem a little bit off," Jared's grandma asks me.
I give her a small smile and shake my head.
"I'm just thinking about someone," I tell her and it causes her to juggle her eyebrows.
We've known each other for less than five hours, but she feels already comfortable with me to tease me.
"What is he like?"
I pinch my lips and look at her before putting a small smile on my face.
"She is the most breathtaking woman I've ever laid my eyes on."
It doesn't take her much time to process the information that I'm not interested in a man. She falls her mouth open and stares at me, guilt all over her face. I'm not offended by the fact that she thought I was heterosexual because I dated boys and liked them in the past. I just think that there's so much more in a person regardless of their gender that's why I don't stick to one gender.
"I'm sorry," she apologizes causing me to shake my head. "Hum..., what is she like?" she quickly corrects herself.
Thinking about Jimin makes me smile. I turn my head towards the chimney as I feel my cheeks turn into a crimson.
"She's... I don't have enough words to tell you how beautiful she is," I say and picture Jimin in my mind. "She has this old habit of crunching her nose when she's laughing and that's the most adorable thing in the world. When she is sad, she always has this bright smile on her face because she doesn't want to let anyone see her pain. It's not impressive, but I find it endearing. Her mind is like an ocean of thoughts that I'd love to be drowned in it. There's no single day where I find her boring. Every time I look at her, my heart beats madly. She makes me feel like I'm special and I just want her to be always happy in return."
There's a beat of silence until Jared's grandma breaks it.
"You should go see her now and repeat those same words."
I bite back a laugh and shoots her an amused smile. She seems serious and it makes me frown at her.
"Oh, you were serious."
"Of course I am, my dear. Life's too short to hold back. Be brave and show her your worth."
"But she still sees me as her best friend's little sister. We can't be together," I tell her.
She holds my hands while warm tears roll on my cheeks, "I was in love with my best friend for three years and I always thought we would never be together. He always treated like his little sister until I went to Korea for work. He looked for me and that was how our relationship started."
"She's not gonna do the same for me," I say and a sigh I didn't know I was holding this whole time escapes my mouth.
She tightens her grip and stares at me before saying in a cool tone.
"Then, let her go."
I take a deep breath and close my eyes. After I started to feel differently around her, I knew that I have to let her go someday and that day has finally come. Jared's grandma is an old lady, but she's not a fool.
"I'm planning to go to France next week. I don't know when I'll come back, but I guess that's my chance to... move on."
"If she comes back to you after you left, don't run okay? Listen to her because she might be the one," she tightens her grip.
I highly doubt that Jimin will take a ticket to France just to see me and confess her feeling at the same time. But, I like this supposition. It makes me feel like I have a chance with the girl I have been foolishly in love for the past seven years. Jared's grandma shoots me a soothing look before going back into the arms of her husband.
I get up from the sofa and walk to the kitchen. I almost gasp at the sight of two women laughing hysterically at a dark-haired brunette. With her arms crossed, Aeri rolls her eyes until she sees me. She motions me, with her finger, to come closer.
"Minjeong!" she smiles at me. "You need to help me bring those two home," she turns around to glare at Jimin and Ning.
They are both leaning against the counter of the kitchen because they can't stand still without falling and it looks pathetic. Ningning's cheeks are puffy and redder than I have could ever imagine and Jimin looks like she will sleep anytime. Aeri must have scolded them before I enter the kitchen. The last time I got drunk at a party, she threw me water to sober me up and it worked pretty well.
"Minjeon-uh!" Ningning calls me before wrapping me into a tight hug.
I freeze at the sudden contact and look at Aeri over her shoulder for help. The long dark-haired woman shrugs and Ningning takes a step back with a smirk on her rosy lips.
"The hut was awesome! I don't know how many hours we stayed there, but we talked a loooot. Did you know that Jimin-unnie is--"
She was cut short by Jimin's hands on her mouth and the second later, they fall on the floor like dominos. Aeri and I share a long desperate gaze before we help them get up on their feet.
Ningning smiles at Jimin who's glaring at her as if she was asking her to be silent without saying a single word. Once they are both on their feet, Jimin glances at me before I see a hint of a blush on her ears. I should go see a doctor to check my poor eyesight or perhaps, love is making me see things that I would like to see.
"Aeri-unnie! Gimme a hug, my big baby!" Ningning exclaims before embracing Aeri who grunts at the impact of their bodies colliding together.
There's something that everyone knows about Ningning : she's a sensitive girl when it comes to anything sad or emotional. She has a soft heart and it's a proven fact. There's also another fact about her. Everyone knows that Ningning is a cry baby when she has a high level of alcohol in the bloodstream.
"Minjeong-uh, Jimin-unnie!" she continues before sliding her arms on our shoulders to bring us closer to her. "I love you guys to the mountains and back and to the far hills and around Europe back to China and all the way back to Korea. I love you to the clouds and through the universe across mars all the way to the sun and back. I love you guys so much."
Here we go again...
✽✽✽✽✽
It took us an hour and a half to drift apart. Ningning couldn't stop her tears, even though we tried multiple times to comfort her. After thirty minutes of finding good arguments, we gave up and stayed in her arms until she falls asleep.
I helped Aeri get the drunk blondie in her car and I went back to the kitchen where Jimin was waiting for me. I told her to drink at least three cups of water and she did. I drove her into her house and there was a heavy silence throughout the whole ride.
Even now, no one broke the silence until I decided it was the best for me to leave.
"I've gotta go," I tell her with a small smile. "Goodnight."
I turn around and walk towards the front door.
"Minjeong, wait!" she says before closing the door.
I shoot her a puzzled look as she seems to gaze right into my soul and it makes me uncomfortable. Blood rushing madly in my veins and air getting more and more weak as time goes by, I clench my jaw.
I can't look at her in the eyes without blushing like an idiot. That's not a problem in this case because she is probably too drunk to notice it. Her feline eyes are looking at me, but they seem... distant, as if she was stuck in her ocean of thoughts.
"You're drunk," I state and give her a tiny smile. "We'll talk when you'll be sober, okay?"
I have an entire week before I leave for France, a little talk with her won't hurt. She has something on her mind, but it looks like she is afraid of saying it. There's an internal battle playing in her head, and I have the feeling that it will take her quite some time.
I let out a short sigh before opening the door. Witj a strong hold, she grabs my wrist and forces me to release the handle. Her eyes catch mine as she traps me between her body and the cold surface of her front door.
I know that Jennie likes to be in control and be audacious, but I didn't know she was that bold.
"You're drunk," I repeat while staring at her brown eyes.
"You're making me confused, all the damn time."
"Huh?"
She doesn't speak. Instead of that, she leans closer until her sweet lips touch mine. Panic-stricken, I step back and glare at her. She can't kiss me and then pretend the next day that she didn't mean it. I won't let her break my heart into millions of pieces again, I ain't going to make the same mistake.
"What's wrong with you?!" I shout at her while she looks taken aback at my icy demeanor.
"I-I..."
I take a deep breath, "I know you, Yu Jimin. You're gonna say the next morning that you regret kissing me because you don't love me like that. You know this is wrong, but you're gonna blame alcohol as if it justifies everything you want to do for fun. I don't want to be an experiment for you. I deserve better than that and you know that."
Without waiting for her response, I leave her apartment with tears in the eyes. I always knew that giving up my love on her will hurt, but the pain is worse than I thought.