After listening to Jungkook mumble out an embarrassed explanation for his request, I decided to let the kid stay.
His mom, was, cómo se dice, batshit crazy.
Apparently, Jungkook got into a scuffle with some kids at his school.
When his mom found out about it, she went ballistic and kicked him out of the house, claiming he was "an embarrassment to our company and family name".
Which was actually bullshit.
So I let him stay.
He wasn't pure evil like my other family members, just not the brightest bulb in the bunch, if you get what I'm saying.
He even offered to get a job and pay rent to help out around the apartment.
Of course, I politely declined.
He was family, although I didn't really consider myself to have any.
I let him take the guest room, the bedroom right beside mine.
I usually let Jimin stay there when he stayed over, but now I would just have to expel him to the couch in the living room.
"That's the bathroom, and if you put your laundry out on weekends, I can do it for you." I offered, showing Jungkook around.
"You live here all by yourself, noona? It's pretty big for one person." He said, plopping down on the bed, as he looked around with wide eyes.
"Yeah, my parents used to live with me, but, you know." I trailed off, picking at a tassel on a nearby throw pillow.
"Yeah, I'm, uh, really sorry about that. I would have visited, but I was abroad for school that month. And when I got back, my mom wouldn't let me come." He explained, looking at me sorrowfully.
"It's not your fault." I whispered, a pang of pain ringing through my chest. I clutched my shirt with a shaking hand. It still didn't feel like they were really gone.
"I just think, I could've been there for you. At the least." He mumbled, sitting up slightly.
"Well, it's all in the past now, so get some rest. It's late." I smiled, standing up before turning his lights off.
"Good night, noona!" He called out, before I could close the door.
"Good night, Jungkook."
-
"Noona! Help me!" Jungkook's screeched, a loud bang following immediately after, waking me up.
I sprinted to the guest room, baseball bat in hand, worried that something was wrong.
And then I met the wide eyes of Jungkook and a heavily breathing Park Jimin.
What. The. Hell.
"There's a pervert in your apartment, did you know this?" Jimin shrieked, with Jungkook's head buried under his arm, as Jungkook scrambled to get out.
"He's my cousin, genius. And yes, he's staying here for a while." I huffed, before turning around and leaving the room.
It was a Friday, and they woke me up 8 minutes earlier than my usual time.
Now my whole day would be messed up. I stuck to a strict routine. A tight schedule.
"Well, are we still getting breakfast?" Jimin asked, skipping behind me and leaving behind Jungkook, who winced back onto his bed in pain.
"I don't know." I grumbled, throwing myself back onto the bed and burying myself into the covers.
"Come on, Everest, please? I'll pay?" He begged, laying on top of me, suffocating me under my blanket fort.
His accent peeked out as he said my name. It was English.
My mom was from Toronto, my dad, from South Korea.
They honeymooned in the Himalayas, and they used to joke that I was, uh, conceived on Mount Everest.
Which was a blatant lie.
But my mom fell in love with the crisp view of the mountains, and decided to name me Everest, after what my parents used to tell me, was the most beautiful place in the world.
When my air supply was getting cut short a little, Jimin rolled off of me.
A loud crash came from Jungkook's room.
"I'll fix it!" He screamed shortly afterwards.
Swell.
-
"Motherfucker!" I screeched when Jimin hit the brakes suddenly.
The coffee in my hand spilled onto my white blouse, and once again, I'd be entering school with an unsightly brown stain on my prim, ironed uniform.
Jimin remained silent as he continued to search for a decent parking spot in our school's parking lot.
We were late, a result of dropping Jungkook off at school and going to get coffee.
Which I was now currently wearing.
Finally, we swerved into a parking spot that a black Mercedes was preparing to enter.
"Let's go." Jimin hustled, grabbing my bag and sprinting to the classroom.
I ran after him, the coffee on my shirt slowly drying. As the liquid cooled, my skirt touched the skin of my stomach, and I winced at the cold sensation.
Finally, we burst into Mr. Kim's room.
Thankfully, he wasn't in yet, for whatever reason.
We took our seats, ignoring the stares from our classmates.
The girls in my year seemed to hate me for some reason.
I guess I was unlikeable?
Shortly after our entrance, a flustered Mr. Kim entered the room, his hair astray with the first few buttons of his shirt undone.
"He definitely just had sex." Jimin whispered to me.
I giggled, before making a gagging motion with my fingers.
"Sorry kids. Rough morning." He explained, unpacking his bag.
Jimin chuckled from beside me, elbowing my side softly.
He pulled out his laptop and a couple papers.
"Okay, let me take attendance and then we'll start." He exhaled.
He looked exhausted, dark circles reaching his dimples.
I finally noticed Jimin, who had been relentlessly tugging on my sleeve, which was now wrinkled and stretched out.
"What?" I hissed, yanking my clothes out of his grasp.
"I think we stole Mr. Kim's parking spot this morning." He whispered, looking quite satisfied with himself.
I recalled the black car we pulled in front of.
Mr. Kim looked up from his laptop, and gave the class a wide smile.
"Sorry about that guys." He said, and picked up the stack of papers.
"These are parent forms that you needed to get signed. If you haven't returned them already, please do so by the end of class. They're due today for a daily grade." He explained, flipping through the papers in his hand, reading the names off silently.
Shit. I didn't have anyone to sign my papers.
Technically, I didn't need to have a guardian. I was 19. Legally an adult.
"I'm missing those forms from, Ms. Everest and Mr. Yoongi. So just make sure they're returned to me by the end of class." He said, and shut his folder, looking up with a smile.
"One more announcement before we begin class. Some of you may already know, but our biology department is having a field trip next Thursday. If you're taking a biology course this year, see your teachers for permission slips. They're due by next Monday." He explained to the class.
"Make sure you turn in a slip, attendance counts as an extra credit project grade. I'll be chaperoning." He said, winking at the class.
I was taking bio this year. Fuck me.
"Okay, so, acid rain!" Mr. Kim said loudly, clapping his hands together as he pulled up a PowerPoint.
-
After class, Mr. Kim called me over to his desk.
"Ms. Lee, I don't think I've received a signed parent form from you yet." He said, flipping through some papers in his organized binder.
His glasses slid down his nose again, and instinctively, his finger came up and pushed them back up.
I let out a deep breath, and squeezed the soft material of my skirt tightly into my hands, hoping it would get rid of the nervous sweat building on my palms.
"Yeah, uh, my parents died this past year, and since I'm 18, I don't have or need a legal guardian." I explained, fiddling with my fingers, as I felt tears growing in my eyes.
Even thinking about my loving parents, made me feel like breaking down completely.
I pressed the nail of my thumb into my hand harshly, hoping the pain would distract me from the words that spilled out of my mouth.
Telling people made everything feel undeniably real.
"Oh, I'm very sorry to hear that. But it's required that you have at least one guardian's signature for emergency contact." Mr. Kim continued, an empty look in his eyes as he continued to type something into his laptop.
"How am I supposed to do that?" I asked harshly.
Was this guy kidding?
Who the hell did he think he was?
"Well, I'm sure there's at least one relative over the age of 21 that would be eligible to be an emergency contact for you." He continued calmly.
I should've never given him flour.
I wanted my damn flour back.
I didn't give jerks flour.
"Well, there's not. I think I would know." I snapped, before turning on my heel and storming out of the classroom, ignoring Mr. Kim's calls.
-
Jimin caught up with me as I stormed past him after class, ignoring his questions as he scampered after me.
I was angry. Furious in fact. I was ready to rampage everything in my path.
How could someone be so apathetic to such a sensitive subject?
It might not mean anything to him, but it meant more than life to me.
"Let's go to the store."