I AM SOFT
(AT MY NEW HOMESCREEN)
(ABOVE)
Chapter Seven: Laundry
I awoke slowly, the first to do so. I could feel that it was relatively early, as my eyes fluttered and my arms trembled as I stretched the fatigue from them. I'd slept well, and still rose early even though we'd all been up so late. There were a few soft snores coming from elsewhere in the mountain of blankets and bodies. I rolled to my other side, eyes closed, snuggling down to sleep for a bit longer. Getting up and having to wait for everyone else to wake was dreadfully boring.
My cat had other plans for me, though. Mandu trotted over and promptly sat right in front of my face, demanding breakfast. I was kind of hungry too, so I batted him away, hearing someone sneeze very close to me.
"Ah, Mandu! I don't want your butt in my face." The deep grumble, thick with sleep, made my eyes snap open. I looked to my other side where Yun-ji was still snoozing peacefully. On my other side should have been Yeon-il, except...
Except, Yeon-il's voice was not like that.
Mandu finally decided to clear off and stop getting in my face, and I consequently stifled a gasp and carefully stood, getting up from the futon. There was no way I could lay there any longer. Not with Oppa's face that close to mine.
Luckily, he seemed to have easily fallen back asleep. I went upstairs to quickly shower and dress in suitable clothes, then to the kitchen to get some water. As I was opening the cupboard door, there was a scraping noise of one of the breakfast bar's stools being pulled out for someone to sit on.
"Looks like I slept between two teenage girls last night..." Oppa looked awkward, and I turned my back on him so I wouldn't give myself away. "I don't think they noticed so it's not awkward at least, but it's a little inappropriate."
"How should I have known where you'd end up?" I said defensively, trying to control my voice. "I couldn't exactly see anything, I didn't put you there on purpose."
I was convincing myself at the same time, I felt. I had wanted him to sleep on the boys' side, in truth... but hadn't really paid attention to where I ushered him to.
Finishing making my drink, I turned back to face him again, using the cup as something of a shield. I couldn't meet his eyes. He stared at me, long legs crossed, something unreadable on his face. He sighed, and rolled his neck, stretching. "Ah, well. Doesn't matter."
He stood up, and I chewed on my lip. He'd probably feel better if he knew he'd been next to me. "Oppa..." he looked at me curiously, humming, and I shook my head. Too embarrassing. "Nothing. I'm tired."
He frowned, annoyed, and even more curious than before. "Why do you do this to me?"
I grinned. "It's funny."
Standing up, he huffed, "This is bullying. Such a lack of respect toward the person that cooks for you,cleans up your mess, even does your laundry-"
"Ya!" I slapped his arm, eyes flared wide, "Stop it, that's embarrassing!"
Now it was his turn to laugh, enjoying my discomfort, "What? That I was your dirty clothes?" He wiggled his eyebrows. I punched him, face red, but he continued to laugh, eventually grabbing my wrists and holding me at arm's length. I glared at him as fiercely as I could. That annoying windshield wiper laugh continued.
I'd never thought about that before. If he washed my clothes, didn't that mean that he... had seen my underwear? "What kind of man are you?" I spat out angrily, "So immodest!"
"You're one to talk, some of the things you wear-" he jibed back, quickly- and evidently, without thinking, from the way he slapped his hand over his mouth, staring at me. A moment's silence passed as I processed what he'd said, slowly, cogs turning in my mind. Then, my face became redder than before.
"I'll do my own washing from now on!" I squeaked, fleeing the situation, diving into the futon pile where my friends still slept. How embarrassing...
As with most awkward situations, it was better to just forget it happened. So, although I mostly wanted to curl up and die, I pushed it away, trying to act like it had never occurred. One by one, my friends woke up, and it became a lot easier to forget about it. Eventually only Taehyung and Jimin were left, and they both awoke at around the same time. Jimin was normally a late sleeper, but was rudely awoken courtesy of Tae's foot planting in his face (somehow the coconut head had flipped around in the night). Tae then received a firm kick in the thigh in return.
We all only grazed on random snacks for breakfast, the others remaining in their PJs- except for Taehyung, who had also stripped down to his boxers while sleeping- while we all curled up in our communal futon to watch TV. Nudey-Tae (he'd earned the nickname thanks to his nighttime stripping) had stretched out over mine and Jimin's laps to reach for some snacks and wound up finding it so comfortable that he stayed there. Yeon-il had claimed one of the sofas, lolling out across it, and Yun-ji sat on the other, Hyunseo next to her. They seemed to get on pretty well.
Jin was doing something up in his bedroom, every now and again coming downstairs to do something in the kitchen and then return upstairs. I figured he had somewhere to be later since he was wearing more professional looking clothes- scratch that, a suit- but he hadn't said anything about it before. Perhaps he had meant to earlier...
I shook my head, as if I could shake away the embarrassment, and tuned back into the show. Taehyung was messing with Jimin's hair, now, their bromance cute as ever. They'd been friends since they were very young.
I poked Tae in the stomach, and he jumped, looking at me in confusion. I just shrugged, unable to give an explanation because I just did it because I felt like it. His arms stretched up in the air for a second- receiving a complaint from Jimin because he couldn't se the TV- and then dropped down to poke me in return.
We exchanged pokes while watching the television for a while, Jimin joining in after a time, until I shoved the coconut head's body off of me so I could stand up to go pee. Once finished in the upstairs bathroom, I crossed the hall to knock on my Oppa's door.
"Come in!" I pushed the door open to see Jin looking very formal, and rose my eyebrows.
"You got some kind of business meeting?" I asked, somewhat mocking. He didn't respond, though, instead looking down at himself and fidgeting with his tie. "Oppa?"
"Is it too much? Eomma said dress formal..." he mumbled the last part, and I folded my arms, leaning against the doorframe.
"So you do have something going on." I said, looking him up and down. He was in a simple button up and black jeans, with a black leather belt and a tie. All were things I'd seen before, and weren't uncommon in his outfit repertoire, but he'd styled his hair. He never did that. It was combed and waxed to be off his forehead, which he only ever did when he had something to do that he was nervous about. "It's not too much, you look fine. What's the occasion?"
"I don't know. Eomma just said smart-casual, and wouldn't give me any more information than that." His hand went to run through his hair, then stopped, evidently remembering he'd styled it. "She was being really weird. If it was for Abeuji she would have told me..."
"You'd also be in a suit." I pointed out, hand his head snapped up to look at me, troubled.
"You think I should wear a suit?" He looked stressed enough that if I said yes he would no doubt strip off and change into one then and there. I shook my head quickly.
"That would be too much. And you'd probably die in this heat." I was fine because of the air con, but I could see the mid morning sun besting down on the concrete from the window. "You look fine as you are. Very handsome."
He managed a smile at that. "Thanks, Ju-eunnie." I smiled back, and he turned to his mirror, fidgeting with his tie once more. "I don't get why she wouldn't tell me what's happening... I hate surprises..."
"You never know! It might be fun. Don't be so negative." I said, and he grabbed his wallet and keys from the bedside table, grimacing as he cast a glance outside.
"I'm going to die in this." I laughed.
"Just dive into your car and quickly get the aircon on. You'll be fine." He gave a slight smile, moving past me to leave the room. As he pulled the door closed, he stopped, expression becoming awkward.
"Er, Ju-eun, about earlier..." realisation dawned on me, and I coloured.
"It's fine. Let's just forget about it." He seemed greatly uncomfortable, face also kind of red.
"Ah.. okay. Just.." he looked away, "I wanted to say... I didn't look." He placed a hand on the back of his neck as my gaze snapped to his, "W-well. No more than necessary." His already quiet voice dropped to a somewhat defensive mumble. "I'm not a pervert."
His face was so uncomfortable that I couldn't help but laugh. He looked stricken at my sudden outburst of giggles, but it was so ridiculous that I couldn't help it. Why was I being like this? It was Jin. He was like family. What did it matter if he saw my dirty clothes? "Seriously, don't worry about it. I don't care anymore."
He was visibly relieved at that. The resolution of the elephant in the room helped make me more comfortable, too. "Good. I don't want things to become awkward with us..."
I grinned. "Me neither." He ruffled my hair, and happiness bloomed in my chest. He glanced at his watch, and sighed, becoming dejected.
"I'm going to be late. As much as I'd rather spend the day lazing around with you guys..." I rolled my eyes, smiling.
"Got it. Get going." He just grinned, running down the stairs. "Good luck!"
He laughed, sounding somewhat sarcastic. "Thanks."
I heard the chorus of my friends wishing him goodbye, and then the door closing, as I also made my way downstairs.
All of my friends' faces were turned towards me, like a bunch of meerkats. I froze at the bottom of the steps. Creepy.
"...what?" Yun-ji had another giant, evil grin on her face.
"Car Door Guy is hot." She said, resting her chin on her knuckles as she leaned over the back of the couch she sat on, looking at me. "How do you not just... jump him?"
"Wh- because! It's not like that!" I spluttered, reddening more, escaping to the kitchen. My friends all followed me like a procession. "Stop saying weird things!"
"Seokjin-oppa~" Jimin wheedled, mocking, and I glared at him. If it was possible to headbutt two people at once, I would have.
As usual, Taehyung was my solace. "He seemed nice. My babysitter when I was a kid was horrible. This grumpy old lady that used to get all mad when I didn't eat all my vegetables."
I quickly moved to hide near him, glaring at the others. "Taehyungie, you're my favourite." He grinned, flinging an arm around my shoulders. "The others are mean."
"Alls I'm saying," Yeon-il cut in, hands on her hips, "Is that if he was my babysitter, I'd be constantly accidentally-on-purpose walking in on him in the bathroom."
"That's because you're a creep." Hyunseo said, deadpan, yelping at the punch he received.
"Just! Stop!" I exclaimed, distressed, "I don't want an awkward relationship with Jin-oppa, he's very important to me, okay?" I crossed my arms over my chest, leaning my head on Tae's shoulder to hide my face. "And he definitely doesn't see me like that, anyway."
They all fell silent. "Ah."
I looked up, and Yun-ji was suddenly in front of my face, making me jump. She looked sympathetic as she patted me on my shoulder, "I didn't realise it was like that. Sorry for bringing it up."
I reared back in shock. "Like what?!" My face coloured as she just shook her head, Yeon-il joining her in forcing misdirected pity on me. "Like whaaatt?!?!" I exclaimed, hoarsely, "Stop looking so sympathetic! I don't see him that way, either!"
Yeon-il just sighed, patting my other shoulder. I moved further behind Tae, who just looked vaguely amused. "Stop giving me such pitying looks! I'm telling the truth!" I gently headbutted the boy that was serving as somewhat useless protection. "Tae~~! They're being mean!"
"Come on. Let's go watch TV." Hyunseo cut in, seeming entertained by it all, but also pitying my situation enough to help me out. I ran over to him, eager to escape my insistently sympathetic friends.
"Yes! There is a Ghibli film on around now!" I exclaimed, hoping to distract everyone. "We can eat the leftover pizza and cake. Ah, and there's ice cream!"
He laughed. "I'm all for leftover pizza."
The afternoon passed lazily, all of us gorging on cold pizza, cake and ice cream. I commandeered the caramel ice cream, interrupted in my feast only by Taehyung deciding to dip his pizza in it, having been dared to by Jimin. The others were laughing and yelling and calling him gross. I just spooned up the glob of ice cream that had pizza crumbs in it and force-fed it to Jimin by sitting on his back(he was laying in his front at the time) and pinching his ear until he gave in. If his face was any indication, it was gross.
One by one, my friends gradually began to leave, either having other things to do or simply expected home. By the time evening arrived, I was alone in the house, watching Princess Mononoke and laying across all of the pushed together futons at once. After having all of those people in the house, it felt very empty and lonely with just me. I couldn't help but winder what time Oppa would be back. If he was coming back here. He hadn't actually said. Ordinarily he would be off today, since it was the weekend, but he wasn't supposed to be here yesterday either, and he was...
Sighing, I switched the TV off at the end of the movie, deciding to have a proper look at the gifts I'd received from my friends. I'd gotten given some clothes, so I thought now was as good a time as any to try them on for size. I was in a pastel pink t-shirt dress when I heard the car pull up, and jumped down the stairs two at a time to see who it was, hanging off the bottom step.
Seokjin let himself into the apartment and fell, face first, onto the couch. This was unlike him, he was usually... not businesslike exactly, but not as casual as this. He did not remove his face from the cushions. I wondered if he could breathe.
"Ya, Oh Ju-eun. Your oppa is clearly depressed and you just stare like this? What good are you?" He grumbled into the couch, nagging as always. I crossed the room to kneel by the couch where his head was, and he turned to look as me. I poked his nose.
"That's an ugly face, Seokjin-oppa." He scowled at me, "Wah, it got uglier!" I grinned, pulling his cheek. "Oppa is most handsome when he smiles. What's the matter?"
"My mom..." he groaned, "I know I'm getting older but how can she treat me like this? Her son?"
Ah. I understood pretty quickly. Jin's mother was pretty... involved in her son's life. She was a pretty pushy person, and constantly worried about him- basically she was Jin, if Jin was an older woman.
"Adeul, why aren't you married yet? Adeul, all of eomma's friends have grandkids already! Adeul, Kang-ssi's daughter is very pretty, and has wide hips!" Jin even spread his arms wide at that, no doubt imitating his mother. He rolled to sit upright, looking annoyed, "Kang-ssi's daughter can have hips as wide as Nam river and I still wouldn't be attracted to her, she has a face like a horse and a personality to match!"
I smacked his arm, lightly. "Don't be rude to Kang-ssi's daughter, I'm sure she's very lovely... when in the stables."
I snickered, and he levelled his gaze on me, "How can you find this funny?! I'm obviously tormented!"
I rolled my eyes. "Your mother has been saying these things for years now, Jin-oppa. It's not anything new. And anyways, she would never force her precious son into anything, she behaves like you are god's gift to mankind."
"She's forcing me to go to a marriage meeting." He exhaled heavily, throwing himself back into the cushions. "Is this my reward for being a hardworking son? Graduating from my Bachelor's degree top of my class? Even though I was working, too?"
I patted his head. He smelled nice. "Oppa... I'm sure it won't be that bad. You'll probably like this girl a lot!" He just groaned wordlessly. "Oppa..." my stomach growled, and I put on my best simpering tone, complete with puppydog eyes, "Seokjinnie~"
Zing.
"Aaaish-! You really can't do anything without me, can you?" He complained... but he stood, and made his way into the kitchen. "How are you a girl with such a loud stomach?"
I pouted, having followed him into the tiled room. "I do a lot of exercise! My metabolism is high."
He rolled his eyes, but smiled, looking less distressed than before. "What happened to the pizza?"
"Taehyungie eats a lot." I said, and he smiled.
"He seemed like a good boy. I liked him." Jin said, sounding like such a.. dad. "Your other friends, too. I'm glad you have good people around you."
I watched him moving around the kitchen, yanking off his tie, expression softening. I exhaled, lightly. "...yeah. The best."
- - -
Oh man it's so hot. I'm dying. It's supposed to storm tomorrow but idk. It'll still be hot so like wtf good does rain do then
Also idk if no one's reading bc it's still kinda short or what ㅠㅠ I've seen books shorter than this w thousands of reads, though? Hhh I can feel myself getting too hung up in numbers. Stop it, me.
I'm gonna try get another chapter out while still motivated. Been pretty productive today! It's weird. Anyway! If you enjoyed this chapter please leave a comment or smth. It's much appreciated!
사랑해 and STAN KIM SEOKJIN