"Min-Seo? Are you okay?"
Both women were sitting on a bench in front of the park where their children play.
"Sangwoo! Come play with me!" A girl yells from the top of the monkey bars.
"Your son seems to be the athlete." Min-Seo says ignoring the question. Seo-yun sighs and looks at her son. "Yea, he is. But, Jin seems to be the opposite." She glances over to Jin who was sitting alone under the playground where there was a kiddy table, painting on a little tiny canvas he has brought.
"He likes to paint huh." Asks Seo-Yun. Min-Seo nods, "he wouldn't stop asking for new tubes of paint when we go shopping. He takes his supplies everywhere."
They sit silently, observing their children play. Suddenly, they hear a cry come from the direction of Jin. Min-Seo sees one of the girls that Sangwoo was playing with squeezing Jin's tubes of paint onto the the canvas he was working on. Min-Seo quickly gets up and heads over to the scene with Seo-yun trailing.
"W-why did you do that!" Says Jin, tears coming from his eyes. "You can't paint here! This is the park!" Says the girl, who proceeds to throw the tube of paint on Jin. The paint splatters and lands on Jin's face and clothes. Min-Seo immediately takes a hold on the girls arm.
"That is not nice! Apologize or I will get your parents!"
The girl scoffs and shrugs Min-Seo off. "MOMMY, THIS LADY IS HURTING ME!!!" A lady that was sitting on the bench gets up and heads over to the commotion.
"Let go of my daughter!" The lady grabs a hold of Min-Seo. Seo-yun quickly reacts and pushes the lady away. "Get your hands off of her! Your daughter was bullying her son so obviously she was going to react. Maybe if you were a better parent your child would know better!" Seo-yun says infuriated.
The lady scoffs and grabs a hold of her daughter. "Come on Ji-Jae, let's go." They leave the park with the little girl screaming her lungs out.
Min-Seo lets out a heavy sigh and picks up her crying son. "Thank you, but I think we're just going to head home now." Seo-yuh nods and grabs Sangwoo, who was eyeing Jin as he is carried away from the park into the car.
"Mommy, why is he crying?" Sangwoo asks, confused that his friend left.
Seo-yum sighs and turns to face Sangwoo. "It's nothing for you to worry about. But remember," she crouches down to Sangwoo's level, "do not bully someone for what they love. Respect other as if they respect you. If they don't do something to you, then don't do something to them."
She kisses his forehead and takes his hand. "Let's go home."
______________
[Kim Jinsoo]
Sangwoo stands in front of me, his breath falling gently on my face. The distance between us is non-existence. He stares at me, emotionless yet subtle.
"Y-you meanie..."
His eyes widen. "Why am I a meanie?" I turn away, "A-are you lying to me just to mess with me?" He quickly grabs my hand. "I'm serious Jin. I like you." I look back up at his face a notice the determination in his eyes. I then look down at our hands and immediately flush.
He takes a moment in thought.
"I've known you for a long time you know." He says, drawing closer to my face which is redder than a tomato. "After I moved, I couldn't help but think about you." He sighs and stands up straight.
"I didn't recognize you at first, but when I went to your house that day," he chuckles, "I knew there was something about you I liked." He smiles takes a hold of my hand, gently swirling his thumb on the backside. "I was just going to ask, wether you remember me or not."
I stand, looking at his eyes as he gazes into mine.
"U-uh, I think I remember you...." I say, unsure of my answer. He laughs, "Think? I wouldn't be surprised if you forgot me. You never really payed attention to me much." He lets out another sigh and let's go fo my hand. "But, the things you have done for me will always be something worth remembering."
I blush and look away.
"Jin, I like you. I hope you see me the same way." He puts his hand on my cheek and massages it gently. "I want to date you, Jin." He asks. I, completely unaware of his statement, just stare blankly at him. "Uh, Jin?" He waves his hand in front of my face.
I regain posture and quickly apologize. "O-oh, um, what did you say again?"
He rolls his eyes, "I want date you."
I let that statement process through my mind. 'Now he wants to date me!?'
"Sorry, let me rephrase that. I want to take you out on a date." He says, correcting himself. I stop panicking, "a d-date? Where?"
He shrugs, "wherever. You can pick the place if you want." I shook my head. "I c-can't choose. What if you don't like the place a pick?"
"I don't care what you choose as long as I spend time with you." He says nonchalantly. "I don't want you to feel uncomfortable in an area that I chose."
I nod and face away. "I don't know...."
He sighs and walks back to his bed. "It's fine, you don't have to pick now. It's only whenever you're free." He puts away his controllers and heads towards the door. "Let's get something to eat." He opens the door and waits for me to walk through.
"T-thanks."
"No problem."
We both make our way to the kitchen where some maids were cleaning. "What do you want to eat? I usually call Ha-eun to get my food." Sangwoo says, taking a seat at the island. I sit across from him and shrug. "Not really that hungry."
He just nods and calls over a maid. "Ha-eun, can you tell Jae-ho to make me his Mac and cheese?"
"Yes Sangwoo, I'll be right back." The maid says nonchalantly. He thanks her as she heads into a room behind the main kitchen where chattering began. I turn my attention back to Sangwoo who was on his phone.
"You do this everyday?" I ask, fiddling with my sleeve. He nods. "Usually when I get hungry."
"Must be nice," I say, smiling. "Having someone to bring you five-star quality food to each every day."
Again, he shrugs. "I mean, it's nice I guess. But, you get over it really quick." I nod and go along. Suddenly, his phone starts to ring. He glances down and groans out loud before picking up.
"What is it?" He says, annoyed.
The mumbling was very direct and seemed to be harsh.
"What?!" He gets up quickly, making me flinch.
"Seriously? I have a friend over, cAnt you wait until tomorrow like we planned." He walks away and stands in the middle of the room.
"I am not going to d it today and you can't tell me otherwise, bye." He hangs up and lets out a groan. After he lets out another sigh, he makes his way back to the island.
"My dad said that they moved my photo shoot to today. It's almost five in the evening and they want me to go to downtown Seoul. I told them that you were here and they just told me to forget it." He rubs his face, "why do I have to look like this?"
I reach for his arm and pat it. "That's no way to think about it." He looks up.
"It's fine if you need to go. We could always hangout a different day." I feel the heat rise to my cheeks. "Plus, we have a date...."
He smiles, "yea, you're right." He sits up straight and stretches his back. "I still want to hang out with you now though."
I nodded along. "But, sometimes life just gets in the way." The maid opens the door to reveal a decorated plate of pasta. It was obviously Mac and cheese, but it was more complex in aesthetics compared to regular boxed meals.
"Thank you Ha-eun," He is handed a fork and began to eat.
I sat there awkwardly watching him eat. "I can ask Ha-eun if you could have some too you know." He says, taking a bite out of the dish.
"I'm fine, thank you." I said. The food did look good, but I wasn't in the mood to eat it. "Can I go back to your room to get some paint supplies. The project is due soon and we should probably start," I suggest.
He nods. "Go down the hallway and up the flight of stairs. Once you see that pedestal with a vase, turn left. My room should be the door right next to the corner."
"Okay, thanks." I get up and make my way with the given directions. Then, I got lost. "He said up the flight of stairs and turn left right? Maybe I was supposed to look for something..."
I made my way to the right hallway, examining any signs of Sangwoo's room. All the doors looked the same.
As I walk, a heard chatting coming from a room further down the hallway. I made my way to the source of the noise until I stopped at an open door. Inside was a couple of boys who were sitting on a bed chatting. They all wore butler outfits and seemed to be relaxing.
One of the boys noticed me and notified the other boys.
"Hey, What are you doing here?" Questioned one of the boys. "I was on my way to Sangwoo's room but I got lost." I say embarrassed. They laugh and one of the boys gets off the bed. "You're friends with Sangwoo?" He asks.
I nod, "uhn."
"I'll take you there cutie." The boys behind of start to make whistle noises as the boy in front of me smirks.
I blush. "O-oh, thank you!" The boy stood taller than me and extends his hand. "Let's go." His hand stayed in the air as if it was expecting something. "You're supposed to hold my hand." He says, chuckling.
"O-oh, sorry. I-I don't think I'm comfortable with that." I say honestly. He pouts, "that's too bad."
The boy goes down the hallway with me tailing behind. Like a lost dog, he makes turns and twists until we see Sangwoo running down the hallways. He spotted me and ran up to both the butler and I.
"There you are! I didn't see you in the room and couldn't find you anywhere else." He glances up from my face to see the butler.
"Chang-ho? What are you doing with Jin?" He says, slightly disturbed. The butler Chang-ho explained to Sangwoo about me getting lost.
"Well, thanks. But, we have business to do, so you can just go along with your friends." Sangwoo takes my wrist and pulls me closer to him. He doesn't say another word and we leave to him bedroom.
Once we made it to the door, he let me in and closed it harshly as soon as he entered.
"If you got lost you should've just called for me." He said, crossing his arms. I apologized, "I didn't want to disturb you while eating."
"I don't mind, I'll find you and lead you to my room. Food can wait." He walks past me and goes over to my bag, pulling out the art supplies. "Plus, I don't want you near Chang-ho." He turns to face me.
"You said you wanted to get started didn't you?"
I nodded and headed across the room to him. While walking, I glanced at the time and realized that it was getting fairly late. "Hey Sangwoo, I'm going to call my mom real quick. To check up on her, Okay?"
He nods and continues to unpack the supplies as I head outside the door the call.
I dial my mom number and wait for the ringer to go. The ring just kept on going without a reply. I called again after the call went to voicemail. Again, it went back to voicemail.
I started to feel uneasy and worried for my mom. 'Why isn't she answering?' I called again, but still didn't get an answer. I needed to get home, now.
I put the phone away and opened to door to see Sangwoo sitting on his bed waiting for me. "Hey I was wondering if yo-"
"Sangwoo can you take me home please." I say quickly, interrupting him, he raises a brow. "Why?" He gets up and walks across the room to me. "Did something happen?"
I shook my head. "My mom isn't answering the phone. I don't think she's doing well. Can you please take me home?"
"Whoa, wait a minute. She may just be in the shower." He says, trying calm me down. "Sangwoo you don't understand," I let out a sigh, "my mom is sick, please take me home."
His face grimaces. "Are you sure it isn't that your mom is busy?"
I nodded. "Please understand Sangwoo. I need to know if my moms okay."
He lets out a very agitated sigh. "Okay, I'll take you home. But, you have to tell me a location for our date soon." I nodded and grabbed my backpack.
"I'll leave my supplies here for you to think over the weekend." I say, rushing out the door and heading towards the front door. Sangwoo tailed behind me telling me which directions to go.
Once we made it back to the first floor, Sangwoo called a butler to get a car ready for us. That is when Seo-yun showed up.
"Hey Jin, What are you doing here so late?" She asks, getting closer to us.
"A-actually, I'm just about to leave." I says, slipping on my shoes. She frowns, "already? I would love to taste your cooking for a little bit." She teases.
I blush and thank her. "Um, my mom isn't answering the phone. I want to get home quick before anything bad happens."
Seo-yun's face paled,
"How...is...your mom?" She asks slowly. I shrug. "She's doing alright I guess," I finished tying my shoes. "Let's head out, thank you for having me Seo-yun." I bow and walk out of the door.
Sangwoo followed me to the car.
We both hop in and out on our seatbelts.
But, as the car started,
I couldn't help but wonder wether my mom would be okay.
I know that she is at a bad state of mind right now, but I want to do everything I can to make her happy.
The car starts to drive out of the driveway and towards the Main Street towards my home. The ride was silent with the exception of the rough noise of the tires on the road.
'I hope you're okay mom,' I pray.
__________
A-n
Sorry guys for the late Update!! Last week was spring break and I took a little break from writing for a bit. I will try to keep publishing just a little more. I want thinking of writing about 10 more chapter to speed up and end the story.
I'll try to make my chapters longer and more enjoyable because this one seems to be a little bit long and unorganized. Please be patient with me and I hope you guys are doing well!
-b.b