THANK YOU FOR THE 2K HERE'S YOUR GIFT!!
—❦—
A few days right after new year and I'm back with the busy schedule and fast paced life. Seulgi decided to be an ass again, when she left me alone in the office.
The both of us has to interview a certain film producer for the next article. And Seulgi decided to ditch me in our office. She had a car, and of course she didn't offer me a ride. I had to take the bus.
Walking away from the lobby with my notebook ready, I headed towards the nearest bus stop. I was mindlessly walking, complaining to myself and internally cursing Seulgi for leaving me. When we finish this job I'll surely give her a piece of my mind.
It was a rare, quiet and peaceful day for Seoul. The streets are empty, almost no car in sight. Even the sidewalks are empty of people. A lot of stores are still closed since it's still holiday season, but some chose to open and offer a discount.
I sighed. Like those stores, I get no holiday.
The sound of tires screeching woke me up from my daydream and I come face to face with a black car, only an inch away from hitting me.
I backed away hurriedly, almost tripping along the way. Instantly I bowed my head down, apologizing.
"Byul! What is wrong with you?!"
Huh? How did he know my name?
I lift my head, seeing a pair of beautiful eyes, a defined nose and tick, full lips.
"Jin?"
"I could've hit you!" He shouted, his arms flailing around the car.
"I'm sorry?"
He massaged the space between his eyebrows to ease the tension. He then gripped the steering wheel, a frown still on his face. "Be careful."
He rolled the windows up, focusing back to the streets.
"Wait Jin!" My hands flew to the rolling window, trying to pry it down.
"What now?!"
"I need a ride."
Thankfully Jin was nice that day. Ignoring my previous near death experience, he let me in and gave me a ride. We've been quite civil these past few days and had been texting each other since then. The conversations consisting of mostly work and more work. Me and Jin wasn't the closest to begin with, and trying to talk to him—or sneak into his past, proved to be a harder task.
"What were you doing? On the streets?" Jin asked, his eyes still focused on the street before him.
"Walking."
"No shit. I could see you moving on your two legs." He grumpily replied. "What were you thinking anyway?"
"Nothing."
"Byul!"
"Yes mom." I rolled my eyes. "Stop scolding me. I didn't get in to be scolded."
We reached the heart of the city, where traffic is usually the worst. You could spend hours here and still not move an inch. Today, as expected, the traffic is still present, just not as much.
Jin's car came to a stop when we entered the traffic. He released his grip on the steering wheel and glared at me. "You got in. In my car. I get to do whatever I want or you get out."
"You almost hit me." I glared back "Consider this a payback."
"Because you were in the middle of the road!" A hand was raised to point ahead—to the road. The truck in front of us started moving forward slowly, and Jin followed.
"I wasn't!" I sat back at my chair, crossing my arms "It was at the edge! The edge-middle! You weren't supposed to hit me!"
The truck speed up, the traffic getting thinner. Jin followed closely behind, one hand on the steering wheel and the other demonstrating his frustration.
"And I didn't! I ALMOST did!
The truck slowed down, so did Jin.
"What were you thinking until you ALMOST hit me?!"
Jin glanced sideways at me, his eyes burning with anger and frustration. The truck stopped. "That is none of your business!"
"Jin STOP!"
He abruptly hit the brakes. My body lurched forward, hitting the dashboard. Jin's body was glued to the steering wheel, his eyes wide with panic. Both of his hands were gripping the steering wheel so tight they trembled. His chest heaved up and down, breath heavy. All the anger had dispersed, leaving him with panic and surprise.
"I—"
The car was a mere inch from the truck. We nearly crashed.
Jin's eyes became unstable, sweat forming in his forehead. The grip on the steering wheel did not flatter, his knuckles white from the pressure. He started trembling and mumbling incoherent words, stuttering every word.
"Jin, you okay?" I asked softly, afraid if he'd suddenly burst.
He nodded, actually conscious that he's driving. The truck moved again and Jin followed, slowly. His eyes never left the road since then.
The rest of the journey was silent—save for the music and Jin's ragged breathing. We didn't talk at all. No fighting, no arguing, no nothing. Just absolute silence. A silence that wished to be broken. A silence that wasn't meant to be a silence. A silence... an awkward silence filled with tension and worry. And also curiosity.
There are currently three situations Jin would start panicking. One, marriage. Two, girlfriend. Three, cars? Or trucks? Or driving? These three things must have a correlation with each other. Marriage and girlfriend, he was going to propose to her before she died. That's a logical trigger but just now? What? Driving causes his anxiety?
That's kind of weird because he drives everyday.
"We're here." Jin's voice sliced through my thoughts, sending me back to reality.
I stared at him once again, making sure he would concentrate and focus on the road. "Thank you, Jin. And be careful."
He only nodded, not replying with words. His hands were white on the steering wheel and he was still stiff. But, he's sane and calm and focused on the road—he brought me here safely. So I exited the car and entered the building.
—❦—
Daegu was not a place I thought I'd visit in the middle of spring, especially with my busy schedule. But sometimes, the busy schedule gives me leisure me time and holidays I can't get anywhere else. For example, today. A trip to Daegu—to write, obviously.
Taehyung was leading and showing me around Palgongsan National Park, a beautiful space filled with flowers and nature. There wasn't really much to show, as most of the space was filled with flowers and grass but it's always better to have a friend by my side.
Taehyung and I had never been the closest, but he was always one of the easiest to talk to. After graduating from university he had moved back to Daegu to work as a choreographer, and since then we haven't talked as much. Only during our yearly reunions did we manage to catch up with each other.
"How's Wheein?" I asked him. The pregnant woman claimed to be unable to accompany me to the national park and had asked—or forced Taehyung to go with me even when he insisted taking care for her. She also forced me to accept Taehyung's attendance in place of her.
"She's great." Taehyung plastered a huge smile on his face at the mention of his wife. "A little angry at times but mostly she's fine."
"How many months is she?" I asked, not forgetting her pregnancy "Is it a boy or a girl?"
"She's... uh..." Taehyung thought for a while, his face a mixture of busted and confusion. He decides to just position his hand a few centimeters in front of his stomach. "about this big." He paused again, thinking of his own child "I think it's a boy. Or a girl. God, I don't know."
I laughed while he was massaging his forehead. Taehyung frowned and stopped smiling after that. "She's just been so angry lately, I forgot about everything." He said "All I remember is: do not make Wheein mad."
He turned to me, a small smile coming back to his face. "How are you doing?" A smirk made its way to his face "Any guys you're close with?"
"If you consider Jin a guy, then yeah I am close with someone." I answered, assuming nothing as I said that.
How wrong I am.
"Oohh." Taehyung teased, the smirk getting wider "Do explain."
I frowned, feeling suspicious of his actions but answered anyway. "We've been texting each other since the reunion—mostly useless texts though."
"No texts are useless, Byul. What did you guys talk about?"
"Work, and work." I answered "Nothing else. Why are you smirking like that?"
"Am I?" He frowned and pretend to think "Oh maybe I am. Are you sure you don't just like him?"
"Who? Jin? No!" I scrunched my face in disgust. Like Jin? No way!
"I've known him for nearly 7 years why would I like him now?" I pointed out.
"Maybe... Just maybe... Because he's handsome and cool? And you've been texting each other!"
"Why would I like him because he's handsome? That's the lamest reason I've ever heard." I rolled my eyes "And I've been texting Yongsun a lot! I don't see you asking me if I like Yongsun?"
"Yongsun's a girl! There is no way!"
"Well, you never know."
His eyes darted around, thinking and processing what I just said. "Okay, you have a point. But Yongsun's got a boyfriend, so scratch her too."
"Jin also had a girlfriend."
"Yeah, but she's not around anymore," Taehyung grinned again "Do you not just like him?"
—❦—
does she not just like him? take a guess!
philophobia made it to 2K!! YAY!! thank you sooo much for all the reads, comments, votes, just basically anything.
as promised, here's the jinbyul interaction. more coming in the next chapters!
till next wednesday
-w.