Chapter Ten: Jeongyeon's Old Friend
It was Wednesday evening and Jimin was lying in his bed.
Wednesday was the only day where Jimin wasn't working or practising ballet late into the night and those days, he always resided at Jeongguk's house. He found it to be calmer than his own and he wanted to spend his free-time with Jeongguk. Jeongyeon and his mother were downstairs, cooking something up for a movie night.
They were each in their own corner of the bed, Jimin lying flat on his stomach, his knees bent, his feet in the air and with a pillow under his chest. He was holding his phone. Jeongguk, sitting up by the window, observed Jimin as he texted his new friend.
He had been glued to his phone a lot recently, due to the simple fact that he had exchanged phone numbers with the one and only after their shift on Monday. After Taehyung had left, Monday evening, Jeongguk had opened his phone to countless of messages from Jimin entailing how Yoongi had asked for his number–OMG Guk, I'm literally dying–wanting to send him a cute video of a cat (something which Jeongguk found to be very interesting) and from there hadn't been able to stop texting.
Jeongguk poked his friend in the back with his foot. "Give me attention," he said.
Jimin shook his head. "Nope."
Jeongguk poked him again. Jimin just shrugged.
"Are you going to be one of those people who ditch their friends when they get boyfriends?" he said.
"You know it."
Jeongguk pouted. "So, I'll be all alone."
"You can be with Nari."
Jeongguk grabbed a pillow and banged it on Jimin's head, causing the other to groan slightly. He put his phone in his pocket and turned around, folding his arms under his head. "Fine, what do you want?"
What he wanted to do was tell him about his plan, the plan he had made with Taehyung, he wanted to ramble on about it, talk about everything that had lead up to it, talk about their chat in the swimming-hall, the party, his and Mina's fight, the Sunday brunch and how mad he had felt, the Monday brunch and how happy he had felt, but at the same time, he didn't want to. He wanted to keep this little plan to himself, he wasn't sure Jimin would understand anyway.
"How are things with the cat?" he said.
Jimin smiled at the nickname. "I don't know," he said. "There's definitely something there, but I'm not sure if I'm just reading into things, if I'm the only one who's interested–I mean, maybe he's just being nice, friendly."
"Nah," Jeongguk said. "I think there's something there."
Jimin bit his lip. "Yeah," he said. "But you can't just think so. You have to be sure. It's not the same when it's a boy, you can't just take a leap of faith. It might not end well ..." Jimin trailed off.
Jeongguk nodded. "Yeah, I get it." He sometimes forgot how hard it was for Jimin to find love, it made him feel embarrassed for complaining about his own struggles, worrying whether he might ever find someone–at least he didn't have to worry about others being bothered by his choice for love.
Jimin shrugged. "I mean, he's a better barista than Chaeyoung, so that's something I guess." He smiled to himself.
At that moment, they heard a call for the kitchen, more specifically Jeongyeon yelling–boyyyyyyyyyyys–from the top of her lungs, telling them to come downstairs. The two of them crawled out of the bed and headed out of the bedroom. When they were going down the stairs, Jimin's phone vibrated in his pocket.
He picked it up and looked at it. "Uhh ... you know what, forget what I just said."
Jeongguk looked at him. "Why?"
He smirked. "Because I just got asked out on a date."
"He asked you out?"
"Well, he asked me if we could hang out sometime outside of work. And not at a café, he specifically said. There's even a heart."
"Ooh, flirtatious."
"It is, isn't it?" Jimin did a little skip in his step. "Thank you, Mina!"
Jeongguk frowned. "Why Mina?"
"Because," Jimin said, a soft smile on his lips, "without her party, this wouldn't be happening."
***
Jeongguk and Jimin ended up deciding what they should watch with the family. They browsed Netflix for a while until they found a newly released k-drama which looked interesting, about a young internationally famous actor who moved back into the countryside where he grew up to find things very different from when he left. The cover was a beautiful view of the Korean countryside, forests and a lake in the distance; a woman and man standing with their back to the audience, watching the view.
They clicked on it, making sure to pause right away, as they needed to wait for the mother and daughter to show up with the snacks. A moment later, Jeongyeon came in, holding a big bowl of popcorn and plopped herself down next to Jeongguk, giving him a soft punch on the arm, meaning, move jackass. She settled herself and looked at them.
"So, what are we watching?"
"It's called From Riches to Rags," Jimin said.
"It's new," Jeongguk said.
Jeongyeon nodded.
If Jeongguk had known what would appear instead of the now black screen, he would have picked a different drama to watch with Jeongyeon.
His sister grabbed a handful of popcorn and popped one in her mouth. "So, what have you been up to?"
"What? Just in general?" Jeongguk said. It wasn't exactly like Jeongyeon had ever shown a real interest in his life. She knew enough, she often said, and she did, she was very good at finding out things from others.
She shrugged. "Sure."
Jeongguk didn't really know what to say. There had been a lot going on, but nothing he could exactly tell Jeongyeon. Oh yes, I've been plotting the destruction of your marriage with your fiancé's brother. It didn't seem like something which would go down well.
Jimin came to his rescue. "I've mostly been practising. The show is coming up in a few weeks."
His ballet show.
"And what will it be this time?" Jeongyeon asked. Jeongguk was a little surprised, she hadn't been sarcastic (or mean) this entire conversation.
"Romeo and Juliet."
"Are the tickets out yet?"
"No, they're released on Saturday."
Jeongguk eyed his sister. "Since when are you interested in ballet?"
"Since it's Romeo and Juliet. Joon loves it."
At that moment, his mother came into the living room and sat down in her usual chair. She had a cup of turmeric-latte and a plate of graham crackers. Jeongguk smiled to himself, as his mother observed the three of them, not saying anything. She was wearing her glasses and had another pair hanging around her neck, which she now changed, to be able to watch the movie.
Jeongguk picked up the remote and clicked play. The screen was dark for a moment and a melancholic piano melody started playing. Then, a face appeared on screen, a face, close up to the screen, it was a man–he was crying–and Jeongguk knew him. It took him a moment to recognise the tall and gorgeous brunette who had been like an older brother to him many years ago, but when he did, his eyes widened and he looked over at his sister to see that she too had recognised her old friend and she was, as Jeongguk had suspected, not happy about the surprise.
She stood up. "Right, okay," she said, in a matter-of-fact sort of way. "Have fun, but I'm out."
Jeongguk clicked pause. "We can watch something else," he said, although he didn't really want to. He was so intrigued by the premise of the drama.
She shrugged, "It's fine, really. I'll just go paint or something."
She left the room and Jeongguk glanced at his mother. She didn't seem to know any better than he did. She decided to follow her daughter out of the room but urged the boys to keep watching, it would just be a boys night tonight, she said, she needed to make sure Jeongyeon was feeling okay.
Jeongguk was sure she was fine, angry maybe, if that, but anger wasn't a delicate emotion, it didn't need consoling.
He had almost forgotten Jimin was in the room with them when he said, "What was that all about?"
Jeongguk pointed to the screen. "You don't recognise him?"
Jimin looked at him more closely. "Wait ... is that Kim Seokjin?" he said, peering his eyes.
Jeongguk nodded, he understood why it had taken Jimin a while to recognise him, even he, Jeongguk, who had grown very used to Jeongyeon's old friend had for a moment thought he was a complete stranger.
They continued watching the movie and the crying man resumed crying–or well, as the camera panned out, it was revealed that he wasn't crying at all, but was in the shower, it was trippy to the eye as it happened so smoothly, one could barely even notice the change until suddenly, there he was, not crying, but standing with a pained look on his face, the water falling all over his face. Once again, Jeongguk felt the unfamiliarity, Seokjin didn't feel like the Jin he had known, he didn't feel the warmth from him from the screen, he felt disconnected, like he was, well, a stranger. And perhaps he was, a bit of a stranger, he hadn't seen him for four years, perhaps even more, who knew how much he had changed–but the Seokjin he remembered was nothing like the man on the screen, he was too serious, too sad.
Of course, Jeongguk knew he was acting, but he could still remember the times when he would walk down the stairs and hear the living-room erupt into loud laughter, the most evident one being that of Seokjin, his loud and slightly annoying laughter echoing through the entire house, sounding as if he had the hiccups.
"I'd honestly forgotten he even existed," Jimin said and Jeongguk, again, completely agreed. He felt as he watched the man on the screen, in pure agony, how much of a soft spot he still had for this over-the-top, confident and goofy individual who had been in his life for so long, yet who had disappeared from it so quickly.
He didn't exactly know what had happened between him and his sister, but he was reminded of the photo-album, the photograph of the two of them, standing on the pathway leading up to the house, about nine years old, standing side by side, holding hands, their bright faces staring up into the camera.
What could have happened to ruin such a pure friendship?
The two friends watched in silence and once, Jeongguk stole a look at Jimin, thinking how odd, how empty his life would be without his companion. It saddened him, the thought of his sister's friendship with the actor on screen crumbling into nothing, as he remembered how strong it had been, how good, and he wondered if it could happen to them, was it possible, that if something went wrong, it would happen to him too?
Jeongyeon didn't talk about Seokjin ever, so Jeongguk didn't know what had happened, he only knew that when his name was brought up, she would roll her eyes; the very thought of him pissed her off.
He couldn't imagine the look on her face if he one day decided to show up on her doorstep, or even if he made a phone call or sent her a little letter.
Which was when it dawned on him. The plan.
Picking up his phone, he sent a short text to Taehyung.
He had gotten his second idea of the week.
Jeongguk (19:56)
I know who we're inviting to the wedding
***
I don't know how I feel about this chapter, honestly. It feels a little, idk meh.
Anyway, I'm excited for the next chapters hehe, they're v fun. Also Banbangcon was soooo good🥺, I loved it.
This chapter is dedicated to AvantGarde969, an old reader of mine and one who means a lot to me. Thanks for your support and loving words <33
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Love, Sten