After fifteen minutes, Jimin was still in the taxi as a heavy flooding of cars surrounded the tiny and probably insignificant white taxi. He bounced his right leg almost aggressively as he brought his fingertips up to his lips, beginning to bite his nails out of nervousness. The blonde boy stared out of the window, at the colourful cars outside and the overly bright red lights coming from them.
After ten more minutes, Jimin was finally able to reach the address that his mother had given to him. "11.100 won, please." the driver bowed as he received the money from Jimin before driving off. When the taxist left, Jimin took a minute to place his hands on his hips and just take a deep breath. Once he thought he had calmed down his pumping heart, he reached into his pocket to check on Y/N and if his mother had left any more messages. There was nothing from his mother nor from Y/N, but he was worried sick.
Park-Duck:
"Hey, Y/N! I'm really sorry for not being able to come! Is everything good? Can you please send me the address of the place where you are at? I don't know how long it'll take me in here, but I'm almost sure it cannot take longer than an hour, so I'll come to pick you up. I expect you to reply in at least 20 minutes! If you don't I'm gonna get worried."
Jimin sent the text and put his phone back into his pocket, hoping that she'd say that everything is fine. He entered the tall, white building and looked around, not sure where exactly could he find his mother. He adventured himself into the elegant, yet full-of-problems building, and stopped in his tracks as soon as he heard a certain voice.
"Jiyoo, you know damn well I wouldn't dare! Why the hell would you call Jimin? That way we won't be able to sort out our problems! I know I'm being a dick, but I also know that you are a sly fox; you called Jimin just so he could defend you! You do not want to do this right, you just want everyone on your side, listening to only how much you have suffered!" the things that Jimin's father said really shocked him, and he decided to listen to their conversation. He wanted to know what they wouldn't tell him when he'd be there.
"Yes! Yes! And? So what? So what if I want Jimin on my side, huh? I deserve it! Meanwhile, you were busy doing your own shit, treating me worse than a dog and refusing to help me out financially, I was working hard. Working to keep me and my son on our feet! What were you doing?!? I never asked for much from you, I just asked you to treat me right. Seems like that was too much for you, so I decided to make it easier. I asked you for money, to do your job as a father and as a husband, the minimum you could do to help us. I asked you to pay that fucking alimony which wasn't even that much! 500 dollars per month, is that a lot?!?" Jimin flinched from behind the white wall at his mom's shouting.
"Ha! I know, I know about that! In fact, I told you that I'm ready to pay everything I should've paid earlier, but you are just pushing this further! I even apologized, at least I never made my son work at such a young age-" Jimin's mom landed a harsh slap onto her ex-husband's face, interrupting him from finishing his sentence as a painful and sharp sound echoed throughout the soundless hallway. Jimin slid against the wall as a pain stung in his chest, he couldn't believe it- no he didn't know who should he believe.
"You! It's all your fault if Jimin lived the shitty life he had lived up until a few weeks ago! He lived in poverty meanwhile his father was living in a nice and big house. Don't you think that I feel guilty for making him work!?! You said you never made your son work, but you did! You are the one to blame for all of this. If only you had given us a fucking penny, he probably would've lived a much better life!"
Jimin's breath became heavier as he reached his right hand and clutched it tightly on his chest, around his black sweatshirt. A single tear smoothly slid down from his eye to his chin without him noticing.
What are they saying? What is going on? Who am I supposed to trust? Who is right, who am I supposed to believe? Can I really stay neutral in a situation like this?
"I know!" Jimin's father shouted as loudly as ever, his voice echoing in the empty hallway several times while he took his time to calm down and take a deep breath. "I said that I fucking know! I told you I'm a fucking piece of trash! I told you all of that, and I know that still does not justify what I have done, but you knew what was coming. Yet you went for it." he said in a more calm tone. A calm tone that had a hint of obscurity in it, hiding all the range behind a blank expression.
"Ha!- Hahaha!" she scoffed before bursting into pathetic laughter, looking somewhat like a psychopath- no the laughter was rather sarcastic and hysterical. "Me? I knew all of it, you are saying?" she asked with amusement in her tone. "You are blaming me for loving and trusting you?" she crossed her arms raising a brow as she barely managed to hide her anger with as her lips twitched.
"Yes! That's almost exactly what I'm saying..." he wiped his face, sucking in a deep breath. The man felt oh-so-tired and he just really wanted to end this conversation, this argument, this moment, but mostly, he wanted to end this relationship for good. Even though deep down, he was still clinging onto small bits of hope, and Jiyoo knew that because she was as well. "Let's just have the trail soon, okay? I'm gonna end up paying the alimony, whatever they'll claim the price to be. I'm going to leave now." he grabbed his blue jacket and slid his arms into its sleeves.
"Wait!" Jimin's mother squeaked grabbing his wrist, "Can you please end it with Jimin?" she asked looking down at the ground. Jimin, who was attentively yet without a hint of strength, listening, shot his eyes open widely.
"W-what?" his dad stuttered, genuinely and obviously befuddled by his ex-wife's words.
"He must be here soon," she cleared her throat. It was obvious that the idea that she was about to express was not a good one, "Jimin will come soon. I want you, no- you need to let go of Jimin. We both know he's on my side, but he still loves you, he still watches you... from afar."
Mr. Park's heart clenched in his chest as the words escaped from his ex-wife's mouth. "What? What did you just say? Jimin doesn't hate me?" he asked the joy, the confusion and the surprise evident in his tone.
...
It was about two years ago, Jimin was sixteen. The day when Jimin's mother found out about it. That Jimin still loved his father, that he still missed him. Even after the slightly-modified stories, his mom had told him.
It was a very peaceful Sunday morning when Jimin told his mother that he was going to shop for groceries, but he forgot the list. Jiyoo had decided to run after her son, she needed to make sure that he'd buy all the ingredient she needed. She ran at a pace that a woman of her age would probably struggle with a lot, in fact, once she was forced to stop running, her chest heaved up and down in long and slow moves.
Jiyoo hid behind a wall as she watched Jimin taking a black hat out of his bag, thinking, "Why is he wearing a hat, is he a thief?" she doubted her son for a mere second, but she quickly realized that what he was actually wearing the hat for stung her heart way more than the possibility of him stealing.
There he was, watching his father... Like a shadow, he followed behind his father, making no sound with his shoes. How funny could this be? Her husband was following his route while being followed by his son who is being followed by his mother.
That was the day when she had understood, that no matter how hard she tried, she could never tear the two apart. Because no matter how many things she had to go through because of her husband, and no matter how many times she displayed him as the bad guy, she always knew that she, herself was the bad guy...
...
"After all the shit you have told him, he still loves me?" Jimin's dad asked with glossy eyes, "Even after I-I was so mean to him? Does he remember our bond before?"
Yes, father, I do and I miss it so much.
Jimin mumbled to himself, his head was about to burst. Too many thoughts, too much new information was flooding his mind. All of it was too much. But he had to hold on, he needed to know the truth, he needed to listen to this conversation till the very end. So as if it would ease the pain, he entangled his fingers into his blonde locks and listened, trying his best not to let his sobs escape his lips.
"That was the day when I realized that they say, "Like father, like son." and "Like mother, like daughter." for a reason... Jimin is just like you. I can't believe you two idiots have been 'spying' on each other all this long and you never knew..." she sighed, knowing that it was the time that she stopped being delusional, "You two are exactly the same. Once you love someone, but I mean truly love someone, you won't be able to let them go. That's why you are still clinging onto me. That's why Jimin is still clinging onto you..."
"I tried my best, I tried my best to hate you and to be mean to you, so Jimin could hate me. But I love you... I love you so much that I- that I just can't treat you like I pretended to do all these years." he sobbed as he cupped her cheeks.
"You should've thought about it before cheating on me! Are you living well with that bitch!?!" both Jimin and his father flinched at Jiyoo's sudden outburst. She ripped his hand off of her cheek and poked his chest as she spoke. "Can't you let me go?!? I have never told Jimin about how you have cheated on me and how you still have the audacity to-"
"To not pay the alimony just so I can get to see you? Just so I can see your face for some sort of reason at all? So I don't have to follow you around like a creep, just like Jimin and I do with each other? Can't I at least see you?" he shouted, "I did. I cheated and you know it, and I can't explain because it's true that I did. I was drunk and that does not justify my actions, but I've always begged for your forgiveness-"
"And I've never accepted it, nor I hope to ever do so!"
"What did you want me to do?" Mr. Park sighed as he pinched the bridge of his nose.
"Slap me when he comes, maybe not that hard, but yeah. Let's end this. I want you out of mine and Jimin's life. I know I'm selfish, and I know you aren't as terrible as I make you seem... but I just want to quit it all... If you slap me in front of his own eyes, it'll be game over."
"This is what you have been trying to do all these years..." he laughed humorlessly, "But I know I deserve it, so I'll take it..." he gulped, not being able to believe what he was about to confirm, "I'll do it."
Jimin fell on his knees as bitter tears left his eyes. He finally allowed his very audible sobs to escape his lips as he struggled to get up off of the floor. Once he had managed to do so, he let his parents view his broken-down figure.
"No, you won't!" Jimin shouted with the back of his throat vibrating painfully from the shriek he had just let out.
The two adults abruptly turned to face their struggling son, looking up at his strength-less figure. One of his hands was tightly gripping his shirt over his chest, specifically his heart, and with the other, he was holding himself on his feet thanks to the wall. Jimin's mom gasped, running towards him with concern filling up her chest anxiously, but he stuck his right hand, which was the one on his chest, to stop her.
"Don't go near me... I-I just don't understand anything I-" he wobbled on his feet, trying to stand steadily, but his legs were proudly betraying him. "I came here to protect you because I thought you needed me... I left the person I like even though she said it was an emergency just for you a-and this- this is what I find!?! She may be in trouble, but I chose you... I'm so stupid."
Before any of the two elders could speak any further, Jimin did his best to 'run' away from them and get into any taxi outside. He sat inside the red car, asking the driver to wait for a second as he opened his chat with Y/N.
Y/N-swagidkwtfiswrongwithme:
"I think I'll be too long to wait for an hour... but here it is... Itaewon 102, a few metres away from "Kung-Jung", the library."
He quickly told the driver the location, hoping she'd be there, safe and sound.
To be continued...
Published Date: 1st December 2020
[Edited Date: 25th December 2020]
-Jɪᴍɪɴᴀɴᴅʜɪsᴊᴀᴍs 💜