things you said right before goodbye
🗁: send me a ship and one of these and i’ll write a mini fic🖅: @1013m 🗹 currently accepting
“This is the only kind they had.”
Jungah didn’t wait, and instead she hopped out of the car andwalked briskly into the convience store with the melon milk in hand. They hadto have more. Cravings aside, she was just in a bitter mood that evening andtold a guard she wanted to get snacks. Not one of the men who were watchingover the house wanted to be subjected to the wrath of a high schooler with toomuch power and time on her hands, so they went out.
And she didn’t want to wait longer.
Placing the container on the counter, she looked down at theback of a young man’s neck who was restocking the shelf behind him withcigarette cartons and packs.
“I need banana milk. What he bought, I don’t want.”
And then she stared at him.
It took a moment, maybe too long, but it wasn’t like Jungahnoticed. Her anger subsided to something closer to embarrassment as she triedto recover.
Jungah wasn’t good with boys.
“I wanted some…” Was her mouth dry? The melon milk didn’tseem so terrible at the moment—anything to drink sounded divine. “Are you sureyou don’t have more?”
Jimin looked at her sheepishly before telling her to waitand scuttling off to the back. He hadn’t seen her before, but he hadn’t beenworking there too long to know any regulars. As he stood with the rest of theinventory he took a moment to collect himself, he shuffled around some boxes toreveal one bottle of banana milk he had been saving for himself after hisshift. Holding it in his hand, he threw it up in the air and caught it as helooked at his reflection, distorted against a metal sheet, to see if his hairlooked alright.
Like he could even see it.
The Kangmulpa member had walked in while he was in the back,telling Jungah they could go elsewhere but Jungah refused, saying she would getit there. She believed that was what he meant, anyway.
As it turned out, she was right.
“Here, I found the last one.” Sorta. “Take it.”
Jungah’s shoulders tensed up as Jimin walked back behind thecounter and sat the banana milk down by the melon milk.
“Thanks.” She pushed the melon milk up the counter but Jimin’shand went in front of it, blocking it from moving any further. “Take that onetoo.” He tried to say it in the most casual way possible, but even theKangmulpa member could see right through it. (Are you serious, kid?) “For making you wait or whatever.I mean, for the inconvenience.”
And unlike the grown adult next to her, Jungah wasimpressed. Not one to reject a gift, she slid both milks back to her side ofthe counter and smiled softly. “Thank you.”
Jimin gave her a small smile back.
The moment was cut short by the anxious Kangmulpa member,not wanting to get yelled at for having Jungah out so late if they were caughtby her parents. Junho’s wrath was worse than Jungah’s, but he’d rather not getan earful from either of them. “Jungah, we need to get back home.”
“…yeah, okay.” Jungah looked back at the driver reluctantly.“You’re right.”
Her name is Jungah… Jimin fell into another stupor, watchingher speak was strange as hell. She was tiptoeing a line of authority, but shecouldn’t have been older than he was. She looked young.
There wasn’t much chance to think about it much longerbecause she spoke up again.
The man had scooped the bottles of milk up and Jungah was stallingbehind him, looking at Jimin quietly. She felt awkward. Not like she felt infront of Sunggyu, but a totally different kind of awkward that she couldn’tquite put her finger on.
“Thank you again.” She gave him a small wave, unsure of whatmore to say and do. She didn’t want anyone to report this to her father.
“Yeah…” His hand went to his cheek, fingers trailing overthe blush that was warming his cheeks. “Bye.”
She left and he was leaning over the counter, watching asthe man opened up car door for her. It was weird. Maybe she was really spoiledor something.
He would mind if she came in demanding another bottle ofmilk.
When did Yoon Jungah ever say “thank you” so often?
“Don’t ever talk to me again.”
“I don’t want to date you anymore.”
His gaze on her wasn’t so sweet anymore.
His hands were balled up in fists and his eyes stung. Thenight before he couldn’t sleep a wink, terrified of what would happen if heleft his mother’s side. Not after they came to talk to him.
It was all some kind of sick joke.
Jungah crying wasn’t something he expected or wanted to see,it hurt to see it, but there were things more important than her in his life. “It’sall your fault.”
If he didn’t meet her this wouldn’t have happened.
There was a man he didn’t recognize waiting outside his homefor hours and that certainly wouldn’t have happened if it wasn’t for her.Whatever kind of fucking family she had was twisted. Did she know? Did shecare?
Right now, his mother was all he could focus on. He hadwasted so much time hanging around Jungah. It was all some stupid teenagebullshit. It didn’t matter. Why did he think it did?
“I’m sorry, I don’t know what happened but I’m sorry.”Crying in front of anyone who wasn’t her mother was embarrassing. Jungah didn’teven dare cry in front of her father or grandmother and yet here she was,crying in front of Jimin. Her sweater was pulled down over her fist so shecould try to quickly wipe her tears before they could reach her chin. “I’msorry.”
“Just…” This should be easy. Breaking up should be easy. Itwasn’t like they were going to get married or anything. Yet here he was,finding it easy to scream and yell at her but difficult to walk away. It wasn’ther fault, he knew that. He knew it wasn’t her fault ultimately.
But he wanted to blame her.
“Just don’t message me, call me, whatever. Don’t come aroundwork.”
His sneakers were digging into the grass, mud smearing atthe bottom of his heel as he glared at her.
“I’m sorry,” she repeated it, this time in a defeatedwhisper. She didn’t have the will to fight his decision, because she knew thatthey would have to part eventually. Jimin just made life feel so normalthat… being the Jewel wasn’t so bad. Jimin never treated her any differentuntil that day.
Jimin didn’t have a response to her.
And then he ran off, scaling over the wall that ran aroundher house and running all the way back to a bus stop where he could be byhimself.
[ That was the “last goodbye. They both accepted it as such.]
It was for the best, I’msure.
Well, that isn’texactly right, because I never wanted to say goodbye.
And now I have no ideahow the hell I’m supposed to greet you.
And Yoon Jungahrarely apologized.