Paradise

1

Jimin POV

I was currently a junior, attending Seoul University with a major in contemporary dance. It was my goal to one day open up my own dance studio. My part-time job at the Korean BBQ place downtown was something that I had picked up a couple of months ago to help pay for my off-campus apartment. It was nothing fancy, just a simple 300 square ft. space. All I cared about was that it had heat, running water, a desk for me to study, and a bed for me to sleep. My parents had graciously worked extra hours to help me through my first two years, but we have fallen on difficult times.

My mother was laid off at her job a couple of months ago and my father has had to take a cut in pay due to the recent market crash. We are struggling to make ends meet, but we are all supportive of one another. My parents come from a humble background, so I was taught to earn my own way and to always be grateful for what I have. I don't get to visit them that often now that I'm away at college, but I find time at least once or twice a semester to return to Busan. It was difficult being away from them, but I just kept thinking about how much it will pay off in the future.

Right now I was returning home after another long, exhausting day at work, my watery eyes blinking to keep my tears at bay. Today had been especially draining for me, because I had just found out that my boyfriend was cheating on me. I inserted the key with a sniffle as I walked through the maroon door and kicked off my white sneakers. The 40 minute walk from the restaurant had agitated a few blisters on my feet and I winced as I peeled off my sweaty socks. I let out a shaky breath as I walked over to the kitchen, immediately rummaging through my freezer to grab an ice pack.

My feet carried me over to the living room where I plopped down on the sofa and held the pack up to my heel with a hiss. The coolness from the frost was a relief to the reddish spot on my foot. I sat there for a moment just trying to make sense of everything that happened today. But as soon as my body relaxed completely, I broke down in tears. It was towards the end of my dinner shift when I went over to one of my assigned tables and saw him with another man. They were both laughing and I could see how the younger boy was batting his eyelashes at him. He looked to be a freshman, but I had stormed off in a hurry before I got a real good look at him.

Not wanting to cause a scene, I had asked one of the other waiters to take their order. I tried my best to ignore them as I waited my other tables but when I had to bring out another order, I saw them kissing. I bit my lip to keep myself from crying as I served the food to my table. When I moved to leave the dining area, one of my customers called me over by name. I politely wrote down their request with the best fake smile I could muster. Out of the corner of my eye, I saw that my boyfriend was looking over at me with wide eyes. He tried to wave me over, but I pretended like I hadn't noticed him.

After my shift, I was in the middle of cleaning down some of the tables when a waitress came over to tell me that my boyfriend was asking to see me. I told her that I didn't want to see him and asked her to tell him that we were done. More tears gushed from my red eyes as I recalled that scene over and over again, the images of him kissing another person making my heart ache. I used the sleeve of my navy uniform to harshly wipe away my tears as I struggled to breathe properly. My boyf- or rather ex-boyfriend was a person whom I had met during my sophomore year of high school.

His name was Kwan.

He was co-captain of the tennis team and was two years my senior. I had admired him from afar for over a year before I finally got the courage to talk to him one day after practice. So when he asked me out at the end of my junior year, it came as no surprise to my friends that I said yes. We shared our first kiss on our second date and Kwan asked me to be his boyfriend 2 months later. Everything wasn't always perfect between us though...