Secret Santa 박지민

Chapter 26

Embracing Broken Shards

Min gripped onto the metal chains tightly as she felt the same queasy feeling her stomach. However, it was worse than usual. Her heart was racing as she stared at the ground, religiously chanting what she wanted to say. Then, she saw another pair of shoes opposite hers.
Immediately, she looked up to see Jimin standing before her, looking down at her with a straight face. Her eyes diverted to his hand which was gripping onto the plastic cup of mocha that was nearly empty. A small smile crept up her face. Perhaps, there was still hope.

"I'm... I'm sorry, Jimin. I shouldn't have said the things I said,"

Min said, sighing as she turned to look at Jimin who just stayed silent and sat down on the same swing he sat at the last time.

"I don't think you're conceited, arrogant or that you have a big ego. I mean- you act like you do but I know you don't. And I'm not just saying that so that you can forgive me,"

Mine continued as she fiddled with her fingers.

"I don't expect you to forgive me... It's just that I've always thought that people had motives. I thought you grew close to me to benefit something. Perhaps it was a dare, or you wanted to make use me, or simply you wanted to satisfy your "men helps women" complex,"

Min muttered as she turned to look at Jimin once again.

"I was brought up thinking love and concern was for vulnerable people. And being vulnerable was bad. Everytime someone seemed like they cared, they actually wanted something from me. I was alone and I had no one,"

Min said, tears slowly brimming up as she bit her lip to suppress them.

"I was scared of trusting you because I felt like I was growing closer to you. I was scared that you were making use of me because I was growing to like your company. But I realised that not everyone was like that,"

Min said softly as she looked at Jimin with soft eyes before smiling. However, Jimin kept quiet as he refused to make eye contact with her.

"My parents- they-,"

Min cut off as tears slowly trailed down her cheeks. She covered her face and sobbed into her hands. She hated how she was crying and showing how vulnerable she was. But for some reason, she was willing to do so. As long as it was in front of Jimin.
Then, she felt something warm embrace her. Looking up from her hands, she saw Jimin kneeling down and hugging her. He pulled back, showing his eyes that were filled with tears as well. With a soft smile, he delicately pushed the strand of hair out of her face.

For the first time ever, she felt proud of being vulnerable.