TIME AFTER TIME ; jjk

12

Chapter 12
PARK SOOHYUN

7 months later...

I had no idea that my mom would bring her sister when Jimin and I agreed to hang out with her during my free time. Our aunt was nice, but not nice enough to mind her own business.

Aunt Jinhee turned to me, scanning my hand as if she was looking for what was supposed to be on there. Her brows furrowed then she gave me a sweet fake smile. I could always see through slick old women's intentions. "I think you should get married by now." She looked at me as I shifted in my seat, feeling my checks burn. "You're a gorgeous lady. You're a doctor... And you're what now? Thirty?" Of course, she had to mention my age like it had a relevant connection to settling down. "You and Jimin. You're getting older. But men don't have much problem with getting married at any age." She laughed. "They can do that whenever they like. But us, it's hard. It's unfair, isn't it? It's hard to get pregnant in your thirties for some women."

As much as I wanted to contradict her, I kept my mouth shut and decided her too opinionated self could do nothing to my life choices.

"Junghwa, tell these two that it's okay to prioritize themselves over career. Success doesn't matter when you're alone and getting older. All their colleagues are building their own families while they're still stuck at work."

My mother awkwardly chuckled as she picked up her glass of water. "I mean, it's okay with me. It's their decision," she said before taking a sip. "Soohyun's in the process of working on her residency. Well, Jimin... He still values his bachelorhood—"

With no cue, my brother took over the conversation. "Soohyun actually made a vow of chastity. She's going to be a celibate for the rest of her life. At least, that's the plan for now," he said with sincerity in his voice.

What the fuck?

"That's not true. What's wrong with you?" I said to him, shooting him a glare.

He added, "And she doesn't really like kids. You know those annoying little ones who grow into immature, insensitive, close-minded adults. Yeah, such a shame. I'm not generalizing, though. I've just seen it happen in real life. Like, now—"

"Don't mind him," I interjected.

Aunt Jinhee let out a soft giggle, her attention back on me. She tilted her head and stared like she was genuinely worried for my life. "But I think you should find a guy for you, Soohyun. I mean it. I'm just concerned."

"Oh, thanks for that."

Jimin cut in again, this time he was talking to me. "You shouldn't be in rush, I think— haha, you may attract idiots. You know this is not a race. So yeah, think first. After all the shit you got yourself into for the past years, I'd rather you stay single for a long time before you pick up a man and marry him so you can have kids or whatever." He cleared his throat. Jimin's faking his cough. "I'm just saying it's your choice and nobody else's, no matter how much people are concerned for you."

My eyes steered over my aunt and my mom and they both looked fazed. Aunt Jinhee nodded her head and later she commented, "I get your point, but in the end, it will be your loss if you don't have a family of your own. Have you seen those people being thrown in retirement homes? Their lives turned out to be so lonely. That sucks. A lot regret not having a family."

"Oh, I understand that. But it doesn't apply to everyone, haha, uh, fuck, this is frustrating— oh, sorry about that, Aunt Jinhee. You know my parents had us without expecting us to give them something in return? Of course we'll make sure to take care of our parents until they can't take care of themselves anymore, but I don't think we should be depending our lives on our family because they've got lives of their own."