Euphoric Love | Jeongguk Fanfiction

EPILOGUE 3: The Teenagers

"Jeon Nari, come here right now!" Jeongguk bellows, causing me to wince beside him. He's never one to yell, let alone at Nari, his favourite. This makes the action even stranger.

Jeongsan is seated wearing a smile that proves whatever altercation is about to unfold is his doing. It always is. Nari does something that could mildly upset or disappoint Jeongguk and Jeongsan runs right to his father in excitement. Being the more outgoing one, it's a surprise that he happens to be the goody two shoes.

"Dad." Nari makes her entrance, face lined with a scowl that matches her father.

He scoffs, looking perplexed as she takes a seat at the dinner table. Jeongsan receives a glare and I receive a nod. Very cordial it is, but the scowl returns when looking at her father.

"Tell your mother what you did."

Her face falls, eyes meeting mine immediately. There's hesitation as she stares at Jeongguk again. The tension causes me to worry.

"She's waiting, Jeon Nari."

Nari sighs, "I brought a boy over this afternoon-"

"Tell her who." Jeongguk interrupts.

"Eric Park." She sighs, facing the floor.

My eyebrows pull up in surprise. Eric and Nari have never been unusually close. If anything, they always happened to just tolerate and accept each other. Even Jimin found their relationship to be weird.

"Doing what?" Jeongguk asks, frowning.

Nari gulps, "Smoking weed."

My eyebrows shoot into my hairline at the confession. I'm not surprised that she would hang around with boys, but smoking shocks me. To know that Nari is capable of taking drugs has always been something Jeongguk and I would lose sleep over. Her rebellious nature was always something that concerned us. Even Mother couldn't stand the thought.

To know that it's now a reality doesn't sit well with me.

There's a pregnant silence that falls over the table. Nari faces the floor, most likely ashamed to face myself or her father.

"Jeongsan, go do the dishes." I order.

"Mom-"

"Listen to your mother." Jeongguk cuts in, sending our son a deep frown. One that causes him to find his feet.

Jeongguk sighs once he's out of earshot. His face carries stress and worry. An anxiousness that's understandable knowing the disappointment that would come if anyone in the family were to find out. Mother would surely request to have Nari put in a boarding school. A suggestion she's been making for years now.

"Okay, tell me what happened," I start, choosing the path of understanding. "Why was he here?"

She sighs again, already causing an unsettling feeling inside me. Then the truth comes out in a way that causes another silence to fall over the room. When the words "We're dating." leave Nari's mouth, Jeongguk jumps to his feet. A hand runs through his hair, not sure how to respond to the news.

"Mom, we've liked each other for years now. I'm halfway through my schooling career, so it shouldn't be a problem-"

"It's a problem when you're bringing him here and smoking in our home!" He yells, causing me to wince again. "It's disrespectful and dishonest, Nari!"

Her face falls, looking at her father. "That's exactly what you and Mom used to do. Why is it different when it's me?"

Not expecting her to ask a question so close to home, Jeongguk turns to me. His eyes ask me how the hell our daughter knows that. A story that was meant to be shared later, if ever. Now it serves as the prefect contradiction to the current situation. It paints us as two hypocrites.

"Your mother and I never smoked weed, let alone smoke it together." He scoffs, "And as for visiting each others home, we were well acquainted and always had supervision."

"The fact that you're not apologetic says a lot, Nari. I think you've been spoilt and allowed too much freedom." He hums, "We're enrolling you into a boarding school and don't try to argue it." He finishes, moving off toward the staircase without a word.

Nari looks at me with worry, her eyes begging me to set things straight with her father. It's something I'm unable to do, knowing how headstrong Jeongguk can be. All I can do is pass her a sorry smile.

-

"Guk, let's not rush into things-"

"Soa, we've been nothing but good to our children. We've given them enough freedom and love to avoid secretive behaviour like this." He counters, pulling the bed sheets back, eyes failing to meet mine. A sign that I can't convince him.

I sigh, joining him in the bed, "She's a teenager, Guk. It was meant to happen at some point-"

"We never did anything like that. Who knows what else they've been up to?" He quips again.

"We had staff stopping us from doing a lot of things." I reason, hoping he'll see my side of the decision. "Can you agree to rethink it? Give her some time to gain your trust again?"

I know it's more the disappointment of the situation that's keeping him from seeing reason. She's his little girl and though I may have expected this sort of behaviour, Jeongguk never even thought about it.

"I'm sorry, love. She has to go. This is the final straw for me."