The Deadly Walkers / PJM

CHAPTER 22

💀~<>~<>~ SYMPHONY ON WASTELAND ~<>~<>~💀

Kim Ara

Seven years.

It took me seven years to tell Jimin about that day. It felt surreal to me that I didn't want to admit I had finally let out the untold truth, but my heart was at ease after talking with Jimin. I didn't expect him to take it that fast or even hear me out without blaming me. But he took it very well.

He didn't throw questions at me but accepted what I had told him. He believed my words. He believed me.

I found myself in relief, feeling something that had been pressing on my heart getting lifted. But deep down, I still felt the heaviness in my heart. I knew the reason for it.

I had told him a part of the things I had been hiding. I hadn't told him about our encounter a year after the incident and what had happened that night. I hadn't told him about what we did and, most importantly, about Minhyun.

It wasn't like I didn't want to tell him at that time. It was more like I was afraid that he might turn his back on me again and start to hate me even more.

But I knew I had to tell him today or tomorrow. He had every right to know.

Keeping that in mind, I hoisted my gun holster and glanced at Minhyun. He was wearing shoes, his small hands making a perfect knot with the shoelaces, just how I taught him. 

I could say he was doing much better than last night, as he jumped up excitedly, his eyes finding me. It was more like he wasn't sick the night before.

"Take your aunt's hand, Hyun." I raised my hand toward him.

He gladly took it, wrapping his small fingers around mine. "Aunt Mimi. Did you speak to Uncle Chim?"

I arched an eyebrow. "Uncle Chim?"

"I'm talking about Uncle Jimin," Minhyun smiled, a small dimple popping out. "He said I can call him that."

I chuckled. 

Chim was the name that Taehyung and I used to tease Jimin. I remembered one time, when we were just teenagers, Jimin threw his shoes at Taehyung for writing down his name as 'Chim' and giving out roses to the girl Jimin used to crush on. He was really embarrassed that day. For Jimin, that name was childish and immature, unlike his matured personality. Indeed, he wanted to present himself as a man, and that name never seemed to be a good fit.

But for me, it did.

"There must be a good reason that he let you call him that," I said, giggling. "He used to hate that name."

Minhyun perked his lips, tilting his head and looking up at me. "What did you call him when you were friends?"

"Me? I called him Jiminie. Oh, well. I sometimes called him Chim. Not that I directly called him that, but you know when I would be around with my classmates, I proudly call him my Chim," I told him and hyped myself up as I recalled those days. "And here's the secret. I invented that name. He never know about that. To this day, he thinks that Taehyung—"