PITYING THE PRISONER | p.jm

e i g h t e e n - j i m i n

As Cora and I sit eating our absolutely delicious dinner, I'm surprised when my phone vibrates in my pocket. Having a vague idea about who it could be, I remove my phone to see who's calling. The words "Oh Sangmin" appear on the screen, and I look to Cora; knowing that I should really take this call.

"Who is it?" Cora asks.

"Sangmin," I say, watching as Cora's eyes widen a bit. "Should I answer?"

"Yeah, it seems important."

I nod and answer the phone call, tapping my hand against my knee excitedly. I can't believe it happened so quickly.

Mere moments after I answer the phone, Sangmin's voice greets me.

"Hi, Jimin! How are you?"

"I'm okay, hyung, how are you?"

"Alright, if I do say so myself. I've been working on tracking Ms. Abernathy down since you came by earlier, and I'm happy to say that I found her."

"Really? You're serious?"

"As serious as a shark attack."

I pause for a moment, wondering about how I should tell Sangmin that what he just said sounded incredibly stupid, but I end up not needing to.

"That was dumb, sorry," he says, laughing. "Anyway, we've gotten her address; I can text it to you. You and Cora can see her soon."

"When?"

"Whenever you want. Now, if you'd like."

"Now? Right now? I can make that happen."

"You always can, Jimin-ah. I'll send you the address after you hang up."

"Thank you so much, hyung," I say sincerely, knowing that this will make Cora's day, if not her life.

"Anytime, Jimin. Be seeing you."

"Bye."

I hang up the phone to find Cora looking at me expectantly. She seems a bit worried, as though maybe something bad has happened. "What's going on?" She asks me.

"We found her, Cora," I say. I make the decision not to say who just yet, I want her to ask.

"Who?"

Unfortunately, it doesn't take long for her to ask who it is. She ruins my fun sometimes, in all honesty.

"Your mother," I say.

Immediately, her eyes widen and she sits forward, getting closer to me. "My mother? You're serious?"

"Yeah," I reply. "Sangmin's going to send me her address in a minute. We can go see her now."

"Oh my gosh, Jimin, thank you. I thought she was still in jail. I thought I'd never see her again." She stands up and locates her bag, then looks to me.

"We still have to pay for dinner," I tell her. "Just hang on a minute, okay?"

"Right, sorry," she replies, sitting back down. "I'm just really excited."

"It's fine," I reassure her, then flag down our waitress the moment I see her.

"Excuse me, but can we get the check, please? And quickly. Something came up, and we have to leave."

"Yes, of course," she responds, then quickly dashes away. It takes only a minute for her to come back with the check, and I pay for the meal before Cora can even think to protest. In five minutes, we're back in the car. Sangmin had sent me a text while we were waiting to leave, so I quickly plug the address into my GPS before I start driving. Cora looks like she's going to burst from excitement. I'm surprised she hasn't started crying yet, but I know that I'll see that soon enough. As soon as she sees her mother again, she's going to collapse. It will probably be pretty awkward for me, but I'll make due.