The Preacher's Son [A Jihan Fanfic]

Chapter 11

Jeonghan's P.O.V

          It had been weeks since the barbecue and Jisoo hadn't called once. Well not for me anyways. I heard him having conversations with Kalee in her room. The sound of his voice practically crippled me. A huge wave of bliss would crash into me, and then it was sadness. I was sad that he wouldn't call me. That I couldn't talk easily to him. Then it was anger. I was mad that he had suddenly cut off all ties with me.

          He hadn't tried to keep in touch at all. I saw him at church, but tried my best to ignore the soul crushing longing that I felt at the simple sight of him. He seemed to be just as capable of ignoring me. Except he didn't have to try as hard.

          Mary was right. I had met someone who was smarter than me. He was hotter than me, and now I viewed him as even more annoying than me. Him and his family had come over for dinner once, but I had holed myself up in my room. I had locked the door and ignored Mary and Kalee's calls.

          I wanted nothing more than to run out and apologize for wasting his time. Tell him he was a jerk for leaving me with no explanation. I wanted to know why he had broken up with me. But the thing was. We had never actually been dating. He had asked if I were gay, then we went on one date. That was it.

          But that one date was my favorite date I had ever gone on. I took out all my anger and confusion at the gym. Mary was a good gym partner, and at first she had no problem keeping up, but then I started getting angrier and sadder. And that was my motivation, so I soon left her in the dust.

          I faked my happiness around all of them, but I had never actually let them in, so none of them knew I was breaking inside. Tomorrow was the first day of school and I wanted nothing more than to stay home and mope around in my room all day, but Aunt Alex was taking us shopping for supplies.

          I threw my hair in a ponytail then put on a pair of sweatpants and a tank top. When I came out of my room I could feel Mary's disapprovement. Kalee however was wearing basically the same thing. "Both of you? How are we related?" She sighed as she took in our clothes and messy hair.

          I faked a smile, but didn't say anything. Aunt Alex came out a few minutes later and motioned for us to get into her car. It was a classic mom car. A Subaru Outback. She was even dressed like a sporty mom. Joggers, tennis shoes, and a plain white shirt. Her hair was in a neat high ponytail and she was wearing a Nike ball cap.

          "Okay! Off to Target!" I groaned. Mary giggled and Kalee snickered. No one was in the front seat besides Aunt Alex, because we all preferred to sit by each other. She didn't seem bothered by the fact though.

          As she drove Mary, Kalee, and I talked among ourselves. I forced myself to laugh along with them and needed no help being sarcastic. I was covering up how empty I felt. I just wanted to know what I had done wrong. I wanted to know why he didn't call. Why he stopped liking me.

          Mary and Kalee shared a look after I didn't laugh at a random sarcastic joke I had made. Did I usually laugh at my own jokes? I didn't know. "Hey mom? Can we go to the movies? Pleeaaasee?" Kalee asked suddenly. My aunt simply shrugged.

          "Sure. After we buy your school supplies." She said. Kalee smiled. She pulled out her phone and searched what movies were playing. I didn't know what movie she said. I didn't really care. I didn't care about a lot of things.

          The only things I cared about nowadays was Mary and Kalee. If they were alright. Same for my aunt, but I couldn't give a single fuck about my uncle. I didn't know what my aunt ever saw in him. I guess he had stuck around for Mary and Kalee, but that seemed about it. I doubted they even loved each other.

           Well. I doubted he loved my aunt. I knew she loved him. But I figured she only loved him because of the twins. Some nights their raised voices could be heard from their room at night. And on more than one occasion I would go out in the middle of the night to find my uncle asleep on the couch and my aunt's door locked.

         I wondered how long Mary and Kalee had lived with the yelling and the hitting. Some nights the twins would come into my room and we would all huddle together and wait for it to stop. Kalee had suggested calling the cops, but Mary had told her not to. I don't know why she always told her not to.

          After a while she just stopped suggesting it and the twins hugged each other while leaning against me. Our bonds had grown more and more since then. I didn't want anything to happen to them. And now as we sat in the back seat of the car I could see fresh bruises on my aunt's body.

          We held hands at night too. For comfort. The twins were always the ones to grab out, but I was the one that wouldn't let go. I was scared that if I let go they would have to face their father just as their mother did. For long after they would fall asleep to the sounds of shouts and screaming I could here their father blame them. He said their names like evil curses.

          And I was terrified of what would happen if he got to them. So no matter how much I was suffering from the pain and longing brought on by Jisoo, I refused to show it. I had to be strong for them. And when the time came that Aunt Alex wasn't enough I would be there to protect them. Because whether I would admit it or not I loved them and we were in this together.