Oppa : Kim Seokjin

Chapter Thirty-one: Nam River

It was relaxing, staying over with Jin without needing to worry about schoolwork. I was caught up with my assignments for the time being, so could afford a break for a while, providing I did a little revision here and there. I hadn't told my parents I was coming back- I hadn't lied, per se, just... manipulated the truth a little. They thought I'd be home next week, for just a few days until I had to go back to begin my exams.

"Do you want a hot drink?" it had become increasingly more evident as time passed that Jin had missed me. A lot. I looked up from my notes with a half squint at the gentle touch on my back, eyes readjusting from my scrawl. I smiled, words on the tip of my tongue, only to be cut off.

"Wow, what an annoying clingy boyfriend." Namjoon yawned from the hall, peering at us from the doorway. Jin gave him a black stare, raising his leg threateningly- the threat being a slipper to the face if Jin's aim remained true. It usually did.

I grinned. "You're just jealous that you're single." he gave me a hurt look, clutching his heart and wiping a fake tear. Then that huge grin.

"I mean you did steal my boyfriend from me, Ju-eun." if the joke was worth it, I couldn't tell. The slipper seemed to defy gravity with how it whipped to hit him squarely in the chest.

"Mother would be more accurate, with how useless you are at taking care of yourself." Jin said snippily. "Now go away, I still have one more. This is couple time."

For that, I pinched my boyfriend. "Play nice. You still have me for a couple more days." He just pouted, then glared again at Namjoon for laughing. "And no, I don't want a drink, thanks. I'll be done soon."

He gave a small sigh, but smiled, then kissed my head. "Okay. You'll have time to get ready, right?"

He glanced at his watch with a mild concern that I could tell he was trying to hide from me. I rose my eyebrows, then scrunched my nose, guts twisting. Studying had allowed me the broefest reprieve, but the nerves were back in full force once again. I chewed my lip. "Yeah. I just have a couple more pages."

"Okay. I'll leave you be." was that my stomach, or my intestines, trying to claw their way up and out of my throat? The door clicked shut behind him and I immediately wished it hadn't. How was I supposed to focus now? With the deafening silence of all these thoughts rattling around inside my head? I tried to focus on my notes, only to get halfway down the page and realise I had no idea what I'd just read.

His Mother. I was meeting his Mother.

I couldn't help feeling that it was too soon for this. But whenever that thought cropped up, the realisation that we'd been together a year now quashed it. Logistically, it made sense for me to meet his parents. He'd already met mine. Perhaps not in the same context, but still.

His famously pushy and opinionated, baby crazy mother. His words, not mine. Of course, you only had to have  known Jin for a little while to have played witness to her shenanigans. The marriage meetings, the over involvement, the borderline trickery to get Seokjin to meet women that she deemed fitting partners. I wasn't really sure how much contact was normal between parents and their adult children (perhaps my experience was a little skewed) but I was pretty sure she overdid it.

I was not ready to meet her.

Once again I realised I'd read a good chunk of the wall of text I was staring at without actually absorbing the information. I groaned in annoyance, flipping the book closed, and stood from the small desk in Seokjin's bedroom. I stood and walked over to the window, resting my head against it with a slight thunk as I picked my phone up from the windowsill. I'd left it there to avoid temptation, but it hadn't been the thing to distract me in the end.

I tapped out a quick and very capitalised text to Yun-ji, and barely had time to await a response before arms encircled my waist and pulled me backward. My feet left the floor for a mere second and I yelled, loud, gripping my assailant's arms and kicking. Jin laughed, "Hey! It's only me!!"

"I know!" I slapped his forearm, "You made me jump you butthole!"

He let me down, still chuckling, and I glowered at him, brandishing my phone defensively. "Sorry. I heard you get up so I figured you were done."

I sighed. "Well... yeah, about as done as I'm gonna get for now." I couldn't help the involuntary scrunching up of my face. "I can't concentrate, there's too much going on."

"Nervous, huh?" it was like being in a fresh scented cocoon, when Jin hugged me wearing one of his oversized hoodies. He patted my head. "It'll be okay, Ju-eunnie. She'll love you."

"Doesn't sound like she's ready to love me." I grumbled into his chest. He chuckled.

"She was just upset that she had to refuse her friend's daughter... and her Nam River hips." he snorted at his own joke. Normally that would have made me laugh too, but all I could think was that if my hips were a body of water, they would not be Nam River. They would be maybe a narrow creek, or even an elongated puddle. I headbutted his chest miserably.

"She's gonna hate me and my puddle hips!" I exclaimed, and there was a brief moment where I assume he processed what I said, then a splutter and the wheezing noise of him laughing. I writhed agitatedly, trying to force my way out of his arms, but he kept ahold of me, hooting away the whole while.

"Puddle hips!!" he was almost hysteric, "Oh Ju-eun, you do say some ridiculous things!"

"You don't get it!!" I grew more frustrated by him not taking me seriously. "I don't have wide, child bearing hips. I'm not womanly at all!"

"And a lot of people would say I'm not manly. What's your point?" he finally stopped laughing, large hands coming to rest on my warming cheeks. I was so embarrassed of the things I was saying but I couldn't help how I felt. "Believe it or not, Ju-eun, I didn't grow to like you because of the width of your hips. Don't be silly." he scrunched up his nose. "I can't believe you actually just made me have to say that." then he sighed, smooshing my cheeks together. "Don't worry about what other people think about you so much," he grinned cheesily, "Worry about me. I'm the only one that's important."

I pressed my lips together, not sure what was causing the blush now. Then, despite the continued cheek smooshing debilitating my ability to talk, I said, "You're dumb."

"Yah! That was a great inspirational speech about loving yourself!" he let go of my face to attempt flicking my forehead, which I evaded.

"How was that about loving myself? You basically told me to only worry about your opinion of me! Terrible advice!" I accused, pointing, and he finally managed to grab ahold of me again. I couldn't help but laugh then, as he hoisted me into the air, something he seemed to be quite fond of doing lately.

"I'll punish you for your insolence!" he cried in a mock deep tone, while I squawked and laughed.

"Okay Chaebol boy!" I snorted, and he just laughed, finally setting me down.

"We should get ready to leave. If we're  late I'll still be hearing about it when I'm forty."

"okay."

-

Weheyyyy long time no update

Just a short one bc I just got back from work and need to sleep but i rly wanted to post smth uwu