sold to the park's | p.jm

|004|

Six o'clock came around faster than Carli would have expected. She always hated how time when faster when you had to do something you deeply wished you didn't have to. And yet the last hour or so still dragged on for what seemed like forever, anxiety settling in her stomach. "At this rate I'm not even gonna be able to rat anything. Fuck off anxiety, I'm a hungry bitch right now you better not get in the way of me and my food." She spoke internally to the little voice in the back of her head, willing it to go away. Surprisingly, her anxiety eventually began to subside, not completely but enough for her to manage.

She looked to the clock on the wall to see it had just gone six. She jumped from the bed and made her way downstairs, this time in some more comfortable shoes. The smell of freshly cooked food floated through the air and her stomach growled immediately when she smelt it. She hadn't realised just how hungry she actually was.

"Hello, Carli! I hope Jimin was a gentleman whilst showing you around!" His mother smiled excitedly from the kitchen with a pot in her hand. Her husband was cooking the last little bit while she had begun serving the food.

"Ah, yes he was delightful. I ended up tripping up and he helped me up straight away, which I thought was really sweet-" She stopped herself in her tracks. She slapped a hand over her mouth and began to blush. She couldn't believe she had spoken her thoughts like that, let alone that those were her genuine thoughts. She just hoped that he hadn't hea-

"I'm sweet, am I?" He spoke lowly with a slight chuckle. Carli whipped her head around to see him leaning against the wall near the entrance to the dining room. "Crap, he heard me..."

"Jimin! Carli here was just telling me what a gentleman you were being earlier. I'm so proud I've raised such a kind and respectful young man." His mother gushed on, even making an effort to walk over to him and pinch his cheek lightly.

"Mum, that hurts, stooppp!" He groaned in response until she let go, walking away muttering something inaudible. Probably something about him not appreciating her love.

"So, how's your room?" He asked, immediately going back to seeming shy around her.

"It's amazing, I love it." She was conflicted on whether to tell him her true thoughts or hide them like she usually did. She had only been around someone like him once and they left her, just like everyone else had. So it was hard for her to trust people seeing as the most important people in her life had turned out to just be lies. A figment of her imagination that was simply too good to be true.

The meals were set on the table and everyone took their seats. Carli waited for them to be seated first as she wasn't sure if they all sat in certain places.

"Carli, you sit next to Jimin!" His mother pointed to the seat opposite her and she obliged, pulling the chair out and sitting down. Just as she went to tuck her chair in, Jimin jumped from his and did it for her. She felt a little weird about it but she had to admit it felt kind of nice to be treated that way.

"Thank you." She spoke quietly and gave him a shy smile.

"No need, I'm just treating you as a lady should be." She could see the way his jaw clenched slightly at the statement, obviously as uncomfortable saying it as she was hearing it. It was pretty obvious his parents had raised him with traditional values that he didn't agree with. She was okay with keeping up the charade around his parents as long as he treated her as an equal behind closed doors.

Dinner ran pretty smoothly. Everyone seemed to get along pretty well and Carli found herself effortlessly slipping into a role in their family she didn't feel she deserved at all. She had quite literally only just met her and were treating her as if she had always been a part of their family. The feeling of acceptance was so foreign to her that she found it hard to realise that was what was happening, even if the circumstances were pretty messed up.

"So, Carli, when do you think you'll be giving us some grandchildren?" His mother asked, her eyes wide in excitement as she leant over her food slightly.

"I, um, I mean we've only just met so we'll probably wait until after the wedding..." She trailed off, it had finally hit her that this was actually happening. That she had been sold by her parents and this was her life. That they expected her to have their son's children and live with him forever even though she barely knew him and she didn't even get a say in the matter. She stood from the table and bowed to show her respect. "Please may I be excused from the table?"

"Yes, of course sweetie." That nickname was the cherry on the cake. She ran out the room and up to her bedroom, not being able to stop the tears from flowing. She threw herself against the door and slid down it, sobbing into her knees.

•••

As Carli left the room, Jimin stood up to go after her. He was completely shocked that his mother could even talk about things like that so soon.

"You do realise the situation she's in, right? She's being forced to marry me because you want me to have a wife. 𝘠𝘰𝘶, not me. I never asked for any of this and the least you can do is give her some fucking boundaries and let her go at her own pace. Don't bring up life changing things like that unless she does first. What's happening to her is unfair enough as it is, the least she deserves is to go at her own pace with the whole thing." Jimin glared at his mother as he ranted. She looked completely shocked for a minute before a smirk settled on her face.

"Oh, you don't want this? Because I'm pretty sure I recall you saying that you did. And don't you dare swear at your mother, be respectful."

"You know very well I was being sarcastic and no I won't be respectful to someone who hasn't earned their respect." And with that, he ran out the room after Carli. He'd give her space if that was what she asked but he would beat himself up if he didn't even attempt to comfort her.

•••

Carli heard a quiet knock from the other side of the door. She sighed and tried to cover up the fact that she had been crying.

"Yes?" She asked, reluctant to know who was on the other side.

"It's Jimin, can I come in?" He asked, his voice smooth and calming to her ears.

"Okay." She muttered and stood up. She pulled the door open, staying behind it the entire time, and letting Jimin in. His face dropped impossibly further when he saw that she had been crying.

"Fuck, I'm so sorry she did that." He pulled her from the door and into him, holding her head lightly in the crook of his neck.

"It's not your fault." She found herself wanting to resist the hug but wanting to relax into it at the same time. But she was too tired and mentally exhausted to resist the comfort he was providing, so she nuzzled into his neck and wrapped her arms around his back loosely. She could tell by the way he stiffened slightly that he wasn't expecting her to hug him back. She smiled slightly as he relaxed again and sighed as he held her exactly the way she wanted to be.

They both stayed like that for a minute, his presence alone calming her. She couldn't describe the feeling she felt but it was as if she knew him. Like she had known him for years, her entire life even. The thought scared her slightly, so she begrudgingly pulled away from the hug.

His face was merely centimetres from hers when she did. They stared into each other's eyes for a moment, only a moment. But that moment was enough to charge an energy between them that hadn't been present between them yet. She felt herself wanting to move closer, to give into what she wanted. But she refused to give into it, into him. So she pulled away from him awkwardly, staring at the floor and tucking some hair behind her ear.

"Thank you." She muttered quietly.

"Stop thanking me for doing things that any good person would do. You don't realise your self worth and you deserve to because I can see what an amazing person you are. I don't know what's happened to you to be like this but I want to help you get through it. As I said, even if we're not in a romantic relationship I at least want to have a friendship with you. I can tell it's hard for you to trust people, but just this once let yourself. I'll tell my parent's that you won't be back downstairs so just chill out here for the evening. And, as I said earlier, I'm just next door if you need me." He smiled and hesitated as he left, not wanting to leave her alone with the state she was in.

Carli spent the rest of the evening wondering why Jimin felt so familiar to her. Until, eventually, she fell asleep with thoughts of him circling her mind.