Way too well

Killing our Ghosts

Minjeong had promised Jimin she would think about their conversation when it was all over. But what if she was already thinking about it? She couldn’t help but spend her time delivering drinks daydreaming about finishing high school, going to college, or even taking just a shorter dance course, and then living a dream she would never even dare of dreaming.

Also, the idea of moving in with Jimin. She knew it wasn’t something to happen in the near future, but she also couldn’t help but smile just thinking about it. Falling asleep and waking up next to her every day, having their meals together with Yerim, dropping her off at school, and then picking her up later in the afternoon.

Forming a family.

But that brought worries as well. How would they tell Yerim? Would she be okay with moving to a new house? She knew Yerim liked Jimin a lot, but... having her as a parent? Did Jimin even want to be like a parent figure for Yerim? It sure looked like that was what she had said the day before, but it may have been Minjeong’s wishful thinking.

Minjeong let her body sink in the car seat, sighing at all the questions and doubts floating around her mind. But at least those distant dreams that didn’t seem so distant anymore stopped her from thinking about the looming problem all the time. And just as she had that thought, she noticed the missed call from Jimin. Excitement and anxiousness prickled under her skin as she called her back.

“Hey, babe.” Jimin greeted.

“Hi, baby. Is everything alright?” She drummed her fingers on the steering wheel.

“Yes, and I have great news.”

Minjeong irked an eyebrow. “How so?”

“Remember the friend I said I was sure would be able to help us?” Jimin asked, and Minjeong hummed. “She wants to talk to us today. Your shift is almost over, yes?”

Her heart hammered in her chest. “Yes, just one more delivery to go.”

“Good. Yerim will still be at school?”

“Yeah, she has the dance club today.”

“Great! Meet me in my office when you’re done, then. Love you.”

“Okay, love you too.”

She hung up, tossed her phone to the passenger’s seat, and closed her eyes, letting her head fall back.

It was time. Time to face it, once and for all. But she wasn’t alone, and the sooner they took care of it, the sooner it all would be over.

Jimin stepped outside the building, an ear to ear grin as she walked towards Minjeong. She pecked her lips and circled an arm around hers, pulling her towards her car.

“I missed you,” Jimin said.

“You saw me yesterday.”

“And? Can’t I still miss you?”

Minjeong chuckled. “I missed you too. Is it okay for you to leave your job like that?”

“I’m my own boss, remember? And yes, it’s okay. They can take care of themselves while I’m away.”

“Where are we going, then?”

Jimin opened her Mustang’s passenger door so Minjeong could sit, and then sat at the driver’s seat, turning on the engine and driving forward.

“Seeing my friend Yunjin.”

“Is she your lawyer?”

“No, that’s Aeri. But I actually did meet with her the other day, and Yizhuo as well.”

“Yizhuo?” Minjeong frowned. “She didn’t tell me anything. Wasn’t I supposed to be there as well?”

“Don’t worry, we just talked about what you already know, whatever bull Sooyoung is accusing us of. And let me tell you, they don’t stand a chance. Aeri and Yizhuo will go over all the evidence collected five years ago, while we’re going to meet Yunjin for an interrogation.”

“O-Oh.” Minjeong clenched her fists on her lap, and in the same second, Jimin’s hand came to hold them.

“I’m sorry, Minjeong. I know it’s hard.”

“I’m fine.” Minjeong nodded. “I can do it.”

“It won’t take too long, I’m sure.”

The rest of the drive went by in silence, Minjeong’s mind imagining the questions she would have to answer. But in no time Jimin slowed down, parking her car near the police station. Jimin held her hand and gave her a reassuring smile before leading the way inside.

Flashbacks of the past popped up in Minjeong’s mind, but she forced them away, squeezing Jimin’s hand.

A woman, dressed in jeans and a button up, short sleeved white shirt, talked with two policemen near the entrance. As the sound of Jimin’s heels became louder, she turned, and her face lit up. She mumbled something to the men, who walked away, and turned, opening her arms.

“Jimin!”

“Hey, Yunjin.” She let go of Minjeong and rushed to hug the woman, who patted her back enthusiastically. “It’s been some time.”

“Right! Man, look at you.” She stared at her from head to toe, then her eyes averted to Minjeong. “I believe you’re Minjeong!”

“H-Hi.” She bowed at her. “Nice to meet you.”

“Nice to meet you too.” Yunjin extended her hand to her. “Jimin did say you were pretty.”

Warmth spread across Minjeong’s cheeks, and she could only let out a weird chuckle.

“Alright, let’s go.” Jimin patted Yunjin’s shoulders. “You got everything from Aeri, yes?”

“I did.” Yunjin nodded, leading them inside an empty room, and closed the door. “I already read everything, went through the files, and everything checks out. I didn’t find any incoherence. The case was correctly closed. But since there are new claims, and even if they sound rushed or farfetched, it’s such a weirdly awful coincidence that you two are somehow connected to the case.”

“Tell me about it.” Jimin sighed.

“I already prepared the questions. Who wants to go first?”

“Wanna go first?” Jimin’s hand rested on Minjeong’s lower back. “You need to go pick Yerim up soon as well.”

“Yes. I’ll go first.”

“Then I’ll wait outside.” Jimin kissed her forehead.

Jimin left the room, and Yunjin urged Minjeong to sit. She complied, observing as Yunjin took a couple of files from the cupboard before sitting in front of her.

“I’ll ask you a few questions about what happened a long time ago, so answer as clearly as you can. And take your time.” Yunjin smiled at her.

“Don’t worry, I remember everything. Way too well.”

“Alright. Then, first of all, please describe to me your relationship with Jaehyun.”

Minjeong took in a deep breath. She would have to talk about it all again, so she already had time to mentally prepare herself. Yunjin listened attentively, taking notes on her notepad.

“Did you ever think of getting revenge on him? For the things he did to you?” Yunjin asked.

“Revenge?” Minjeong frowned. “Even if I grew to hate him, I wouldn’t wish him death, let alone do anything to cause him harm. So, no.”

Yunjin nodded, writing something else down.

“Do you remember the day of their deaths? Where you were, what you were doing?”

Minjeong’s mind took her there in the same second. “As if it was yesterday. Yerim had started school not too long before, so I took her to school in the morning, then I took an hour long jog, and then stopped at the supermarket to buy food to make myself lunch, since Jaehyun never had lunch at home. I was preparing the food when I got the call... saying he and Hyoseob were found dead in Jaehyun’s office.” She paused to take a deeper breath.

“Do you need something? A glass of water?” Yunjin asked.

“No, no, I’m fine, thank you.”

“Before his death, do you remember any changes in his behavior?”

“He changed, but as the years went by. He was struggling with his company, but the situation got worse gradually. Both with the company and with him and our marriage.”

Some more notes jotted down before Yunjin continued. “When, where, and how did you meet Jimin?”

“May twenty second. It was around eleven thirty at night, and we met at S&S, the bar at Hotel Illusion. My best friend works there, so I regularly go there when I finish my late shifts. I was having a drink when I saw a man approaching and harassing Jimin. I stepped in, pretending to know her so he would leave her alone. Security came, took him away, while I was having a panic attack from the way he talked to me and pushed me. You know, it triggered some memories.”

Yunjin nodded with an apologetic smile.

“Then Jimin helped me and took me back to the bar so I could get something to drink, and thanked me for having helped her. Then we just... kept talking, and... things flowed.”

“So, you had no idea who she was? Her name didn’t ring any bell at the time?”

“No. I was with her again in May twenty fourth, and only got to find out more about her as the time went by.”

“Is there anyone who can verify this information?”

“My friend who works there, Hyunjin. She was there when I first met Jimin.”

“Very well.” Yunjin flipped the page and wrote some more. “That’s all, we’re done.”

“A-Already?”

“Yeah, I already have everything I needed from you.” Yunjin stood up, and Minjeong followed. “I’ll keep doing my part, and please rest assured, I’ll let you and Jimin know as soon as I have news.”

Minjeong bowed. “Thank you so much.”

“Let me go fetch Jimin now.” Yunjin smiled, walking Minjeong to the door.

She stepped outside, and Jimin jumped from her seat, rushing to their side.

“Your turn,” Yunjin said.

“Alright. You need to go now, right?” She asked Minjeong.

“Yes, Yerim’s almost done.”

“Sorry, Yunjin, you’ll need to wait for a bit. I need to drive her back to my company.”

“No problem, I’ll work on some other stuff in the meanwhile.”

“Thank you.”

“See you, Minjeong!” Yunjin waved at her.

“Bye, thank you again.”

Heading outside, Minjeong took in a long breath of fresh air.

“How was it?”

“Not as hard as I thought it would be.”

“That’s great, right?” Jimin beamed. “I’m so happy and proud of you, Minjeongie. You’re amazing.”

Minjeong felt her cheeks warming up, but smiled nonetheless. “W-Why that all of a sudden?”

“It’s true. You’re fighting so hard, even though this is difficult for you.”

“Because I’m not alone.”

They stopped by Jimin’s Mustang, and she pulled Minjeong into a tight hug, caressing her hair.

“I’m glad you know that. Now let’s go, I don’t want Yerim to wait for you.”

They reached her company in no time. Minjeong pulled Jimin close for a kiss, but didn’t let go. She held her gaze, the words she wanted to say blocked in .

“What is it?”

“Let’s have dinner and stay the night.”

Jimin grinned. “But of course. Why did you seem so nervous to say that? Haven’t we done that lots of times before?”

“Yes, but... tomorrow’s Saturday. And I was thinking if you wanted to spend the weekend with me and Yerim. You know, we could go out for a walk, or go to the movies, get ice cream.”

A hand came to cup Minjeong’s cheek. “You have no idea how much I would love that.”

Minjeong pecked her lips once again. “I’ll ask Yerim what she thinks of the idea. I hope she likes it.”

“I’m sure she will. She loves me, after all.” Jimin flipped her hair.

“Of course. What’s not to love about you?”

“You’re such a sweet talker, Minjeong.”

“Tell me about it. It’s just... I want Yerim to get more used to you. To us. And for you to get used to her.”

Jimin widened her eyes.

“I know you told me we didn’t need to think about, like... m-moving in now, but... I’ve been thinking about it. And I think it’s a good thing for you two to be together a lot. D-Don’t you think?”

The following silence made Minjeong’s anxiety shoot up. But when Jimin threw herself at her, hugging her and squeezing her body, she relaxed instantly. “I... I don’t even know what to say, Minjeong. Yes, I think it’s a wonderful idea. And thank you for telling me about it and for considering my offer.”

“I want this as well. A whole lot.”

Jimin beamed and pecked her lips. “I’m glad we’re on the same boat about that. Now go, don’t keep Yerim waiting. I’ll call you when I’m done with Yunjin, and I’ll be hoping for an amazing answer.”

“Me too.”

Minjeong reached for the door handle, but Jimin yanked her back to kiss her one more time. “I love you.”

“I love you too. Don’t miss me too much, alright?” Minjeong bopped her nose.

“I’ll try.”

Minjeong slowed down and waved at the window so Yerim could see her, but she was distracted talking with Yeojin. Those two were inseparable.

“Yerim!” Minjeong called as she rolled down the window.

The girl finally noticed her, and after saying goodbye, she rushed to the car, sitting in the back seat.

“Hi, Mom!”

“Hey, sweetheart. How was your day?”

“Good! We’re almost done with learning the choreography for Heart Shaker, and the teacher said I’m doing great!”

Minjeong turned back and ruffled her hair. “That’s my Yerimie!”

Yerim beamed, clearly proud of herself.

“Hey, Yerim?”

“Hm?”

“How do you feel about having dinner with Jimin?”

“Can we?”

“Of course.”

“Yes, I want to!”

Minjeong smiled. “And what if we spent the weekend with her?”

Yerim widened her eyes. “The whole weekend?”

“Y-Yes. We could go to the movies, or do something you would like to do. H-How does that sound? Would that be fun?”

Yerim nodded vigorously, a grin plastered across her lips. “Super fun! I wanna tell her about how well I’m doing in the choreography! Does she dance as well as you, mom? I can teach you two the chorus if you like!”

A wave of relief washed over Minjeong. “She’ll love that.”

---

A/N: prepare yourselves for the biggest dose of fluff for the next chapter!!! and it's a longgg long one! 

Twitter - @itzloonatic
CuriousCat - curiouscat.me/itzloonatic

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oofiee 1047 streak #1
Chapter 14: this is so good 😭 im happy winter found someone she could share her burdens with

thank you for writing this!
oofiee 1047 streak #2
Chapter 12: omg finallyyy, i was scared af w/ the vibe ningning was giving off initially 😩

scared irene and sooyoung will take the matters outside of court and harm them...
oofiee 1047 streak #3
Chapter 11: true... minjeong shouldnt worry too much abt jimin running away :')
oofiee 1047 streak #4
Chapter 10: 🥹
lordakm #5
Chapter 9: Chapter8: the heartwarming fluff was soooo overwhelming in the best way possible 😭🖤🖤
oofiee 1047 streak #6
Chapter 9: she was probably feeling lonely dealing with this case last time so it must be a v nice change to have jimin around :')
oofiee 1047 streak #7
Chapter 8: you are so good with words! their convo is so heartwarming 🥺
oofiee 1047 streak #8
Chapter 7: yerim almost lost both of her parents to the same thing...

didnt expect karina's reaction given all her reassurance to minjeong but understandable... she mustve never thought minjeong's past is directly related to her
Sonozaki_
#9
Chapter 6: It’s okay!! Hope youre taking care of yourself aaand gosh not ready for a heavy one since im kinda in the slumps ;-; BUT ITS OKAY. WILL WAIT REGARDLESS
whykidleader_ #10
Chapter 3: This is so well written, I am really amazed. Glad I came upon this while I randomly searching for JMJ stories. Looking forward how the stories unfold. Author-nim, fighting ! 👍