Just My Size - Ch. 8
Han Ji-Eun

After we left the alley outside the theatre, each couple went their separate way. Jinki offered to walk me home, and I happily accepted.

All the way back he kept one arm around me to try to shield me from the chilly night breeze. It didn't really help much, but it felt good.

We chatted about whatever came to mind - from the movie to how long we had known our friends, and we eventually ended up talking about school and homework.

"When would you like me to come over tomorrow for our study session?" Jinki asked, voice filled with hope. “We never figured out a time.”

"Pretty much any time is good for me," I replied. "What time would be best for you?"

"Mmmm," he hummed as he thought. His eyes had rolled upwards, so it was up to me to direct us around a garbage can in our path. "Would 1 o'clock work?"

"Sounds good to me!" I smiled without restraint at him. "What subjects do you need to work on?"

"English and Chemistry,” he replied while nodding his head. “You?”

“The same, actually. I’ll definitely need help with Chemistry - I’m useless at it,” I shook my head a little while grimacing. It was my worst subject this year, and I was almost failing.

“I can help you there,” Jinki looked proud of himself. “How are you with English?”

“Pretty good, actually,” I blushed. I don’t like talking about myself like that, but it was the truth.

“Maybe you can help me with that then,” he smiled slyly at me. “Writing I’m great at, but conversing... not so much.”

“S-Sure!” I was happy to know that there was something I could do for him finally.

As we rounded a corner, I pointed down the street. “My house is second from the end of this block.”

Jinki nodded and made a small noise of understanding. “You know, I don’t live too far from here.”

I looked at him in surprise. “Really? All this time you were close and I didn’t know!” I laughed.

Jinki laughed too, then replied, “You know that little park a few blocks over?” I nodded. “My place faces it, just on the other side of it from here.”

His house was literally less than five minutes from mine.  There were two blocks between mine and the park, and Jinki’s was on the next block after that. I wasn’t sure if I should feel elated or jipped - all these years we were so close physically, but so far socially.

When we arrived at my gate, I stopped. As I dug out my key from my purse, I heard Jinki let out a long, low whistle. “Nice place!”

It wasn’t a mansion, but it was one of the bigger houses in the neighborhood. Thanks to my dad’s job, our family could afford it. We had an elegant 8-foot tall fence around our small spot of property, complete with a high gate and intercom. The house itself was very modern in design, with a chic look to it; it took up most of the property. It was off-white with a beautiful orange-brown wooden door. Between the front of the house and the fence were two tall trees that hid the sides of the house from view.

“Thanks,” I blushed. I then pointed to a window on the right side of the second floor, just off of center. “That’s my room.” The light was off - as it should be - but it was the only window on the second story that one could see from this angle because of the trees. “If I’m up in my room, I’ll be able to see you arrive tomorrow!”

“And if I need to get your attention,” Jinki started as he moved back a step, “I can stand out here and jump around like this!” He did a few over-exaggerated jumping jacks, then bounced like he was on a pogo stick. I dissolved into giggles.

Jinki, pleased at my laughter, put his arms around me once more. Our eyes met, and he whispered, “I had a wonderful time with you tonight.”

Grinning, I replied, “Same here.” My arms wrapped around his waist.

I was far too nervous to do anything but stare into his eyes. But the soft kindness I saw in them made my breath catch in my chest. As I felt my cheeks growing hot once again, I wondered what Jinki was going to do next.

As if having received a cue, he hugged me tightly. Being in his arms like that was exhilarating.

“I-I...” he started, then sighed. His warm breath in my ear made me shiver. “I’ll see you tomorrow, OK?” He loosened his grip on me and looked into my eyes again. A second passed before I could say anything.

“O-OK, Jinki,” I nodded, but didn’t break eye contact. He smiled warmly, and I managed to get my key into the fence’s lock. “Good night, then.” As I turned my key, he grabbed a bar on the fence. Once it was unlocked, he pulled it open for me.

“Sweet dreams,” he cooed at me. He then walked backwards towards the near corner, waving as he watched me go through the gate.

As I was unbuckling my Mary Janes in the entrance, I called out, “I’m home,” but received no answer. Once the shoes were off, I stepped into the house proper and gazed into the living room on the left.

My mom, Yee-Eun, and younger sister, Ha-Eun, sat on the couch, staring at me with huge grins on their faces. As soon as I saw their expressions, my eyes rolled up and I braced for impact.

My sister, who had been sitting closest to the living room doorway, tackled me first, and I just barely remained standing. A second later my mom had enveloped both of us in her arms.

“OK, OK,” I managed to mumble from within the tangle of familial limbs, “How much do you know?” It was not uncommon for my best friends to fill my sister in on important events in my life, and Ha-Eun cannot keep a secret from Mom.

“Well,” Ha-Eun drew the word out, “we just happened to see you arrive home with a boy!” Ha-Eun hugged me tightly again. I was surprised that Mi-Sun or Hea-Jung hadn’t already told her what happened. I guess they wanted my family to hear it from me personally, huh?

“You should have invited him in!” My mom rested a hand on my shoulder and smiled lovingly at me. I knew that they had both thought I’d be single forever. Even though their over-the-top reactions were embarrassing, I was grateful for their acceptance.

“Well, you’ll see him tomorrow,” I stated matter-of-factly as Ha-Eun relinquished her grip on my ribcage. “He’s coming over so we can do our homework together. Don’t worry, we’ll stay in the dining room, no funny busines-”

“Who is he? What’s his name?” My sister interjected.

“Have you finally given up on the Lee Jinki boy?” My mom asked gently. She and my sister had known about my crush for as long as my best friends had.

No matter which pair of females I’m with - my best friends or my family - I get the same treatment. I sighed.

“Funny thing about that, Mom.” I scratched the back of my head and looked down at the floor. Thanks to my peripheral vision, I saw both of them lean in closer. I looked back up and blurted out, “ThatwasLeeJinkihewaskindenoughtowalkmehomeafterwesawamovie” all at once.

I was met with stunned silence. I glanced at them both. They were as shocked as I had been at Quick Burger. I seized the moment and plugged my ears.

And boy, was I glad I did! I think I would have gone deaf otherwise. After a few seconds of unintelligible screaming from my sister and happy squeaks from my mother, I rolled my eyes again and walked over to the couch. It was good to finally sit after walking all the way home in those Mary Janes.

I sat down at the far end, and my mom and sister filed onto the couch after me. I took a deep breath and started from the beginning, from when I had left my mom’s car outside the mall that afternoon.

They sat quietly, hanging on my every word. I’m very blessed to have such family members; I know not everyone has family that will listen, accept, and support like they do.

By the time I was done with my tale, it was almost 11:30. I had no idea what time I had gotten home, but I was pretty sure I had been talking for more than 30 minutes straight. My throat felt dry.

“Why didn’t you kiss him?!” Ha-Eun exclaimed when I had finished and had gotten up to get a glass of water from the kitchen.

“I just started talking to him today!” I yelled and my voice broke from overuse. I gulped down the cool water quickly and topped off my glass before returning to the couch. “I think that would be a bit too soon, no? I don’t wanna scare him off.”

I took a few more sips, and my mom put a hand on my knee. “I’m so very happy for you, my Ji-Eun.”

“Thank you, both,” I nodded at my mom and sister in turn as my cheeks warmed up with love for them.

Ha-Eun yawned loudly. “I’m gonna head up to bed,” she announced as she stretched her arms outwards and upwards. “I’ve got swim practice in the morning, so I won’t be here when you get up.”

Even though I’m the older sister - it’s only by 11 months, though - Ha-Eun takes care of me more than I take care of her. Outside of Mi-Sun and Hea-Jung, she’s my best friend.

I suppose we look like sisters - we’re both taller than average, and have similar facial features for the most part - but I think Ha-Eun is the prettier of us. I was the only one who had inherited Dad’s intense stare and horrible eyesight, and his mom’s body type. Ha-Eun, meanwhile, had Mom’s lithe body and was made for swimming. She practically lived in the water. She was also quite popular at school and a natural charmer. I kind of envied her. She was popular because of who she was as an individual, meanwhile any remote popularity I had was due to my association with Mi-Sun and Hea-Jung. But Ha-Eun always encouraged me and gave me hope, so I felt blessed.

“OK,” I replied as she headed up the stairs slowly. “But you’ll be back around lunch time, right?” I called.

“Yep, should be,” she yawned through her words. “G’night!”

“Good night,” Mom and I called at the same time.

“I should be getting to bed too,” Mom turned to me with kind eyes. “The garden isn’t going to de-weed itself tomorrow.” She giggled lightly. The tiny garden she tended to out back of our house like a third child to her.

“Alrighty, Mom. Good night!” She kissed the top of my head as she stood up.

“Good night, Girly.” I loved it when my mom used the nickname my sister had come up with shortly after I developed my interest in Lolita fashion. The way she said it was like wind chimes blowing in the breeze.

Once I heard her close her bedroom door upstairs, I turned around on the couch and rested my arms on its back. I gazed out the large front window at the spot where Jinki had left me, half-hoping he’d still be there. Of course he wasn’t, but that didn’t stop me from staring at the spot and reminiscing.

The memory of his arms around me surfaced, and I sighed as I imagined them around me again. I pictured his sweet eyes, and they way they smiled when he did. His mannerisms and quirky humor made me giggle under my breath.

Eventually I clambered off the couch and headed up to bed. Sleep was hard to come by that night, and when it did come, I dreamed of him.

“JI-EUN! WAKE THE HELL UP!”

I bolted upright in my bed as my sister threw open my door. I stared at her with wide eyes, wondering what in the world was going on.

“Do you have any idea what time it is?” Her voice quieted down, but her frantic tone was still present.

“No, I don’t - you just woke me up!” I rubbed the sleep out of my eyes, then reached for my glasses. Once I put them on, I saw the time on my bedside clock.

12:43.

I felt a scream building in my throat, but I didn’t get a chance to release it. Ha-Eun whipped the covers off me and shoved me towards the bathroom. “GO GO GO!” She cheered as she slammed the door shut once I was in. “Time to take the quickest shower ever, Sis!” She called from the other side of the door.

After I turned the water on and threw off my PJs, I inspected my appearance in the mirror. I still had on yesturday’s make-up, and my hair was a wreck. Removing the make-up was no problem and I had that done in a flash, but I did not have time to wash and dry my hair. I sighed as I grabbed some hair ties and a shower cap.

Once the water was the right temperature, I was able to take a super-fast shower. At least, for me it was quick. When I got out, and sprinted back to my room with my towel around me, I looked at the clock again - 12:55.

I cursed under my breath as I started digging around for something to wear. I wanted something casual, but not lazy. I didn’t want to look like a bum!

Ha-Eun knocked on my open door. I turned to look at her, and she gestured with her chin at my bed. “Picked out some clothes for ya.”

I glanced over and saw them neatly folded on the foot of my bed. “Oh, thank you!”

“No prob,” she smiled at me, then placed her hand on the doorknob. “GO GO GO!” She cheered again as she closed my door. I love my sister.

I got changed in a hurry. The outfit Ha-Eun picked out was just what I was looking for - comfy, but not careless. She had picked out a bright purple zip-up sweater, a white cami to wear under that, a sky blue stretchy skirt, and white capri-length leggings. As I was looking at myself in the mirror, I took the hair ties out of my hair. “Now what am I gonna do with you...?” I mused under my breath. As I ran my brush through my hair, I settled on making two braids with the longer under-section of my hair. I clipped my bangs out of the way with two black bobby pins, and decided I was done.

I glanced at the clock again just as it clicked over to 1:00. “Eep!” I squeaked as I quickly gathered up my backpack and ran down the stairs to set up my stuff on the dining room table.

I had just taken my Chemistry textbook out of my backpack when the “door” bell rang. It sounded just like a stereotypical doorbell, but it was for the gate’s intercom. I ran over to the matching intercom in the entryway and took a breath before I pressed the button.

“Hello?” I said into the microphone.

“Hello, Ji-Eun!” Jinki called back brightly. “I hope I’m not late!”

“No, you’re right on time!” I couldn’t help but smile as I pressed the button to unlock the front gate. I then took a few more steps to the front door and opened it.

Jinki was closing the gate behind him when I saw him. He had his usual backpack from school on - of course - and it was great to know that the backpack I spent years following was going to be heading my way in a second. When he turned around, I beamed at him from the doorway.

He looked really great today. His outfit was a complete turnaround from yesturday - he wore bright colors instead of mostly black. It was bright and sunny out, so he wore a baseball cap. Though I wasn’t sure how much it was helping because he had it tilted back a bit. At least I got to see his smiling face.

On his upper body he wore a white graphic tee, but I couldn’t make out what the design was. Over that he wore a baby blue, short-sleeved button-up shirt, and it was completely open. His pants were a pastel orange color, and I could just barely see a Crayola blue belt around his waist. He wore white hi-tops on his feet.

He jogged up to my front door, and bowed before entering. “Thank you for having me!” He declared while his head was down.

“Yeah, not a problem!” I responded through a chuckle. He picked his head up and grinned from ear to ear as he stepped over the threshold.

As he took off his backpack I admired his unexpected biceps. They weren’t “guns” like Minho’s or Jonghyun’s, but they were quite pleasing in my eyes. He set his bag gently on the wooden floor next to me and bent down to untie his shoes.

I found myself just staring, not really believing that Jinki was actually in my house. But I was poked out of my trance by my sister. I turned around and she shoved the guest slippers at me silently. She winked as she turned to go upstairs.

“Here ya go!” I handed Jinki the slippers just as he was done taking his shoes off.

“Thank you very much!” He smiled as he slipped them on. “So, where are we setting up?” He asked as he looked around.

“We’ll be in the dining room,” I motioned down the hall a little ways, just past the living room. As I turned to lead the way, Jinki grasped my hand. I let out a small gasp, and Jinki let go in surprise.

But I immediately smiled and re-grasped his hand.

It only took  us a few steps to enter the dining room, but he held my hand until I was seated. He then walked around to the other side and sat himself down.

“Where is your family?” He looked around nervously. I guess he hadn’t realized my sister had been in the entryway with us briefly.

“My sister is in her room,” I guessed, “and my mom might still be in the garden.”

“And your dad?” He cocked his head to the side.

“He... ah...” I stared down at the table as I thought of how to phrase my answer. Luckily my mom came in through the back door in the kitchen right then.

Our dining room and kitchen are connected by a doorway and a bar-like cutout in the wall, so we heard her come in loud and clear, and Jinki was able to see her from where he sat.

“It is getting hot out there!” My mom announced as she came in. She hadn’t noticed us sitting in the next room yet, so she was talking loudly just in case anyone could hear. “Ji-Eun, when is Jinki getting here?”

“He’s already here, Mom,” I replied at my normal volume and gestured to Jinki. He waved amicably at her and stood up from his chair. I heard my sister burst out laughing from upstairs and rolled my eyes.

He bowed deeply to her and repeated his earlier message. “Thank you very much for having me, Mrs. Han.”

My mom’s eyes were still adjusting from coming out of the bright sunlight, and she blinked hard. “Oh my! Sorry, I didn’t see you there!”

“It’s OK, Mom,” I giggled.

She took off her gardening gloves and wide-brimmed hat and placed them on the kitchen counter. After she traded her “outdoor” shoes for her house slippers, she came into the dining room and shook Jinki’s hand.

“It’s wonderful to finally meet you!” She smiled warmly. “Ji-Eun’s always talking about yo-”

“Hey, Mom!” I interrupted, not wanting her to embarrass me. “Do we, uh... do we have any snacks?”

My mom winked at me as she turned towards the kitchen. “I’ll see what I can scrounge up.”

“Thank you very much, Mrs. Han.” Jinki bowed his head in her direction.

“Please call me Ms. Park, dear Jinki,” she called loftily.

“Oh, OK.” Jinki raised his eyebrows in my direction. “Thank you, Ms. Park.”

Not wanting him to ask just yet - mainly because I wasn’t ready to answer - I plopped my Chemistry notebook on the table harder than I would normally do. “Shall we get started?”

“OK, sure,” Jinki nodded. “Have you read the chapter yet?”

“Nope, not one bit,” I admitted with a chuckle.

“Me neither,” Jinki laughed. “Wanna take turns reading aloud? Like in class?”

“OK, sure!” I smiled as I flipped my textbook open to the correct page. Anything to hear his lovely voice more.

“Ladies first,” he chuckled in a low tone, and the sound sent very good chills down my spine.

“O-OK.” I felt the corners of my mouth turn up as I started reading.

It took us awhile, but we got through the chapter, switching off reading at each section header. We still weren’t used to saying the complicated names of compounds, and we had some good laughs at each other’s attempts. Also, my mom brought in milk and cookies after only a page and a half.

“Thanks so much, Mom.” I kissed her cheek before she straightened up after setting the tray on the table.

“You’re very welcome, sweetie,” she returned the gesture by kissing the top of my head. She lingered for a moment and whispered, “He’s so cute in-person! Ji-Eun Fighting!”

I smiled up at her as she walked away. “I’ll be in my chair, reading, if you need me,” my mom called as she went back outside.

“OK!” I replied as I turned back to my books and Jinki.

The drinks and snacks were finished long before the reading was. But once the chapter was over, we still had questions to answer and a short worksheet by our teacher to fill out. I could do the end-of-chapter questions just fine - that was just a matter of finding the answer in the chapter and writing it down. But it was always those darn worksheets that got me.

It turns out that Jinki was a really good tutor (can I call him that?). He took his time with me, and explained the concepts I was having trouble with. By the end of the worksheet, I felt like I actually understood what I had written down for once.

But after all that, it was time for a break. I glanced at the wall clock and saw that it was already a little after 3!

“Wow, we’ve been at this for a long time!” I stated as I closed up my Chemistry things.

“You wanna go for a walk?” Jinki asked as he bent down to put his books in his bag.

“Uh, sure!” I was a little stunned by the question (he has a habit of doing that, huh?), but please by it. “It’d be a shame to waste this beautiful day in here.”

“Ah yes, indeed,” he agreed as he gazed out the window. “Areumdawo,” he crooned briefly, then glanced at me. He raised his eyebrows as he grinned, and I blushed deeply.

Jinki came around to my side and held out his hand. I took it gingerly and he squeezed my hand. He helped me up, and we walked towards the front door hand-in-hand.

“Oh!” I exclaimed softly. “I should let my mom know before we go.” Jinki nodded and I let go of his hand.

I jogged to the back door and opened it enough to poke my head through. Mom wasn’t seated too far from the door, and she looked up from her book at the sound.

“Hey Mom, we’re going for a walk. Be back in a bit!” I smiled at her.

“Alrighty, honey, have fun!” She said it in a sing-songy way. I nodded, and rushed back to Jinki.

He had his sneakers on already and was looking around at the multitude of shoes in the entryway.

“So, I recognize those,” he pointed at my Mary Janes that I forgot to put away last night. “And I think you’ve worn those to school before,” he pointed to another pair of dressy shoes, and I was amazed that he had taken enough notice before to remember them now. “But those aren’t good shoes for a walk.”

I plopped down on the edge of the raised wooden floor and grabbed an old pair of sneakers.

“You own sneakers? I’m surprised!” His eyes went wide in genuine shock, and I chuckled as I slipped them on without untying them.

“I don’t,” I stated as I stood up. “They’re my sister’s.” Jinki laughed, then proffered his arm to me.

“Shall we?” He looked positively dapper.

“Yes, let’s!” I grinned as he opened the door.

Sorry I took so long on this chapter! I hope it was worth the wait. X3;;

By the way, here’s Jinki’s outfit. ;D Areumdawo~

As always, let me know what you think! Thanks so much for reading! ^__^