Seokmin
Jin-xed For Eternity
Right after the Bus left Jin and I at our usual bus stop, I got down with my hands pressed against one another. I do sometimes get the idea that maybe Jin likes me. But maybe he just wants to befriend me.
"Let's go!" Jin said as he held my hand and pulled me running into the road that lead to his house while my house was on the opposite direction.
"Wait, Jin!" I said as he pulled me excitedly into the valley. I had to inform my Mom that I wasn't going to be home.
"There's no time for waiting in life, Ae Ri-ah!" Jin said as he sprinted towards his house. It was like any other house. Nothing big. But unlike the wood that my house was made up of, his house had more looking walls.
"Jin, ah," I panted as we stopped in front of his house. "I need to tell my Mum I ain't going to be coming for Dinner,"
Jin opened the gate, unconcerned. "Call from my house," he said and asked me to follow him inside. As soon as he opened the door, there was a narrow hall filled with paintings hanging on the sides and the kitchen on the other side. The stairway lead to rooms upstairs.
Jin's house was the most lighted place I had ever been to. There was music playing from the kitchen side and colourful paintings all over the walls. Jin walked in sloppily while whistling. "I'm home!" he yelled.
"Don't get afraid of my parents," he winked at me as I stood behind and his parents approached.
"Kim Ae Ri, we're bus buddies," Jin said as he wrapped his arm around me like a jock while I bowed at Jin's mom uncomfortably.
"Welcome!" Jin's dad said from over the table, "We told him to invite some friends over for Dinner today. Jin's Mom's special dinner," he said.
While Jin just made a face. "It's not that special, Ae Ri-ah," Jin joked to tease his Mom and his father laughed "Don't get your hopes too high,"
"Ah you! Being his father, you're laughing with your son!" Jin's mom exclaimed with her hands on her hips, jokingly. "None of you are being served dinner today. Guess it's just me and beautiful Ae-Ri," she said as she looked at me and frowned at them.
"HEY!" both Jin and his father yelled. "Ae Ri will share some with me, won't you?" Jin looked at me and laughed at his Mom.
"No, she won't," Jin's mom said as she came over my side and hugged me while I just watched their family play amongst each other.
Jin jumped up on his beanbag and I sat on his bed looking at his room in awe.
"You like my room?" Jin asked, taking off his school sweater. Jin was extremely comfortable as compared to me. I was quite flustered at what I was supposed to do now that I've ended up in his house in his room.
"Yeah it's filled up, you haven't left a single empty space on your wall," I said as I looked around.
The wall behind the TV had polaroid pictures hanging on a rope. I saw two polaroids he clicked of me hanging there as well.
"You must really like Art," I said as I gazed through the many polaroids hangings on the wall. From baby Jin to recent pictures all were compiled into one big wall.
"I believe in memories, that's all." Jin said as he watched me walk around his room facing my back towards him.
"You've never visited another friend's place ever, have you?" he said to me. I froze in my position. I must be behaving very obvious to the many things I've never seen before.
"Um," I said as I turned around to look at Jin who confidently was looking at me. "No," I openly admitted. Even though it's a reality I face everyday, saying it out loud is quite painful.
But Jin just gave me what seemed like half a smile and half a smirk. "That's okay, you can come over my place anytime you want," he said.
"Afterall, I snuck into your place without your permission so it gives me no right to not invite you," he laughed. He was so good at making sad topics turn into happy ones, you almost forget that you were upset about things in the first place.
About 10 minutes after, Dinner was served. Jin's parents kept on asking about school and made fun of Jin's hair and his skin and the many things Jin wasn't insecure about. Lasagne was pretty good, much to Jin's Mom's pleasure. Jin also had a little brother called Seokmin. But Seokmin was in 7th grade and didn't talk a lot, but whenever he did, he always would end up saying something savage.
He didn't look like Jin at all though. And the evening passed joking and laughing.
"Thanks for having me over," I said as I walked outside the door after Dinner was over.
"Ah this girl," Jin's Mom said as he hugged Jin's dad, "she says thank you a lot," they joked. I just blushed. I knew I was way too formal sometimes because I've never been to somebody else' place like this.
"It's almost 9 and it's dark," Jin's father said, "Jin, why don't you drop Kim Ae Ri?"
I just looked at Jin who stood there by his parents and looked a little alarmed. "I don't mind," he said as he opened the door for me. "I'll be back in 10 minutes, she lives on the opposite end of the road," Jin said to his parents.
"You sound like you've been over before?" Jin's mother teased. "Have you two been bunking school together at Kim Ae Ri's place?" she joked even more.
"MOM!" Jin cringed, "Aish you really are such an embarrassment, how does Dad even tolerate your cringy jokes?" Jin mocked.
"I also tolerate your Dad's lame jokes, just by the way," she stated.
"What? You said you liked them!" Jin's Dad said.
"Ae Ri-ah! Let's just leave quickly," Jin said as he cringed on his parents' lovey dovey argument and I just laughed along.
The road towards my house was empty. And right in the middle of the night, I found myself walking silently next to Jin. The night was dark but the street lights were on and it was dead silent if it wasn't for the crickets in the bushes. I saw Jin walking with his head up in the sky and hands in his pockets.
"It's so aestically silent at night," Jin said, looking up at the stars.
"True," I said. I had never been out in the night before.
"It isn't even this late," Jin said, "Imagine how the sky would look when it's midnight," Jin said. Incheon wasn't as developed as Seoul and had some rural aspects to it. For example, how lighted the stars in the nightsky are. The smell of freshly cut bushes on the sidewalk and the little bugs flying around the tall street lights.
The feeling was in deed, remarkable. I never knew how calm it felt walking on the roads of North Incheon silently.
But the walk wasn't as long as I expected. It was simply 10 minutes and I wanted it to last a little longer. Jin on the other hand was just silently watching the sky as we walked together. We had no conversation whatsoever. But it was by far the best I had with him all day.
As we approached my house, I could see that the curtains were open and my stepdad was home. He seemed drunk and angry at my mom about something. I knew something wrong was about to happen and I didn't know what to do at this moment. I definately didn't want him to see this.
"Is this your house?" Jin asked with concern as he looked into the window through which my stepdad was holding my mom's wrist tightly.
"uhh," I muttered with blood rushing into my face and veins. I was helpless at this moment.
"Jin-n, thank you for uh, dropping me home but I think you should, uh, leave n-now," I said quickly and request for Jin to leave before he sees anything else. Jin didn't seem to hear and he just kept looking into the window with his eyebrows twitched together. I turn around before Jin catches a hold of my hand.
"No, Ae Ri," Jin said as he pulled me to face him. "What, your dad's like, violent with you and your mom?" Jin states the obvious. I didn't want my only friend to know of my weaknesses but I couldn't do much at this point as we heard plates behind hammered onto the wooden floor of my house.
"Jin, just let go, please," I looked around, unable to make eye contact with Jin, whose face was less than 10cm from my own.
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