Chapter 06 – Wretched life story

Mina

I resigned my self for the coming conversation and just walked past him, sitting back on the bed. It was clear that he wasn’t going to let this go, no matter how much I wanted him to. My blabbermouth and anger earlier probably didn’t help things either. He was looking at me like he couldn’t be sure whether to be shocked or devastated.

“It’s been seven years Jungkook, things have changed, a lot.” I avoided looking at him. The way I spoke earlier probably gave him the wrong idea but I just couldn’t help but feel defensive the way I did. He has so much now and I had so little. Suddenly I had so little confidence and he had so much that it was making me feel suffocated.

Isn’t it funny how material things made us change the way we felt? In an ideal world, it shouldn’t but this was nowhere close to an ideal world. Is this how I made him feel in the past? I hoped to god not.

“But why are you working for a who –um I mean an service?” He stumbled over his words. V, before he left had made it very very clear that this wasn’t exactly their first arrangement with Crimson Wings and I had a feeling that most of their arrangement weren’t exactly the kind I was singed up for today. I cringed at the thought of it. This was so much harder than I could have ever expected. I had to face reality I guess, this wasn’t the same boy I loved, who blushed when I . It broke my heart all over again. I needed to get out of here before I broke down and the only way was to give him the information he was after.

“I’m not technically working for them. I got this job through a friend.” I left it at that, he didn’t have to know that I had been and still was considering about getting myself into the agency. It would be my last resort so I wasn’t at that point yet. I would work myself to the bone before I ever had to get there. “But like I said, things have changed Jungkook. I’m not the rich girl you knew me as.” I gave him a rueful sigh. He remained silent so I continued on. “Dad had a and while he was recovering he was cheated off of his shares by his lawyer and his partner.” I sighed going over the sordid details. “He thought he was signing the shares temporarily over to his partner until he recovered and trusted his lawyer a little too much. His carelessness meant that the lawyer got him to sign the permanent transfer of shares document instead of the temporary transfer of shares documents. The rest as they say is history.” I glazed over the rest of it. It wasn’t as that simple. When my dad realised his error he went for a custody battle that used up all his savings and got him killed with a second . Me and my mum had begged him to just give up but he hadn’t listened. Anyone could have seen he was fighting a loosing battle but he was too driven with anger to realize that. It had been his whole life’s worth of work.

“What happened to Mr Jung?” He asked, shock clear in his expression.

“He passed away from a second .” I admitted, my throat feeling tight. His death too hadn’t been that simple. Dad had struggled for a few months as a disabled person, being fed from feeding tubes before finally he wasted away.

“God, I’m so sorry Mina.” He stood up and moved closer to me but I shuffled away. I needed distance if I were to survive this.

He stopped and stood still, looking down at me. “Right.” He muttered, running his hands through his hair before sitting back down on the sofa. “That’s when you stopped answering my calls?”

I nodded. Yeah, that’s when I stopped answering his calls and stopped calling him back because my phone got disconnected. Then we moved to Seoul for the last two years of my high school because we didn’t have our house anymore and it was easier to find a job for mum and part time jobs for me in the city but neither of us had any experience or qualifications. My mum had been a rich pampered wife all her life and I hadn’t been any better. The only jobs available to us were the once to clean, cook and wait tables.

I took to cleaning jobs because they had flexible hours while mum worked as a cook and a waitress now. This was the exact time frame that BTS rose to fame. It seemed pretty ironic that even the time frames matched, when I fell to the lowest point in my life, he rose to the top.

So, there it was, my wretched life story so far.

There was tense moment of silence before Jungkook just got up and left for the bathroom. I heard the water running and my shoulders sagged with defeat. He was having a shower and hadn’t uttered a single word before he closed himself off in the bathroom. It was a clear dismissal and I knew it. He hadn’t said it out loud but he probably just felt too bad for me to say so to my face and I wasn’t about to stick around.

I picked up my bag and stood, only to crumple down onto the bed in a dizzy spell, I was becoming aware of my stomach gnawing on itself with hunger. I couldn’t remember the last time I had a decent meal. I was really counting on today’s money to take some actual food home and I wasn’t even sure whether I’d get any money for today. I could only hope that Alice didn’t get into any real trouble for my mistake. I was wondering whether the flight back home would give me any inflight food. The one I got here fell between breakfast and lunch so they hadn’t. At least that’s what I assumed when they didn’t dish out a meal but it was a pretty short flight so for all I knew, they probably didn’t give any at all.

I glanced at the fridge, tempted to rummage. I knew none of the guys took the cake with them and the shower was still running so Jungkook would probably take a while longer. Giving in, I dashed to the fridge. I opened to peak inside and almost wept with relief. There wasn’t just the cake, there was a half eaten sandwich and some leftover Banana milk. My heart clenched at the reminder that I used to stock my fridge with Banana milk. I hated that drink with a passion because it tasted like crap to me but Jungkook had loved them then too.

I pulled out both of them and gulped down the Banana milk, it tasted a little sour and I wondered how long it had been in the fridge. I picked up the sandwich and turned around but realized too late that the shower had stopped, just in time to see Jungkook walk out the bathroom. I lost the grip on the sandwich in my panic and it fell to the floor with a plat. I watched him, look down to the sandwich on the floor and the banana milk bottle I was holding on to while he had a white knuckled grip on the door frame. Then he turned around and went back in.

I assumed he was giving me a few more minutes to get out, my mind catching up with the fact that he didn’t even look like he had a shower, only his fringe was wet and he was still in his clothes. Working fast I threw the milk container in the rubbish and picked up the sandwich off the floor. I took a quick bite while I ran to collect my bag when once again the door opened and he stood watching me. His eyes snapped down to my mouth and then the rest of the sandwich I was holding on to before he kicked the sofa table with a frustrated groan.

I startled and flinched back, almost falling on my .

I was about to apologize for stealing his food and not leaving fast enough when he took a deep breath before straightening up again “We are getting room service.” He called out staring me down with a fierce look in his face, like he expected me to argue with him.

“What?” I asked feeling distracted. My gaze remained fixed on his clenched palms at his side. If he started punching then I needed to know in advance to get the hell out of here fast enough. This was unfamiliar territory for me with him and once again another reminder that neither of us are the same anymore.

There was an awkward silence while I watched him order. I stayed standing torn between sneaking out and taking a seat back down.

“If you leave, I’ll just chase you down.” He shrugged then took a seat, hanging his head over the back of the sofa. His fair flipped back and I was so tempted to run my hand through it but that probably wasn’t a privilege I had anymore.

“Stop staring.” He called out and I jerked my eyes back to his face. His eyes were closed, his head still laying back so I’m not exactly sure how he felt my eyes on him.

It was at the tip of my tongue to apologize but I swallowed it back. “I can leave?” That came out as a question so I cleared my throat and re phrased it. “I need to leave. I have a flight to catch Jungkook.”

“Do you really have to make it this weird?” He asked with a rueful grin, lifting his head up again. “With me?” His lips pulled down in a pout.

I shrugged fell back down on to the bed. “It is weird, like I mean you’re an idol now. The last time I saw you was up on a big stage.” I admitted. I’m pretty sure people freaked out in his presence these days.

“Take the money and the fame away and I’m still you’re Kookie.” I felt my gut clench at his words and I’m sure it showed on my face too. He looked at me with an expression that I wasn’t sure how to read. I couldn’t tell whether he was angry or amused or neither but what was clear was the way his intense stare was making me feel like a nervous wreck.

He lifted a brow and gave me a look that was so damn y that it almost had me panting. What the hell. I thought I managed to keep my reaction hidden well this time only to realized maybe not when his eyes landed on my fists clenching onto the mattress and the sheets on either side of me. His lips pulled up in a knowing smirk, his eyes shinning with mischief. I knew I was in so much trouble.

And the looks too. I wanted to shoot back. By that I mean the y hair, the flawless face and the ripped body. I’ve loved him since childhood but looks hadn’t played much into the way I felt. Sure he was cute then but he had been just like any other fifteen year old boy, grubby and awkward. But now – my god!

I was the one used to teasing him like this because I thought it was so freaking adorable the way he would blush and would look either panicky or freaked. I felt the heat in my cheeks and knew I was the one doing all the blushing now.

“Stop it.” I snapped at him and all he did was give me an exaggerated clueless look but his eyes were filled with amusement.

“What do you mean Mimi?” His voice had dropped lower and I swear the temperature in the room went from hot to scalding when his posture relaxed and he sat back on the sofa, his arms going up to extend them along the back of the sofa. He relaxed back into the sofa even more and his legs parted like guys tended to do when they sprawled themselves onto sofas. My wandering eyes dropped to his crotch just as he had intended and I snapped my eyes back up to his face when my head caught up to what my eyes were doing.

Yeah! He seemed determined to let me know just how much our roles have changed. The victorious smirk on his face made it loud and clear.

“Cute.” His smirk turned into a boyish grin while he watched me struggle with my reaction. Memories of me calling him exactly that countless times with that same expression flashed through my head.

“This is totally inappropriate friend behaviour.” I didn’t realize I had said it out loud until the tension broke with his bark of laughter.

“Didn’t stop you from doing it before.” He kept grinning.

“Yeah, well you never did it back then.” I pointed out.

“No, you never reacted back then.” He argued and I frowned.

“What?” I questioned but before he could respond there was a knock on the door.

“Must be the food.” He stood up. “Let’s eat, then I’m going to change your flight details.” He gave me a stubborn look that didn’t leave any room for argument. “You are flying back with me.” 

A/N: This is unedited guys. So please ignore any obvious mistakes.

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