Trust
This Spring, I'll Love YouChapterOne
"I can't believe you caught THE Park Jaebum..." One of the officers muttered to the other. "This guy's a real troublemaker you know..."
"But he didn't do anything illegal is the thing..." The two policemen conversed with each other while Jaebum just rolled his eyes and tried not to fall asleep.
'These stupid assholes...' Jaebum leaned back in his chair and took a deep breath in. Never again would he start a fight with some punk at the club. Hah, who was he kidding, he'll probably go right back once they decide what to do with him.
"No way, this kid has trouble written all over him!"
"I can hear you, you know..." The officer gave Jaebum a mean look and walked away. "Whatever, just do whatever you want with him, you're the boss."
The man that had caught Jaebum looked over to him and smiled lightly. "Alright, Park Jaebum, I feel a little nice today..."
"Oh yeah?" He winked and went along. "What do you have for me pops?"
"Well..." The officer flipped through a couple of pages on the clipboard. "You, Mr. Park, are looking at 6 months worth of community service."
"What the-!" Jaebum shot up from his seat but held his self back from kicking the desk. "Why...Why don't you just send me to jail?!"
"I knew you would react this way...I know 6 months is a long time but you've done ALOT of things in the past...You have to make it up now."
"What in the hell..." Jaebum started to think about everything. What was he going to do, he couldn't do community service everyday for 6 months! If he had to take care of animals, he would probably steal one of the chickens to see if he could make fried chicken at home.
"Isn't there anything else I can do? Come on man, let me off on this one. Community service will probably make me a worse person. Just think about it, you think I'm capable of taking care of...Babies at the nursery?! No!"
"That's what I thought..." Jaebum's ear's perked up. The police were going to let him go? "So I have something else to ask of you..."
"Out with it, anything is better then 6 months of community service." Jaebum snorted and sat happily in his chair.
"I want you to take care of my daughter."
Suddenly, the room was echoing with laughter. Everybody stared at Jaebum who clutched onto his stomach and tried not to fall over in his seat. "That's a good one, but really, what is it?"
"I'm being dead serious." The old man looked at with with a hard stare and Jaebum's smile slowly disappeared.
"So you're saying...You would put your daughter's life in MY hands?"
"It does seem stupid of me but try to understand. She's a bit different then everybody else Jaebum, at least try to take care of her. It'll only be for 2 months, then you'll be free."
'2 months...' Jaebum thought and realized that's far less then 6 months of community service. "How is she different?"
The officer in front of him closed his eyes and breathed in deeply. "She's not exactly...Yoobin's not the type to talk. She probably hasn't left home in months."
"What the hell is she, some mute?"
"I...I don't know what happened to her, she doesn't talk to me about it. We've tried to make her talk, nothing has worked." He took off his cap and sighed.
"What about your wife? What's she doing?"
"My wife passed away a long time ago." A few strings started to pull on Jaebum's heart and he heard a faint sound of his mother's laughter. The mother he loved so much.
"So what do you want me to do, take her out and get her drunk?" Jaebum joked but the father didn't take it very well.
"From what I know, Yoobin never had friends before...Even if you're just acting like it, could you be her friend? Just do things she wants to do, talk to her, whatever it is that you young adults do..."
"What us young adults do? Let's see, we drink, party, get laid. Man, you really don't know what-"
"Do things that she wants to do, not what you do on a daily basis."
Jaebum should have been offended but he wasn't. He was used to hearing those things now.
"I'll give you guys money for whatever it is she wants to do. She might not talk for a while but just take her out to places, places normal children get to see when they're younger."
"She's been like this since she was a child?"
"Ever since her mom passed away she's been like this. Something happened at school but she wouldn't tell me." Her dad wiped his eyes and remembered how happy Yoobin was before his wife passed away.
"Doesn't sound too hard." Jaebum got up and held out his hand. "By shaking, you're promising not to kill me if I permanently scar her."
The police man chuckled and stood up, shaking Jaebum's hand tightly. "You'll be staying in our house by the way. I know it's a little weird but you're going to come over everyday so why not have you stay?"
"Trust me, anything to get away from that hell hole I call home." Jaebum smirked and remembered the pain in the ass waiting for him at home.
~
"This is it..." The two of them exited the car and Jaebum looked up at the house he would be staying in for the next 2 months. "Wow, nice house."
"Her mom was loaded with money..." Jaebum stopped the policeman in his tracks. "By the way, what do I call you? Policeman? Dad?"
"Call me by my first name, Yong Jin."
"Nice to meet you Yong Jin." Jaebum rubbed his feet on the 'welcome' mat and walked inside the house.
The surroundings were unfamiliar to him. It wasn't something he saw or even felt when he entered his so called 'home', it felt different here. There were pictures of family hanging everywhere, candles, even sticky notes reminding each other to eat dinner. He never had anything like that at his house.
"So, where is this Yoobin? I'm guessing that's her name?"
"Full name's Kim Yoobin. She's probably in her room somewhere. God knows what she does all day, sometimes I find her sleeping on the stairs..."
"That's...normal." Jaebum whispered to his self and wondered what he's agreeing to. All he has to do is make this girl happy right? But he was sure 'making a girl happy' meant different things to her dad and him self.
"Here she is, Kim Yoobin. Now I have to go back to work but you kids have fun okay?"
Yong Jin walked over quickly to the door and went outside, leaving Jaebum and Yoobin to introduce themselves.
"Heeyyy..." Jaebum turned around and saw her. He didn't know if he should have been surprised or grossed out. She wasn't ugly but she definitely needed a hair cut so he could actually see her eyes. Besides her face, her clothes were a bit of a mess too. She looked like a little girl playing dress up in her mom's clothes. They were way too big and the colors seemed to be fading away.
"Hello? Konichiwa? You talk at all?" Jaebum asked but she didn't say or do anything. Yoobin kept staring at the floor, avoiding to make eye contact with this stranger. 'Why did he bring him here?' She thought to her self. It almost felt weird to see another human being. It's been months since she's gone out and see...Humans.
"So you don't talk, alright then." Jaebum smiled and plopped onto the couch comfortably. "Hey, you know how to cook?"
Yoobin still wondered why her father brought him here. What was she, a slave now?
"Look," Jaebum knew from the look on her face she was confused about this whole situation. "I'm here to make you happy alright? If you want to do something, tell me. Don't even worry about money, you want to fly to the moon, you got it."
The two of them stayed quiet for a couple of minutes, not even moving. Jaebum felt his self getting angrier from being ignored. "Yah, don't just stand around. Want to make me a snack? I'm starving."
Not knowing how to respond, Yoobin ran over to the kitchen and made Jaebum a small sandwich. Since she stayed home so often, she had to cook for her self to stay alive.
"Wow, thanks!" Jaebum exclaimed when she placed the plate in front of him. "So, what do you want to do?"
Like a child getting scolded, she sat on the sofa on her knees with her head hanging down. "What is that supposed to mean? Are you sleeping?"
Her small and quiet laughter was as soft as clouds on a sunny day. "Hey, you laughed! Hey, wait here for a second."
Jaebum ran off and found paper and pen for Yoobin. He came to see her looking around curiously. "Here, just write down what you want to say."
She took the pen and paused for a second. Why would she trust him? How did she know he wouldn't just play around with her for his own amusement?
"You still alive? Write something, anything!" She looked over to the man sitting in front of her, eating happily. His face looked trustworthy. Who was she kidding, she doesn't even know what trust feels like, how could she judge someone now?
Yoobin scribbled onto the piece of paper and Jaebum read it. 'What do I call you?'
"My name's Jaebum but call me Jay." She nodded in response but didn't say anything. "Well? Try saying it!"
For a second, she saw images of kids from elementary school.
"You're a witch right? So eat it! I heard witches eat toads!"
"Do witches really kid nap children and brew them? Tell me!"
"It's the monster!"
"Yoobin?" Her world spun back to normal and she stared at Jaebum through her outgrown bangs. She snapped her head away from him and looked at anything else she could focus her attention on. Anything else but him.
"Come on, we're not going to get anywhere unless you actually talk to me."
Being as stubborn as she is, Yoobin refused to talk just because someone told her to. It made her mad being told what to do, being bossed around. She's had enough of that to last a life time anyway.
Then Jaebum smiled deviously but hid it right after with a sad expression. "Well, I guess I'll have to leave if you don't talk. Too bad, we could have had so much fun too." He pouted and walked slowly over to the door.
For some reason, she felt her heart being pulled towards him, almost as if it were telling him not to go.
"Getting closer to the door...Half way there..."
She couldn't help but giggle loudly at how foolish he was. Jaebum looked back with eyes wide open. "You laughed!" He heard how sweet her laugh was. The only laughters he has ever heard was the intoxicated laughs girls always gave out before hooking up with him.
"Jaebum...Jay." The way she said it made it sound like the voices that read the words in children's books. "Atta girl. Could be better but that would be asking for too much right now." Jaebum walked over with a victorious smile on his face as he sat down next to her.
Feeling uncomfortable, she scooted away from Jay and sat on the other side of the couch.
'What exactly have I gotten myself into?' Jaebum thought to his self with a smile on his face.
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