Not From the Moon and Back

Park Jimin/Oh Subin

As soon as the lecture ended everyone dispersed out from their groups and left the room. I stayed with my two friends that were finishing up a set of homework. After they did they asked if I wanted to come with them to a bulgogi shop for dinner.

I told them that I had to go home early, just to finish some work for the weekend. When we all headed on the outside of the campus I stopped short, seeing where my route was. "See you later guys," I say while my eyes were still fixed on the black vehicle that was parked alongside the curb.

Slowly I walked over, not surprised to see who was in the car. Park Jimin, a TA at our university, in the passenger seat and looking forward. What concerned me more was that he himself doesn't drive, so I wondered why on earth was he in a random vehicle.

When he saw me standing there his reaction changed, only slightly, before his eyes flashed back to the front. "Class already finished?" his voice chirped, though I can tell he was trying hard not to sound as if he was talking right at me.

I nodded, tugging on the strap of my backpack. "Yeah, it ended." and the silence stretched on. His mouth opened when all of a sudden the owner of the car came by and entered the driver's seat.

"Ready to go - oh? Subin! Nice to see you again!" that was when everything clicked in place at the moment. Jimin in the passenger's seat. The black car. The familiar woman.

I only bowed slightly and gave my attention to her. She asked if I wanted to get a ride with her, but I only refused in comply. "I was just going to take the subway home," I say cautiously all while I glanced at Jimin; this time his eyes fixated to his lap.

She shrugged. "Suit yourself. Be safe!" the windows were soon rolling up, all but Jimins'. The space between us felt tense. Was he going to say something before she came by?

But instead, I never received that wish. Because before I knew it he rolled up the tinted glass and the car sped off, just like that. As if I never saw Jimin in the first place. I managed to get the last 6:50 time slot for the subway station and came back to my apartment around 7:30. I made at least 3 cups of rice, and some ramyun for myself, at least two servings of the package I found lying around in the cupboard. I changed out of day clothes into something more comfortable before sitting at the table of the living room, watching some random T.V show while eating dinner.

This was how I ate, alone most of the time. Sometimes even earlier, depending on how long my lecture is for the day. Once I finished I cleaned the plates and dried them before settling on the couch flipping through the channels; the kettle on the stove. It was half past eight. It wasn't until I realized that I fell asleep while watching television when I felt someone shake my shoulder. Fluttering my eyes open I see peering down at me was no other than Jimin himself.

I yawned, stretching my arms. “God, what time is it?” I asked.

“It's almost 10,” he replied, dropping his bag on the table and walking over to the kitchen to grab a bowl of rice and kimchi. At the edge of my feet I see a blanket draped over half my torso, and I had the feeling that I could have sworn was never there in the first place.

“I had to wake you up, otherwise you wouldn't be able to sleep again.” he sat cross-legged at the living room table and had one hand on his phone whilst using the spoon to pick up some rice into his mouth.

“You never ate out with your girlfriend?” I asked, my tone clearly un-amused. He merely shrugged and turned off his phone before taking the remote and changing the channel to the news report.

“We only chatted about stuff.” and that was the end of the discussion. If I knew Jimin enough, it was that every single time I asked about his date(s) with his girlfriend the sentence would usually end with the words of 'chat' or 'stuff', sometimes even both if I'm extremely lucky. Jimin and I, we weren't family relatives. Neither were we siblings. We live together, and as odd as it sounds it's exactly how one would imagine if I explained the situation now – two complete strangers under the same roof.

Technically, we weren't complete strangers. My dad's friend was moving into the city area for he has gotten a new job, and such a coincidence that his son was looking for employment in Teacher Assistant. Where was he able to get that position? The only one available – being a TA in my university campus. It also explained that that was his only job for the moment and had to also pay for his expenses, so my dad offered him our place (now mine) instead. At least I get to split the bills.

Coming from someone who lived with him for quite some time, it is not so bad as it seems. Although we at least try to ignore each other when we're at the campus (his idea; says we 'need to be professional') it's kind of hard considering that we see each other at home anyway. Not to mention, half the grade knows we live together anyway, so there's no point to hide that fact now. But with the more recent news...

I know Jimin has been dating for nearly two months now. Some woman who he says is a professor at another University, older by three years too. She came by a couple of times when they were still in their honeymoon phase, but now not so much. That and I noticed Jimin coming home an hour later than he normally does after classes were done on a regular day. Not that I care either way. After he finished eating and cleaned his plates he advised me if I was heading to our room, "Use the washroom right now if you need to, for I'll be taking a while." with a nod I closed the T.V and put the blanket back in its place before I went to the washroom and brushed my teeth and cleaned my face.

~.~

It was only one night that especially came unprepared for me. Unprepared for the new information now wrapped in my head. That Jimin broke up with that professor. I wasn't sure what were the details exactly, for he never told me nor have I really asked.

How'd I know? The rumors at school of course. That and through my friends as well. "I heard that she always had a reputation toward young guys anyways," she took a bite out of her kimbap. "played with their hearts until she got tired and movd on."

"The part I heard was that the TA didn't like her and only hung out for pity." he slurped on his cold noodles.

I only sat there, chewing on my sandwich quietly. And when I looked up, their jaws open, their eyes staring, the crowd in the cafeteria looked over at the pair of the teachers together, one male professor and the other is the said TA Jimin.

They only were talking among themselves, though I sensed Jimin was glancing at my direction. He wanted to know my reaction. He wanted to know if I heard the news.

But I didn't say anything. I didn't do anything. I remained at my own seat, thechatters resuming. I remained silent the entire lunch period. I didn't even look back at Jimin when he was staring straight at me.

It was a rather odd day, for our professor in charge of our lecture was absent. Jimin was the only available TA that was free for that schedule, so for our class we just jotted down the notes left by the last lesson and a few extra homework questions.

While everyone else was discussing their answers in groups I remained to do them alone. He was going around and when he came to my area she stopped. My two friends only sat and stared.

I tried to concentrate on my work, but I felt his eyes bore onto me and it was slowly becoming irritating. With an inward sigh I dropped my pencil and looked up. "May I help you... Mr. Park?"

He had a small friendly smile on his face while coolly putting his hands in his pockets. “If you're available after the lecture Subin-ssi, would you mind helping me organize the essay papers at the professor's office? I need en extra hand in doing so.” I lowered my eyes, watching his expression carefully. After a couple of minutes I took a deep breath and nodded.

A few classmates who have heard nudged me and asked what he wanted. I only told them that it was only a small errand – at least, that's I kept saying to myself over and over in my head. After the class ended I advised my two friends to go home without me this time. “Have fun with Mr. Park,” they sent me teasing looks. I only rolled my eyes in return.

“Oh, it's going to be so much fun.” I sarcastically remarked. I met with Jimin at the office, where he already began to work on the papers. I knocked lightly and he momentarily stopped what he was doing. Walking over he made sure to close the door behind me. “You can categorize these first half,” not looking up Jimin handed over the top pile in his hands. “Go by their last name.”

I sat by the couch, separating each one and reading the names. It was quiet between the two of us, mostly the sound of later rustling and Jimin's foot tapping. I glanced over to see him only leaning against the bookshelf. “Do you want sit down...or something?”

“Hm?” he was surprised by the sudden question. He caught my eyes and quickly looked away. “O-oh, I'm okay thanks.” I only shrugged and went back to work. But soon, after a few minutes, he cleared his throat.

“did you hear around the school? About my break up?” I stopped for a moment. But only for a moment. Then, I nodded slowly, my tongue feeling numb. What does he want me to say? I glanced over again, but only to see that he was shuffling his foot around, one essay paper in his other hand.

“I have no interest in your personal relationships, so I didn't pay much about the rumors..” I say out loud, putting one essay under the 'L' division.

“I know you don't. But I have to tell you this anyway, otherwise you might think otherwise: I broke up with her, not the other way around.” he finalized with a rather firm tone.

“Okay.” I say, still working.

“So,” he continued. “I broke up with her because I realized... I never really had interest in her. I like someone else.”

That's when I cut my finger from the paper. He went straight to me and asked if I was alright before quickly grabing a bandage from the drawer of the desk. Gently he blew on my finger before applying the bandage. “Thanks,” but he didn't let go of my hand. Instead, he held it tighter. I never even realized just how close he was to me, notcing his large brown eyes. Not that I never noticed it before. I began to feel flustered, my heart almost jumping out of my chest.

“I like you Oh Subin.” he whispered, his breath tickling my dusted pink cheeks. I wasn't sure what happened in those next few seconds, but somehow his lips were on mine. And somehow, I allowed him to do so.

Coming home we never said much afterwards, I did the usual of preparing dinner while Jimin set up the dinner table. For some reason I felt too exhausted for something extravagant, so I made kimchi tofu soup and rice. After we ate he made us a warm cup of tea, both of us sitting on the couch with a fair amount of distance between. He was watching the comedic show on television while I stared down at my cup, now half empty.

“Hey-” we say in awful unison. “you go first,” I suggest. He gave a timid smile and took a sip of his drink.

“I was going to say... it wasn't the spur of the moment that I've grown feelings toward you. I liked you for a long time... possibly when we first began to live in together? God, I honestly don't remember. But I just thought you were cool, lax. I had that gut instinct to just take care of you, but clearly you have a hold of yourself better than I would have.”

I couldn't help but laugh.

“But at campus, you're different. You're very independent and strong-willed, a trait I hardly ever see nowadays. And it made me think: wow. She's one unique girl.” he said those words with such a soft tone, and he inched closer. Gently he cupped my cheeks, and planted a kiss on my forehead. I leaned into his touch, snuggling onto his shoulder. He had an arm wrapped around my waist to bring my body closer and I draped the blanket over over lower torsos.

It was simple things like these, on a Friday night, that changed my perspective on Park Jimin. I guess I was just denying it the entire time he was trying to express it. Did I like him back? Probably. No, indefinitely.

After knowing the fact that I'm dating a TA, it really wasn't such a big deal. To my friends, they freaked out, though only for a short while. The other students on the other hand, well, it was still registering in their heads. One time Jimin arrived at my lecture to supervise, and asked me to help him with setting up the projector in front of the class.

After I did he nuzzled the side of my head and whispered a thanks, where I heard and blushed and my classmates sitting at the front snickered, others awed by the cuteness, or simply just rolled their eyes and continued taking their notes.

This was something I had to get used to.

Not that I'm complaining.

Author's Note

Hi again :)

I managed to get some free time on my hands and decided to write a drabble, but somehow I made it longer than intended and so it's a one shot??...Yeah I don't know either

Anyhoo, I will fix it later for grammar errors and whatnot so have a great day everyone~

-B.B