34. Locked Horns

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As I drive us towards my school, an eerie silence hangs over us. How am I supposed to go 10 minutes in this suffocating environment?

In a split second decision, I turn into the parking lot of a Burger King. Surprised, Jimin looks over, but says nothing.

Once I'm parked, I look back at him. "Jimin. I can tell something is wrong. Talk to me."

"You're gonna be late for class." He mutters before leaning back against his chair and closing his eyes, clearly disengaged from the conversation.

I try not to let his behavior bother me as I flick his forehead. His eyes fly open as he looks at me angrily. "What was that for?"

I give him a look. "Seriously? You're going to ignore whatever's bothering you and let out your anger on me instead of talking about it?"

He sighs. "I don't want to be dramatic or anything. I'm just annoyed."

I gesture for him to keep going. "Did I mean nothing to you a year ago? I mean, I worked as your bodyguard until we became what I thought was close, but the second Dong Yoo accuses me of something insane like being part of the Mafia, you just believe him and turn the cold shoulder to me."

"But I told you, In Su-"

"Right, but did you ever meet In Su? Do you know he's actually a spy?" Jimin gets closer to me as he starts attacking my actions. "You had other methods of fact checking. You have your father, for one, a well-connected man. You could've spoken to him about it."

My hands form fists as I argue back. "In my defense, my father was as angry with you as I was. And Dong Yoo was right, you were part of the Sparked-freaking-Mafia, regardless of when that was."

Jimin scoffs. "You always take his side, don't you?"

"Can you blame me? He was one of the only people I could trust in school-"

"You could trust me!"

"-and it's so hard for me to make friends that I quickly attach to any I make."

He argues, "you literally became immediate friends with Eunji and Jina!"

I sigh disbelievingly. "Yeah, by a stroke of luck. I don't deserve them."

"Damn right you don't." He looks out the window and I punch his arm. He scoffs. "Was that supposed to hurt? No wonder you're such a target to the Mafia: you're weak."

I inhale a shaky breath. "Why are you being so mean to me?" He knows how much I hate being called weak.

"Because. You don't understand what I keep telling you. With your attitude you're exposing yourself to danger. On top of your naivety, you keep making excuses for yourself."

I'm silent as my jaw clenches. No one calls me weak. Before I realize he continued talking I swing the door open and step up, immediately feeling the sun's warmth and fresh air.

I start walking toward the restaurant without a second thought. I don't know why I am, but now that I've started I'm not going to stop.

A faraway voice yells my name as footsteps run up behind me. Speed up, I tell myself to make sure they can't catch up to me.

As my footsteps quicken towards the Burger King, the voice asks why I'm trying to get away. I don't really know either, voice.

"Kyung Mi!" The voice is clear now to be Jimin's. I stop and in a second he's by my side, grabbing my arm.

"What are you doing?" He says and I look up to see him confused.

I shake my head. "Jimin, I didn't eat today and I can't function without food, much less absorb your insults and try to defend myself."

He looks a little sad when I say this. "Kyung Mi, I didn't mean to attack you or anything, I'm just trying to keep you as safe as possible. I thought I would be able to understand why you trusted Dong Yoo if you explained it to me, but I also felt you were too hasty to make a decision on my innocence."

"Ugh!" I collapse onto the sidewalk as my head pounds. I cover my face with my hands and rub my cheeks frustratedly.

"Jimin, I know you're looking out for me and trying to understand my actions, but I don't like to be reprimanded. And I hate when people say I'm feeble because they know how hard I've tried not to be."

"You're right. I'm sorry for saying those things to you." He falls down next to me.

"Hey, on the subject, why is it that you don't like to be called weak?"

My heart drops and its not because I just realized how handsome my bodyguard is, but because it makes me think of the mother I lost long ago.

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