The Player

Chapter 6

JIMIN

"Ya! Yoongi! Jimin! Stop that!"

I heard Jin hyung but I didn't stop. I continued to punch my so called best friend for kissing the only girl I cared for more than my own life.

"Jugulae (do you want to die)?!" I pulled the collar of his shirt. He just smirked.

"Waegure? You said you liked Lisa. Am I not allowed to like Rosé?"

"Hyung!" I let out a frustrated sigh and let him go. "You disrespected her!"

"Is kissing the girl I like disrespecting? It's not like we're strangers."

"Ya!" I was about to hit him again but my fist stopped mid-air.

"You're gonna hit me? Wae? Nuguseyo? Are you two even that close?" He smirked again.

I let him go, turned around and yelled in frustration.

"Ya, Min Yoongi. Cut it out." Seokjin hyung was in between us.

The girls looked at us warrily. Lisa was behind Jungkook. Jisoo behind her. Jennie... she stared at Yoongi pokerfaced and all.

Rosé stood next to Namjoon who still looked shocked.

The jealousy inside me is eating me up. But do I even have the right? I'm not her boyfriend. I haven't even told her how I really feel towards her.

"What? Scared of admitting your true feelings?" Yoongi taunted.

"Yoongi. I said stop."

"Tch." He wiped the blood at the side of his mouth. "You boldly chose truth but you didn't answer truthfully. You're such a coward."

"Min Yoongi!"

"Mwo? It's true. He's still afraid of showing his true feelings 'coz he's afraid that he might hurt her." Yoongi is my best friend. He knows me well. "But he already is. He's just like his father."

That hit him straight. My clenched fist landed on his jaw. He fell and I climbed on top of his and continuesly hit him. The hyungs held me back.

"I'm nothing like that bastard!"

We now stood face to face.

"Then prove it!" He punched back. "Stop being such a baby and man up! Say the truth! What do you really feel towards her?!"

"I lo--" I looked over to Chaeyoung who was now crying. "I... I..."

My chest started to constrict. Images of the past started to flash before my eyes.

Mom and Dad shouting at each other... Mom crying inside their room late at night... Dad... dad bringing home different women whenever mom is away... and Mom... hanging lifeless inside her room.

Everything turned pitch black.

A FEW HOURS AFTER

I slowly opened my eyes. What just happened? I looked around to see that I was back inside my room. Did I just pass out?

I felt someone holding my hand.

Chaeyoung was sleeping by the edge of my bed while holding my hand. I couldn't help but smile seeing how peaceful she looks. Her face alone calms me. My other hand lightly trailed her face and tucked the loose strands of hair falling down her face.

I'm afraid to be like my father. I'm his child so in a way, I might grow up like him 'coz just like what the elders say, 'the apple does not fall far from the tree'. I don't want to see her cry just like my mom.

Mom cried herself to sleep when she thinks I'm sleeping soundly in my room. I see her holding their wedding picture close to her heart. My mom loved dad so much. And it kills her everytime when she sees him with other women. And that night... she had enough. She took her own life.

"Jimin-ah?"

The sweetness in her voice made me smile unconsciously.

"Gwenchana?"

I nodded and let my knuckles gently caress her cheek. That's it. I won't be a coward anymore. I will fight and I will not be like my father. I refuse to be.

"Still a chipmunk even when you lost so much weight..." She blushed. "I prefer it that way. At least I still get to see the old Chaeyoung."

"But I thought you didn't date fat girls..." Her voice trailed off. I felt guilty. "I did my best to be your ideal girl, oppa."

"You didn't have to do anything," I said. She looked at me questioningly. "You already are. Fat or not, you're still the most beautiful girl for me."

"But I heard you--"

"It's in the past, Chae." I held her hand tightly. "Whatever I said back then, I have my reasons."

"Can I know what those reasons are?" Her eyes started to tear up. "I changed a lot oppa. To the extent that I don't know myself anymore. I wanted to be that ideal girl you always imagined. I'm almost there."

I cupped her face as she cried. How can I be so stupid? I got so scared of hurting her that I didn't realize I was already doing it.

I wiped off her tears.

"Park Chaeyoung..." She looked at me. "You are beautiful. Even back then, you are already the prettiest girl to me. I don't care if you're a little bit overweight. Hell, if you even turn into Dumbo I'd still love you."

"W-What? What did you say?"

I pinched her cheeks. "I appreciate you changing for me but you shouldn't have done that."

"I didn't change for you. I changed for myself." My eyebrows furrowed. "Before you even said that you didn't date fat girls, I already made up my mind into changing myself. You took care of me, oppa. You defended me from all those bullies who made fun of me. You taught me how to love myself that's why I became like this. I learned to love myself that's why I improved."

That made me smile.

"I'm glad. But to me, aside from your physical features, you're still that sweet girl who loves sweets..." I tucked the loose strands of her hair to her ear. "That lovely girl whose eyes glisten when she sings..."

Her eyes were locked on mine. My heart felt really light.

"The girl I've liked since the first time we've met."

Slowly, I leaned closer to her and our lips touched.

I was right. She tastes like cherries.