Jumin Week
Day Four: Ludus
“Oh, oh no, ooh no…”
“Calm down, let’s think about this reasonably —”
“Jumin, we did things!”
He didn’t want to think about it. Murmuring a string of curses under his breath, Jumin ran his fingers through his hair… trying desperately to ignore the sticky sensation he felt on his fingers and scalp.
“Oh God, we’re going to hell, aren’t we?”
Squinting his eyes, Jumin gave you a look of pure confusion and bewilderment. “What?”
“Don’t give me that look, aren’t we supposed to wait until marriage to… do what we did?!”
“Listen to me. There is no point in fixating on the what ifs. We’re here. Now.”
“So, then, what are we going to tell everybody?!”
Your shouting urged Jumin to rub his temples… then quickly retract his still-sticky fingers from his skin. “Ehm… then, we need to make this right.” Slowly lowering to one knee, Jumin pulled his student ring from his middle finger and offered it up to you. “Will you marry me?”
You froze in place, unblinkingly staring up at him. Eventually, Jumin stood and moved towards you, leaning forward to meet your height. “Come back to me.”
Blinking quickly, you covered your reddening cheeks and practically yanked your body away from Jumin, the action reminding him of a scene from The Exorcist.
“You can’t be serious,” you belted, deliriously laughing. “You, you’re absolutely mad! I’m nineteen, you’re, what, twenty?!”
“Twenty-three”
“Oh, oh I’m gonna be sick.”
“To be fair, my father has been encouraging me to get married —”
“Oh, shut up!” You quickly yanked your skirt on, buttoned the top of your school uniform, and slammed your feet into your shoes.
Jumin watched you closely, annoyed that you hadn’t answered him. Or tied your shoes. “I take it you’re denying my proposal?”
“What do you think, Jumin?!”
“… Well, based on your body language and tone of voice, I’d say —”
“No, I will not marry you!!” You slammed the door to his private suite, leaving him to process the memory of the night before, and the last ten minutes.
Jumin scribbled his signature, handing the document of agreement to Jaehee. “Here. What else do I need to sign.”
“Nothing at the moment, Mr. Han. You have the next three to five minutes until your next meeting. I’ll meet you then.”
As his efficient assistant walked out of the room, Jumin closed the door behind her and closed his eyes, mentally preparing himself for the next conference. It was his third year working for his father’s company as an Executive Director, and only two years since he hired his first Executive Assistant.
This was it; the real world, a world after college.
He had been wanting to get to this life sooner than what was planned, not because he excelled at every subject matter that was thrown at him…
But because he didn’t want to be at the same school as you.
Your rejection of his proposal had far damaged him than he realized. Surely, through the years, he had learned how to talk to members of the opposite sex with more charm and charisma than he had shown you — maybe if he had learned those skills before that fateful night, you would have…
It wasn’t important.
Jumin straightened his tie pin and took a sip of sparkling water just as Jaehee knocked on the door to the conference room.
“Come in.” Authoritative, bold, maybe a tad intimidating.
Opening the door a little wider, Jaehee bowed her head. “Mr. Han, our pleasing client is here.”
Stepping aside, Jaehee made room for none other than you. Jumin recognized you immediately; your cropped hair had grown out past your shoulders now, your hips — the very hips he dug his fingers into years ago — swayed confidently, void of the reticence he had seen in college.
And your eyes. Your deep amber eyes stared directly at him. Into his soul.
“Mr. Han, I’d like to introduce you to —”
“No need. We know each other.”
You brushed your hair back, revealing your collarbone. Jumin felt a growing pressure against his slacks.
You smirked devilishly. “Yes. We know each other very well. Well then. Shall we, Jumin?”
@juminweek2019