6 It's Him I Don't Trust

My eyes glimmer when seeing the beautiful garden in front of me. My feet lead the pathway and observe the place. There, I see a sculpture box tree and a colorful flower arching to the branch. It's called Bougainvillea. On the side, it has a different color of Daisy and Santan. 

As we walk far, I see the open grounds where we could place some blankets and have a picnic with friends and family. I stare at Youngjae, representing a happy face. He chuckles and ruffles my hair. He leads me to the garden and perches on the bench underneath the enormous tree. 

"This place is incredible," I say with a cheerful tone.

"I'm glad you like it. This place is special to me. My family always goes here to have some fun." He speaks. I sense a gloomy feeling when he opens about his family.

"Where were your parents?" I ask without thinking. He remains silent. I wince when realizing my question and I'm being insensitive.

"S…sorry Youngjae. I…I'm being in—" He cut me off and my eyes wide when he mentioned something.

"My parents were dead 20 years ago." His voice blooms when he replies to my question.

"I…I'm sorry about your parents," I stutter as I bite my lips. He sniffs and removes the tears rushing through his cheeks

"No, it's fine. I'm not going to deny if I tell you that I'm hurt after losing them." He answers.

"H… How did they die?" I ask, urging me to know about his parents. I'm not used to placing myself in this kind of situation however, I'm asking about his parent's death.

"I... It was an accident. You know what, why don't we just go home. I know you are tired. Let's go!" He instantly changes the topic and walks out of the picnic grounds. Leaving me, confused. I jolt out and catch him but he walks fast. 

When I reach the parking lot, he's leaning on the car, waiting for me to arrive. I step inside the car as he starts the engine. In the entire trip, no one dares to talk about what happened on the strands. I can't take another risk to say that could offend him, so I shut myself up.

"Give me your address, so I could drive you home." He says without looking at me. I offer him my address with no argument. 

"Look Youngjae, I'm sorry for being unresponsive. I shouldn't ask you what happened to your parents." I said while looking at him. He sighs and parks his car in front of my house. He looks at me and shows a warm smile. 

"You are not being insensitive so don't worry about it. It's my fault why you asked that. I just open up my story about my family." He says

I smiled and bowed. 

"Thank you for today. I enjoy the trip." I say and he nods.

 I step out of the car and walks to the driver's door and say, "Take care of yourself and drive safely."

I walk inside without waiting for him to leave. There, I see my brother, narrowing eyes as crossing his arms while sitting on the couch.

"What's wrong?" I ask him and sit beside him.

"Nothing, I'm just concerned about you." My head cocks on the side, confused.

"I'm fine. See, I got home with two arms and two legs." 

"I know but I can't handle myself not to worry about you Min Min." He says while looking at me.

"I'm old enough to take care of myself Minnie" 

"I know but—" I cut him off.

"Do you trust me?" 

"Of course I trust you. It's him I don't trust. You don't know him yet, you came along with him. You just met him." He exclaims. I let go of his grips and stand up. 

"You just told me to make friends. Now I'm making friends yet you're stopping me!" I exclaim. 

"No Minsoo, I didn't mean that way. I… It is just…" He bites his inner cheeks as he stares his palms.

"Did you guys follow us?" He remains silent and that silence meaning it's a 'yes'.

My eyes roll and exclaim, "Why did you do that?! I thought you trust me?!" 

This whole thing is getting ridiculous, being followed by my brother. He's concerning my safety but my freedom. I'm not allowing him to take my freedom away from me. 

"I'm sorry Minsoo, it's Youngjae I don't trust that's why I did that. I promise I won't do it again. I'll trust you that you can take care of yourself BUT call me if something happens." He states. I sigh. 

"Okay. I'm sorry too if I became furious and didn't think about you. It's just… Taehyung," I confess.

"What about him?" He implores. I sit beside me and tell him what happened.

"I guess, he has a reason. I knew Taehyung for a long time." My eyes frown when he knew him for a long time. 

"Y…you know Taehyung for a long time? I thought you didn't remember that we've been here?" I urge him. He blinks his eyes multiple times and clears his throat.

"W...what I mean, I've known him back in Korea. He used Jinwoo's phone to talk with me." He looks away as he rubs his temple. 

I just nod, striving to speculate his words but I let it slide since he can't make any excuses to convince me.

'He's an awful liar.' I thought to myself. 

"Okay, whatever you say. I should go to my room and change my clothes." I speak and leave him behind in the living room. I step inside my room and throw my body to the bed.

My mind slides to the scene about Youngjae's parents. 

"Why was Youngjae furious when I asked his parent's death? Could be a murder that leads to his urged vengeance for justice?" I ask. I shake my head and eliminate all my distracting thoughts. 

"It's ridiculous. Why would I think that?" I whisper and get up to change my clothes.