Min Jun

It was nice being out with Juniper, even if we were out with others. As long as I was with Juniper, it really didn’t matter, I was able to spend time with her. We were all sitting down looking over the menu, when Juniper’s phone began to ring. At first I didn’t pay attention to it, but I noticed she declined the call immediately. I didn’t think much of it until after it rang again shortly after she declined the call; ‘Mom” was displayed on the screen and Juniper declined the call again. I looked over to her and she looked at me and smiled. I figured she knew what she was doing, she knew her mother more than I. Suddenly it rang again, and I paid attention to her again.

“Is everything okay?” I asked.

“Yeah, everything is good.” She replied. I didn’t want to push the issue. I just figured whatever is going on between her and her mother she would explain later, however I was concerned because she kept calling.

“Is that your mother calling? Are you ignoring your mother?” I asked. I completely understand when your parents can get on your nerves but it seemed as though her mother was really trying to get in touch with her as it may be urgent.

“Yeah, I really don’t want to talk to her right now.” Juniper said as her phone rang again.

“She’s been calling me Juniper. I haven’t answered the phone either. And you know your mother knows I know where you are.” Chanel said. I looked at Juniper and she looked defeated. She really didn’t want to answer the phone call.

“Go take the call, she might need to tell you something.” I said as I moved out of the way for her to leave the table.

“I’ll just be a minute. Can you order for me please?” She asked as she grabbed her coat and headed out the restaurant.

“That is going to be one hell of a phone call.” Chanel said.

“How so?” I asked.

“Well, Juniper and her mother don’t really see eye to eye on a few things. Her relationships being one of them.”

“Really?” I responded.

“Yes. Her mother is kind of superficial and she believes that everyone should have a second chance, even if they are the ones that have done the wrong in the first place. She’s always given her opinion about who Juniper should date or what type of man she should be with.”

“I see.” I said looking down. I think I should have stayed out of that situation. I shouldn’t have suggested she speak with her mother without knowing all of the details.

“I would suggest that you go out there and save her in a few minutes.” Chanel said. The waitress came over to the table to take our order.

“What do you mean save her?” I asked after I placed our order.

“You need to go out there and support her, because I guarantee that conversation will not be a pleasant one.”

“Oh.” I replied. Everyone was a bit quiet at the table after hearing this information. I liked Chanel as she was a true friend to Juniper. She knew exactly what she needed in her time of need.

“I would give her about 5 more minutes, then go and save her.” She stated.

“You don’t think she would be upset that I came out to check on her?” I asked.

“Not at all. Most likely she’s out there screaming at the top of her lungs right now trying to talk to her mother. Her mother is absolutely clueless, sorry to say, but she is. She will always try to tell Juniper what she should do in anything she does. She’s one of the reasons why she moved here, to get as far away from her as possible. Well, her and other things that she was dealing with.” Chanel stated. I became concerned. I didn’t want her outside screaming, especially a private conversation that should not be heard by others.

“Thank you Chanel.” I said as I grabbed my coat and headed for the door. As soon as I stepped outside, I could hear her conversation.

“Mom, I don’t care!” She yelled. The door slammed behind me and she turned around. She looked very upset as she was fighting for her life. Her eyes were red as if she had been crying and she looked like she was trying to stay afloat.

“Juniper, are you okay?” I asked, walking over. She was visibly upset and shaking.

“Not really.” She said.

“Talk in the car.” I said. I grabbed her hand and pulled her to the call. I opened the passenger side and she got in. I contemplated if I should get inside the car as well, as I could see she was still yelling at her mother. It was a bit chilly and I said fuck it, I wasn’t going back inside without her. I walked around to the driver’s side and got in. I turned on the car and turned up the heat. She continued with her call. She placed the call on speaker phone.

“Juniper, just talk to him. He wants to say he’s sorry, baby.” Juniper’s mother said.

“Mom, why are you telling me this? He cheated on me, Mom, with Nevaeh. How could you ask me to speak to him?” Juniper replied.

“He said it was an accident. He’s looking for you to tell you in person. He knows you are in South Korea.”

“I don’t care Mom. It’s over between us. Why are you siding with him?”

“Juniper Ashley Brown! He is a good man. He made one mistake, you can work it out.”

“Are you fucking serious Mom? Are you even my mother? I can’t believe you are asking me to speak to a man who I physically saw fucking my step sister in the bathroom of our house!” She screamed.

“Baby, I just want what’s best for you. Men make mistakes.” Her mother replied.

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“That wasn’t a mistake Mom. He didn’t respect me at all. This was not the first time with Nevaeh. I ignored it and that was my mistake. I’m not going back and I’m not speaking to him.”

“Well, he saw the video of you and that guy. He saw you kissing him. He got so pissed, he said he was coming to bring you home.” Her mother stated. My blood began to boil. How could this idiot think that I would let her go so easily. How could he have the audacity to come and try to take her from me.

“Well I’ll make sure he’ll never find me.” She stated. She looked at me and tears started streaming down her face.

“Who is this guy Juniper? Who were you kissing?” Her mother asked. I didn’t want to see her crying, especially over this stupid motherfucker. Again, he was not even present and he was making her cry again. She looked at me and our eyes met. She looked so sad and I just wanted to make it all better.

“He’s my boyfriend, Mom. I was kissing my boyfriend.” She said proudly. I smiled the biggest smile I could. She smiled back in return.

“You’re boyfriend? He’s Korean!” Her mother responded.

“Yes Mom, yes He is. And he is a better man than Caleb ever was or could ever be.”

“Juniper! Caleb is a good man!” He mother screamed

“No he isn’t Mom and I can’t believe you are siding with him! I don’t even know who you are anymore, because you are not my mother! A real mother would NEVER tell her daughter to get back with someone who has done her wrong on so many levels.” Juniper yelled.

“I just think you could work it out.” Juniper’s mother responded.

“Don’t think Mom, It’s not in your best interest to do so.” Juniper said and hung up the phone. I didn’t know what to say or do at that moment. She broke down crying and I just wanted to make it all better.

I caressed her back and consoled her as much as I could. I kissed her forehead, letting her know that I fully supported her. I didn’t have a clue as to what she was going through with her parents, but this is something I never could have imagined. I was devastated the way her mother said, ‘He’s Korean.’. Like THAT made a fucking difference.

“I’m sorry you had to hear all of that.” She finally said. Her phone rang again. It was her mother calling back. Juniper declined the call and then blocked her. I don’t blame her. I would have done the same thing.

“I’m not.” I said as I reached for her hand. I laced my fingers with mine and I kissed the back of her hand. “I will be by your side, always. We will get through this together.” I proclaimed.

“Thank you, but I didn’t want you to hear me speaking that way to my mother. I didn’t want you to have to hear how fucked up my family is.” She responded.

“It’s okay. Your mother just wants you to be happy. She just thinks that you couldn’t do better than that asshole. But she’s never met me.” I stated. I was proud to be with her. “Let’s go back in, our food should be ready.” I said.

I got out of the car and I went around to the passenger side to Juniper. She was wiping tears from her face. I figured she didn’t want the others to know she was crying. I can completely understand that. Once someone sees that you have been crying, it just opens the opportunity to be asked questions you don’t want to answer. We stopped in front of the restaurant and I stood in front of her. I wiped the remaining tears from her eyes and caressed her face. I wanted to kiss her and make it all better. I wanted to take her pain away. I just knew I had to be there for her to lean on. She was making me fall in love with her. I smiled to make her feel good and she responded with a smile. I held her face in my hands and looked at her. I just needed to let her know I wasn’t going anywhere. I leaned down and kissed her lips. Nice, soft and sweet. My tongue danced with hers and she tasted sweet. We were alone again, just like we were in the studio. The world around us had simply disappeared and it seemed as if time had stopped. I didn’t want her to think about her mother. Tonight her mother didn’t exist.

“Shit y’all, the food is here.” Chanel said, screaming from the door of the restaurant. She was the only reason we stopped kissing. I parted from Juniper with small, reassuring kisses. I giggled as I heard Chanel fussing as she was going back into the restaurant. She was a really good friend to Juniper. I’m glad she also has some support from home, she really needed all the support she could get. We hurried back into the restaurant. As we approached the table, all eyes were on us as I held her hand the entire way. Everyone looked at us as we sat down. Everyone had a smirk on their faces as if we had some explaining to do.

“Are you okay Juniper?” Se-ra asked, being concerned.

“Yeah I’m good.” She responded.

“I kinda gave them a lil’ synopsis of your life with your mom.” Chanel said.

“Oh my goodness.” Juniper said looking a bit embarrassed. “Really Chanel?”

“They were worried about you. You have some really good friends. And good friends support each other. So deal with it.” Chanel made a face towards Juniper which made Juniper giggle.

“You could never hold water, for real.” She said.

“Not when it comes to you Boo. You know I love you girl.” Chanel said. I loved that she had a REAL friend in Chanel. She just wanted the best for Juniper.

“I love you too Boo.” Juniper responded. She looked at me and smiled. I smiled back and noticed that everyone was still looking at us.

“What?” I said.

“I think they are waiting for us to address the elephant in the room, but I’m sure everyone knows by now thanks to Chanel. They need some confirmation.” Juniper said.

“About what?” I said I was totally clueless.

“About us.” She said looking at me and holding up our hands with laced fingers.

“Oh.” I smiled and blushed. I looked around the table and then looked directly at Juniper. “Well, has everyone seen the video?” I asked.

“There’s a video?” Chanel asked.

“Remember when we went to the dance studio and it was packed with all of those people who were there?” Juniper asked.

“Uh yeah?” Chanel responded.

“Well apparently, a lot of them posted a bunch of videos of things that happened?” Juniper stated.

“Really? So they have videos of us dancing too?” She asked.

“Yep.” I responded. “They also got a video of Juniper and I dancing also.”

“Ooo, and the kiss?” She said smiling and covering her mouth.

“Yeah, they got that too.” Juniper said blushing.

“So what happened when you left the floor? Y’all disappeared.” Chanel asked.

“You know what happened, Chanel.” Juniper stated.

“Yes I do, but everyone doesn’t know. Se-ra wasn’t there and her guy Taehyung doesn’t know.” Chanel stated. Se-ra blushed and covered her mouth. She slowly looked at Taehyung and they both blushed and smiled. “And Jin doesn’t know, do you, Jin?” She asked. I looked at Jin knowing he knew what happened.

“You’re right Chanel, I don’t know. Why don’t you tell us Min Jun?” He said slyly. I looked at him and he grinned widely. I looked at Juniper and held her hand. She smiled and laced her fingers with mine.

“I asked Juniper to be my girlfriend.” I said looking at her.

“And I said yes.” She responded. Everyone had a look of awe on their faces.

“It’s about damn time. I knew I liked you Min Jun when I saw you. Take care of Juniper, she needs you more than she’s willing to admit.” Chanel said. I looked at Juniper and kissed her hand.

“I will, I promise to take good care of her.” I said. Everyone clapped and cheered. We both blushed and laughed.

“Now let’s eat dammit!” Chanel said. We laughed and we all enjoyed the company of good friends.