Together in Quarantine | Jikook ✓

Chapter 20: Our Chapter

"You need anything, sweetie?"

"I-I apologize." I bow out of habit and scramble back into my apartment.

"Did you just go to my old apartment? I don't live there. I live in New York now."

"New York?! During a fucking pandemic? What did I do to you to lead you to move to one of the worst covid hubs in the country?"

The raven is silent for a while. "Jimin, are you okay? The pandemic has been over for a while now. We haven't spoken since."

My eyes widen. "What? Bullshit. You're my boyfriend."

"We broke up."

"Impossible. Why would we break up?"

"It was just a fling, something born out of quarantine. Basically, it was reminiscent of Stockholm Syndrome."

I grip the counter as I'm overcome with vertigo. "Just a fling? You said you loved me."

He sighs. "I did, but it was one-sided and a mistake. I wanted things that you didn't. We decided that who we were during quarantine wasn't the same as who we were out of the pandemic. We just didn't mesh. It was no one's fault. We broke up on good terms, Jimin. Why are you bringing this up now?"

"No. You said you loved me. You teased me about marriage, kids, a house to raise a family. That doesn't just disappear like that."

"It didn't just vanish. It faded. We kept living together after we didn't have to, wanting to see where things went, but you became increasingly focused on your career and although I was working on trying to get noticed with my band, my feelings lied more in the family sphere. But that's okay. Your drive has always been so amazing to me. I guess that's why you gotta be a professional musician while it's always been a pipe dream to me. That's okay. Neither of us is the bad guy. I still love and admire you, just not like I did."

"Kook! I felt him kick! Come here!" a woman's voice calls sweetly from Jungkook's apartment and I feel my heart shatter.

Although I don't want to hear the answer, I ask it anyway. "Y-You're having a kid?"

"Yeah, I am."

-

"Jimin, Starlight, wake up." Someone shakes me.

I flail around. "No, you said you loved me. You can't have a kid with someone else."

"What are you talking about?" Jungkook grips my face and has me look at him. "Nobody is pregnant. Baby, breathe."

Crying, I attempt to follow Jungkook's breathing and he takes my hands and places them on his chest to feel his heartbeat. The slower, calmer tempo helps to ground me and I bury myself in him.

"We're not just a fling."

"I know that. Where is this coming from."

"You—gone—pregnant," I hyperventilate.

With a frown, Jungkook kisses my forehead. "I'm right here. You can feel my skin and my heartbeat. I'm not going anywhere. No one is pregnant unless you can magically get pregnant without telling me."

His words make me blush and I feel myself calm down slightly. "Was it a dream?"

"A nightmare, it sounds like." He pets me. "Should we talk about it? It seemed to be scary and include me."

I nod and adjust in his hold. "I woke up and you were gone. Apparently, the pandemic was long over and you had moved to New York and your girlfriend was pregnant. You said we had tried to make it work, but I chose work and my career over you and you wanted a family, so we broke up mutually."