A walk to remember || Tk

「 Chapter 14 」

—Chapter fourteen—

"You know," I said casually, "it sure was nice tonight when we were sitting by the tree earlier."

"Yes, it was," he said. His mind was still elsewhere.

"And you sure looked nice, too."

"Thank you."

This wasn't working too well.

"Can I ask you a question?" I finally said, in the hopes of bringing him back to me.

"Sure," he said.

I took a deep breath.

"After church tomorrow, and, well . . . after you've spent some time with your father . . . I mean . . ." I paused and looked at him. "Would you mind coming over to my house for Christmas dinner?"

Even though his face was still turned toward the window, I could see the faint outlines of a smile as soon as I'd said it.

"Yes, Taehyung, I would like that very much."

I sighed with relief, not believing I'd actually asked him and still wondering how all this had happened.

I drove down streets where windows were decorated with Christmas lights, and through the Beaufort City Square. A couple of minutes later when I reached across the seat, I finally took hold of his hand, and to complete the perfect evening, he didn't pull it away.

When we pulled up in front of his house, the lights in the living room were still on and I could see Dohyun behind the curtains. I supposed he was waiting up because he wanted to hear how the evening went at the orphanage. Either that, or he wanted to make sure I didn't kiss his son on the doorstep. I knew he'd frown on that sort of thing.

I was thinking about that--what to do when we finally said goodbye, I mean--when we got out of the car and started toward the door. Jungkook was quiet and content at the same time, and I think he was happy that I'd asked him to come over the next day.

Since he'd been smart enough to figure out what I'd done for the orphans, I figured that maybe he'd been smart enough to figure out the homecoming situation as well. In his mind, I think even he realized that this was the first time I'd actually asked him to join me of my own volition.

Just as we got to his steps, I saw Dohyun peek out from behind the curtains and pull his face back.

With some parents, like Angela's, for instance, that
meant they knew you were home and you had about another minute or so before they'd open the door.

Usually that gave you both time to sort of bat your eyes at each other while each of you worked up the nerve to actually kiss. It usually took about that long.

Now I didn't know if Jungkook would kiss me; in fact, I actually doubted that he would. But with him looking so pretty, with his hair parted with curtain bangs and all, and everything that had happened tonight, I didn't want to miss the opportunity if it came up.

I could feel the little butterflies already starting to form in my stomach when Dohyun opened the door.

"I heard you pull up," he said quietly. His skin was that sallow color, as usual, but he looked tired.

"Hello, Reverend Jeon," I said dejectedly.

"Hi, Daddy," Jungkook said happily a second later. "I wish you could have come tonight. It was wonderful."

"I'm so glad for you." He seemed to gather himself then and cleared his throat. "I'll give you a bit to say good night. I'll leave the door open for you."