One Step Closer - PART 1

One Step Closer - 90💕

"I'm happy to hear that, son." Jaehyun felt relief flood him. "Does this mean he's someone you can see yourself sharing your life with?" He knew the answer already but still it didn't hurt to ask him again.

His son huffed. "I already told you. He's the only one. My answer won't change no matter how many times you ask." Jimin suddenly beamed and moved to the edge of his seat, leaning forward. "Did you know that we have met before? Like when I was thirteen?"

"Yeah?" Jaehyun leaned forward, planting his elbows on the table. "At thirteen?" Curiosity flooded him. He didn't know of this.

"Yep. It was by chance. I was at this park and saw a few pups bullying this tiny pup playing all by himself. Long story short. I intervened, took the pup to the nearest convenience store, tended to his scraped knee and bought him a bunny plush to make him smile again." He leaned back in his seat, staring at the ceiling dreamily. "Never thought that pup would be the one to hold my entire heart in the palm of his hand." He opened his palm and stared at it like a love sick puppy.

Jaehyun scratched his chin thoughtfully. "Wow. So he's really your destiny."

"Right?!" Jimin's face lit up even more and he didn't remember seeing his son this excited in years. "I even went back there a year later to that convenience store because I knew his father worked there. But he wasn't there anymore. Looks like we were always meant to meet."

"You met Jeong-Ho?"

Jimin nodded enthusiastically. "I didn't know the cashier was the pup's father. I bought first aid and patched him up. But he told me it was on him because it was his pup. Later, when I bought the bunny plush, he was hesitant to accept it but allowed Jungkook to keep it when I insisted. It's still surprising to me that we have met before."

"Considering how the events unfolded, I'm not surprised," Jaehyun stated. "You imprinted on him when you were seven after all."

"What?" Jimin blinked, the smile falling to form a frown. "At seven?"

"Remember the time when we briefly discussed your childhood trauma and your time at the hospital?" he asked and his son nodded. It was a topic they all avoided. There was so much pain in there. "There are things we didn't mention to you." He exhaled. It was still a nightmare to him. "Thanks to Jungkook's mother, we were able to see our only son alive and thanks to Jungkook we got back our only son fully recovered."

"I..." Jimin's brows creased. "I don't understand. Why don't I remember then?"

"You were young." Jaehyun took a deep breath. "You were alive when they brought you outside that day, but barely." To this day, talking about it loudly was hard. "Your mother...she was broken." His voice cracked with emotion. "We had you after several heats amidst health complications and we were told it'd be life threatening for her to bear another child. Your mother died at least a thousand deaths when she waited outside that shopping mall and blamed herself for losing you. She kept saying it should have been her." He took a deep breath as his son's scent shifted to that of concern and sorrow. "At the hospital, the doctors had to waken your wolf forcefully in order to heal you, but you were only a pup and your wolf was so scared. You went feral and the doctors struggled to bring you back. At only seven, we had to confine you and you weren't even accepting your mother's scent."

Jimin stood and skirted around the desk to perch on it next to him. He took his hand in his.

Jaehyun smiled. "As a parent, to see our only pup fighting for his life was the worst thing we had to do. Those two months, your mom wasn't herself. She wouldn't leave your side. Even when you didn't allow her anywhere near you, she'd sleep outside the door. The only time she left was to help Jeong-Ho with his little pup. While you were feral, Jungkook was struggling to adjust to a life without his mom. He wasn't weaned off breast milk, you see. So he wouldn't eat anything and wouldn't stop crying. So your mother volunteered to help the pup and took care of him while Jeong-Ho mourned his wife."