Family (KSJ)

Chapter 16

Jin took you on a tour of the house, inviting you to make yourself comfortable and to help yourself to any snacks in the kitchen. He explained that he had a regular housekeeper and a personal chef who stocked his refrigerator each week with a combination of fresh ingredients and pre-made meals. He promised to sit down with you to make sure all of your and Ben's favorite foods were there, but you could see that he'd already thought to get apple juice boxes and Ben's preferred kind of yogurt to help Ben comfortably settle in.

The apartment was huge. It had a beautiful open living and dining room full of green plants. Floor to ceiling windows surrounded the space with views that overlooked the Han river and the local parks. Jin showed you his workout room and his own room so you'd know where to find it. You could see him getting excited as he continued the tour, opening a door to a relatively generic but spacious and well lit guest bedroom which he identified as yours, and then finally approaching one last open door.

"Ben, I decorated this for you, I hope you like it." Jin squatted down next to the boy so he could more easily make eye contact.

When the door swung open Ben just stared in amazement. "Whoa," followed by a brief pause and then a squeal as he dropped your hand and took off into the room, "this is amazing!"

The bedroom was a dinosaur themed oasis with soft blankets and pillows, a mesh swing hanging from the ceiling, and a small table for doing homework and his studies, already set up with workbooks, crafting supplies, and anything else he could need. Small shelves lined both walls, one full of both Korean and English language books, another full of new toys, mostly dinosaurs interspersed with cars and trucks, super heroes, and a small play sushi set. Games were stacked on the shelves and a small collection of musical instruments covered a shelf in the corner.

""I think he likes it" you deadpanned as Ben ran around the room trying to take in everything there was to see.

"It's huge!" he shouted as he ran past with one of the new dinosaurs in his clutches.

Jin was fondly watching the boy as tears grew in his eyes. "I'm so glad. I want to give him everything to make up for lost time. I know I don't know him very well but if you want anything else just let me know, I'll get it for him."

"Jin, I really think this is more than enough. Thank you. Really."

"Oh, I have one last thing." He dug into his wallet to pull out a credit card with your name on it.

"This is for anything Ben needs or any activities you want to do together if I'm not around. It has a monthly allowance of $5,000 on it, but let me know if you need more."

"Jin, this really isn't necessary, I seriously doubt we'll leave the apartment much for at least a few months while Ben's immune system is coming back. And even so, $5,000 is just, it's too much."

"I'm not telling you that you have to spend it, I just want it to be available if Ben needs anything."

"Ok." you quietly concede. "If it's alright with you I'll start to unpack Ben and my things. And if you'll point me to the laundry please?"

"Sure, if you want the housekeeper will also do your laundry, just let me know."

You politely nodded, "I think I'd rather do it myself if that's ok."

Jin showed you where the laundry was and how to work the machines and then told you he would be in the living room if you needed him. While unpacking Ben's things you found draws already full of new clothes, many of them printed with dinosaurs, animals, and superheroes. You also found a few that had the BTS logo sewn into the fabric.

You quickly filed away the rest of Ben's clothes and between loads of laundry you spent a bit of time with Ben as he tried to show you every new thing in his room. When he could no longer control his eyes drooping you finally tucked him into his new nice soft bed so he could take a nap.

"This bed is so soft, it's like a cloud!" Ben looked with glee in his eyes.

"Good, then I'm sure you have a nice nap. If you need me just call or come and get me, I'll be next door in my room ok?"

"Ok Y/N. I love you," he whispered and after you offered a soft kiss to his forehead you gently closed the door behind you and went into your room, ready to lie down for a short nap yourself after everything that had happened.

____________________

"Y/N?" you felt a hand gently shaking your shoulder.

"Mmm?" you hummed as you pulled yourself from your dream.

"It's time for dinner. You've been sleeping for a while."

Sitting up you looked at the time and discovered you'd been sleeping for almost three hours.

"I'm so sorry, I don't know what happened. Where is Ben, is he ok?"

"He's fine Y/N. He's been up for a few hours. We were playing Mario Kart together and he was showing me his new dinosaurs. Ben told me that you both like chicken so I ordered some for dinner, is that ok?"

"Oh, yeah, sure," you agreed, trying to shake the fog from your head.

"I know you're worried about Ben and have been doing everything yourself, but you don't have to carry that heavy burden anymore, ok Y/N? I'm here now."

"Thanks Jin, I'll be out in a few minutes."

You quickly brushed through your hair and made sure you were presentable before heading to the living room, following the sounds of Ben's voice. In some respects it was truly a relief to not be solely responsible for Ben. You love him so much, but it had been hard suddenly being his mother, nurse, provider, teacher, his everything while you were still trying to digest your own loss. At the same time you knew that as Jin and Ben became more comfortable together, your own time with Ben would come to a rapid end. It was still too difficult to even ponder.

"Y/N," Ben scampered over to you and threw his arms around your waist, "I learned how to play a new game!".

You ruffled his hair as you reveled in the joy that came from this simple moment. "I bet you did a great job too, didn't you?"

"Yeah, Jin, I mean...appa? He said I was the best," the boy quickly looked to Jin for confirmation who offered an encouraging nod in return.

"I'm so glad, now did I hear we're having chicken for dinner tonight? Let's set the table and get everything ready ok?"

Ben quickly nodded and followed you to the kitchen. With Jin's help you found the plates, cups, and chopsticks to set on the table, the doorbell ringing just as you finished putting everything out.

You spent most of the evening observing Ben and Jin. They talked about the video game and what they had done that afternoon, and Jin told Ben a few stories about when he was growing up. It was clear Jin was struggling to get across everything he wanted to say when limited to English but Ben didn't seem to mind, helping guessing what word he was looking for when Jin got stuck, and patiently waiting for his new friend to work out what he was trying to say.

You wanted to hate Jin. You really really did for everything he had done to you. But seeing him with Ben. Seeing Ben happy. Knowing that Jin really seemed to care for Ben in exchange. If you were honest with yourself it was hard to despise him. Which offered a tiny seed of relief in your heart knowing they would be together forever, without you.