To the Moon and Back (Marked Sequel)

Chapter Five: Stigma

She wasn't even sure what she was doing there. What had she been thinking? Moving to Korea on one man's word had to have been the stupidest thing she had ever done. Not only was he nowhere to be seen, but the few people she had been able to talk to hadn't been able to give her an exact answer as to when she would be able to see him.

It was as though he had never existed.

Which was fine. It wasn't as though she had moved halfway around the world for him. Totally fine. Didn't hurt her feelings at all.

"Maybe he's just busy?"

She continued to make excuses for him, even though he hadn't taken the time to see her yet.

The apartment was nice enough, however. One of the perks of moving to Korea, and one of the only reasons she still believed that that night had actually happened. Three rooms in total, a full bathroom, and a kitchen with adjacent living-room-like space.

She would be fine on her own.

She was fine on her own.

She always had been.

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"Are you feeling better? Your nausea seemed pretty bad on the plane."

"I'm fine."

"I bought you some nausea pills for pregnant women the other day, I know I packed them in here somewhere." He rummaged through his carry-on, searching for the little box of pills he knew were in there somewhere.

"I'm fine. And you didn't have to buy any of that stuff," Jade sighed as they waited for a cab to come pick them up.

"I wanted to," Namjoon responded, "besides, Jungkook kept getting me all excited about having a baby. His excitement is contagious."

"Namjoon... I don't even know if I'm going to be able to go back to Korea after this."

"What?"

"You'll see what I mean when you meet my mom. Oh, lord be with us."

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Jane sat bolt upright in bed. "That's it!"

Jin sat up a bit slower, rubbing at his eyes. "What's 'it'?"

She moved around the room, digging through her bag for her cell phone.

"I had an idea. It's crazy, but it just might work."

Jin exhaled and leaned back into his pillow. "What's your idea?"

"Jackson."

"Who the heck is Jackson?"

"Jackson," Jane paused for dramatic effect, "was my old alpha."

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"Jade! Honey, Jade's home!" Her mom called into the house, "Come in, come in. You must be, oh jeez, forgive me I'm terrible with names."

"Mom, you've got to slow down. My English is a little rusty, and English isn't Namjoon's first language."

"Sorry, honey. I'll try to remember."

She and Namjoon entered the living room, where Jade's father was sitting on the couch, reading a newspaper. Passing through quickly, with just a brief 'hello' to her father, Jade led Namjoon up the stairs to her room. They put their suitcases down, then returned to the living room, decidedly ignoring the fact that there was only one bed.

"Jade, honey, when you said that you were pregnant I didn't expect you to be this big! How far along are you?"

"About five months. I'm due in November."

"Good. You'll be twenty by then. Namjoon, what did you say you do for a living?"

Namjoon started at being asked directly, glancing at Jade worriedly for a second before answering slowly, "I'm a music producer and a rapper."

Jade shook her head at him while widening her eyes, praying that he wouldn't mention Bangtan.

"A music producer, and a rapper? Do you do drugs?"

"Mom! I'm sorry Namjoon, you don't have to answer any more of her questions?"

"Jade, I am just trying to make sure that he'll be able to support you in the future."

Namjoon was taken aback by all of the questions, and Jade's English that continued to get faster and faster as she raised her voice at her mother.

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"Are you sure that the dorm is the best place to put him?" You asked Yoongi.

"We used it for Jimin, and it was fine. Tae generally sleeps his heat off, so there's really nothing to worry about. Just an extra precaution."

"Well, you're the boss," you joked, entering Tae's room and putting bags full of food and supplies down.

Yoongi was extremely distracted at the moment. Taking care of Min-Jae, preparing for comeback, and taking control of the pack was doing a number on him, and the extra naps he was taking with Min-Jae weren't helping relieve any of the stress he was dealing with. You were trying to help him out the best you could, with your limited knowledge of werewolf pack dynamics and roles, but you honestly just weren't the dream team when it came to holding the pack together.

Tae roamed into the room a few minutes later, complaining of a headache and of feeling hot. Yoongi made you leave the room immediately, recognizing, even in his stressed-out exhaustion, the signs of an incoming heat.

As soon as you were out the door, he ran out behind you, slamming the door shut and locking it with a click that sounded a hell of a lot more ominous than it should have.

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"I'm sorry about my mother," Jade murmured, rubbing her eyes tiredly and leaning against the wall for support.

"She loves you. She just wants to make sure that you're safe with me."

Jade just sighed, picking up her things and taking them to the bathroom to change and get ready for bed.

Namjoon changed in the bedroom, trying not to knock anything over in what seemed to be Jade's childhood bedroom.

Posters of various bands littered the walls, some that appeared hand drawn, others that were very obviously expensive. Among various members of Seventeen and Big Bang, he saw his and his bandmate's faces plastered around the room. It was a bit disconcerting to say the least. He chose instead to focus upon some prints of sunsets along the other wall instead.

"Sorry about the blatant k-pop craze. I didn't realize mom and dad hadn't turned this room into a guest room by now."

"It's fine. A little flattering, actually," he said, wiggling his eyebrows at her.

"Don't get a big head," she scoffed, crawling into the bed. "J-Hope's my bias wrecker."

Namjoon play-acted hurt feelings, sitting down lightly upon the edge of the bed. "Don't ever let him know that. He'll play that card every time he and the maknae line play 'who's Jade's favorite.?'."

"Aren't you getting in?" Jade asked, turning over onto her side. "I don't bite."

"It's a small bed."

"So? You'll just have to get close."

"Are you sure about this?"

"Namjoon, I can kind of tell that this isn't the first time we've shared a bed," she said, gesturing down at her stomach.

"I don't want to push you..."

"Just come here. Jesus Christ, I'm pregnant and lonely, okay? Normally I have a body pillow to snuggle up to, but for the next few weeks you're going to have to do."