✔️ Unconditionally [Book 2] | Jeon Jungkook

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"Ready?"

Hyun-Ji turned her head at the sound of his voice, then back to fastening a drowsy Hyori into her car seat.

She was trying to hide her melancholy about his departure. Even in the fleeting moment that their eyes met, he could see it written plainly in her face.

"Yeah. Are you?"

He briefly looked around in thought, ticking off mental check boxes before nodding. "I'm pretty sure I have everything," he said while adjusting his backpack over one shoulder.

With Hyori secured, Hyun-Ji left her on the sofa and walked to the door to slide into her shoes without untying them.

He watched her wiggle her feet into them, a smile tugging at his lips. "I guess I don't have to tie your shoes for you anymore," he said wistfully.

She paused as the knowledge settled in. Once she had given birth to Hyori, she could now comfortably do things on her own that he would have done for her.

"I guess not," she said softly. "I'm kind of glad to have my body back to myself, though."

"I can imagine," he said as he walked over to pick up Hyori's car seat. "Actually, I can't. You're on your own with-"

"Jungkook?"

"Yeah?"

"Can you help me?"

Already at the door, he turned around to her again to find her standing in the same place, hands clasped behind her back, looking up at him in askance.

With her shoes untied.

He breathed out a laugh and gently placed Hyori down. Shaking his head, he knelt in front of her and tied her shoes for her, taking more time to do it than was really necessary.

With the task finished, he smiled up at her. "How does that feel?" He asked.

A bittersweet expression showed in her features. Her brow was drawn together, peaking in the center, and her smile didn't quite reach her eyes.

"Feels great," she whispered.

"Princess..." he groaned, wrapping his arms around her waist and hugging her tightly to himself.

Seeing her like this made him want to call Taehyung and tell him to go to the shoot without him, but that held its own consequences. As much as it hurt his heart that Hyun-Ji was so solemn, he had to do what he needed to take care of them.

She also made him want to throw her over his shoulder and carry her back upstairs to their bedroom to erase her melancholy and make her feel better as only he could, but that would mean he would surely miss his flight.

"I'm fine, Jungkook. Really. I know things are going to be ok."

He looked up at her then. She was honestly trying, and he would make sure that the trust that had been restored in him wasn't broken again.