the best things / jungri

iv. like a puzzle set

"My baby?" he finally croaked.

Yeri narrowed her eyes and observed his behavior. It was as if the ground underneath him was shaking and splitting open, and he had nowhere to run or hide. His only choice was to face the challenge. "Yes. Her name is Mira."

He let out a deep noise filled with surprise before he slid down, like his knees were too wobbly to support the rest of his body. Roughly rubbing his face, he suddenly started to gasp, struggling to inhale and exhale. Tremors wracked his huge body, a force that could shake a solid chair. Yeri's eyes widened at his reaction: half of her wanted to scream at him to stop lying, while the other half wanted to comfort him. He was freaking out, but why?

"I-" He coughed and buried his face into his knees. "I have a baby." The word sounded like a nuclear bomb in his mouth.

"Yes," Yeri said, her tone indicating that she was not only done with his bullshit, but also confused. "You have a baby."

Mira chose this moment to happily shout, "Mama!"

Jungkook's head flew up to look at the baby. His eyes flashed with a myriad of emotions. "I have a baby," he repeated like a broken record.

Yeri merely shot him a deadly glare.

"Shit," he groaned, running his hands through his hair so many times that he looked like he had been electrocuted. "Shit. Shit. Shit. I didn't know, Yeri. I didn't know we had a daughter."

At his claim, Yeri almost growled in indignation as rage tore through her body. Even if he didn't know when he left, she sent him so many messages that there was no way a person could miss all of them.

He heavily exhaled and shook his head. "I didn't know, or I wouldn't have left."

Yeri knew it was stupid to feel hurt, but she couldn't help the light sting that struck her heart. In the end, Jungkook had never loved her like she loved him. "Stop coming up with excuses," she snapped. "I texted you about it."

Suddenly shooting up, he paced back and forth in the office before stopping and saying, "I have to go."

Scoffing, Yeri said, "Again?"

"I need a night to think about this," Jungkook said as he literally sprinted to the door. He gave Yeri and Mira one last look. "Give me some time to think about this." Then, he slipped out the door like water.

And he was gone again.

Yeri sighed. What did he expect? For Jungkook to finally become a father? That was a hope that had slowly withered and died away in a frame of two years.

And like Mira had psychic abilities, she sensed the spoiled mood and slapped her palms against Yeri's cheeks, so it formed a squishy sandwich that made her lips pucker. "Mama," Mira gurgled.

...

"Boys are puzzle pieces," Seulgi loudly announced, catching the attention of some of the other parents sitting in the playroom. "Some are easy to figure out, like the 6-piece set you give to toddlers, while some are hard, like the 5000-piece set that's always made worse with the picture practically being the same color."

Three days have passed since Jungkook ghastly stormed out of the office, bringing the weekend and a much needed break for both Yeri and Seulgi. So, in a very last minute conversation over a messy cereal breakfast, they had decided to bring Mira to the mall, so she could play in the ball pen that she loved and then watch the movie that had been long overdue. Now, they sat besides the ball pen, watching Mira crawl around and giggle (her legs were still a bit wobbly whenever she tried walking), wolfing down the Chinese takeout they had bought twenty minutes ago, and talking about how universally alike men were.