{*The story will be in third person from now on unless stated otherwise. Love you!*}
°°°
Jin remembers when he was 2 years old, a 18 aged girl had been appointed to take care of him. As his babysitter and nanny. Her name had been Areum.
Half his life consisted of memories about his Areum Noona. How she used to run around a toddler Jin who refused to wear clothes after a bath- giggling while running around the large, empty house- water drops trailing after him.
How they used to play hide and seek and Jin always used to hide under the bed but Areum Noona took her sweet time in finding him anyways, just so Jin could enjoy her trying to search for him.
The way Areum Noona used to called him Jinnie, wipe his tears whenever he cried for his father but he never came- either he had been away in business tours or doing god knows what. How she used to knit sweaters for him for the cold winter evenings and used to chase after him in the manicured lawns of their estate.
She never went home- always stayed with little Jin. Perhaps, she never had had a family. Maybe the little boy was the only one she ever had.
Jin, out of all things, remembers the way Areum Noona used to sing him to sleep- cradling him in her arms, gently swaying him and humming a lullaby.
I see the moon, the moon sees me
shining through the leaves of the old oak tree
Oh, let the light that shines on me
shine on the one I love.
Over the mountain, over the sea,
back where my heart is longing to be
Oh, let the light that shines on me
shine on the one I love.
I hear the lark, the lark hears me
singing from the leaves of the old oak tree
Oh, let the lark that sings to me
sing to the one I love,
Over the mountains, over the sea
back where my heart is longing to be
Oh, let the lark that sings to me
sing to the one I love.
Even now, in the nights when Jin felt alone and couldn't go to sleep- he used to sing himself this song- imagining the soft voice of his Noona singing for him.
She had been everything for the child. A friend, a sister, a mother.
And then one day, she disappeared.
Her room which had been adorned with portraits of aesthetic sceneries were empty. The large dresser which used to house her clothes and her stitched works was gone. She was gone.
And Jin's father had no clue either. He didn't care.
That his son was alone. That he was just 14.
His Noona never came back.
All Jin remembers was a night filled with screams coming from his Noona's room, his father coming home drunk, taking his Noona away from him and locking the door to her room. Jin had banged on the door for hours- worried for his Noona but all he heard were muffled cries and his father's incoherent words.
Then he had remembered his father coming out, clothes barely in place, pants almost falling off. When Jin tried going inside to check on Areum, his father had stopped him and shut him inside his room.
The next morning, Areum was gone.
...................................................
Jin stretches from his position on the bed, where he had been crouched over trying to design his yellow tshirt which was too plain for his liking. He had already added a couple of short words for aesthetic with black thread and all that was needed was an extra element to put the Tshirt together. Perhaps a cloth patch?
It was the weekend and he had finished designing two jeans since the morning. It must be around 4 now.
He hears his phone ringing and half his heart feels giddy and the other one nervous. It can be Jimin. But what if it was Mr Kim? He shouldn't be bothered by the latter at all but Mr Kim just had a way with words that made Jin feel absolutely useless.
Turning over the phone, Jin sighs in relief when he sees it's Jimin.
"Hello! How are-".
A high pitched shriek meets his ears from the other end. "Jinnie! Why didn't you tell me?"
"Tell you what?"
As far as Jin knows he had already filled Jimin on with whatever happened on Friday- picking Taehyung up and dropping him home. (Jin had skipped the last part about the lip balm comment, he wasn't sure if he could handle Jimin's squeals after he said it).
"That baby daddy liked your post!"
Jin's phone almost fell from his hands.
When he had shared the picture and captioned it with the words intentionally, he had meant for Taehyung to only see it. Not actually like it.
Hell, even though they followed each other- Taehyung had never actually liked his posts. Unlike Jin who had his notifications on for the latter's posts and like them exactly five minutes later (not too early as then it would be obvious).
What if Jimin had just seen something wrong? There were three to four fan pages on Taehyung made by the juniors- (he couldn't help rolling his eyes after thinking about it)- what if they were the ones who liked his post?
"Are you sure?"
"Of course, I am! Don't you check your likes and comments?"
"I get thousands, I can't possibly see all of them".
Jimin huffs. "Whatever. But Kim Taehyung liked your post. Eeeee".
My face turns into a smile but I try not to show that much. "Yeah, yeah". I say into the phone. "Who cares anyway?"
"Yeah, who does? Oh, right. Kim Seokjin does!" Jimin laughs and I roll my eyes.
"Shut up! I-".
Jimin cuts me. "I am shutting up just for now but you know I am not going to stop talking about this anytime soon".
Of course, he won't. He was Park Jimin after all. I wonder who would be more happier at the day of my marriage- him or me?
"Okay. Now, I am currently out of cloth patches. Your aunt's craft store is open right? Want to accompany me?"
Jimin sighs disappointedly. "The store is open and I wish I could come along but uh...my parents and I are going out for dinner. I am-wait..why don't you come with us? Mother would love it if you do".
Right. Obviously most normal people who had parents and a family would be busy or going out during weekends. Not staying at home, designing jeans and gushing about Kim Taehyung liking their post.
I wish I could have a family too who planned dinners and went for shopping together. The Parks were like a family to me but at the end of the day, I wasn't connected to them. They just called me over because they were kind and couldn't see me alone. They needed their own family time too.
"No, thanks a lot Jimin. Some other time okay?"
"No, Jinnie. Please come! I am bored with my parents anyways and I am pretty sure my mum likes you more than me. Come on!"
"No, I won't. I already have plans".
"...Like?"
"Like finishing my tshirt and watching Stranger Things again".
"Oh, wow, that sounds super fun. Shut up and come along!"
"Jimin, no. Please, you go. I will go to your aunt's craft store now. Your parents must be waiting for you. We will meet tomorrow okay?"
"Fine, whatever. You will have lunch with us tomorrow then. I got to go, dad just called. Bye, love you!"
"Love you too, bye".
I hang up the call, proceeding to order in pizza for later.
The chefs had a day off on the weekends and I was feeling like having pizza.
°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°
James stops the car in front of Park Your Art.
James was the driver but looked like a club's bouncer and Jin wondered whether that was what he was intended to do- scare off anyone who dared to come near Jin.
Mr Kim didn't want Jin meddling with anyone as he didn't want stuff related to him coming on the newspapers or sites.
That was just one of other stupid rules his supposed father had made.
Jin opens the glass door, the wind chimes above ringing.
Aunt Park used to manage the store alone and the shop was popular mostly for college students studying art or interested in weird trinkets like cloth patches.
She was close to Jin, often giving him ideas for his designs.
Park Your Art was situated in the next city- a 20 minute drive from his own place, so no-one from Jin's town ever came here.
"Aunt Park! I am he-".
Jin's words disappear when he sees Kim Taehyung standing in front of him with an equally shocked expression.
And holding a large canvas.
Which falls down with a thud.
A/N:
Took a bit long for me to update this due to lack of motivation and my laziness :)
But here it is now!
(What do you think about Areum Noona? What do you think happened to her?)
I want to say thanks to all the people who asked me to update...it's weird but I like it when people are looking for the next chapter.
Stay happy, healthy and safe!
Love you.
💜🌈💜