"Jungkook, please leave it with me," Jin said as he rushed out of the room to pursue Jungkook, halting him in the middle of the halls. "I intend to speak with him again, but I need to consider my decisions tonight. I'm not planning anything for tomorrow."
"I don't want any surprises, Seokjin," Jungkook said as he turned to face his husband, who was still holding onto his arm. "You getting an abortion on the spur of the moment because you feel it's the appropriate option based on Jimin's attitude about everything."
"I understand. I'm not going to do anything like that without first informing you. I would have done that without a second thought if I were the old me, but I wouldn't do it today. I guarantee you that I will not disappoint you. I didn't tell him I was pregnant, and I'm not sure if I should have. Whatever the case may be, I believe it should be me speaking with him about this. It would help if you didn't have to repair everything in this house all of the time. "I also don't want to burden you with the fact that Jimin is my responsibility—"
"I'm going to put a stop to it right now. It is our responsibility to look after him. As much as I expect you to consider Mia ours, I was hoping you could think of me as your husband, not as someone who can repair things. I don't want you to be miserable at this point in your life, particularly now. Jimin, I understand what you're saying. I can only imagine the thoughts going through his head, but he must understand that you are an adult and responsible for your life and what you want.
You can't continue to spend your life with the weight of your past mistakes attached to you. The changes and progress you have made will either be accepted or rejected by him. You can't fix everything.
He wants to be an only kid for you, but he doesn't want to be an only child for his other parent, and that's not fair, is it? Why are you the only one who has to deal with this? Taehyung hasn't done even half as much as you have, yet you are constantly seen as less important.
I understand that you were never the ideal father to him; I understand that. However, he is no longer a baby and needs to comprehend the reality behind things. You must express your heartfelt apologies to him and assure him that no other child or person will ever replace his place in your life. However, he should be aware that you may love more than one person simultaneously and that his position will not be taken away.
He has to have the same level of confidence in us that I have, but I understand that will take time and will need strong and frequent reinforcement on your part. In addition, he should be aware that you are not perfect. No one is, and his expectations of you are unrealistic because I do want us to have this baby, and it will break my heart if you proceed with abortion not because you want it, but because it is what he wants because that is selfish!
"Let's speak about this in the room. I don't want him to hear us right now," Jin said, pushing Jungkook towards their room, "I'll consider and speak with him tomorrow. I'll take him on a drive and talk with him. Thanks for your help, Jungkook. I'll figure it out, and I really appreciate it. I mean that from the bottom of my heart."
Jungkook wrapped his arms around Jin as they returned to their room, "you don't need to thank me. I am here with you, and we will figure this out together; just don't shut me out."
"I won't, I promise."
*****
Jimin took a few steps around the park, which he thought was strange since he couldn't understand why his Appa had brought him to a place he had only visited when he lived with his grandparents.
Jin hadn't spoken anything to him throughout the whole journey there other than to inquire about his schooling. He had no idea why they had come here, and he was beginning to wonder whether he had pushed Jin too far the night before because of the way he behaved, particularly when he brought up the subject of a boyfriend he didn't have.
He was beginning to suspect that Jin was planning to send him back to live with his grandparents. He was hurt at this possibility since things had finally started to go the way he wanted them to.
"Please come and have a seat." Jin pats the bench he is sitting on, wanting Jimin next to him.
Jimin took his time going next to Jin and sitting down, "you want me to go back to my grandparents, don't you?"
Jin stared at him, confused, "Why would I want that? No, absolutely not. I didn't fight to get you with me to send you back to them."
"Oh, sorry, I just found us coming here weird."
"I understand," Jin said with a sigh. "I wanted to bring you here because I wanted to talk with you, and I thought this would be the best setting for that conversation. When I found out I was pregnant with you, the first place I went was to this location. I was scared. I had no idea how to inform my parents, much alone your father. I was at a complete loss.
The only thing I knew about myself that day was that I wanted you. I was hundred percent confident that I wanted to have you. I recall thinking. I didn't care how young and inexperienced I was; I wanted you. I couldn't care less whether Taehyung or anybody else wanted to be involved; I simply knew.
For roughly a week, I came here almost every day, going over in my thoughts who I should tell first about the news. To inform Taehyung or to tell my parents is a difficult decision. I decided to inform my parents first because I knew they would understand and guide me through the process of telling Taehyung and his parents.
Needless to say, this did not happen in the end. They were not pleased with the situation. I was requested to get an abortion. My parents wanted me to abort you, but I refused. I concluded that this was not going to happen at all. After that, I was forced to keep my pregnancy a secret. They convinced me that everything would be OK, but my mother took you away from me when you were born. I n-never had the opportunity to embrace you in my arms. I heard you cry, and the next thing I knew, you were no longer there-"
"Appa-"
"Please allow me to continue because if I don't say this now, I don't believe I will be able to say it later. Jimin, I've never abandoned you. Even though I was sixteen and inexperienced with pregnancy at the time, I knew I wanted you from the minute I discovered I was expecting. It was my parents that took you away from me. They led everyone to assume that I was insane. I ended up on medication that I didn't need. You were my mother's son to the rest of the world, and you were my brother.
It got to be too much for me to handle. I no longer needed drugs to drive me insane; instead, I went insane. Because you are my son, yet, you could only refer to me as your brother. It was painful.
I understand that nothing that has transpired justifies any harsh words or actions I have used towards you. I will be forever regretful for the way I treated you. I should have handled things differently when you discovered the truth, but I didn't, so I apologize. I never told you about it because I know how much you like your grandparents, and I didn't want my concerns to become your concerns. You were completely blameless in all of this.
Furthermore, I was not a whore when I was sixteen. Because your father and I had a deep affection for one another, the fact that you were born was not a mistake; you were a surprise, but not a mistake. I understand that Taehyung has an odd way of dealing with things, but I can't hold it against him for what he didn't realize until it was too late.
I'm the one who has to take responsibility. I should have told him the truth initially, but I didn't do so. I'm not telling you this to make you resent your grandparents. I'm telling you this because I want you to know the truth: I have never, ever not wanted you in my whole life. I knew I wanted you as a teenager when I was sixteen, and I still feel the same way now. I meant it when I said that you are irreplaceable to me. No matter who comes along, no one can take your place.
This is the truth, and I will spend the rest of my life proving it because it is the truth. My lack of concern would have prevented me from fighting for custody on your behalf. I went to rehab, Jimin, to clean my record to get legal custody of you. Even though I did not need rehabilitation, they convinced everyone else that I did. I was filled with a lot of anger. I still am, but I am learning with Jungkook's assistance every day that I cannot continue to cling to the past since there is nothing I can do about it, but I can have the determination to change the present and our future."
Jin realized he had spoken a lot and decided to stop trying to give Jimin a chance to process everything. Seeing Jimin's tears, he was overcome with emotion, and it was not something he ever intended to put on Jimin's shoulders, but he felt it was vital for Jimin to understand that half of the things he was taught to believe were false.
Jimin leaned his head against Jin's chest in tears, "w-why didn't you tell me this?"
"I didn't want to burden you with it."
"How could they take me from you?"
"They saw it as an embarrassment to the family's name. It was a big deal with me being pregnant so young. Also, my parents couldn't have another child after me, so I guess the opportunity felt perfect."
"I hate them!"
"No, baby, don't say that. I didn't tell you this to hate them-"
"No, I do! How could they do this to me? They told me you didn't want me! I-"
"I know what they told you, but know that I have evidence of everything," Jin said as he hugged Jimin tightly. "There is a good reason why my father enables me to run the company in the way I do. They are afraid that I will reveal this information to the public, but I will not. It is not beneficial to you or me in any way. All that matters to me is that I have you. That's all I've ever wanted in life."
"Appa, I am so sorry." Jimin sniffled, "I am so sorry."
"Don't worry, baby. It's alright. I've moved on from it. You are here with me, and you recognize me as your Appa. I came out on top. They have to live with the guilt, according to Jungkook."
"H-how could they do this? I don't understand. Why would they do this?"
Jin knew where Jimin was, and he recognized that it was a lot to take in at once, so he allowed him some space to take it all in. He was well aware that it was painful, which is why he never wanted to talk about it.
After some time, Jimin sat up and wiped his eyes, "thank you for telling me and sorry for all the things I said to you before and those names I called you."
"It's fine, don't worry about it."
"I am really happy Jungkook came into our life," Jimin confessed.
"Me too," Jin said with a grin on his face. "I realize I've already shared a lot with you, and I realize this is selfish, but I have to be honest. I am pregnant, and I am a couple of months along.
Please understand that this has absolutely nothing to do with Mia or Jungkook. Jungkook just discovered this information this week. Because of my upcoming operation, I decided to keep it a secret. I do, however, want to become a parent to this child. By no means am I attempting to replace you. I love you more than any other person on this planet, and I will never stop loving you.
I never had time to bond with you; I didn't get to embrace being pregnant with you. Having lost out on so much, I yearn for it. I'm craving it so badly that it hurts. I don't want to feel guilty for wanting this, though, and hearing your concerns, I struggle."
"Wait, so when you stated last night that you wouldn't have a baby, were you planning on getting rid of your pregnancy since you are already pregnant?"
Jin nodded, "I was because I didn't want to make you unhappy, but then I realize I am making myself unhappy, and Jungkook, he-"
"Oh my God, no, Appa. Please don't do it. Oh my God, I am sorry! No. I was being selfish. I couldn't sleep because I couldn't stop thinking about it last night. I was planning on coming to talk to you about it today. I was ashamed of myself for how I had behaved, particularly given how much has been changing in our lives recently. I don't even have a boyfriend, I was making everything up, and I'm sorry for doing so.
Initially, I was terrified about you having a child, but hearing this now makes me pleased that you never intended to abandon me. That was something I had no idea about. I've always had a different point of view, which led to various feelings. If you are expecting a child, please go ahead and have it; I promise that I will be happy."
Tears filled Jin's eyes, "really? Are you sure?"
"I am. Do you know if it's a boy or girl?"
Jin shook his head, "no, I haven't checked. I haven't done anything."
"We should find out, don't you want to know?"
Jin couldn't respond as he had become overwhelmed with emotions.
Jimin laid his head on Jin's chest, "I will always be number one in your heart, right?"
"Forever and Always." Jin lets out in tears.