The soft sound of the ocean crashing plays through the speakers of Yoongi's car. Set to a low volume, it's background noise for the adults in the front seat. To the infant in the back, it's a quiet lullaby.
"Are you warm enough?" Yoongi asks, adjusting the vents that are on Harper's side.
"Yes. Thank you."
"You're welcome. Do you want to stop and get something to eat?"
Harper looks back at her son. "I don't know. Is there anyplace with a drive through on the way? I don't want to have to get out of the car and leave him."
"Mmm." Yoongi hums as he thinks. "I know that there's a McDonald's nearby. And a Chic-Fil-A, if I remember correctly."
Harper pushes her lips to the side, thinking of which place that she'd prefer to eat. In all honesty, she really could just go for something on the lighter side.
Burgers, nuggets and fries sit kind of heavy with her and she doesn't want all of that food at the moment.
"Do you think that we could stop at the grocery store when we get to your home city?" She asks. "I want something kind of light. Like a salad or something. I could buy the stuff and then make it when we get to the house."
"Of course." Yoongi responds. "Do you want some meat in it? Like chicken or steak? Bacon bits?"
"Chicken... and some bacon bits." Harper says as she thinks. She wants something like but she still wants her meat protein. Maybe she could add some sliced egg in as well.
"We're twenty minutes out from the city now so we could go when we get there." Yoongi suggests.
He looks into the backseat through the rear view mirror and sees Onyx sleeping peacefully.
"Or I could take you to the house so you can get settled in with Onyx. Then I'll run out and get what you'll need and come right back."
"Will you have enough time?" Harper asks with a pinch of her brows.
He told his father that they'd be there at 11:30, noon. She doesn't want him to be pressed for time because of her. She also doesn't want the first impression that his parents of her to be making their son and herself late to events.
Harper's chest fills with adrenaline at the thought of meeting his family to begin with. She doesn't talk to very many people; not even her own family. So it should come as no surprise that meeting someone else's makes her incredibly nervous.
It wouldn't matter whose parents they were, she'd still be on the fence. ... Right?
But right now, maybe she's a little more so than usual.
"Yes. I'll be quick." He assures.
Yoongi drives the rest of the way into the city and he can't help the smile that he gets from all of the familiarity.
The buildings as he makes it to the expressway, the locally owned businesses when he gets off, the streets he ran down and played on as a child. It looks more or less the same but just as he has, they've aged.
Something is different about them. But he isn't sure what.
As Yoongi drives through the inner city to avoid morning traffic, Harper looks out of the window. She smiles softly at the sight of the skyline. The streets looks unfamiliar to her but similar to streets in the city where they reside.
She knows that they're not in their city but how much different can residential streets really vary from place to place? The ones that always look obviously different are the big streets, the main streets.
As the city's houses become more spaced out, the outer looks of them become more modern. It's obvious that the income of the residents is going up with each passing block.
But Yoongi doesn't drive too far into the area of wealth. Just on the border of the outer city and the suburbs, a neighborhood of modern homes exists.
They're considered 'upper middle class' homes; though Yoongi doesn't care for the dollar sign attached to them. If any of that mattered to him, he wouldn't be a top surgeon living in an apartment complex.
Large sums of money are inconsequential to a lot of what influences Yoongi's living decisions. He lives a simple life regardless of what his net worth is.
But still, he feels the need to be a little more... open than what he would had he come on this trip alone.
"Oh, wow." Harper say as Yoongi pulls into the driveway of a modern home.
She opens the door as he parks the car and stares in awe at the house. Her mouth is slightly agape seeing the sleek design of the sides of the home. Everything about it looks so new. It brings a sense of affluence into the atmosphere that Harper hadn't entirely processed before.
She knows that Yoongi's a surgeon, a well renowned one at that. But she's been seeing him in the same living conditions as herself. You'd think he makes the same amount of money that she does.
Harper grabs Onyx's car seat from the back and reaches for his diaper bag as well. She picks it up and swings it over her shoulder. Yoongi grabs the rest of the bags and locks the car.
Harper holds back on walking toward the house, letting him lead. She doesn't have the key to get in nor does she feel like it's her place to move first. She's technically the guest in all of this.
Yoongi walks to the front door and unlocks it. Pushing it open, he gestures for Harper to get herself and Onyx inside first. She does so quickly, stepping in and taking her shoes off as not to get snow on the floor.
"You can set your boots over here." Yoongi points to the boot tray and she sets them down.
Unable to take her eyes from the interior of the home, she continues to look around. Yoongi sets the bag and suitcase down before removing his coat. He hands it on the rack next to the door and looks at Harper.
Her eyes are glossed over in wonder as she takes everything in. Yoongi hones in on the side profile of her face. He admires her just as the same as if he was looking at her head on.
So many angles of her that he could fall in love with if given the opportunity.
"I can take him so you can get your coat off." He holds his hand out for the car seat and Harper looks at his outstretched fingers.
Mentally, it feels like a lot for her to hand over her son's car seat to him. It's confusing to her and she wonders why. She's let him babysit Onyx, she's let him feed him, she's let him hold him.
Why is handing over the car seat such a mental task?
She hesitates.
"Or I can take the bags to our rooms and let you get settled in first." He suggests. "Whichever you prefer."
"I'll take him out." Harper says. "He has to be changed and everything so.."
"Okay. I'm going to go put the bags up then. When I'm finished getting everything checked out, I'll go out to the grocery store for your salad things."
"Okay. Sounds good." Harper sets the car seat down and takes her coat off. She hangs it up next to Yoongi's and squats to get Onyx out.
She unclips the straps and takes him out. Onyx inhales and sighs through his nose, sucking at his pacifier as he's cradled. Yoongi smiles softly at Harper before picking up the bags again.
"I'll show you to your room."
Harper follows him through the living room and looks around as they move. Through an archway on the right side of the living room, is the kitchen. Through a second archway further down in the living room is the dining room.
The kitchen and the dining room are connected by a large square opening rather than a rounded archway.
On the left side of the living room, is a wide hallway. It's wide enough for about three people to fit walking side by side.
There's a window at the beginning of the hall on the right side and one at the end of the hall on the left side.
"It's beautiful in here. Is this your home?" Harper asks curiously.
"Uh, yeah. Sort of." He says as he walks to a door.
He opens it and looks inside before stepping into it. He walks over to the bed and looks at the comforters.
He hasn't been in this house in so long that he feels like it needs to be completely cleaned. It's not dirty at all. But some of the surfaces of the place have definitely collected a bit of dust.
"I'm going to wash these first." Yoongi says as he starts stripping the bed. He pulls the comforter and sheets off, along with the pillowcases.
"They look okay." Harper says.
"Yeah, they probably are but it's been a while since I've been here." He gathers everything up and looks around to see what else needs to be cleaned.
Yoongi's eyebrows pinch together and his lips purse as he sees the state of the room.
"I'll be back in a second." He states before walking towards the door.
Harper looks at room and can't find too much of anything wrong with it. Outside of the thin layer of dust on the dresser, the hardwood floors and probably the windowsills, there's not much else to clean.
It really just needs some dusting.
"That's not too much." Harper says as she looks at Onyx.
She brushes her knuckles against his cheek and kisses his nose. Taking his baby pillow out, she sets it in the middle of the bed. She sets Onyx in it with his baby blanket before tying her hair up. She clips it up to keep it off of her neck.
Harper peeks into the hallway and looks left to right. She hears things moving around to her right and follows the sound.
She comes to a sliding wooden door, opened to view a laundry room.
Yoongi picks up a bottle of detergent and reads the label. He checks the front and back before shaking his head and putting it back down.
He picks up a white bottle of detergent, looks at the front of it and nods once. He uncaps it and pours it into the washing machine.
He looks so focused on his task, that Harper almost doesn't want to interrupt him. It's so quiet and serene feeling in here. What if she startles him?
"Yoongi?" Harper calls softly.
He looks back at her as he starts the washing machine.
"Do you have dusting supplies? Or wood shine?"
"I do. But I can do it." He says. "I have to run errands right now anyway. I'm sure if there's enough of everything that I'm going to use to clean."
He takes a deep breath in as he and Harper walk back down the hall together.
"Then I have to make sure that I have groceries for while we're here. And-." He stops walking and looks at Harper. "Do you have everything else that you're going to need?"
"Yes, I think so. I packed everything that I could think of."
"Okay. So just cleaning supplies, groceries aanndd I think that's it for now. You can go into the living room with Onyx if you'd like. It'll probably be more comfortable. I'll be right back."
"Okay. I'll play with Jewel while you're gone." Harper smiles.
Yoongi smiles and then gasps. "Shit."
He speed walks to the door and opens it. He puts his boots on and walks outside to the car. Harper realizes why he's in such a rush and feels bad.
She'd forgotten about the cat in the back seat as well.
When Yoongi comes back inside with Jewel's kennel, he's in a hurry to get him out. He opens the door and Jewel doesn't come out.
"Come on, Jewel. I'm sorry." He apologizes. "I wasn't going to leave you out there forever. I just-.."
Became overwhelmed at the sight of this house again.
"Will you please come out, buddy?" He squats by the cage and looks inside. Jewel is bundled at the back of it, curled into himself as he looks at Yoongi.
Harper gets low as well, sitting on the floor so that she can see into the cage better.
"Hey, little guy." Harper smiles at him. "Are you cold in there?"
Jewel picks his head up and looks at her.
"It's warmer out here." Harper tells him.
She holds her arms out and Jewel takes a cautious step forward. Yoongi watches her coax him out and feels bad. He can only imagine the sense of abandonment that he must feel.
Jewel finally gets out and walks into Harper arms. She picks the cat up, cradling him the way she carries Onyx.
"He's not going to leave you anywhere." She lets his stomach as he rolls in her arms. "I won't let him." She whispers teasingly.
Harper looks at Yoongi as she pets Jewel. The smile on her face slowly fades seeing the way that he's looking at her.
It's a foreign look.
It isn't one that she hasn't seen before. Just not in her own life and never outside of television. The cliche dramas and romance movies.
The atmosphere becomes quiet as they look at one another. There's a thick blanket of tension, seeming to swaddle only Harper. She licks her lips and swallows thickly.
"You should... head to the store. So you can get back in time and we have time to clean before..." She loses her train of thought as Yoongi keeps his attention on her.
She stops talking altogether and her blinking slows until it comes to a halt. She holds Jewel closer to her as she inhales through parted lips.
"Before...?" Yoongi asks quietly.
Harper closes her mouth, allowing her mind to catch up.
"Uhm... before we have to go to your parents'. We should have a buffer of time for... cleaning and.. eating."
Yoongi smiles slowly and licks his lips.
"Good point. I'll be back in less than an hour. If you need anything, please call me."
"Okay. I will. Thank you."
"It's not a problem. I'll see you in a second."
"See you." Harper waves as he walks out of the door.
Once the door shuts, Harper lets a relieved breath out. She looks at Jewel and smiles softly.
"Your dad's making me nervous."
Jewel meows in response and she starts walking to the kitchen. She looks under the sink and finds cleaning supplies. She grabs a pair of gloves from under the sink as well and begins to wipe the counters and sink down.
It eases her mind and kills time while she waits for Yoongi to return.
She sweeps and mops the hardwood floors as we as vacuums the living room carpet. She's got the time to do it being that Yoongi is gone for a little over an hour.
It doesn't feel that long with the way that she's occupied herself. But Yoongi is in a rush on his way back to the house, feeling guilty for having taken so long to begin with.
As he steps foot into the house, the smell of Pinesol and fresh air hits him. The house has warmed up a bit more yet there's a cool breeze wafting through the home.
He steps out of his boots and puts them on the tray as he looks around. He sees that the living room has been tidied up and the floors have been mopped.
But it's eerily quiet.
Yoongi's eyes dart around as he walks into the kitchen. He sets the brown paper bag of groceries down and looks at the floor. It's spotless and has a light gloss to it.
"Harper?" He calls quietly, having an odd feeling in his chest. He listens for a response.
When he doesn't receive one, he starts walking back toward the hallway. He sees that her door is open and calls her name again as he approaches.
"Yes?"
Harper responds and looks to the doorway. Yoongi's shoulders relax when he sees her feeding her son. She's holding him in her arms as she sways side to side.
Onyx has one hell of a grip on her finger as he eats but she doesn't mind.
"Hey." Is all that Yoongi can manage for a few seconds.
"Hey. How was the grocery trip?"
"Oh-." He'd almost forgotten. "It was fine. I'm sorry that it took me so long to get back. I forgot how to navigate that store, honestly. And there were a lot of people there so the lines were a little longer than I expected them to be. I apologize."
"You don't have to apologize." Harper insists. "I occupied myself for a while anyway."
"Yeah, I see." Yoongi smiles softly. "You didn't have to clean anything. I'd have done it all when I got back."
"Oh, it's fine. I don't mind cleaning. I wanted to do it. Consider it like a 'thank you'."
"A 'thank you'? For?" Yoongi asks, curious and mildly confused.
"Thank you for allowing us on this trip with you." Harper clarifies. "It means a lot." She say quietly, more to herself than him.
"Of course. I wanted you guys to see the butterfly museum anyway. It was just a matter of when we'd have the time."
"Right and with Onyx, he gets a little antisocial sometimes so... I think that he has to be weened into things like that."
"And that's okay. It's always been just you and him. Maybe he just doesn't want you around anybody else but him." Yoongi makes a light joke.
Harper opens her mouth to rebuttal but quickly closes it.
He seems to like you just fine. She thinks to herself.
"Maybe."
"Okay, I'm going to go out your bedding in the dryer. Then I'll put the grocery things away. My parents are expecting us over in about two hours. That gives us time to get ready to go again and see them."
"Are you nervous?" Harper asks, seeing the way that his fingers move in his pockets.
He hasn't been still since they've gotten to the city. It started on the expressway after they'd pass the city entry sign. His fingers tapped against the gear shifter the entire time. Since they've been in the house, he's been active doing things.
"Yes. If I'm being honest. A little." He admits.
Harper's features begin to relax as she listens to him talk.
"I haven't seen my parents in so long that I'm scared to see them again. I don't know how they'll react. I know that they support me and that they're proud of me. But sometimes I wonder if they're growing a sense of dislike for me because I don't get to see them as much."
Harper sways side to side with Onyx as she sets his bottle on the dresser. She looks at home to make sure that he's awake before hiding him upright to burp him against her shoulder.
"My mom will call and talk about seeing her friends and their kids together at events. She always says that she's proud of me as a surgeon but I still want to be a good son to her, too, you know?"
Yoongi looks down at the floor after getting all of that off of his chest. When he's finished talking, he realizes that he's possibly said too much.
"I'm sorry." He apologizes quickly. "I don't talk about my parents much. Touchy subject and it's... ruining... the..." He trails off.
"It's okay." Harper assures with a small smile. "Sometimes we just have a lot on our minds."
Yoongi nods slowly, unsure of what to say to help his sudden embarrassment.
"And you're not ruining anything." She pats Onyx on his back. "You're allowed to express yourself. And besides, you listen to me often. It's only fair that I hear you out as well... because... we're friends. Are we not?" She looks at him expectantly.
Yoongi licks his lips and nods again. "Right."
Harper smiles at him and he returns it. It's a warm genuine smile that eases his mind about seeing his parents after so long.
"You're still their son. They still love you dearly or they wouldn't have been so excited when you said that you were coming home." Harper tells him with a knowing smile.
"You think so?" His fingers stop moving in his pockets. "You should have heard them when I asked them to set an extra spot at the table for dinner."
Harper tilts her head.
"They're excited to meet you."
"They've never met any of your friends?"
"Oh, they have." Yoongi says. "It's just... been a while."
He averts his eyes as he bites the inside of his cheek. His cheeks begin to feel warm so he turns his face away from her.
"Oh..."
Onyx burps and Harper side eyes him. He giggles as he sits up. Yoongi cracks a smile and the baby sits up and laughs. He puts his pointer and middle fingers into his mouth before slowly leaning toward Yoongi.
Onyx's gummy grin makes Yoongi smile. Harper holds her son under the armpit so that he doesn't fall.
"You're always trying to leave me." Harper teases.
Onyx looks at her leans back over. She kisses his cheeks and he curls up and giggles, drooling onto her shirt. He tries his best to look at his mother but his eyes are closed with joyous glee as his giggles fill the room.
"You're stuck with me, Onyx. You know that, right?" She holds him up and laughs with him. "It's just me and you, yeah?"
Onyx continues to laugh and Harper sees all the light in the world through him. Her bouncing baby boy with his beautiful dark curls. As his hair grows, they'll turn into coils. As his teeth start to come in, they'll give him a brilliant white smile.
He'll grow and age but he'll always be her baby boy.
Harper's eyes slowly slide to Yoongi. He's looking at them fondly and her expression begins to fall.
"We should get ready to go." She says.
"Oh-. Right." Yoongi says, moving out of his stupor.
"You can shower first. I still have to pick out an outfit for myself and get Onyx ready."
"Are you sure?"
"Mhm." Harper hums and nods.
"Okay. I'll be quick and then I'll watch him while you get ready."
"Alright. Thank you."
Yoongi shakes his head as he walks toward the door. He looks up at her and smiles.
"No need."
A|N
#This book really is my solace. I'm so excited! We meet the Min family next update 😁 It's early Christmas morning so that'll continue next time :)