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it's nine in the morning. tears have dried aera sits numb on the waiting bench, staring the void in space, while everything that happened plays in her head. from the first day kevin told her that they should have a baby now; from aera reasoning him that she's not ready; from his overtime working hours, to their growing fights, to the hugs and kisses becoming less frequent, to kevin slowly falling out of love until aera learnt that he's finally not into her anymore and has probably been seeing someone else.
that hurts. more that aera could've imagined for a heartbreak to hurt. she was mad, pissed, hurt, betrayed and felt like ending everything around her including herself, but never kevin. if she knew something like this would happen— that kevin would be fighting for his life in the hospital, getting surgeries after surgeries done on him, only because of the last conversation they had which had him being accused of cheating— she would've stayed quiet and sealed her lips like nothing happened for him to be fine.
his words sure did hurt but they weren't bigger than his life or aera's love. yes she hoped that he would've chosen better things to say than dragging her brother in this, which also made her question if all guys have the right to cheat on her now; if all guys she ever sees have the right to hurt her just because her brother couldn't be loyal in his relationships. kevin shouldn't have said that, not to aera's face at least because now she's busy pondering over what could happen if she never knew. would kevin still pretend to be mad at her for not agreeing to have a baby, while he was going to have a few more flings? considering that he thinks jungkook cheating in his older relationships gave kevin a licence to do it too, bothered aera a bit.
although the bigger question right now is if kevin will even wake up or not. aera's hurt and lost, but not stupid to not read his father's worried face and mother crying in his embrace when the doctor was talking to them. aera didn't bother going to the couple again after the mother yelled at her, blaming her for the condition kevin is in, claiming that she could've prevented this from happening if she didn't have such a big ego and her bratty attitude that was again somehow jungkook's fault according to the woman.
aera cried in front of her, begging that she didn't mean to cause all this. they just had an argument and she wouldn't have done it if she knew it would hurt kevin like this. the mother didn't listen, crying as well for her son, telling aera to leave just how she didn't care for her husband, let alone the family.
jake and clay stayed with her through the night, seeing her go from bawling her eyes out for the first few hours to sitting completely numb in her place now, without an ounce of sleep or any word uttered out of her lips. she remained shut even when the boys asked her what was the matter that made her fight with kevin, or when the kevin's mom glanced at her while talking to the police about the accident. the officers had some humanity inside them, which was probably why didn't ask her anything as early as a few hours back, for they could see her bad state as it's her husband inside the room, dying out of life while she's being blamed for it by his mother.
now clay returns with a disposable plastic cup filled with water as he strokes her hair gently, "have this," he says, sitting beside her, getting no response from her until she sighs, moving to push his hand away when he tries to bring the rim of the cup closer to her lips.
"i just talked to jimin hyung," jake mutters, "he'll be here soon,"
"that would be better," clay nods, glancing at aera who doesn't say anything yet, lost in her own thoughts or whatever her head is playing. "aera, he'll be fine, okay? please don't—"
"he can die," aera hushes out, sounding in pain as her breath quivers a bit, "i heard it..."
clay falls silent, not having anything else to say after that and he just sighs, placing the cup of water on the floor in the corner near the leg of the bench to avoid spilling it accidentally and turns to wrap his arm around her, making her lean in his embrace while he rubs her upper arm slowly. jake stands near by, his eyes suddenly roaming back to where kevin's parents are.
he makes an uncomfortable eye contact with the lady, kevin's mom, seeing the pain in her eyes for her son along with the hatred for aera, as she breaks the eye contact to send a nasty glare in the girl's direction, making jake sigh deeply. he bites on his lower lip, shifting to his left a little, leaning on the wall to block aera's body, not wanting more drama for his friend than she's already dealing with, but his thoughts are proved wrong when kevin's mother storms up from her seat next to her husband, towards aera.
"mrs park," jake speaks up first, stopping her a few meters from aera, "i know it's hard for you to see your son like that, and i genuinely hope he gets better. but please, you cannot hurt aera during all this,"
"move," she grits out, glaring at his face when he doesn't budge. she turns to aera, seeing the way clay is hugging and leaning close, probably telling her not to worry and that she has her friends and brothers with her in this. "you have no shame within you, do you?" the mother glares, causing aera to pull away and glance at her, "it's not even been a day that your husband isn't with you, and you've already found someone else! my son loved you, do you understand that, aera? he married you because he wanted to spend the rest of his life with you! and you... you cheat on him at a time like this? you didn't have time to sort things out with kevin, talk to him and be with him, but you had time to go drinking with these two and do god knows what else,"
"mrs park, please, that's enough," jake states in a firm voice, "you cannot talk to her like that. she's hurting as well, can't you see that?"
"shut up," she glares at jake, "all of you will regret this. especially you, aera,"
"mrs park," jimin's voice interrupts, followed by firm footsteps and his wife making her way to aera. he glances at her as well, gaze softening at the sight of her looking so broken and hurt, not even have tears to cry out anymore. he clears his throat before focusing back on the lady he just heard threatening his sister, "i'm sorry to hear what happened with kevin. but please, i would appreciate if you don't speak to my sister like that again. she's kevin's wife, and believe it or not, she's hurting as well," he states, not waiting for a response from the woman for he turns to aera and her friends, glancing at jake who gives him a small smile.
"why didn't you call me sooner?"
"we didn't get to leave her. she was crying so much and mrs park just kept making it worse. i called only when i actually got time... i'm sorry though. should've called sooner," jake admits.
jimin nods in understatement, sitting beside aera who's not hugging haewon back but the latter doesn't mind as she rubs aera's back, assuring her that things will be fine soon. haewon pulls away when her eyes catch jimin's worried gaze from the side, standing up next to clay as jimin sighs, attempting to speak to aera. however, even before he could open his open for the words to spill, aera looks at him, tears welling her eyes again surprisingly not our of tears yet.
jimin opens his arms, giving a subtle smile to her as he nods his head once, "c'mere," his voice whispers softly, embracing aera tightly as she breaks into a sob, crying like she wasn't just crying for the whole night straight. her eyes shut tight, left hand clutching on jimin's jimin's shirt while the right arm is wrapped around his neck, letting it all out truly for the first time as she feels the warmth of jimin's hug.
"my child, it's okay," jimin closes his eyes, a tear slipping down his cheek as well, hand stroking the back of her head as he can feel her trembling against his body, frequently calling for him, 'oppa' he hears, breaking his heart every time she tries to hug him closer, to seek her safe place again as if she had lost it between all the things going on in her life.
aera ignores the headache killing her, the result of the alcohol she had last night mixed with the hours long crying her eyes out and the endless train of thoughts. she keeps her eyes closed, choking on her own tears, hating eveything that's happening, that induces a deep urge to end eveything at once. maybe one of the doctors could inject something into her that would make her lose consciousness and get her rid of the situation she feels stuck in. or maybe she can just do something herself that would stop the insane hurt inside her heart, head and probably everywhere else in her body.
jimin's arms around aera loosen slowly, opening his eyes with a subtle frown as he glances down on feeling her breathing falling slower and sobs quietening down. he thought she's probably tired, but when he sees her eyes closed, not even moving when he moves, it scares him a bit, "aera?" he calls, keeping his arm secure around her, while using the free hand to tap her cheek gently, "ri, look at me, kiddo?"
"i- i'll call the doctor. i think she fainted," clay says, jogging away from them with a worried look while haewon leans down quickly, glancing at jake and gesture him to get some water. the boy nods, picking up the cup from the side that clay brought earlier and hands it to haewon, watching his friend with soft eyes.
as haewon sprinkles some water on aera's face clay returns with a doctor following him with hurried footsteps. "bring her inside," the doctor says after seeing that she's not conscious, moving his hand for a nurse to assist jimin. the brother wastes no time, standing up with aera in his arms and follows the nurse's lead, laying aera on the bed.
"please wait outside," the nurse says, getting subtle nods from jimin and the rest, leaving the room for the doctor to check what happened to aera.
it doesn't take the man long to come out as well, stethoscope hanging around his neck as he makes his way to jimin, "low blood pressure and stress. how long has she gone without eating?"
"uh," they all exchange glances until clay decides to speak, "she didn't eat anything since last night. just a lot of whiskey and vodka," jimin frowns at him, getting a slow nod of confirmation from the friend, making him sigh.
"hm that's bad. anyway, there's nothing to worry about. she'll be up in no time. then please feed her something and keep her hydrated as well. it's not healthy for her to have such fluctuations in blood pressure," the doctor says before leaving them alone and jimin soon turns to face the two of aera's friends.
"she was drinking?"
"yes," jake says, glancing at clay with a deep sigh, "i'll tell you everything from the beginning. we were supposed to hangout yesterday, but then she cancelled because of some urgent work. we assumed she wasn't coming, but then around nine or so, she called me and asked to join us. she sounded a little drunk so i asked her where she was... and she was, i don't know why, on the highway, alone towards the outer side of seoul.
"we just told her to stay there and went to get her. there we saw her crying and— like really in a bad condition, speaking on the phone to someone. she looked hurt and... i don't know, bad? she was drinking too and i asked her who she was talking to. she didn't tell us but i saw in her phone, it was kevin. i have no idea what happened between them, but it has something to do with him. i was going to talk to him right away, but aera told me not to bother and it was nothing that bad..."
jimin looks at his wife with a frown, virtually communicating with her if she could see and make out what he was able to. if he wasn't wrong he was close to assuming that the fight must've been about kevin wanting and aera not wanting a child.
clay nods with jake, glancing between haewon and jimin, "she didn't want to go home and said that she could loosen up a little for one night. that's how she ended up persuading me to drive us to the club. there she drank more until mrs park called and informed her about kevin's accident,"
it doesn't take long for aera to gain consciousness and jimin and haewon stay by her side to keep her company while jake and clay went to get some food for her. aera doesn't cry anymore, lifting her eyes up to her brother only when she hears him asking, "do you wanna talk about what happened between you and kevin?"
aera takes a moment, glancing back at the door where there's no one, especially not her parents-in-law if that made sense. she nods gradually, rubbing her eyes and takes a breath, "he cheated on me..." her voice hushes out, holding in a sob. the sentence itself sends a pang of shock pinching jimin's heart, aching on hearing that from his sister.
"how do you..." he gulps, clearing his throat, "how do you know? when did you learn that?"
"yesterday," aera answers, "i called him when i went to the restroom, remember? i called him and he didn't know the call was on... i heard him talking to some girl. it sounded like they were at her place or something like that..." she heaves out a breath, blinking a few times to clear her vision as she continues, "he said stuff like i was being bitchy and giving him attitude. i didn't want to have a baby, and i didn't give him enough time..."
a tear drops from aera's eyes as she looks at the elders, "if had a problem with me, he should've tried talking to me, right? instead of— instead of going to see some other girl behind my back. i couldn't believe my ears, oppa. i just kept thinking of all the times he told me that we should have a baby... what if i was pregnant? what would i do with our child? he'd still cheat on me? i didn't know what to do, but- but i just wanted to fix this and talk to him. cheating is wrong, but i still kept convincing myself that- that maybe it was a misunderstanding and he would tell me something else if we talk.
"i waited for him for like four-five hours yesterday. he didn't come... i was so mad and frustrated, i just went out, got a few drinks. then he called to ask where i am. he was at home then. again we started arguing and i said something like i wasn't the one cheating on him. he started lying again..." she sniffles, leaning back against the pillow near the head of the bed, folding her legs close to her chest as she and wipes her tears yet again. "i was crying on the phone. i wanted to know why he did that... i never went to see— or even thought about some other guy even once while i've been with him, ever since we started dating. i thought we love each other and we can make this work together... i almost considered getting pregnant if he really wanted to have a child!" her voice breaks, shutting her eyes and covering her mouth with her hands, lowering her head as she cries more.
"i don't know what to think... he's hurt i know. but that doesn't mean i'm not hurting, oppa," aera lets out, "god... do you know what he said to me last night when we talked?" she sniffles, rubbing her eyes, staring at jimin who waits for her to go on, "he said i have no right to tell him that he cheated, because— because jungkook also had had failed relationships. he has cheated on his girlfriends as well..." aera's voice trails off, "you tell me, is my fault that he couldn't be loyal to his partners? jungkook cheating on his girlfriends gives kevin, or anyone other man i date, the right to hurt me— to cheat on me?"
jimin looks down, closing his eyes as he shakes his head subtly to answer her question. she leans forward, hugging jimin and sobs quietly, "he said that he knows what kind of man my brother is... and i had no right to tell him what to do when my own brother has been cheating on his girlfriends... i couldn't even say anything, oppa. i didn't know what to say. i was so shocked to hear all that from kevin... i thought he loved me as much as i loved him... i never expected all this and— and i was so confused. i felt like dying, oppa... why did he do this? i loved him so much, literally i thought i've got everything when i married him... why did he do this?" she cries in his chest.
jimin quietly wraps his arms around aera, shifting more to her side so she can easily lean onto him, while he shares an empathetic glance with his wife, both worried for aera. haewon strokes her back gently, helping her calm down since she's still bawling her eyes out to jimin.
"hey, shh nothing is your fault," jimin's voice is low, only a little louder than a whisper, so soft that it melts in aera's ears, making her look up at him. "yeah, believe me, aera. him cheating is not your fault. and it doesn't have anything do with jungkook either," he assures, kissing her forehead and wipes her tears gently. "i'm really sorry this happened. it shouldn't have. but know that you're not alone, i'm always here no matter what anyone says to you. just listen to me, yeah? you know oppa loves you right?"
"mm," aera nods, closing her eyes as she lays down and rests her head on his lap. jimin strokes her hair, leaning down to kiss the top of her head. she opens her eyes, looking at the door again as it opens now and her friends walk in with some carry bags that certainly has food, for the delicious smell quickly fills the room.
"c'mon, sit up. eat something first. after that you can rest for sometime," jimin says, patting her head lightly. aera shakes her head, closing her eyes and holds his hand, "please, aera. just a little bit. the doctor said that you need to eat,"
"later," she mumbles, taking a deep breath, "is jungkookie coming?" her voice hushes out, not even sure if she would be able to confront him after all this, especially when kevin brought him up, igniting a fear inside her that he wasn't completely wrong about jungkook. he did cheat on chelsea, even though their relationship was bad, still he did cheat on her, right?
"yeah, i talked to him," haewon answers, glancing at jimin too with an assuring nod, "he'll be here by afternoon,"
"is he... is he bringing that girl?" aera asks, getting an unsure gaze from jimin as he studies aera's expression well and shakes his head, his heart nearly clenching when he sees her nodding slowly, relaxing a bit.
aera opens her eyes now, looking at her friends and haewon, then at jimin, virtually telling him to ask them to leave for a while, wich jimin understands quickly, giving an apologetic smile to his wife and the boys, nodding towards the door. none of them say anything, and haewon just returns his smile, gesturing him that she'll be right outside if they need her.
once the door closes after haewon, aera sighs deeply, touching her head and lays facing jimin, head still on his lap as she looks up at his face, "do you believe in karma?"
jimin frowns at that, not understanding where this is going and arches up a cautious brow, "karma?"
"yeah, like i heard from someone that sometimes... our loved ones do something bad— make bad decisions, and then we might have to pay for that..."
now it makes sense to jimin. his eyes soften as he stares at aera and nods his head, "it could be. but i don't think that's really effective. i mean the decisions might affect us, but it wouldn't be that we're the ones suffering in place of the person who messed up,"
"is that so?" aera looks down, dropping a tear from her eye, "look at me again,"
"you think it's because of jungkook?" jimin asks, a simple question that makes aera feel bad and guilty for even thinking this.
she shakes her head and sits up, nibbling on her lip, "no. but i feel bad that kevin thinks he got the licence to hurt me the way my brother might've hurted someone else. we never said anything to him— kook... why did he do that? why do men do that? my brother and my— my husband... why?"
"not all do," jimin says softly, "i never thought about any woman other than your unnie. jin hyung loves his wife a lot, yoongi hyung loves his wife a lot, namjoon hyung, hobi hyung, and even taehyung. they all love their wives too much to hurt them in any way,"
"then why not kook? why not kevin?"
"i don't know, i'm sorry," jimin heaves out a breath, taking the bag of food from the table near the bed and tells aera to sit properly, "eat a little," he says when she shakes her head, rubbing the tears from her eyes. jimin picks up the spoon, opening the lid of the plastic containers having curry rice inside and smiles softly at aera, "will you eat if i feed you? please?" aera gives in to that, sniffling and holding her sobs as she opens her mouth, taking a bite from the spoon he holds in front of her mouth.
"you should come home for a few days," he proposes, "you'll feel better,"
aera looks unsure, shrugging her shoulders, "i can stay alone for sometime, oppa. i'll be fine," she mumbles.
"you can come with me. don't think about anything else. it'll be easier for me to make sure you're doing okay,"
"i'll be okay by myself too,"
"you think i don't know how you are?" jimin feeds her another bite, "i know you'll just keep skipping meals and lock yourself in your room. i've raised you, kiddo, i still care for you as much as i did when you were a child. so please, i don't want things to be any harder for you while you're taking it slow and getting better. i wanna help you,"
aera nods at last, knowing that if she stays with jimin at least he'll take care of her because right now living alone might not be the best idea, considering that so much happened in just one day she's still not certain who to blame for it. also if she's with someone, there would be a guarantee that she'll be alive. her attention shifts to jimin's phone ringing in his pocket and she tenses up seeing jungkook's name on it as she reminded that confronting jungkook would probably be the hardest thing for now.
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a/n- happy birthday to taehyungieeeee!!!!! 💜💜💜💜 drop a purple heart for our tae and also let me me know what you think of the chapter? 🥳🥳
new year's almost here, so wish u a very very happy happy 2023 in advance (just in case i couldn't upload that day) ❣️✨ i hope 2022 was a decent year for you, and wish that 2023 will be better with lost of fun adventure and love and success for you 💜💜💜
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