[Jungkook]
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Jimin and I were on a plane enroute to South Korea to visit Jane's aunt. Jimin's dad had given us the documents with her credentials and records. He got her information from HR as they had her resume and documents on file when she did the movie with Lily. We didn't get a chance to go through all of the papers but we saw that Jane's aunt was her next of kin. It seems she lived in Busan which is the second largest city area in South Korea. It was more laidback than compared to the limelight of Seoul where my dad and Jimin's dad were from. My mom was born in Busan so I called her to ask if we could stay by my maternal grandparents.
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"Sure baby. You and Jimin just be careful there."
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"We will mom."
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I would love to say that her words were what a typical mom would say but given our last 'adventure' with Travis I knew she was more than just concerned about us having normal troubles with travelling. Yet still she was happy that we were together and going to her homeland. She always spoke well about my grandparents and our family in Korea but she also let me know that they were very traditional and stayed away from the 'Western' way of living that she had chosen to live. So my mother's warning wasn't just for our safety but for us to be careful of being our lovey-dovey selves around my possibly homophobic relatives. I knew it was something that we hid well during our early relationship so out of respect for them we decided we would keep our distance. Sounds easy, eh? At least I hoped it would be easy.
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We arrived at the Busan airport and rented a car. Thank God we both had our Waze App because foreign GPS was not allowed in South Korea. We had called ahead and Jane's aunt was actually pleased to meet us. I didn't want to just show up at her door to be turned away however we sort of stretched the truth by saying we were movie friends of Jane. I mean technically it wasn't exactly false but not exactly true either. She did work with Jimin's mother so technically we were from the movie industry, well at least Jimin was. I was the designated boyfriend/bodyguard. I liked the idea. It reminded me of Jimin's animated movie that I helped him with the concept of the bunny Officer Kookie and baby chick Nurse Mochi. They were the characters of the vigilante rabbit and the sweet nurse chick. I loved being his protector even though lately I felt I wasn't doing enough for him in that area but Jimin trusted me and I had to live up to his expectations. He's my baby and I will protect him by every means necessary.
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The drive to Jane's aunt's farm home was long but Jimin spoke nonstop about how beautiful the place was. He couldn't help but admire the beautiful scenery while I couldn't help but admire the beauty next to me: My Jimin! Ahhh... The fresh air and the new scenes were pale in comparison to the gorgeousness that is Park Jimin. I looked at him as the breeze blew into the strands of his blonde hair. Today I noticed the tiny spots of dark roots showing and I wondered if he was going to stop dyeing his hair from now on. I dreamed of his black hair and I always hoped he would let it grow out but Jimin was still waiting. Waiting for the right time and moment to show me his real self and like a wonderful and understanding boyfriend, I would give him all the time he needed.
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We pulled into a track that was about a mile long from the main road to the actual house. We had passed a few rice paddies and people working diligently out in the fields. It was a true country setting. My grandparents lived in the city area of Busan but Jane's aunt owned the rice fields we passed earlier. Our original plan was to visit her first and then head to my mother's family to spend a few days with them but we changed our minds and stopped by my family first. Thank God. Our visits were like two sides of a coin: one extreme to the other. Jane's aunt was waiting in the foyer and she welcomed us with a huge smile while my aunt and uncle along with my grandparents didn't too like the presents we brought for them. They thought we were showing off our 'American lifestyle' and money. In general the visits were tough but also rewarding.
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After staying one night, in separate bedrooms I might add, by my grandparents we decided, well I decided to not stay and that after visiting Jane's aunt we would go to a hotel and do some sightseeing while we were here. Jimin even suggested we also visit his grandparents as well as his mother's grave. I agreed. When we finally arrived at Jane's aunt's home, she opened her arms and hugged us, "Welcome to my humble home."
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It was such a wonderful welcome and immediately we felt a connection with her. Jimin hugged her back and introduced us, "Hello. I'm Jimin and this is my friend Jungkook." Jimin was being cautious as my mother warned. My family didn't seem to like our closeness or the fact that we were a couple but Jane's aunt was cool and knew more about us than we knew of her.
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"Hmm... I know who you are: Jimin you're Lily's son and Jungkook you're Jimin's boyfriend." We looked at her in shock and she giggled, "I looked you up when you called and I must admit your coming out video was a real eye-opener."
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I laughed, "Wow, you saw that?"
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"Yeah, I'm down with the modern life. Come on inside guys," so we followed her into her lovely home.
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It was as simple as could be but she had a few modern but outdated gadgets around. Among her soft 'grandma' sofa and all the ruffles and lace on the curtains and tablecloth, I also saw a computer, her cell phone, flat screen television and a stereo system that was attached to her TV. I was thankful we bought her a brand new laptop as we thought it would be good for her to have something we could better communicate with her. Thankfully she knew a bit about surfing the net and at least she knew what a search engine was.
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We sat down as she went into the kitchen to bring a tray filled with various homemade sweet biscuits and glasses of lemonade. She reminded me of Jimin's stepmom, Sangi. I smiled as she spoke to us, "I may be in my late 50's but I know a thing or two about the internet and the YouTube. I used Naver to find out about you, Park Jimin. You're a famous director."
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Jimin smiled, "Well I'm still learning about being in the director's chair but I have produced a few movies."
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"Yes. I loved the one about 'Unrequited Love'. Was it about you two?" She looked at us with a smile as she served us. I knew from her look that she was okay about us being together.
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Jimin then told her why we were here, "Miss Kim..."
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But she put her hand out to stop him, "Please, call me Geu-Roo. Only my workers call me Miss Kim."
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Jimin nodded but he was still respectful and she smiled and nodded when he said, "Miss Geu-Roo's, we're here because of your niece, Jane."
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I saw the age in her face when Jimin mentioned Jane's name and as she sat down she sighed before she spoke to us, "Before you say anything, I just want you to know that I know..." Jimin and I looked at her eagerly and she continued, "I know about Jane and Lily. Jane had told me about her. Even before her mother died, Janie and I were very close. I had more of a connection with her than I did with my own sister. My sister, Janie's mother, was named Ga-Ram because she was born by the river while I am Geu-Roo because I was born under a tree. You see our mother was a believer of nature. She loved all types of flora and she believed that the rice that she inherited from her parents was the elixir of life. Eomma was what you would call a nature freak. Our Appa wasn't. Janie and I were carefree just like my mom whereas Ga-Ram was strict and traditional like my dad."
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Jimin looked at her and asked, "Well we know she couldn't have been too traditional because we know Janie's dad wasn't Korean. How did that come to be?" My connection with my Jiminshi was amazing. I was thinking the very same thing.
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"Very observant, Jimin. Walter was the very first and last time that Ga-Ram came out of her 'comfort zone'. My dad was topped ranked in the ROK Army. He knew English very well so he was posted at the US base at Camp Humphreys. That's where we learnt to speak English and it's also where we met Walter."
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Ah! That's how she was able to converse with us so well. But I also noticed that she rolled her eyes and shook her head when she said the guy's name and I couldn't help but say, "Seems as though you didn't like him that much."
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"Hmm... You have no idea. Have you ever read the book or saw the movie 'Pride and Prejudice'?"
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Jimin's eyes lit up, "Yes, it's one of my favourite romance storylines." When I looked at him a little confused Jimin smiled, "It's a chick flick." Then I nodded and just grinned. I had no idea about it. Reminder: Watch 'Pride and Prejudice' with my Jiminnie.
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Miss Geu-Roo smiled at us, "You guys are too cute. Well let's just say Ga-Ram was level-headed like Elizabeth while I was frivolous like Kitty." Then she looked at us and whispered, "We both liked Mr. Wickham aka Walter." Jimin and I were stunned and she continued to explain, "Walter was tall, handsome and very muscular. Sigh... He was so gorgeous. I fell for him the minute I met him but Ga-Ram was patient even standoffish with him and somehow he was more attracted to her than me. It did cause a little riff between us but then I met another gorgeous solider and forgot about Walter. Ha... Yes... I was very frivolous back then. Our Mr. Wickham didn't end up with Kitty like in the book, instead he went with his Lizzy and got her pregnant. Of course our dad was furious and they were matched to marry."
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She paused for a bit and sighed, "Then our dad died and Walter became a different man. Without our 'protector' Walter began drinking heavily and would make comments about resentment and unfairness that our family had put him through. You see, apparently before he met and knocked up my sister, he had a girlfriend in the US and she was pregnant with his child too. Overall he was a nice guy and a good father but when he drank he had no control so the moment he hit Ga-Ram and caused her to end up in the hospital, my family and my dad's friends in the squadron thought it best that they divorce. Walter was sent back to the US. He wanted to take Jane with him but my sister won the case over him and got full custody of their daughter. That's until my sister got sick and passed away."
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I had to ask, "If she had full custody and you guys were close, why was Jane sent to the US after Ga-Ram passed away?"
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I heard another sigh, "Because I couldn't come between the love of a daughter and father. Like I said, Walter was a good father. He used to keep in contact with Jane even more so when I bought that computer for her. That's why I still have that old fossil: it reminds me of her. I can still see her sitting there laughing and getting to know her father through it." Miss Geu-Roo sighed again, "Her mother didn't agree with the technology but I encouraged it. Sigh... She had a boyfriend here in South Korea. He was a very nice boy. They went to school together and would even come here to study and hang out but then she met a young lady on the internet.
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"Late one night I got up to use the bathroom and I heard her talking sensually with a beautiful blonde haired girl. I confronted her the next morning and she admitted that she was in love with her. The girl was a US student and was acting part time. She convinced Jane to leave here telling her that they could live together and study and work together. At that time Jane was already an adult and her mother had already passed. She also wanted to get to know her dad better so even though I didn't approve, my niece broke up with her boyfriend, packed up what she needed and left. However a few months after she moved to the US, she called me to say that she and the girl didn't last. Jane said she needed a break and tried to move on. I asked her to come back but she said she had a few things going on and she wanted to see it through. About a year after she met Lily. They met through the research Lily was doing for a new movie and she told Jane that she would get her in the movie. Their relationship was doing well but after a while Jane wanted to come back home. She mentioned about things not going well with her dad and his new family. Also the girl that she was with before wanted to get back with her. Jane had refused but the girl was being kind of psycho about it. Jane was preparing her flight to come back home but unfortunately when she came back it was in an urn."
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Jimin went up to her and hugged her as she began to cry. I went in the kitchen and got her a glass of water. She thanked me and Jimin and continued her story, "When she first moved over there, Jane used to send short videos to me about how she was doing. She took some time for herself and after a few months she decided to live with her dad but I knew she didn't know about her dad's violent streak. In her last video she said she was coming back home for good and was hoping to help me with the farm. She said her dad was a bit too controlling and things weren't working out with him. She also had hoped that Lily would come back with her but Lily had her family to see about," and she caressed Jimin's hair. "She called you and your brother, 'My boys' just as Lily used to say."
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Jimin shook his head, "I never knew of her or even saw or met her. My mom kept her a secret but my dad knew of Jane. He told us that our mom became a better person after she met her but apparently they quarrelled the night Jane died," and Jimin showed her his mom's letter.
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She read it quietly and looked up at Jimin with a stunned face, "You're an intersex like your mom was... Oh my God. You must have had a difficult childhood."
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Jimin chuckled, "You have no idea..." When he looked at me, I winked at him making him blush.
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Aunty Geu-Roo smiled again, "You two are definitely adorable. Are you planning on getting married soon?"
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I looked at Jimin and told her, "We want to but we're waiting until everything settles first."
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She shook her head, "Let me tell you something. After all I've seen and been through, waiting doesn't make sense. If you two love each other then there shouldn't be anything stopping you from making that commitment to each other. It's a sign of your love for each other. I fell in love many times but never made any of them permanent. I've done many things and I love my life but if I had to do it all over again, I would've settled and have a family of my own. I thought that Jane would've continued our family's legacy but with her being a lesbian and now with her death there's no one else in my family who I could give my inheritance to."
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"So you don't have any other family: an aunt, cousin?" I asked as I stuffed another sweet biscuit in my mouth. Hmm... These were delicious.
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Aunty Geu-Roo shook her head, "Unfortunately, no. My mother had one brother who passed when he was little and my dad had no siblings. Ga-Ram and I were their only children and Jane was their only grandchild. Everything we have here was from my mother's family. With Jane's death, I'm the only one left now."
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Then I saw Jimin thinking. He looked right into my eyes and I could see his cogwheels spinning. Gosh he was so handsome and had such an intelligence that was mind-blowing. Then he looked at our host and asked her something not even I was thinking about, "You said Jane had a boyfriend here in South Korea." Aunty nodded and then Jimin said, "So technically, she wasn't a lesbian. She was probably bi-sexual." Then he paused again, "When my dad gave us Jane's records I saw that right after she came to the US she started a movie but had to stop after two months of shooting. Then she had a few medical receipts from a women's maternity hospital. Almost as though she took a long..."
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"Break..." Both Aunty and I said it. Then she looked at Jimin with bright eyes, "She did mention wanting a break from everything. Do you think... that maybe Jane... got pregnant while she was there? It would make sense. Not too long after she left here we talked and I realised she was sick. She thought it was the flu or maybe her body was adjusting to her new environment. Jane never really did any real time videos with me and whenever she sent me vids it would always be from her chest up."
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Jimin shrugged his shoulders, "That could be a possibility or maybe she got pregnant before she left here."
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I was looking on as they talked and my cogwheels were also spinning too, "Wait... So hear this," and they both looked at me when I said, "You said she had a boyfriend here from school and not too long after she left South Korea she got sick. I'm thinking Jane got pregnant for this boyfriend but didn't even know. She had already developed an online relationship with this girl and left to pursue things with her. Got there and after two months realises she's pregnant. She's probably ashamed and ends the relationship with the girl and has her baby."
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"Wow! You guys are really in showbiz. I couldn't think up that kind of scenario if I could. But if that's true, what happened to the baby?"
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Jimin answered, "Well her medical bills were for the hospital and some sort of aftercare," Jimin then took out the documents from his tote bag.
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We looked at them and I read the medical statements and made an epiphany, "Jimin look here. It says the aftercare was for a hospital called CHONC Pediatric Hospital." I took out my phone and immediately checked them out. "It's a children's hospital for children with serious conditions. Maybe after giving birth, her baby had some complications."
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"Omg." Aunty Geu-Roo cried softly, "Janie... Why didn't you tell me you were pregnant? I would've helped you." She looked up at us and said, "If I knew she was with child I would've insisted that she come back home."
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Jimin sighed, "That's probably why she didn't tell you. I'm looking at her other records here and I'm seeing receipts from a man called Mr. Shane Johnson. Does that name ring a bell to you?"
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"No it doesn't but I'm surprised at that you have all that information on her," her aunt was also impressed.
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"Well my dad dug a little deeper into her finances. We usually ask the new recruits for their financial records but my dad being the owner of the company got all the information on Jane's situation. It says here that she received a total of twenty thousand US dollars the year after she came to the US. Four thousand dollars was paid by a Mr. Johnson for a five month period. That's a lot of money for a young Korean girl to have in such a short space of time she was there."
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Indeed it was and with us digging for information, we were about to find out that we weren't the only ones who knew of Jane's quick fortune.
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