After checking her location and realising that she's actually quite far from where she lived, Jiah tried breaking the route into small parts as calculated that taking a cab all the way home would be too expensive and probably not possible for some cab drivers might not take it that ling at once. Why spending so much money when she can take a bus half the way and then head home with a cab without any problem. That would split up and reduce the total cost by a fair amount.
It's already late by the time gets off the second bus, carrying Jihun with one arm and his stroller with the other. She takes a deep breath, unfolding it and sits Jihun inside, taking a moment to stretch her back a little. From here she can either call a cab or even ask Yoongi to come pick her up. He would be so mad if he comes to know what happened with Jimin today, especially the fact that she travelled so far all alone with her toddler when it's already getting dark.
She sighs softly, glancing at Jihun as she starts pushing his stroller, walking towards home. She pulls out her phone, calling Yoongi's number to ask if he's free and would pick her up right now. However, he seems busy as the ringing is being transferred to his voicemail, making Jiah sigh, deciding to call a cab instead.
"God, why aren't any cabs available," She hisses, refreshing the app, but nothing happens. She tries calling Yoongi again, clicking her tongue in frustration when he still isn't answering.
"Looks like we'll have to walk home," She sighs, her mind playing the last conversation with Jimin. Did she overreact? Did she do anything wrong? Maybe she shouldn't have left Jimin waiting just to deal with Jungkook... She looks straight ahead, shaking her head at the thoughts, deciding to talk to Jimin tomorrow with a much calm mood.
As she continues walking through the dimly lit street, frequently checking her phone to find any cabs nearby, a whistle grabs her attention followed by two big shadows blocking the light behind her. She looks over her shoulder, gulping thickly as she can hear the lazy voice and slurred words that are probably being referred to her since there is no other girl here. Thinking of Jihun with her, she knows the only option is to ignore these drunkards and walk away until she's safe at home.
Her footsteps increase the pace, subtly taking out the keys from her purse and holds them like claws between her clenched fist. The men follow after, making her wonder if it's already too late for drunk men to start with thier nasty job of harrasment. She also holds up her phone, dialling Yoongi's number again, praying for him to answer which just doesn't work today.
"Hey girl,"
Jiah walks faster if she wasn't already, holding the keys tightly in her hand and having the emergency dial on her phone one tap away, for the last thing she wants is to fight some drunk men on the street while she's alone with Jihun.
"Can't you hear?" The other one calls out jogging to catch up with her. They walk by her side, smirking as their eyes run the length of her body, getting a glare from her. "Oh wait, so you have a child?"
"Adorable," The fat one laughs, grabbing the Jiah's hand close to the handle of the stroller.
"Let go," Jiah pushes him away, bringing the stroller behind her and steps back, never doing the mistake of moving towards the wall.
"Why? Don't you wanna be friends? You look lonely with your kid. We could take you home,"
"No need," Jiah tells calmly, "Thank you, but I'm really okay,"
"Oh no you're not," The taller one smirks, stepping closer, "Such a shame that a beautiful thing like you has to walk her son all alone at night,"
"Move back," Jiah gulps, looking around for help, any person, any shop, but unfortunately there's none, other than one small stall that might be too far for anyone to see her in need of help. The man doesn't listen and Jiah groans in annoyance, bringing up her fist with the keys striking out, meeting the man's face with a hard punch. His cheek bleeds at once, probably due to the strength coupled with the keys.
"You!" The other shouts, glaring at her and Jiah pushes him back, jumping up to give him a kick right on his nose. She throws a few continuous punches on his face, still holding the keys firmly, until a hand grasps her hair, pulling her back and throwing her down on the ground.
"Ah!" She groans, eyes quickly to Jihun and gets up quickly on seeing that one of them has grabbed the stroller, "Leave him!" She yells, "Help! Is someone there?! Please help me!" She yells as loud as she can, tears trickling her eyes as she tries to make him leave the stroller, hitting him without a break. The man groans, stumbling back when she kicks him in the shin and quickly takes the opportunity to give one hard kick in his balls, eliciting a loud groan from the man.
The other man pulls her feet, making her fall down and hit her head on the ground, while his other hand pulls the stroller harshly. Jihun is crying already, stuck inside as Jiah had put on the belt on him. She turns to him as his cries intensify, noticing that the stroller fell down and the toddler must be felling stuck inside under the weight. Tears spill from her eyes too as she screams for the man to not hurt her son, using his clothes to get up and uses all her strength to hit the man's face. It works, he groans loudly, letting go of the stroller, holding his eye instantly as the blood pools out.
Jiah gulps thickly, wiping her tears and stands up, trembling with exhaustion while she makes her way to her son. She pulls up the stroller quickly, unhooking the belt and carries Jihun, hugging him tightly, "It's okay..." She hushes out, rubbing his back, "We're okay. Mamma fought the bad guys. They're not hurting us anymore,"
She glances at the groaning men and goes to the one who's eye was fine, kicking him between the thighs again just to make sure that he won't get up anytime soon. She calls the police for help, telling them what happened briefly and her location. In a few minutes the police car pulls up and a lady officer approaches Jiah with a small smile, while the to men are being dealt the hard way.
"I hope you and your child and not hurt too bad," She says.
"No," Jiah lets out, wiping the sweat from her forehead and glances at Jihun who fell asleep after crying so much.
"You need to come with us to the police station for filing the complaint, ma'am," The officer says. Jiah looks down, nodding her head and glances back, pushing the stroller aside with her leg, leaving it by the dumpster as one of the wheels has come off and doesn't seem like it would get fixed. It was old, they needed a new one anyway.
Sitting in the car with the officers who make sure that she's okay and maintain silence for her sleeping son, Jiah's grateful that at least they have decided to show some respect to her. In the police station a paramedic emergency nurse assists them with the first aid, which is when Jiah realised that she has actually got a few bruises here and there and a cut on her forehead. Even Jihun has a small cut on his head, probably hitting the ground when ge fell along with the stroller all because of that man who decided that it was okay to harm a child if the mother didn't feel like sleeping with him.
Jiah tells the officer what happened, putting on her signature at some places where necessary to complete the procedure and stands up finally, sending a small smile to the lady, "Thank you," She says, stroking Jihun's back when he moved a little.
"It's our job, ma'am," The woman smiles back, "How are you going back? You should call someone to take you home?"
"Uh no, I'm fine, I'll manage," Jiah shakes her head, glancing back outside where it's dark, probably around ten already. Then she glances at the wall clock to confirm, sighing as it's only fifteen minutes to be ten. "Uhm actually, it would be great if you can call a cab or something?" She asks hesitantly.
"Sure, I'll ask someone," The officer nods, motioning her hand for a man to see if they can hail a cab. Jiah pulls out her phone, trying to ring Yoongi one last time, hoping he would answer. He doesn't. Then Jimin's number is waiting right under Yoongi's, making her sigh as she mentally says 'fuck it' to everything and calls the man.
"The person you're trying to reach is-"
Okay, Jiah nods to herself, sliding her phone back in the pocket of her shorts, feeling the sympathetic gaze of the officer on herself. It makes her want to dig a hole and a crawl inside. She looks at him, gulping down the lump forming in her throat and smiles a little. But before she said anything, the officer gets up from her chair, picking up her hat and keys, "I'll drop you off. I'm heading home anyway,"
Jiah blinks a few times, staring at her feet as she nods slowly, hugging Jihun to hold herself together, following the older woman outside. "Thank you, officer. You're really a great person," Jiah hushes out.
"No problem,"
Jiah gets in the passanger seat of the police car, the siren blaring at the top probably to let people know that they're not to be messed with. She directs the way home, barely taking fifteen minutes from the station, although it felt quite long with the day flashing in repeat in Jiah's head. Forcing up a smile for the lady, she bows to her and thanks again before heading inside the building, standing in the elevator, her hands trembling against Jihun's back as she closes her eyes.
The doors slide open with a light chime and she gets off, heading straight to her apartment, pulling out the keys that still has the blood on it. It makes her feel nauseous, accidentally dropping the keys down, scared to pick them up again until she covers her hand with a handkerchief. Tears blur her eyes, opening the door and takes a few fast steps to lay Jihun on the couch, making her way to the kitchen, dumping the handkerchief in the trash and puts the keys in the sink, turning on the water.
She washes her hands as well, wincing with the cold water hitting the wounds on her knuckles that she almost forgot about. Taking a few deep breaths and wiping off her tears, Jiah turns off the faucet, going to the living room and locks the door, before sitting near her son. She lays him straight, taking off his shoes and moves his bangs out of his face, checking for any possible injuries that she might've missed back at the police station.
Thankfully, there's none on him.
She leans down kissing his cheeks and hands, closing her eyes as tears stream down her face, breaking into a sob, realising that today could've ended a lot worse than it has. The two men could've hurt Jihun, they could've taken Jiah somewhere and done who knows what with her if she didn't fight. They would simply carry on with their lives after ruining Jiah's tonight and nobody would've bothered to ask what happened.
It all scares her. The endless possibilities of what those men were capable of doing to her and her child, leave them haunted for the rest of their lives. It's sad, unsettling, traumatic, unfair, raging and down right inhuman, but it's true. She sniffles softly, checking her phone one last time before switching it off for the night. Not like there's any call or message from Yoongi or Jimin, but she couldn't stand the words she knows she'll get to hear from them.
She shouldn't have left alone. She should've thought about her and Jihun's safety. She should've just let Jimin drop her home instead of being mad at something that's not even as important. She should've just taken a cab from the very beginning rather than trying to save money, or maybe take a bus again up till home. Her anger towards Jimin or whatever the fuck happened to piss her off shouldn't weigh more than her and her son's safety. She's not just any woman, she's a single mother, and she should be mindful of that.
But the worse part isn't that. What makes her cry more is that she knows all that is true. This wouldn't have happened if she had let Jimin bring her home, if she didn't try being a tough girl like always, if she thought about more realistic aspects of life and society than the ideal one that doesn't even exist. She could've saved all this from happening.
But now that it has happened, she can't help but wonder why men are like that, igniting the old fear and hatred for the species that she thought she came over. Deep down all men might have the same thoughts, the same evil gaze and the same desires in their head.
Those two whom Jiah fought today were men.
Min Yoongi, who scolds her for missing his one call, but didn't answer her over and over again today, is a man.
Park Jimin who declined her call probably because he was pissed, is a man.
Kim Taehyung, who left her pregnant in college, is a man.
Jeon Jungkook, who follows her around everywhere, is a man.
Jiah covers her mouth, folding her legs up to her chest as she groans against her palm, shutting her eyes tightly and crying to herself until she eventually gets too tired and falls asleep right there on the couch, curled up near Jihun's feet, having her one arm draped over him protectively. He's the only man she'll ever be able to trust blindly and love unconditionally.
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a/n- what do you think about the chapter??? god there's so much more coming! stay tuned and please vote if you like the story. share it with your friends 🥺
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