[They didn't transfer hospital. In fact, Dawon is admitted here. If you want, go ahead and visit his room. I can't visit him right now because I have an urgent meeting from an important client. He's in room 425,] Mr. Lee informed. Jimin smiled but he remembered that his schedule was somehow full that day and he also needed to have an over time inside the office.
"I'd love to visit but I also can't." Jimin frowned.
[I'm visiting him tomorrow morning,] Mr. Lee informed again. [You should come tomorrow so I can guard Dawon while you and Jiwon have a talk.]
"Okay. I will. Thanks for the information, Appa," Jimin smiled and he leaned his back against the backrest of his chair. He felt giddy and warm with the thought of finally being able to see Jiwon after awhile. He's excited to see her, but he remembered that he needs an explanation to everything that happened between them.
***
Jimin was on his way to the hospital. His emotions were mixed but he knew that he just misses her so much.
He had no idea what was happening on his way and as soon as he entered Dawon's room, he found them crying. He thought it was because of their reunion until Mr. Lee spoke. "Jimin, I can't do anything right now to change her mind. I know she wants some space from me but please do me a favor and find her. Make sure that she's okay." The old man held the hand of Jimin, begging. "She ran away after our talk. I don't know where she is but I do know that she wants me away from her right now."
Jimin nodded and ran his way outside to search for her. Running and running, each step in wonder as to where he will be able to find her. He was panting and sweating but he never stopped running to each corner that she will possibly be staying in the moment.
It took him a few minutes until he saw a familiar form of a woman standing in the other side of the railings in the rooftop. Her grip on the cold steel was strong, but he was aware that she was crying because of her shaking shoulders, moving up and down, as her body trembled.
Jimin panicked. He ran going towards her just in time when her body was about to fall down the building. He felt scared and nervous. He thought that she was going to leave him, but he's happy to be able to stop Jiwon from taking her life away.
He held her tightly in his arms but he was still trembling in fear. "Hey, baby," Jimin whispered using a shaking voice from the fear of losing her. Seeing her almost falling ㅡ almost dying ㅡ Jimin felt like his world was about to fall apart. He felt like breaking, seeing that the woman that he loves is suffering.
"Please tell me that I'm not dreaming," she whispered sadly and Jimin felt like being shot in the heart. She was thinking of hallucinating and Jimin knew that she must've been missing him so much just as much as he was longing for her.
"No, baby, you are not." Jimin decided to lift her up and bring her back inside the safe area. His heart felt happy, seeing that she was wearing the necklace that he gave him that last night they were together but he has not moved on yet from what almost happened.
***
Entering Jiwon's room, he found her in bed where she was peacefully sleeping, causing a small smile to cross his plump lips.
After that day when he saw her almost ending her life before him, he couldn't help but to feel upset. He felt like he wasn't good enough. He should've never stopped finding her until he learned the truth. He should've been more sensitive even if he was busy doing business that time in Japan. If he was just sensitive enough and knew out of his instincts that she wasn't well, he should've gone back to stay by her side or at least asked her if she was really okay and dug deeper about her well-being.
But it is not too late to fix his mistakes.
He planted a kiss on her head. "When are you waking up, Wonwon? I miss you," he sadly whispered into her ear. He wasn't aware that she woke up already because Chanyeol didn't want to have any connection with them while he was healing his heart.
A soft moan escaped her lips, making Jimin move away slightly and smile as he watched her stretch her body then scratch her eyes. "How do you feel?" Jimin softly asked.
She smiled gently after seeing Jimin smiling at her which was a great sight to see. "I feel okay."
"Are you hungry?"
She shook her head. "I just ate before sleeping again."
"You already woke up?!" Jimin asked, quite shocked. She nodded. "Chanyeol fed me and uhm, we made everything clear." She smiled sadly.
"Jimin, I'm really sorry." Jiwon started to tear up, feeling so ashamed and humiliated for what she did. "I hurt you so much and you don't deserve that. I made a horrible mistake and I don't deserve your forgiveness. You did nothing wrong to me," she sobbed in between, "but I chose to break your heart. Jimin, I don't really deserve you after what I did."
Jimin's heart broke. She's blaming herself so much. "Shh. No, baby," Jimin gently embraced her. "I also made a mistake. I wasn't sensitve enough to feel that you were not okay anymore. I should've been more sensitive so that you wouldn't have to sacrifice that much. I should've convinced you to accept my help. I'm sorry for that."
"Jimin. How can you still be so nice to me when I cheated on you?"
"You never cheated on me. You only did what you think will be best for Dawon. If you really wanted to cheat on me, why did you say that you love me before leaving? Why do you always wear the necklace that I gave you if you were cheating on me for your own pleasure?" He kissed her head. "I forgive you for everything because I know now the real reason why you left."
He pulled away and he sat beside her, facing her direction. Jimin cupped her face. "Baby, let's continue what we thought was over." She wiped her tears even if they were continuously flowing. "We will continue creating great memories together and we will only be able to do that if you forgive yourself too. You're not at fault. You were just willing to risk everything just for Dawon and I will always admire your unconditional love for him. But I'll be happier to feel that kind of love from you again, baby."
She nodded. "I love you so much, my Minmin. I will always love you."
Jimin smiled. "I love you too, my Wonwon." Jimin slowly came closer to her. "Happy 13 months to us."
"My three months without you, I thought I'd be okay eventually but I was breaking, Jimin. I was breaking because of the guilt from hurting you."
"Then allow me to mend you again. Be that strong nerd-by-day and stripper-by-night woman that I fell in love with. Become that hella sexy Iris and that hella intelligent but sassy Jiwon that made me crazy." They both chuckled in between tears. "In short, stay as who you are, Jiwon. Because I loved you and I will always love you just the way you are."
She gave Jimin a tight hug and he hugged her back in return. Being in his arms felt like heaven. He just made her feel safe and being away from him for three months since they broke up, having to be finally back in his arms felt like coming back home where she was safe and sound.
***
Jiwon stood outside of the familiar garden as she stared at the beautiful flowers that were planted all over the place. She remembered her small self watching her mother everyday ㅡ early in the morning ㅡ as she watered each plant in the garden and took care of them.
Everything felt so familiar to her and that familiarity made her miss how her old family was. Everything she remembers in the house she grew up to was still there, especially her favorite place which was the back yard where the pool area is and of course, her mother's garden.
She was discharged three days ago from the hospital. At first, she wouldn't talk to anyone but Jimin until she reflected on everything that Chanyeol told her about forgiveness and it made her realize that maybe everything did happen for a reason. Maybe her father came back to really fulfill his obligations as a father to them and he can only do that if she forgives him and let him become a father to her again.
She's always inside her old room. It was still full of her toys that she left there and all day long since she came back, she would always cry but now, she's had enough of it. Maybe it's time to put her pride down that's why she came out of her room and stood there in the garden to calm her mind. She should stop building a wall around herself.
Missing him was an understatement. She was hurt from what he did, but she can never deny the longing of being able to be taken care of by her father like before. She missed the feeling of having a father to be by her side. Forgiving him was not really difficult, but forgetting was what made her have a hard time in forgiving yet she knows that she needs to forget her past and start a new life with him before it's too late. Who knows what will happen in the future?
The fact that he came back in her life, she realized that it was enough to start anew with her family and become happy. She realized that she shouldn't deprive herself happiness now that it was purposely coming to her.
"Oh, you're here." Mr. Lee panicked. They haven't talked yet ever since that day. It saddened him but he knows that he deserves her daughter's hate after what he did. He could only hope that one day, she will be able to forgive him. "I-I should g-go, I guess?" He turned around to walk away but Jiwon stopped him.
"Stay..." she uttered softly, her voice sounding with a mix of hesitation ㅡ hesitation if whether it is the right time to talk or not.
He stopped but he dared not to look back because maybe she will just say something hurtful which he knew that he deserves. "Let's have a talk, Appa," she gently smiled and turned her back to face the man.
Tears of joy lingered on the sides of his eyes. Slowly, he faced her and just by seeing her smile made him want to go and hug her in his arms tightly. He missed her so much. He missed his little girl who would always give her hugs and kisses every time she would go to bed. He doesn't assume that everything will be like before now that she is a grown up woman, but having to call her his daughter again was enough for him.
"I-I missed you, Appa," she ran towards him and gave him a tight hug as tears fell down her eyes. "Appa," she cried.
Mr. Lee couldn't hold back his tears after hearing his own daughter tell him that she missed him and that his own daughter was hugging him so tightly. He felt like his heart was melting in so much joy. Being able to have his daughter in his arms again, expressing how much she missed him, made him feel the contentment that he had been searching for in his life after being away from them.
"I missed you too, sweetie. Appa missed you a lot," he cried, hugging her daughter tightly. For a decade, he had been far away from them and now that they are back in his arms, he will do everything just to make them happy and fulfill his role as their father. "I'm so sorry for hurting you, my little princess. You suffered so much just because of that mistake that I made. I should've known better."
"Appa," she whined. "I hate you for doing that to us. I really really despised you for that but appa," she pulled away and smiled at him even if she's crying so hard. "I know eomma is happy to see us. I can't just forgive you yet, but I want to be informed on how have you been. You heard alot about me from Jimin so it would be fair for me to know yours."
And so Mr. Lee told Jiwon his life ever since that separation as they sat in the chairs just in front of the pool area while having a cup of coffee. He shared a lot of stories until that day that he learned about his children from Jimin and that included him confirming that Jiwon worked as a stripper.
"You must feel ashamed to have a daughter as a stripper." She bitterly smiled after finding out that her dad knew her job before was stripping but her father shook his head, disagreeing from what she just said. "You did that to survive and I'm proud of you, Jiwon. You were able to go through big problems yet you stayed strong and anyone who will know you well would admire your strength. You're a very great woman. Never think that you are worthless because if not for you, maybe Dawon won't still be breathing until now. You became a great guardian to him, even better than I am as a parent."
"But Appa, what I did to Jimin was horrible."
"Because you love your brother so much that you did what you think was best to keep him alive." He gently smiled and held her hand which was resting on the table. "You did that out of love, Jiwon. And you are just a human too. You can also make irrational decisions and you can learn from that mistake and become better. Jiwon, forget what happened and live happily while you're still young, okay? I'm sure your mom will agree with me and she'll be happy if you do that."
She nodded. "You're right, Appa." She looked up at the skies as if she would see her mother there and then she looked back at him, giving him a smile as she said, "I'm letting you become a father to me ㅡ to us again. Let's start a happy family again even if eomma is gone."
"Come here," Mr. Lee opened his arms wide, gesturing for her to give him a hug.
As the father and daughter embraced each other, Mr. Lee chuckled, feeling so much happiness in his heart because finally, he can rebuild the family that he once broke. "Welcome back home, my daughter," he said with his heart contented.
Jiwon smiled. "It's good to be back home."