All this felt way too familiar.
Taehyung let out a bitter laugh as he trudged along the pathway. The way he was heartbroken a couple of weeks ago by Jennie, was the exact same way he felt right now.
Why did no one he fell for... like him back?
Jennie, Jieun... all the girls he had ever had a crush on- Was this list gonna go on forever, and end up as a list of all the recipients of his unrequited love?
Taehyung sighed.
His heart ached at the mere thought of it. He felt bitter, he felt sorry for himself even, he felt way worse than he felt when he had found out that he had no chance with Jennie.
Perhaps it was because Jieun meant a lot more to him. He cared way more for her than he had towards anyone else. He had forged a bond with her so strong that no one else - not even Jungkook, nor Yoojung, not even Jimin - could stand against. He liked her not only in that way, but even more as a friend, a person.
She was so beautiful, both in and out and Taehyung even considered the possibility that she was the one and only girl he had ever truly loved.
Yet no tears came out.
Maybe it was because he was alone. Crying wouldn't help the situation, not when this was a problem that no one could help him with - except himself. All he needed right now was time - time away from everyone. Jieun, Jungkook, all of them.
Taehyung trudged on.
~
"Jisoo?"
Jisoo was sobbing her eyes out like there was no tomorrow, unable to draw the curtains and face her unpredictable fate. It was then that she had undeniably heard a soft voice calling her name from behind her - it was gentle and all too familiar, a voice that Jisoo thought she'd never ever here again-
Jisoo's eyes widened as she turned around.
Standing before her very eyes were her parents - both mom and dad - completely unscathed. Well, there were a few cuts here and there, but other than all that, they were completely fine, apart from the fact that tears were rolling down her mom's cheeks, and her dad looked thoroughly shaken.
"Mom! Dad!"
Jisoo jumped to her feet, energy filling her body once more as she charged towards her parents, with tears still streaming down her cheeks. As she ran into their warm embrace, which felt distant yet all too familiar, Jisoo heaved a sigh of relief, and uttered a small "thank God".
It took Jisoo quite a while to get over how much of an emotional roller coaster she had been on in the past one hour, but as she finally regained her composure, and gathered the confidence to speak calmly once again, she spoke what first came to her mind.
"What on earth happened, mom?"
Her doubts were put on standby once more, as the nurse that had pointed her to the beds in the corner earlier, came rushing over at that very moment. Another girl, who was slightly shorter than her, with short hair, but roughly around the same age as her, followed quietly behind the nurse, with tears rolling down her cheeks.
"Hi, ma'am?" The nurse approached Jisoo and her parents. "I'm so, so sorry for the confusion. I mistook you for the daughter of the couple that was involved in a car accident." The nurse's eyes shifted between her and her parents, who were both drenched in their own tears, giving both of them a small nod. "My apologies once more, I hope I didn't cause too much... distress."
Jisoo was too taken aback to do anything else but nod. The nurse, who was evidently in a hurry as well, ushered the girl over to the curtains where Jisoo once knelt. And the girl, looking forlorn and absolutely heartbroken, drew the curtains without hesitation and entered.
"Jisoo..."
Jisoo, still in her confused state, turned to face her parents. "What happened, mom?"
As it turned out, Jisoo's parents were indeed involved in a car accident and had suffered minor injuries. The couple the nurse had directed Jisoo towards, were also involved in another car accident, except it was way worse. They were both in a coma as a result of the impact and their injuries.
Imagine if the two couples had swapped positions...
"We heard what you said earlier, Jisoo," Jisoo's dad, slightly teary, reached down and patted Jisoo on the shoulder. "We don't know what else to say except... we're sorry."
Jisoo blinked.
"Jisoo, sweetie," Jisoo's mom's voice cracked. "We know we've been hard on you all these years and really haven't showered you with love the way you wanted to be."
"Your mom and I talked about everything," Jisoo's dad glanced at her mom, giving her arm a tight squeeze. "Since you were young, we've been showing you how much we love you in all the wrong ways. I thought working hard and bringing in money to have all the things you want would make you happy... but..."
"It did, dad," Jisoo swallowed hard. "I've been thinking so much about this these few days. No- in fact, I've been thinking about this since young, but it wasn't until today that I finally found the answer. I took all the things I was showered with for granted, not knowing how much you both loved me. I hated you both. Only until a few moments ago, when I received the call and realise how fragile life really is, that I saw the light. Mom, dad, I'm sorry."
"Baby," A tear rolled down Jisoo's mom's cheek. "We wasted so much time all these years running in circles, and it's all the fault on our part as parents. You have nothing to apologise for, Jisoo... We're sorry."
"No, no," Jisoo held her mom's hand, and reached over to hold her dad's as well. "Mom, dad, now's not the time for fault-finding. Like what you said, we've wasted too much time. But now's still not too late." Jisoo smiled a little. "We still have the rest of our lives to make it right - together."
"My daughter," Jisoo had never seen her dad cry before, but there he was, tearing before her very eyes. "I love you, sweetie. You're right, let's do it right this time. Together, as a family."
And the three of them pulled one another into a tight hug - for the first time in a long time. Jisoo closed her eyes, feeling the warmth of her parents' embrace - the embrace she thought she'd never ever be able to experience again just moments ago. Life was so unpredictable and Jisoo may have gotten lucky this time, but who's to say there won't be a next time? And when that time came, who's to say she would be this lucky?
"I'm so thankful to have you as my parents, mom, dad," Jisoo pursed her lips, trying not to cry yet again. "We may have gone off course for a couple of years, but you're still my parents, and I wouldn't have had it any other way."
"And you're our one and only beloved daughter, sweetie. We love and treasure you just the way you are."
~
It was a brand new day. A brand new morning, a brand new start.
While things were starting to look much better for Jisoo, and Seokjin and Byulyi's relationship was flourishing like it never had before, on the other hand, things had been rather rough for the F5. Yoojung was still trapped in her horror-like Busan meet-the-family experience, with Jimin awfully worried about her. Jieun, shaken from her shocking encounter with Jungkook, was having it no better surviving on barely a couple of hours of sleep. Taehyung, suffering from a heartbreak for the millionth time, was barely doing any better than the rest.
Needless to say, they were kind of falling apart.
Over in Busan, Yoojung was disappointed, yet at the same time, not surprised, when she was awoken by someone incessantly shaking her legs early that morning. Well- was it actually in the morning? It was still dark outside - but Yoojung managed to grasp the situation immediately. When her phone lit up with the time "5.37am", Yoojung had to literally cover her mouth to prevent all the profanities from tumbling out.
"I got it, Grandma," Yoojung croaked, trying her best to control her tone. "I'll be up in a bit."
It had been hardly over 12 hours since Yoojung had arrived at the Park's, but she was already feeling quite done with everything. Grandma? Chores? Family members who just left her to do everything? And this was considering the fact that they thought that she was Jimin's friend. Imagine in the future, when they found out about their real relationship, the things that she would have to put up with-
"Ow," Yoojung grunted as Grandma tugged at her leg. "Please, Granny, give me 5 more minutes. Please."
"Yoojung, get up!" Jimin's familiar voice woke Yoojung to her senses. "It's me."
Yoojung got up at once, glancing at the foot of her mattress, where she finally saw his familiar silhouette in the dimly lit room. "Jimin, what-"
"Shh-" Jimin glanced in his mom's direction furtively. "Grab your jacket and meet me outside."
Yoojung didn't need to be told a second time. She rolled out of bed, grabbed her jacket on the bedstand next to her and slipped out of the room quietly, closing the door behind her. When she was outside, she saw Jimin, back facing her, looking up in the sky that was slowly brightening a little by a little - the sun was rising.
"Jimin," Yoojung whispered as she approached him from behind. "What's happening? Are you helping me escape back to Seoul or-"
"No more questions asked," Jimin smirked as he turned around to glance at Yoojung. "I want you to see something."
Jimin grabbed on tight to Yoojung's hand, grinning slightly. Yoojung raised her eyebrows in confusion but before she could ask anything, she was already being dragged by the hand towards the fields she had been plowing in the entire day. She had no idea what was happening, where Jimin was taking her and why he was doing this at 5 plus in the morning. She was so exhausted that she wondered how her legs were able to go on, but they did anyway.
Yoojung was hesitant at first, but feeling Jimin's sturdy grip around her hand coupled with the cold morning air, Yoojung felt euphoric all of a sudden. She felt happy, she felt happy that Jimin held her of so much importance that he would bring her back to meet his parents. She felt giddy with excitement thinking about what the future held for the two of them, as a couple. She may have to go through an arduous process to be with him, but it was all worth it. He was her childhood bestfriend, her lover, the person she couldn't live without.
Yoojung let out a chuckle, not long before Jimin finally slowed down and came to a stop close to the edge of a hill. Yoojung was so preoccupied that she hadn't even realised that the sky was starting to light up and they were beginning to be able to see the city slowly come to life.
Jimin stuck out his tongue with a smile, panting heavily as he glanced at his watch. "Thank goodness, we made it."
Yoojung cocked her head to a side, furrowing her eyebrows, obviously still confused by what was going on. "For wh-"
Yoojung didn't even have the chance to complete her sentence as at that very moment, the most marvellous sight unravelled itself before her very eyes. A glowing beam of light pierced through the horizon, illuminating every surrounding thing - be it the trees, the houses, the mountains - the Sun shone through.
Yoojung gasped. It was the most magnificent thing she had ever seen in her life. Then she turned and saw Jimin's glowing face, and now- that was the most magnificent thing she'd ever seen in her life.