Jimin woke up with a warm and relaxing atmosphere filling the air. Y/N was laying right beside him, in the very same turtleneck she wore yesterday, but he was no different. His arms were wrapped tightly around Y/N's shoulders meanwhile hers were circled loosely on his torso.
Thick lighting peaked through a small gap from the bedroom's white and almost see-through curtains. The area Jimin was in felt quite and chill as his chest rose up and fell in synch with Y/N's. He took a moment to admire her face, the memories of the way she stayed by his side brought a sad smile on his face.
For a whole hour, he laid in bed doing absolutely nothing but staring at the girl he loved so dearly close-up to his face and thinking. While thinking, he decided to clear up everything with his parents exactly on that day, starting by sending his mom a warning text.
Park-Duck:
"We need to meet at your cafe. I'll come to Busan today at 5 PM, make sure dad shows up please."
He sent the text, not caring whether his mom would reply or not. His decision was clear; he wanted everything to be right, so he could spend a peaceful and warm Christmas with this other family of his. The time was 11 AM. He had plenty of time, as long as he ate at one and made it to the train station by two, he's good.
Unexpectedly, Y/N fluttered her eyes open, looking evidently surprised to see herself snuggled up so close to Jimin. He welcomed her with a bright smile, a smile that reached his eyes so much to the point where they arched into tiny crescents as he showed his teeth. "Morning, you slept well?"
"Y-yeah.. morning..." she mumbled absently, looking up at his smiling face. "Are you okay? I mean about yesterday?" a concerned tone replaced her shy one as she frowned.
"I'm alright. I'll make things right with them today, and after, we can talk about yesterday. At the park, to clarify." she chuckled, enjoying the light atmosphere. Jimin hovered above her as she cupped her face, staring into her eyes for some sort of consent. As to reply, she closed her eyes and waited. So it all happened once again, Jimin's lips were pressed against hers into a fond and warm kiss.
"Maybe we could stay like this till lunch, it's too late to eat breakfast and too early to eat lunch anyway," Y/N nodded in response before moving back into the cosy and warm cuddles with Jimin.
...
"Good luck, Jimin," Y/N whispered as she hugged him before letting him go and allowing him to leave the house.
"Thank you, Y/N... I'll try to be back quickly, I really do want to talk with you about the park... But just in case, I can't come back before 8 PM, just know you should eat and sleep without me. We have school tomorrow." he said, casually walking backwards with his hands in his pockets before giving her a small wave and turning around.
After about a 30-minute ride in a silver-coloured taxi, Jimin had finally reached the station and by the time he had bought a train-ticket, it was 2:12 PM. The timing was great, he'd arrive at around 4:30 PM to Busan, and by the time he reaches his mom's bar, I'll be 5, so he's good.
As Jimin sat in the train and stared out of the window, a trail of thoughts fogged his mind. He was thinking about what he'd say when he would arrive, how would he handle the situation with his parents, and what would he say to Y/N when he would return; that's always if he returned early enough. But as he thought and thought, the time passes by and he had already reached his destination.
"Ah, Busan!" he inhaled the fresh air as he spread his arms out; that's how much he had missed his hometown. Just as he had predicted, the time was 4:34 PM and by the time he reached his mother's cafe, it was 4:57 PM. He stood outside, watching her smiling at a customer, a male one who wore a suit and had a brown briefcase in his hand. He didn't exactly look like a rich person, he looked like someone 'average', someone smart with a good job and has enough money to live a comfortable life, but not in the most expensive hotel in this world.
His mom smiled at the man with the round glasses and a brown leather watch on his wrist, mouthing a few words before giving him a small wave as he made his way outside. Jimin's heart clenched at the thought of his mom possibly cheating on his dad. He knew they weren't together anymore, he knew she had every right to love someone else and especially that her dad had cheated on her first. But he couldn't help the pain and disappointment stinging at his heart.
"Jimin!" his mom chimed happily as he made his way inside with a blank and emotionless face, "How have you been?" her smile dropped, "I heard what happened from Ms. Han and also, you heard mine and Jisung's conversation. I can do nothing more but apologize and beg your forgiveness, I really love you, my son..." her sorrow-filled eyes showed nothing but a genuine feeling of regret which only made it harder for Jimin not to tear up.
"I-I- I just don't get why you're doing all of this... did you have to? Was it so necessary? I just can't see and understand any logical or rational-enough reason behind your actions..." he stuttered before the door being opened made him jump as he placed his hand onto his chest, releasing a heavy sigh. "Father, you scared me to death..."
"Sorry son," he smiled, maintaining his distance from Jimin since he knew he was probably upset with them. "Jimin, please... what do you want to talk about? I know it's obvious, but I don't know where to start..." the tired-looking man gave him a longing gaze before shifting his eyes towards the woman he loved the most.
"I wouldn't know where to start either... okay, first of all, did you really cheat on mom before I was born?" his father gave him a devasting look before nodding sluggishly, "Why? Would the situation be any different if you hadn't done so?" the youngster crossed his arms over his chest, relaying on the warmness that his blue sweater gave him.
"Yes," he admitted simply, at this point Jisung, was too embarrassed to look at his son, "I-I was drunk... that's all, but it's not an excuse and it won't make me any justice. Luckily, your mom knew that... she just left and disappeared to the woman's house, Ms.Han her name shall be? I then lived with the girl that I- cheated with on Jiyoo, but never once was I happy. I only loved, love and will love her, even though she probably won't come back to me..."
"T-then if this was before me... how? How did I happen?" he asked, even though he already knew the answer.
"It was my turn to get drunk then, and I must admit that I've also never been over Jisung, so I did what I wanted. I did what I wouldn't do when my brain was functioning, and then paid for it in one of the worse way ever-" she cut herself off once she realized how bad he sentence sounded, "Wait no! That's not what I meant Jimin! I was happy knowing I had you and I still am because despite the way I have treated you, no- the way we have treated you, all you gave us back was love..."
"That's right Jimin, we both didn't want to lose you all this long. This push-and-pull fight has been going on for twenty-one years and we are all tired, it's getting really to its edge."
"Then can't we go back? All together...?" Jimin squeaked pathetically, but then shook his head, "Why mom?" he averted his gaze to her, ignoring his own question and the silence that came with it, "Why did you ask dad to slap you? Isn't that too far? I'm upset with the both of you, but I just can't believe you played it that dirty with me. It's really really upsetting..."
"I'm sorry, Jimin. You were right, I had and still do not have a good reason to separate you, it's just jealousy and fear. I'm scared you are going to run to dad and leave me, or be on his side... I also fear myself, I don't want to go back to-" she turned to face Jimin's father directly, "I don't want to run back to you, Jisung because I don't trust you anymore."
Jisung nodded as the words of his ex-wife stung harshly at his heart, knowing that the reality was that. "I do not want to persuade you and Jimin to come back with me because I know you hate me. But I also know I deserve it, and no matter how good of a man I can be from time to time, I still hurt you, that's unforgivable. You asked me to treat you like shit and stay away from you, so I would appear as a monster in Jimin's eyes, but I failed."
"That is dope! A bad dope! You aren't the bad guy, dad! You are just both terrible, I never picked a side, I stayed with you, mom because I knew you needed help. But if you didn't, I would've just left and stayed at my own house while visiting you both fairly and regularly."
After Jimin's words, a silence filled the air as the three idiotically stared at each other with pining gazes. Jimin was the first to interrupt it as he took a look at his watch, "It's 6:30, I need to get on a two-hour ride, so I'll be going. I need time to clear up my mind and we can see each other again after Christmas..." he gave them a weak and lazy smile before taking his leave.
And just like that, he disappeared into the shadowy night streets...
"Jiyoo..." Jisung turned to look at her with a sad look upon his face, reaching his hand out to gently grab her fingers. "I saw that guy... I'm happy you smiled with him, don't worry... Jimin will understand..." he smiled before letting go of her, literally and not-literally. But she grabbed his wrist stopping him from leaving her old cafe.
"What are you talking about?" she questioned, lowering her brows in confusion. "What man are you talking about? And what will Jimin understand? What did you see?" she asked slowly and calmly as he sighed before facing her once again. His chest felt heavy yet he gathered the strength to speak once again.
"A man in a suit, glasses and a briefcase..." Jisung gave her a simple shrug.
"No! It's true he is a nice and funny guy, but I don't know him well... I do not-" Jisung cut her off as he grabbed her shoulders, squeezing a smile onto his cheeks reluctantly.
"You do not have to justify yourself to me, we aren't together anymore," he whispered. A pang of agony twitched in him as his eyes glossed while grazing hers. Once again he tried to make his way out of the cafe, but she stopped him. Again.
"No! No!" Jiyoo shouted, his words stinging, she didn't want to let go, she never really did want to begin with. "I don't want to! I-I-" she choked out a painful cry, throwing her arms around Jisung's waist. "I don't want to let you go, I never wanted to, and it's not true that I don't trust you. I don't trust myself! I don't know what to do, I can't let you go..."
"Jiyoo... this isn't right," he patted her head gently, "You have been doing well all these 21 years, you wouldn't want to throw it away last-minute, right? We are both hurting, especially you and it's all because I keep clinging onto you. I vow to let you go, so please-" he wiped her tears with his thumb, "Just don't cry..."
"No! I don't want to, I don't care, my life was a waste anyway... I want to stay with you!" she shook her head stubbornly against his chest. Jisung lifted her chin up as he walked her backwards until her back was pressed against the wall, moving his face closer to hers to the point there was barely any space left. Their hot breaths mixing together.
"I'll just-" he brushed his lips against hers, "I'll do this and leave. I'll leave you alone, right after this..."
"No-" Jiyoo couldn't say anything else since Jisung smashed his lips against hers. She pushed his chest away harshly, "I said no! You can't leave me! You can't kiss me like this, in here and leave, I won't let you. I need you, and I'm being miserably pathetic for you, so please... stay..."
"Eun Jiyoo... if you don't take your words back right now, I won't be able to hold back, so please, just please, kick me out of your life already..." he sighed heavily pressing his head against hers frustratedly.
"But I don't want you out of my life, just stay for me and Jimin, but mainly for yourself. Let's get married again..."
"You are completely crazy..." he shook his head, not believing what she had said. How could she just give up all these 21 years, just like that?
"I don't care as long as you stay..."
Little did they know that Jimin watched the whole thing...
To be continued...
Author-Nim's Note:
[Yay! today's is Tae Tae's b-day! So happy birthday to our best-est boy! I really love him so much and I also hope he'll spend a great birthday! 💜💜💜💜💜]
Published date: 16th of December 2020
[Edited Date: 30th of December 2020]
-Jɪᴍɪɴᴀɴᴅʜɪsᴊᴀᴍs 💜