all we know.

Nari was in the park with Jihoon, standing with fatigued eyes and slumped shoulders. Her son was now two years old, but Nari failed to raise him like a typical, loving mother. She was unfortunate to not experience that maternal love herself, always being forced to give and live, so projecting that lack of love onto him was inevitable.

Jihoon was dark-haired like his father's with a delicate, soft face like his mother's. He was smart and silent; Nari sometimes wished to know what he was thinking.

It was funny. She looked down at herself so often that her neck hurt, thinking of her frequent mistakes and hopelessly gnawing at each day like she had the next day to fix her mental cloudy state. She was walking forwards, not knowing where she was going, and dragging an innocent child down with her.

Tears pricked her wide, brown eyes, fluttering shut.

"Wow. I'm horrible," she muttered.

When she opened her eyes and looked up to check on silent Jihoon, she spotted him with a stranger. A young man, maybe early twenties, more or less.

Anxiety jolted up her system, and Nari scrambled over. She tried to speak without squeaking, "Excuse me—"

The young man flinched at her voice, whipping his head to her and instantly releasing his playful hold on her son. "Oh, I'm sorry," he apologized sheepishly, crawling backwards a bit but still holding a somewhat fond gaze over Jihoon.

Nari was quivering.

"Is this wonderful child your brother?" he asked. His voice cracked, and he tried to smile as if it didn't happen.

Nari squinted her eyes, realized that he likely cried earlier, and sniffed herself. Feeling self-conscious all of a sudden, she inhaled shakily and tried to fix herself in subtle movements.

"He's my son," she mustered. She didn't really care what he thought. He was a stranger who seemed to give more of his concern to Jihoon than her anyway.

The girl saw the oh-so familiar flicker of surprise in his eyes, and she turned her head away, clasping her clammy hands together tightly. She sniffed again, tapping at her worn jeans and trying to ignore him for a moment, for she knew what typically happened after that moment of surprise. It was something she knew not to take to the sensitive heart she had.

She believed that if she were the one looking at a teenage mother, she'd be disgusted too, or harbor unwanted, pretend pity for her.

It happened every single time.

The young man turned back to the boy, then to his mother. The resemblance was there, judging from the face, but he found that Nari was trying to hide hers in her thick, ginger locks.

The girl looked stressed beyond belief, wired up so tightly he thought she could snap at any moment. And most of all, petrified. Of him? He tried not to wonder too much about it.

Nari swallowed thickly and stole a glance at him again.

He was staring blankly at her, mouth open. She couldn't tell what he was thinking at all, if he was thinking to begin with. The expression he wore was too blank to imagine anything going on in his brain.

"You speak Korean?" Taehyung managed to say. Jihoon tugged at his sleeve, pointing to the swings. Both Taehyung and Nari gave their attention to him and Nari took in a breath at last.

"Yes," she answered as clearly as she could, moving to pick up Jihoon and put him on the swing. Her puzzlement landed on Jihoon's initiative towards the stranger, which he never did. What did he do to make her son already this friendly to him?

While her back was turned against him, Nari gently wiped at her tears. Taehyung did not look anywhere near menacing, but she knew for a fact that looks could easily deceive.

But his voice— it was low, soft, and concerned. It was like he was hesitant as to what he should say to her.

"He's very cute," Taehyung commented, standing up from his bent position. When Nari flinched, he stopped mid-step, remaining very still.

Nari held onto the swing's chains, either for support or to control her thoughts. Perhaps both. She just needed to stop assuming that all men were predators, though it didn't help that it was getting dark out.

She looked up at the setting sky. It was a beautiful evening, and that couldn't even reach her.

After some hesitation, she mumbled, "Thank you."

When she shyly glanced at him again, he was beaming. It gave her a jolt. She apparently was blind from his attractive looks.

"Are you scared of me? Or something?" he laughed airily. He was clearly nervous. Even his voice was something else, too low and deep to match his innocent appearance.

Deceiving.

Nari sighed at her thoughts, strolling to the back to push Jihoon on the swing and muttering, "You ask so many questions."

"You think?" he laughed uneasily, stepping closer with caution. Nari either didn't mind or preferred to be ignorant, remembering her manners. "I guess I'm a little curious about something."

"About what... a teen mother?"

He was quick to shake his head, hands shoved in his pockets because he couldn't respond to her words immediately. Nari noticed how expensive his outfit seemed, not daring to look at his face.

"Not really," he eventually replied, resting his body on the pole beside the swing. "Actually, I saw you cry, and wondered why it made me want to cry too."

The words that came out of his mouth surprised her so much that she nearly lost her balance, as Jihoon swung back to her and crashed into her. Taehyung instinctively reached out a hand, but recoiled as he saw her wild expression.

"Are you really scared of me?" he tried to ask again, wanting to know badly this time.

"Yes," was her answer, neither quick nor slow. She her dry lips and gazed down at his shoes, eyeing it as if it was a spider. "No, but you— you're not at fault. I mean, it isn't your fault. It's my problem."

Somehow, Taehyung connected the dots and stepped back. Her caution and her child.

His eyes were filled to the brim with understanding. He thought they were tearing up, but he found them dry and tired instead. It wasn't his place to question her further. She was a stranger who was responsible for her child anyway.

He pulled his sleeve to check his watch, then looked up at the sky. Nari followed his gaze and felt terrible.

"It's getting late," he observed. "I was here just to get some fresh air, but instead I get my nose all stuffy."

"I'm sorry," Nari spoke offhandedly, but his laugh made his previous remark light.

"It felt freeing to cry a little. You can't apologize for that."

Nari opened , closed it, then opened it again. "I hope I haven't ruined your evening," she quietly said.

He began to laugh skittishly, scratching his head. "Not at all!" he insisted. "Get home safe."

Nari could only watch the young man, as he leaned over to pat Jihoon's head, who peered up at him with gleaming, dark eyes. "Like mother like son," he said, the words coming straight from his heart, "you two look so alike."

But he still sounded nervous, almost like a child.

He finally left. Nari tried to breathe normally again.

Encountering that stranger changed her evening in a matter of minutes, and that scared her.

It was a strange feeling, to speak to a boy this comfortably. She couldn't remember the moments only minutes and seconds ago, whether she was forcing it all or loosely letting it out.

She looked down at Jihoon and blinked. He stared at her, owlishly blinking back, and it made her knees weak. "You have my eyes," she whispered, bending down to cradle his face, "nose, lips..."

Jihoon pulled away from her hold.

Taehyung looked over his shoulder at the park, making out the shadows of a woman picking up her child— a part of him wondering if he should've told her his name.

---

written on 17.05.06.

this was originally written on Wattpad guys so it's not that great to be honest. i've written more detailed and better. but what's good anyway!

wow i'm annoying okay bye