Taewon had slipped away, leaving the two by themselves standing outside the front door. Taehyung slid his hands in the pocket of his jeans and fixed his eyes down at the ground.This time, Hyunjung was the one to break the silence. “Nice plant you have there, it’s very green.”

“It’s plastic.”                                                                       

“Uh well, it’s so…green, that I couldn’t tell the difference.” She laughed awkwardly. “It’s—it’s a very nice plastic plant.”

“Thanks, it was a house gift,” was his dispassionate reply.

Gosh this was awkward.

In the corner of her vision, she noticed Taewon trying to grab her attention from the window of the living-room and was for a moment, baffled at the preposterous gestures and movements he was making.

Taehyung looked up and turned to where she stared, and there, knocking his knuckles against the glass of the window was Taewon; exaggerating a wink and a cheeky dance at his older brother, who only scowled at him in return. Taewon saw the effect he was having on him and even mouthed; ‘Hyung hwaiting’ and was satisfied to see Taehyung on the verge of fuming; his arms were firmly folded across his chest and his face was very serious. He wasn’t mad at Taewon - maybe a little, but he was used to that by now; it was a sibling thing.

“That brat,” he muttered under his breath.

Hyunjung’s lips parted as she was about to laugh, but immediately stifled it after seeing the look on his face. She cleared and his head turned back to her.

“Anyways,” she began. “Thanks for helping me revise.”

“It’s fine.”

“Taehyung, are you feeling feverish?” She narrowed her eyes at him to examine his face.

He creased his eyebrows in confusion. “Why are you asking that?”

“Your face is like the color that shirt Jin wore before, except you’re more of a light pinkish color.”

“It’s really hot out here, that’s all.”

She agreed. “I guess you’re right, it’s unusually warmer this evening than it usually is. It’s weird, we had a lot of rain a few months ago and now the weather isn’t that bad.”

Another blank silence. 

She checked the time on her watch, her uncle would’ve expected her to arrive back at the house by now. “I’ll see you tomorrow I guess?”

“Tomorrow’s Saturday,” he reminded her.

She then remembered he was busy. “Oh yeah, you’re not going with us are you?”

He shook his head.

“See you whenever I see you then.” She began to walk away from him but swivelled back, facing him to wave. “Goodnight Tae!”

He stiffened, and was left momentarily dumbfounded as he watched her disappearing figure.

Did she just –

       Taehyung swung his dumpy legs to and fro, sat with his small arms folded on the window sill and was staring intently at the gates of the kindergarten, waiting for his mom; it was the end of the school day and all of his classmates had already left with their parents and carers.

       A smile lit up on his face when he saw a familiar silhouette rush through the gates. He ran down to greet her and almost tripped on the way. “Mamma! Mamma!”

       She opened her arms to envelope him in a hug. “How’s my little Prince Tae? Did you miss me?”

       She searched for something in her bag and took out a small jar with contents of various colorful confectionery. “I bought you candy.”

       “Oh…” She suddenly realized. Taehyung had tried to conceal the frown he had, but his mom had already noticed it. She ruffled his hair affectionately. “You don’t like candy do you? I’m so sorry Tae, do you want me to buy you something else?”

       He looked up at her, giving her the biggest square smile he could muster. “It’s okay mamma, I’ll eat it because you bought it for me.”

       “Okay Prince.” She ruffled his hair again and he giggled uncontrollably. “Let’s go home.”

Taehyung’s thoughts surged back to present day. His knees buckled and he slowly slumped down to sit on the door’s front step. He put his head in his hands and ruffled his hair in agitation.

It's strange how what was once a simple gesture of affection, was now something that he scorned at.

*  *  *  *  *  *

“Dad, I’m back.” Jungkook sat on the floor to take his shoes off and lined them neatly against the wall.

“How was school?”

“Same old, same old. Where’s mom?”

“She’s in the kitchen.”

“Can I see her?”

His dad smiled. “No need to ask.”

Jungkook placed his bag on the floor and quietly made his way to the door of the kitchen, hesitating to turn the handle. He opened the door partially and saw his mom sat at the table with her back facing him; the family albums were scattered across it and she was flicking through its pages, sometimes pausing to look at a certain picture longer.

He let the door click when he closed it and she turned around at the sound.

“Jungkook.”

“Hi mom.” He sat next to her. “How are you?”

The subtle wrinkles on the sides of expanded when she looked up and smiled at him. “Everything’s fine.”

As she spoke, Jungkook caught her unconsciously bring her hand to touch her abdomen. He couldn’t even imagine how much more she suffered of their loss than he did, and for that, he commended her as one of – if not, the strongest woman he knew.

After a few moments of silence between them, she spoke up. “One of your teachers that lives next door to us is Mr Kwon?”

He looked up at her. “Yeah, why?”

“Do you have any idea how many times he’s come up to me in the morning while I’m tending the front garden, asking me if you were going to join the sports festival this year.”

“What kind of things did he say?”

She began talking in a passable imitation of Mr Kwon; “‘Mrs Jeon, do you know if your son is participating this year?’, ‘Mrs Jeon, Jungkook is excelling in P.E.’, ‘Mrs Jeon, can you persuade Jungkook-ah to take part this year, it’s a loss to his class if he doesn’t participate’.”

She chuckled and more color tinted her cheeks when she did so. “I purposely didn’t go out this morning so that I wouldn’t have to encounter that again.”

“Really?” Jungkook laughed heartily and was glad to see his mom doing the same; he hadn’t heard her laugh so genuinely in a while. 

Her face then turned solemn, and Jungkook noticed. “Mom?”

“Jungkook, you’ve been a lot quieter recently.” She paused, as if hesitating to say her next words. “As a mother, I wanted to ask if you were alright, but I didn’t. I was wondering if the reason is what I think it is.” 

He chewed his bottom lip, avoiding to look into her eyes.

“What’s the reason you’re thinking of?” he asked quietly.

She caressed his hair like she did when he was younger during the many times he couldn’t fall asleep, touching the black tufts that fell forward over his eyebrows. “I know you’re just upset as me and your dad are, but there’s not much we can do.”

Jungkook didn’t answer – he didn’t want to. She looked at him sadly and turned back to the family albums. “Did you know we have an album especially for you?”

She took the faded baby blue album and opened it between them on the table. Jungkook looked at the pages and smiled when he saw a photo of his mom resting a hand on her belly; she was younger; her facial features were suppler, less refined, and when she smiled, no wrinkles were visible by the corners of her eyes.

Jungkook noticed the date written in thin black pen at the bottom: Month 3, March 15

“When I and your dad found out that we were having you, we were so happy. But at the same time, we were afraid that we would lose you – we already knew how low my pregnancy rate was. The doctor said that the chances of a miscarriage were likely during the first twenty-five weeks.”

Jungkook turned the next few pages, eventually reaching another picture of his mom; the size of the bump of her belly was more noticeable. Again, there was a date written at the bottom of the photo:

“Month 6, June 21,” he read aloud. And next to it, he saw something else written: Passed 25 weeks! Only 3 more months until baby Jungkookie!!

“After twenty-five weeks passed, it was as if, all our prayers had paid off. I remember that night, your dad and I just cried, from happiness. It was still surreal to us, even now when I look back - it was truly a miracle.” She turned to Jungkook. “Our little miracle.”

Jungkook felt tears threatening his eyes, but they didn’t come. There was no reason for them to.

He looked at his mom; she was smiling. The woman that had gone through so much, was smiling, and he had finally understood. She remained strong all those years because she kept moving - sprinting forward while carrying hope on her shoulders.

She opened her arms to invite him into an embrace, and he took it. Her lips pressed gently against the top of his head and he closed his eyes, dissolving into the hug. For a few minutes they both stayed like that, until his mom pulled away and crossed her arms at him.

He was puzzled at her unreadable expression, he couldn’t tell whether she was serious or not. “Mom?”

“Don’t think I and your dad haven’t seen you from our window walking in the morning with a girl. Jeon Jungkook, is there something you’re not telling me?”

“Mom…” he groaned, covering his warm face with his hands and she laughed.

“You can’t keep secrets from your own mother.”

He put an elbow on the table and rested his chin on his hand. “She’s a friend from school.”

“Ah, I see how it is young man.”

“I don’t know what you’re talking about,” he said, arching an eyebrow.

“Oh yes you do, I see it in your eyes.” She looked at him seriously. “You know I want grandchildren by the time I’m old.”

“Mom!”

She burst into raucous laughter at his reaction and he sighed exasperatedly, resting his forehead on the table.

Hearing the noise from the other room, Jungkook’s dad entered the kitchen. “What’s going on?”

She stopped laughing and was nudging an embarrassed Jungkook at the sides of his stomach. “We were just talking about that girl we usually see him walking with in the morning.”

“Oh yes, I know what you’re talking about.”

Jungkook looked up. “Dad, not you too.”

“Son,” his dad began, patting him solidly on the back, “in a few years you will reach the age in which you’re mature enough to start making your own big decisions, you would’ve finished your studies and you’ll be working, maybe even found yourself someone you’d consider marrying. And you would be aware of all the things your own parents have done for you -”

Jungkook’s mom interposed. “We’re saying we expect grandchildren.”

Jungkook stared at both of his parents, who were both grinning at him humorously and he slunk lower into his seat.

“This is so embarrassing,” he mumbled.  

The house was filled with the contagious laughter of his parents, and soon afterwards, Jungkook’s own laughter conjoined with theirs.