In which Jongin spends an afternoon out with his mum

~

Jongin never really liked the days he had to spend visiting his mum. When he was younger, Jongin feared her; the way she shouted at him for no reason, how she quickly lost her temper at him over the simplest things such as being hungry and to top it all off: dumping him with a guy he had only found out a day or so previously was his dad! 

When he was younger, he would hate it when his dad told him he was to spend the afternoon or even a whole weekend with his mum. He didn't like her and would beg his dad to at least be there with him for as long as he could so he didn't have to be alone with her. As he got older, the hate slowly simmered away, however that didn't mean that Jongin liked her just like that. There were scars that needed to heal and though Jongin could actually tolerate sitting in a room with his mum without getting too angry at her, he still couldn't forgive her for what happened when he was younger just yet. 

"You're getting taller every time I see you! Stop growing!" his mum exclaimed as she broke the hug with Jongin and patted his cheek affectionatly. One thing Jongin had noticed about his mum as he got older, was how her whole attitude had taken a whole different turn. During their first visit (which Jongin didn't like, especially because his dad made him go along), not once did Jongin's mum snap at him or get unhappy with what he was doing or saying. Jongin still thought it was because his dad was there with him, but even as he got older he began to notice just how much... nicer his mum was becoming. 

"Dad keep saying the same thing, he says it's bad enough having Chanyeol and Sehun taller than him he doesn't need his son as well" Jongin replied as his mum laughed and sat across from him at their agreed meeting place. 

As Jongin got older, he felt that he was able to see his mum without the need for his dad to be there anymore. He wasn't exactly afraid of her, but Jongin knew that his dad was only a call away whenever Jongin felt uncomfortable with how things were going. 

"How has school been lately?" his mum asked after the waitress finished taking their orders and left them to chat  
"Pretty good" Jongin replied with a shrug "But I did kind of get into a fight a few days ago" as his mum's eyes widened and fell open. 

"A fight? Why?" 
"Because the guy was being an idiot and picking on me because of the whole living with two dad's thing. He wouldn't shut up so I made him" Jongin explained as his mum sighed and shook her head. 

"Jongin, that wasn't a very good thing to do" his mum scolded 
"Trust me, I've already been through this with dad. The worst punishment he could give me was no dance lessons three in a row" Jongin replied seriously, nearing the end of his punishment and only having to miss the third and final lesson of his punishment the next day before he could back like he had done previously. 

Another thing Jongin had noticed as he had gotten older was how much more civilised his parents were becoming towards each other. Jongin could still remember the argument his parents had the day his mum showed up and attempted to see him again like nothing had happened. At first, the two of them wouldn't really say anything to each other, and if they did it was because they were doing so to not upset Jongin, yet now Jongin was able to see the two of them speak comfortably with each other, actually smile in each others prescence and found it funny at how time could do so muchto change the lives of people. 

"Well I should think so" his mum agreed as their drinks came back and the two of them sat there in silence as Jongin made a start on his milkshake and his mum made a start on her orange juice. 

"How are things at your place?" Jongin asked 
"Good! Very good, just finished re-decorating the room for the baby and finally managed to get Aiko to sleep in her room without needing to sleep in our bed every night" his mum replied as she rubbed her now slightly showing belly. 

"When do you find out, about" Jongin began and pointed to her belly as she smiled 
"A weeks time. I'm not really fussed about the gender but your stepfather wouldn't mind a son" 

Jongin's mum had now moved and settled into Seoul. She worked as a translator in a huge business company to do with economics and flew back to Tokyo often to visit her parents, promising to bring them over to see Jongin one day and vice versa (for now Jongin was satisfied with chatting to them via Skype). When Jongin was eight his mum had married a Korean man and always reffered to him as Jongin's stepfather, though Jongin never sat him as this and only called him by his first name. 

He often saw his half sister when his mum was dropped off to wherever they were meeting and often played with her to keep her occupied whilst his mum was occupied with something else. One thing that stuck out the most to Jongin when it came to him and his half sibling was just how much love his mum seemed to give to his sister. With his sister, she seemed to have all the love and patience in the world for her. She looked so happy and Jongin was jealous; how come she got all of that and all he got was a continuously stressed and angry mum? Did she not love him as much? Was she only doing this to make Jongin feel as though he hadn't been abandoned by her? 

"Do you love me?" he blurted out, both of them taken aback by this for a moment, Jongin's mum composing herself before she answered 
"Of course I love you Jongin, why would you ask something like that?" 

Well, Jongin had a pretty good reason to think and say something like that, telling his mum this as she sighed and nodded her head 
"I know that wasn't the best time for us Jongin, but you must understand the situation I was in of being quite young and being a single mum trying to look after the two of us. I know that how I acted and what I did to you by dumping you on your dad is inexcusable but please never doubt whether I love you or not" 

Though Jongin nodded his head and left the matter at that, deep down he knew that the love would never be the same as the love his sister and other future sibling would recieve. His mum may have loved him, but no so much as Jongin knew his dad did; he was there for him, watched him grow up, comforted him when he was scared. His relationship with his mum was still strained and Jongin knew it would take years to rebuild. 

Jongin was able to put the thought to the back of his mind until his sister came bounding in and running over to their mum with his stepfather following in persuit. Seeing just how much happier she looked, how she opened her arms straight away upon seeing her daughter, Jongin never had any of that and even now she didn't open her arms like that for him, or laugh and smile as much. He needed to get out of there. 

"Uh I've gotta go" he said, jumping out of his seat 
"Wait, I'm sure we can drop you off back to your house, right?" his mum replied, turning to her husband for comfirmation. 

"That's alright, really, it's just a short walk from here anyway" and even as Jongin spoke, he was alread walking towards the exit 
"Okay, I'll be seeing you soon, yes?" 
"Of course, I'll ring you or whatever" and before his mum could say anything else he was out of the door and quick to make his way home. 

Shutting the door behind him, Jongin bent down to pat Monggu who had come running to him as soon as he walked into the place. Hearing voices from the kitchen, Jongin gave the dog one last pat before walking over. 

"I thought we had plenty of food in here!" Joonmyun exclaimed, looking in the fridge to try and find something decent to eat to avoid ordering takeout again 
"I foud some noodles! Look for some stuff to put with it and I'm sure I could cook something up" Jongdae replied as the two of them got started with the task of finding some food just as Jongin came charging in. 

"Hey!" Joonmyun said, about to ask him how his afternoon had been before Jongin practically ran over to him and slammed into him for a hug, wrapping his arms tightly around him. Taken aback, Joonmyun turned to Jongdae who stood there equally confused and shrugging his shoulders as Joonmyun wrapped his arm around Jongin. 

"What's wrong?" he tried but Jongin only hugged him harder and this was a cause for concern to Joonmyun who had no idea as to what was going on. 

"I love you dad" he finally said 
"I love you too buddy" Joonmyun replied, still unsure of what to do or what was going on, but continued to hold Jongin like so until he was ready to let go... 

*breaks out into Katy Perry*

Yo, yo, yo!! 

So I did this chapter to show Jongin and his mum having an afternoon out, trying to work up some sort of mother-son relationship when obviously, that's still hard to do and Jongin is there seeing his mum loving his half sister in a way she never did him when he was younger... why do I subject people to these sorts of thing?

Ah well, just for you guys the next chapter is going to be especially fluffy to pick up the mood from this one! 

Until then!!