~~~~~

Namjoo was still cute and it was still so utterly satisfying to see.

“Jaegeun is into sweets these days,” Jongin said. “And he still likes ice cream.”

The mention of it made his heart nostalgic for the times he used to fight over a cone with Namjoo. He stole a glimpse of her, hoping she recalled the same.

Pulling up into the busy district he said, “Lets split up and look for him. He might be around here somewhere.”

Namjoo nodded then they parted ways. He wanted to go with her but his nephew was first priority right now. Jongin was afraid too, that Jaegeun had gotten lost or might have gotten into some bad guy’s hands. He was barely even the age to be running off alone. How would he fend for himself if he got into trouble?

He moved through the busy places and asked around for Jaegeun, even showing pictures of him on his phone. No one had seen him here. In hopes of finding him, Jongin walked into ice cream cafes and candy shops. His six-year-old nephew was nowhere. By now his heart was starting to drop all the way to his stomach with dread. He had stopped wanting to imagine the worst when constant images of Namjoo suffocating in a blazing room became nightmares for him.

As the sun moved up higher into the sky, Jongin became more worried. Did Jaegeun have enough money for a meal? Would he know where to go to find food? Did he even know his way around the city yet? What about friends he might go to? Jaegeun…how smart was the nephew he’d lost hold of while sinking into the pits of his own despair?

Jongin circled around back to where he started when his phone rang. It was an unknown number but when he picked up an officer was on the other end of the line. A split moment later he sprinted down the walk in search of Namjoo and found her wandering around a children’s playground in front of a fast food restaurant.

“They found him,” he panted at his arrival. Snatching her hand he pulled her after him, “Come on, lets go.”

Namjoo didn’t yell at him, pull free, or call him bad names. As soon as they reached his vehicle he sped down the road until the police station came into view. Namjoo followed his hectic steps inside and beat him to calling out for the little boy sitting on the waiting chair planted against the side of the room. Lifting his head up, Jongin witnessed a smile grow across Jaegeun’s lips then he jumped off the chair and lunged against Namjoo.

“Where did you go?” he listened to Namjoo ask, watching as she ran her hands over Jaegeun’s face. “We were so worried about you.”

Jongin was forced to turn away upon an approaching officer. “Are you his guardian?”

“Yes,” Jongin nodded and quickly pulled out his identification. “I’m his uncle. Where did you find him?”

“A woman in Itaewon-dong brought him here; said the little man was looking for his aunt,” the officer explained then glanced past him. “Is she his mother?”

“No, she’s my wife – his aunt.”

“Oh, I’m sorry,” the flustered policeman apologized. “You should take better care of him. He was all alone. Something might have happened to him.”

Jongin nodded, “Thank you.”

~~~~~

“You said if I wanted to play with you I just need to find you,” Jaegeun glanced up at Namjoo, his hand tight around hers as Jongin followed them out of the police station. “I want to play today, so I came to find you but I didn’t remember where you live.”

Namjoo patted his head, “You don’t need to come all the way out here. Why didn’t you just ask your uncle?”

Jongin watched his nephew halt then turn to look back at him then turned away and clung onto Namjoo. “Can we play today then?”

Namjoo’s hand landed at the back of his tiny head before she turned to look at Jongin, “Why don’t you go back to work? I’ll send Jaegeun home later.”

Work. Jongin didn’t want to go back there. If Jaegeun wanted to spend alone time with Namjoo, he wanted in on it, too. Brushing by he said, “Are you hungry Jaegeun? Lets go get something to eat.”

A moment later they were back on the road but Namjoo wasn’t beside him. Instead, she was in the back with Jaegeun glued to her side. Sneaking glances at them through the rearview mirror made his heart tremor with butterflies and he was sorry for trying to suppress any thought Jaegeun might have ever had of Namjoo. He hadn’t known then, that his antics would turn the boy so sad.

They stopped at a restaurant and as he sat across from them he smiled, drowning in his own feels while watching Namjoo go through the menu with Jaegeun, slowly teaching him to recognize the letters and explaining to him what they were. Jongin ended up asking the waitress to come back four times before they finally settled on something.

Two years ago when Namjoo still lived with them, Jaegeun had lived a free life. Though Jaegeun hadn’t been as clingy as he was currently, Jongin was sure it was his fault the nephew was like this now. Afraid Namjoo would leave him without saying farewell. Afraid that after Namjoo said goodbye he’d never see her again, and afraid that Namjoo was somehow going to leave again. The fear was like a dark shadow and it turned everyone desperate, into something one has never been before. Paranoia was the worst of it.

A desire that had long been buried in Jongin came back to life as he watched Namjoo and Jaegeun share their food like the family they’d always been. If he and Namjoo had had a child and Jaegeun a playmate, how happy a family they’d be. Only if he had gotten Namjoo pregnant two years ago and events were to repeat, Namjoo would have returned to him because he was certain she wouldn’t let the child be without a father. She would want for their son or daughter to lead the kind of life she hadn’t because she had been that selfless toward her own brother. She would have given up her pride to come back to him.

If only…

They walked around afterward and bought Jaegeun ice cream and played at the arcade for a short hour before he allowed the nephew to run free at the park.

“I don’t think I’ve seen him this lively,” Jongin commented beside Namjoo.

“He believed I was dead too, huh?” Namjoo asked.

“No,” he told her. “It was Jaegeun who wouldn’t believe it, so I didn’t let him talk about you. No one…talked about you.” His eyes traced the large field of grass beyond the playground and an emotion of emptiness washed through him. “I’m sorry.”

“Me too,” she quietly said, “for letting Jaegeun become this way.”

Jongin turned to look at her but knew he shouldn’t be hoping for her heart to fly back to him. It was Jaegeun she cared about and who they were talking about. They weren’t talking about him or their status as a couple.

When evening started to set in Jongin drove Namjoo back to the company. Along the way there he drove cautiously and slowly, his eyes simultaneously darting from the road to the rearview mirror where Namjoo was cooped up in the back with his nephew. If they were all going home together it would be a different story on an entirely different level, and he wouldn’t be feeling so conflicted over it.

Pulling up to the curb he stepped out when Namjoo did. Jaegeun followed, still tightly holding onto her hand.

“Where are you going?” Jaegeun wondered with his adorable eyes.

Crouching down Namjoo put her hands on his tiny shoulders, “Auntie has to go home, Jaegeun.”

“Why can’t you come home with me?” Jaegeun whined. “Why won’t you come home?”

Jongin’s heart ached and wished he could make the nephew understand their situation but he couldn’t. All he could do was stand by and watch as Jaegeun’s heart throbbed with immense longing.

“Please, come home,” Jaegeun begged. “I don’t understand why you live somewhere else.”

“I’m sorry, Jaegeun,” Namjoo softly smiled and his hair. “I wish I could say it in a way you could understand too.” Reaching into her pocket she pulled out a piece of paper, “Auntie’s number is right here. If you miss me, you can call me any time. If you want to play, call me and I’ll come for you. I’m not going anywhere Jaegeun.”

“No,” Jaegeun shook his head stubbornly. “Come home. I want you to come home.” as a last measure of desperation Jaegeun turned to Jongin with pleading eyes, “Uncle! Please tell auntie to come home! Why can’t you make her come home?!”

“Jaegeun…” Jongin began but stopped when Jaegeun jumped forward to hug Namjoo.

“I want to go home with you,” Jaegeun cried into her hair. “Take me home with you, auntie.”

Namjoo patted his back patiently then withdrew from him. “I’ll come visit you, Jaegeun. I promised you I won’t go anywhere without telling you. Ok? You will listen to your uncle until then, won’t you?”

Jaegeun’s lips turned down sadly and standing up Namjoo took his hand. “Promise?”

“I promise. Come on,” she led him to the car and helped him into the backseat and pulled the seatbelt over him securely. Leaning in she his head with a gentle hand, “You be a good boy and listen to your uncle. Don’t ever go anywhere without telling someone. You can do that, right?”

Jaegeun forced himself to nod and Jongin’s heart broke when the child leaned over to kiss Namjoo’s cheek and linked his arms around her tightly for a last time. Closing the door Namjoo smiled and waved to Jaegeun before turning to him.

“I’ll call him,” she promised then turned to walk away.

Jongin hesitantly opened his mouth before saying, “Thanks, for today.”

Namjoo nodded before disappearing down the parking lot, leaving him there wishing he could have done something else.

The drive back home felt like a vampire’s bite to the neck. He would have begged Namjoo to come home too, if only she would have been as gentle toward him as she was toward Jaegeun. And he thought again, if only they had a child…

The drive home was short. The roads had been as lonely as his heart tonight. When he stepped out of the car he realized Jaegeun hadn't moved an inch from the backseat. Opening the back door he glanced in to find Jaegeun motionless.

“We’re home, Jaegeun.”

His lips a straight line, Jaegeun released his seatbelt and slid out of the seat. Once the boy was on his feet and under the shine of the moonlight Jongin noticed that he was battling tears of agony, and it pierced his heart to see it.

“Jaegeun,” he crouched down in front of his nephew but only to receive a hard hit on the shoulder and then another one.

“It’s your fault!” Jaegeun began bawling. “It’s uncle’s fault auntie won’t come home! You’re bad! It’s all your fault!”

Jongin felt his body sway upon each hit and wanted to cry too. “Yes,” he wanted to say, “it’s my fault. It’s all my fault.” but he remained there silent.

“Auntie won’t come home because of you.” Jaegeun’s arms dropped to his side and threw his head back to cry out his anger. “You hate auntie, so auntie won’t come home. It’s all uncle’s fault! I hate you!”

How had he come to that conclusion? Because he’d told Jaegeun to stop whenever he mentioned Namjoo? Was he so bad, even through the eyes of his nephew even now?

Yes, maybe he was bad. He had been filled with resentment and regret and with nowhere to unleash it. He had hated that when Namjoo supposedly died, he couldn’t apologize to her. He had been upset that her ghost hadn’t once come to haunt him. He had hated himself. The very mention of Namjoo drove him farther into the depths of his own grievance and he could have cared less about anyone else.

That was how he’d lived.

“I don’t hate her Jaegeun,” Jongin quietly said then gazed into the nephew’s eyes with a forlorn expression, “I want her home just as much as you do.”

“Then why can’t uncle tell her to come home.” Jaegeun cried.

Jongin stared at him helplessly and raised his hand up, hesitating midway before touching Jaegeun’s shoulder. “It’s hard. It just is.”

“What’s so hard about telling auntie to come home?! Isn’t she your girlfriend?! Uncle married her! So what’s hard about it?!” Jaegeun yelled.

Ashamed, Jongin’s hand slipped from his nephew’s shoulder.

Yes, what was so hard about telling Namjoo she had to come home? Why had they made something so simple into an obstacle with traps of spikes and spitting fire?

“Then,” Jongin looked at Jaegeun, “do you want to help me make her come home?”

~~~~~

“Are you crazy?!” Chanyeol screamed over the phone. “You want my wife to what?!”

Jongin sighed into the phone as he paced his bedroom, “Please. I’m desperate. Just for a few days, enough to make it believable.”

“Are you out of your mind? You can get in huge trouble for this!” the friend scolded. “You said she’s with a lawyer.”

“I’m willing to go through with it,” Jongin determinedly stated. “I just need to get a few things started in order to set the rest into motion then everything will fall into place.”

“How can you be so sure?” Chanyeol doubted. “I thought you said Namjoo refuses to come near your home and that you two can’t get along.”

“I need to try,” Jongin said. “So what’s your answer? Can I?”

“What do I get out of this?” Chanyeol asked.

“Me?”

~~~~~

Jongin wasn’t in the next morning like Namjoo expected. Without bothering too much about his presence she got down to work and wondered when he would be in. She wanted to know how Jaegeun was doing and planned on telling him she wanted to take Jaegeun out to the movies to cheer him up. The entire afternoon passed by and there was still no Jongin.

The door opened late afternoon and she turned expecting to see Jongin, only it wasn’t him. It was Secretary Hong with the phone plastered to his ear. Turning away she resumed her effortless typing before her ears picked up the conversation he was having.

“Yes, the Chairman is taking a sick leave today. I apologize for any inconvenience this may cause you,” Secretary Hong apologized into the phone. “No, it’s not that kind of personal matter. His nephew is really sick, so he hasn’t left home.”

Alarmed, Namjoo spun around only to see Secretary Hong heading back out the door. Concern overwhelmed her as she sat there staring at the closed door wondering what to do.

~~~~~

“Did you do it?” Jongin asked. “Was she there?”

“Yes, Chairman. She was there as expected and I said everything you wanted me to say,” Secretary Hong answered from the other end of the line.

Jongin breathed a sigh of relief and glanced into the bedroom where his nephew was currently lying in bed just reading a book. “Good job.” He hung up then turned down the hallway to find his mother in her bedroom organizing her belongings.

“Are you hungry?” Jongin knocked on the door. “I ordered some food.”

Nodding, the woman followed him out into the dining room where the delivered food sat on the table. Jongin pushed a bowl toward her when she sat down.

“I’m going to get Namjoo to come tomorrow,” Jongin explained. “Do you think you can do what I asked you to do?”

The woman looked up at him. A few nights had passed since he’d revealed to her Namjoo was alive and she was already glowing, looking firmer and stronger than the last two years.

“Yes,” she nodded. “As long as we can get her back, I’ll make sure to endure it.”

Jongin smiled at her, grateful. Once tomorrow came, Namjoo would be left with no choice but to move back in.

***/SCREAMS/ It's here! Jongin's biggest scheme to get Namjoo to move back