(( I can’t even begin to express how apologetic I am towards the late updates, however I had personal struggles going on that required my upmost attention. I don’t wish to make excuses, but I do hope for understanding and leniency towards the tardiness of the updates. Thank you to those who stuck around, it means a great deal to me! Thank you all so very much! ))

“Her scans are coming back as regular” the doctor spoke, but the words were silenced by the thousands of thoughts that intruded her mind as she stared lovingly at the man she missed desperately, his eyes staying focused on the doctor instead, but she didn’t mind.

“So, she’ll be okay?” Seung asked, bringing concentrated eyes towards the doctor for the first time, sincerely interested in the answer.

“She may suffer some short-term memory loss, so patience will be needed. Mood swings may occur, and her chances of conceiving another child are slim to none” she didn’t understand why hearing the last set of words hurt inside. Perhaps she wanted another child, or perhaps it was simply fear of what Seung would think of such words, but she didn’t have to worry long, for soon his voice would pull her attention from the loathing.

“In other words, she’s fine?”

“She suffers no long-term effects if that is the question” the doctor spoke softly, clearing away any fears that were left to linger, allowing his jaw to relax for the first time since he arrived in the room, his eyes instead falling towards the ones he missed whole heartedly.

She expected to be swoon into a loving affection, expected to be smothered in sweet caring words, however she found herself dumbfounded when his relief expression turned to one of anger.

“What the hell were you thinking Abigail!? You could have died; do you understand that!?” He yelled in a hushed voice, and though his voice didn’t raise to meet his angered expression, she would take the words seriously.

“Jagiya…”

“Why would you risk so much!?” His voice was becoming stronger, the doctor leaving the room, clearly feeling awkward about the situation.

“I couldn’t…”

“What would have happened to our children if neither of us came home!? What if I wasn’t alive!?” He continued to yell the same words that she had been hearing for the last several long months, her heart wrenching at the thought of him even doubting her decisions and her intuitions.

~*~ 3^rd POV ~*~

Something within herself had changed at those words and he must have realized it for soon his anger would demolish. He stayed silent, their eyes connected, and the silence pinged between them was only thickening with each passing second they allowed it to linger. He cleared his throat to speak again, but when her eyes looked away from his own, he knew that she was no longer listening to his bantering, but instead witnessed the same suffering she had been enduring the entire time he way away.

“Abi…”

“Don’t” her voice was colder than the nights he spent in the wilderness, and harsher than any terrain he trudged through.

“Jagi I…”

“Can I see the kids?” She asked instead, and how could he possibly deny her of the wish?

“Can we talk fir…”

“There is nothing to talk about” she spoke, and he could hear the year and some odd months of suffering behind her voice, the pain and desperation all seeping into simple syllables.

“There is a lot of things to talk a…”

“If you weren’t alive when I came to find you, I would have known” she finally broke and admitted the problem, her voice shaken and tears clearly choking her, and he felt worthless at her side. “I would have felt it, I would have felt that you were gone. Why do I have to keep repeating these words for people to understand how much I feel connected to you. You are the air I breathe, the reason why I have a future, and the very reason why I have so much to be thankful for… I thought you, of all people, would have understood me…”

She didn’t have time to speak anymore as warmth engulfed her entire being, forgetting just how soft his rough kisses could be, her eyes closing immediately as she returned the affection. She had forgotten just how strong his scent could be when it was right in front of her, opposed to the drifting scent caught within worn and torn bed sheets. She forgotten how warm his hands were against her face, or how sweet his lips tasted against her own, or how hard it made her heart beat within her chest.

He’d forgotten how much he had truly loved her until his lips connected with her own, creating a tingling sensation that roamed his entire body. He’d forgotten just how beautiful she truly was until his thumb lined her bottom jaw and he rested his forehead upon her own, staring into the deep sea’s that one may call eyes.

“I miss you” he admitted with a shaky breath, her nodding in agreement as her lips reached for his once more, guiding him into a soft and loving kiss. “I was so scared…” she was alarmed when feeling a liquid fall onto her cheek, her eyes widening as she pulled him closer to her, breathing in the very scent that she knew now she could never forget. “I’m so sorry” he didn’t even know why he was apologizing anymore, his arms wrapping harshly around her small frame as though clinging to the very beat of his heart.

“Don’t be sorry” she whispered softly, coaxing him to relax his restrain along her waist, her fingers working wonders in his wild and unkempt hair. “If you and our children are in my life, I have no regrets” she soothed, his head nodding despite the pain that still lingered within his chest. “I’m just glad to see you again…”

~*~*~ Two Years Later ~*~

“You better not be late” he spoke into the phone, alarmed when a soft chuckle was heard from the other line, as though mocking him for his rant, forcing his smile to grow wider as he watched the two-boy’s run along the playground.

“If I am?” She taunted playfully, a shroff leaving his lips at the thought.

“I’ll lose my mind” he admitted softly, not surprised when Jiyong was stuck on the plastic slide, forcing an annoyed breath of air from his lungs this time “seriously Jagi, I’ll lose my mind.”

“He’s stuck again, isn’t he?” Abi chimed, knowing it wasn’t the first time that it had happened “should I buy more butter before coming home?”

“No, just come home” he begged softly, ignoring the calls of his name from the stuck male, his eyes rolling at the thought of having the butter up the slide once again, thankful that at least his children had more common sense to laugh at the stuck male opposed to being worried for his well-being, unlike the last two times.

“I’ll be there soon” she tried to sooth “I love you.”

It was funny how rarely they once said the words to one another before his deployment, only to come home and to say it every time they spoke and had to depart.

“I love you too, get home quickly please.”

~*~*~*~*~

Sang-Ho grew up to follow his father’s footsteps in the entertainment business, debuting with a band when he was only sixteen. Ki-Woo decided to follow a different path of entertainment and instead got into art, making his paintings known worldwide, and claiming several awards at the young age of fourteen. Seung and Abi never did have another kid, rather it be by choice or simply because they were unable, was beyond anyone’s knowledge, for they never truly tried.

Abi grew with age, and her memory got worse and worse until the point where she was hospitalized with mental illness. Forgetting even herself, doctors said it was a miracle that she remembered her husband despite her lack of memory towards everything else. Seung felt honored, but he knew the woman he loved and cherished was no longer, and so it was easier to accept when she finally passed away at the age of fifty-seven.

Many people claimed that Seung had passed away that day, and he never did stray from his wife, staying loyal to her until the day he was reunited with her. After watching Sang-Ho’s wedding, followed by Ki-Woo’s, he knew his children were well taken care off, and so he happily went to meet the person he had been longing to see.