It went worst than Yoongi had ever imagined. The worst thing he’d ever expect would be arguing, but not this. Perhaps he was too ambitious and wanted too much from his family too soon. Maybe they weren’t ready to accept Yoonsung yet? But, if not now, then when? Exactly when would it be a good time to introduce his son to his family?

He wasn’t sure as he nibbled on the nail of his thumb. He quickly grabbed a travel sized first aid kit off the shelf of the bandage section and headed up to the pharmacy tech to pay. After driving off from his parent’s home, they had stopped at a random park so he could clean the blood off of Inhye. He wasn’t going to leave Daegu with her all bloodied up.

The events of what his mother did to Inhye flashed across his mind again. The hard smacks of the older woman’s hand against his ex-wife’s two cheeks were so loud that he could’ve sworn they shook the entire house. Even from the front door, he could hear the slaps across Inhye’s flesh loud and clear. She was surely going to bruise and the thought of that made Yoongi extremely heavy hearted. He was worried about protecting Yoonsung so much that he had forgotten about Inhye. She was strong and was always quick to stand up for herself so he’d assume that she’d be able to handle whatever his mother threw her way. But, he was wrong. Apparently that wasn’t the case.

From a far, Yoongi took in the sight in front of him after crossing the street. On one of the park benches, Inhye sat there with Yoonsung in her arms. Their son was disturbed by what he had seen and had been crying non stop. The father watched as his ex-wife whispered sweet nothings into their boy’s ear, trying to calm him down. On the back of one of her hands was a streak of dried blood and his stomach dropped. Because of his insistent plea to come back to Daegu, both Inhye and Yoonsung ended up getting hurt all together. He had protected no one, despite thinking that he’d do a good job keeping the both of them safe from harm.

“Yoonsung-ah,” he called out, after taking a seat next to Inhye. “Come here.” The boy pulled away from his mom’s chest with a red, tear-stained face. He looked at his father and shook his head with a big frown on his face. “Mommy’s going to be OK. Just come here for a bit, alright?”

Yoonsung reluctantly stepped away from his mother’s embrace and came to Yoongi. The older man quickly pulled him into another hug. “Daddy, Mommy’s hurt. She needs to go to the hospital. We need to take her to the hospital.” he cried into his father’s chest.

Yoongi patted his son’s head softly, unable to respond to his request. He glanced over at Inhye, whose eyes were glued to the concrete ground in front of them. They were lucky enough to find a bench under a tree despite the blazing summer sun beating down on them. The heat was keeping everyone away and in doors leaving the park quiet, which was probably for the best because they needed the privacy.

Without thinking, he reached out and lightly touched Inhye’s cheek or, more specifically, the side of her face that was already slowly turning purple. She flinched and immediately scooted away. Yoongi blinked, unsure how to react. “W-We should probably disinfect that cut.” he mentioned. He dumbly motioned to get the kit he bought, but Inhye got to it before he could.

She grabbed the paper bag he had brought back with him and said, “I’ll do it myself. It’s OK.”

He watched as she opened the kit and proceeded to pull out an individually wrapped alcohol pad from it. Right when he was about to intervene and grab the disinfecting item from her hand, their son spoke up. “Daddy, do you love Mommy?” he sniffed, innocently.

Yoongi stared down at his son, unable to fully answer the question. Technically, Inhye and him had explained to Yoonsung that the reason why they’re not all living together was because the both of them as parents didn’t love one another. However, the child had mentioned a while ago that his ideal vision of his father was someone who loved his mother and he could possibly still be holding onto the concept of that. Unfortunately, that wasn’t the case. Yoongi had never loved Inhye. In fact, Yoonsung wasn’t even born out of love. It was all lust, but how could he ever possibly tell that to his son?

“No, Yoonsung.” Inhye replied for him. He glanced at the woman at his side. She didn’t spare him a glance as she pulled out a mirror from her purse. “But, he does love your stepmom a lot though.”

“I have a stepmom? What’s that?” questioned the child, completely confused.

“It’s when your dad marries another woman. That woman is your step mom.” explained Inhye before Yoongi could say anything. “When they have children, those babies will be your half siblings.”

Yoonsung nodded his head slowly and then turned to Yoongi. “Do I have half brothers and sisters too, Daddy?”

“N-No. Of course not. There’s nostepmom and no half siblings. It’s just you.” muttered Yoongi, looking down at his son. What in the world was Inhye doing? He wasn’t even re-married yet. Why the hell was she talking about this “step mom” thing to their son right now? He turned back to look at his ex-wife and muttered under his breath, “Inhye, why are you saying these sorts of things to Yoonsung?”

She rolled her eyes at him as dabbed her cut lightly with the alcohol pad with the aid of the hand mirror. She let out a small wince before answering him. “Because it’s true.” she shrugged. “Even if you’re not married now, you will be eventually.”

“What kind of b.s. are you talking about?” Yoongi asked, censoring his words for his son.

“I was talking to Hoseok for a bit last night.” she started. “And, he mentioned how you were thinking about marrying Miyoung. He didn’t exactly say this, but I pieced together with all the bits of info he gave me and I figured that she probably broke it off with you because of us.”

The man swallowed dryly. “What does that have to do with anything?”

“It has to do with a lot of things, Yoongi.” she said, almost in a whisper. “You lost your girlfriend because of us and, now, you’re going to lose your family too. I know how much all those people mean to you and I don’t think it’s worth it.” Before he could even respond, she continued. “Maybe we should just stop doing this and cut off all ties with one another. Stop the weekly meetings with you and the child support too. I have a stable career with a good income so it’s not like I can’t raise him on my own with-”

“Not worth it? Cutting off all ties with one another?” questioned Yoongi, getting angry. “I’m Yoonsung’s dad. You can’t just say it’s not worth it or that you can just cut me out of both of your lives.”

“Well, it’s not like you can’t come see him on his birthday.” added Inhye, adding more salt to the wound. “Sure, I get it that you’re still his dad and all, but I think we should really reconsider what we’re doing here. Obviously, Yoonsung and I have greatly affected your life in negative ways and it’s probably for the best if we leave.”

Yoongi glared at her. She absolutely refused to look at him in the face. “What the f-” he began to growl and then corrected himself. “What did my mom say to you?”

“She said nothing.” answered the woman.

“You’re lying.” Yoongi quickly muttered, in disbelief. “She said something. I know she did because you’re just spewing out nonsense right now.”

“It’s the truth though.” Inhye responded. “For lack of better words, you essentially have to choose between the woman you love and your family over us and you shouldn’t have to give them up. It’s not fair to you. They’re the ones that belong in your present and future. We’re just two people from your past that aren’t worth abandoning all that over.”

“My mom had just-” Yoongi let out a shaky breath. “Hityou. Why are you talking about these sorts of things now? Why are you talking about meand what’s important to me when we should be talking about you instead? It hurt, didn’t it?” He quickly reached out again to touch her only for her to push his hand away again.

Yoongi watched as she opened up a pack of ointment and lightly dabbed it onto her cut. “Because I’m not important enough.” she finally said, softly.

“That’s not true.” he automatically countered, with a rasp. He shook his head. “That’s not true at all.” The thought of Inhye not thinking she’s not worthy of even being worried about or cared for sent a searing pain straight through his chest. She was definitely important enough.

“It was true when I lived here in Daegu, married to you and working practically for free at your family’s restaurant. It was true when you and your family went on any trips or do anything without Yoonsung and I because two extra people would’ve made them cost too much. Remember how you all went to Switzerland while I was back here to receive a huge order of necessities for the restaurant? Your parents came up with the stupidest excuses just so Yoonsung and I couldn’t go, even if it was with you all to the movie theater.” she reminded him. “And, it is still true even after all these years. I’m still that that killed your chance at fame and ruined your life all together.”

Yoongi frowned as he tore his eyes away from her. “Don’t’ say things like that.” he mumbled, slowly. “I know that my family and I didn’t treat you the best while we were married, but that’s not true. You are important. You deserve to be treated kindly. You deserve to be loved and cared for. You deserve all of this too.”

“Yoongi, I really don’t. As angry as I am, I can’t be too bitter about all of this because it is true. I really am the one that destroyed your life and I will have to live out my life dealing with the consequences...” muttered Inhye, softly. She paused for a moment before continuing on. “That’s because I knew about Yoonsung before it was too late.”

He felt his jaw dropped as he turned to stare at her wide-eyed. “W-What do you mean?” he heard himself ask. His words slurred together since his tongue was now too thick and heavy from the shock and disbelief. When Inhye dropped the bomb on him after one of his shows, she never mentioned any of this. He had assumed that she had barely found out.

‘Abort it.’

Those were the first words that slipped pass his lips when she told him she was pregnant. He couldn’t let her give birth to a kid that he didn’t want. He was at the prime of his life: making music, meeting artists that were just as passionate as him, gaining fans bit by bit each passing day, and living life to the fullest. Where did a baby fall into a life like that? Yoongi had no desire to have that kid.

After making things quiet clear, Inhye quietly left the after party they were at, only to come back the following week saying she was scared about the abortion and didn’t know where to go for the procedure. She also mentioned how she got an ultrasound, handing him a picture of some black and white image of a fetus. Although it was small, he could clearly see that it was already quite developed which indicated that she had been pregnant for some time already.

10 weeks.

She was apparently 10 weeks pregnant and the cut off for a typical, first trimester abortion was 12 weeks according to the internet. So, it gave him2 more weeks to find a clinic and get the deed done. But, Yoongi couldn’t find a place. Correction: he didn’t know who to ask about a place like that. He was trying to keep Inhye’s pregnancy on the down low because the last thing he wanted would be for his friends/acquaintances to know. They were doing so well with their own lives that he felt like her pregnancy was pushing him back to square one. He almost didn’t even tell Hoseok about the whole ordeal, but he knew he couldn’t lie to his best friend and housemate especially not when they were so close.

“I knew.” she whispered, softly. “I wanted to keep him and I wasn’t originally planning on telling you. But, my cousin convinced me to do so. Like I mentioned before, she was the only one that knew about his existence and was completely against me keeping the pregnancy away from you. That’s why-”

Please Subscribe to read the full chapter