CHAPTER TWENTY-ONE

Seokjin stared blankly as his father closed the door behind him. He was indecisive with his feelings. He couldn't tell if he wanted to approach his father and hug him tightly one last time or if he wanted to kick his father out of the room for the cruel and disgusting behavior he exhibited towards his mother and him. How long has it been? Seokjin thought to himself as he stared at his father. Over six years since the last time he saw his father. The last time he saw his father was when he walked out of the apartment to go drink at the small bar near his old home. He packed up his bags and ran off with his mother. He quickly glanced at his father: he looked older with fine wrinkles on the sides of his eyes and small patches of white hair on the side of his head. He looked older but sober. 
His father looked at his only son and threw himself onto the ground. He began weeping very loudly and Seokjin watched silently as his father began whispering "Why God?". His father slumped down to the floor and sobbed uncontrollably. "It should have been me and not him". 
Seokjin felt a lump form in his throat. As much pain as his father put them, he couldn't hate the man standing before him. He cared deeply for him and he did not wish his father bad health like the one he was currently facing. 
His mother stood by Seokjin and tried turning her attention away from the man she once loved. The tears welled up in her eyes crashed down her face. She couldn't hold it in. It felt like an eternity watching his parents cry silently. Seokjin however was not crying. He had cried so much for the past couple of years, that he no longer felt it. 
After a couple of minutes of silence, Mr. Kim spoke up. 
"Seokjin" he began as he wiped his tired eyes with the sleeve of his white collared shirt. "How long has it been?"

"A couple of years actually..." Seokjin began as he tried repositioning himself. "I don't have much time left." 
"I am aware of that. I was informed." Mr. Kim answered. "I am sorry". 
Seokjin's heart quickened at the sound of his father's sincere apology. It had been the first time in his whole life where his father apologized for the pain and agony he had caused. He knew deep down inside his father was truly hurting for it all and Seokjin was glad he find a way to forgive his father.

"Thank you" Seokjin smiled slightly. It was all he wanted before he left. He had managed to find peace with every single person in his life and he was glad that he had found peace with his father. His father approached and grabbed his sick son's hand. He wrapped his strong firm hand around the delicate cold hand of his son. It had been years since he held his son's hand. The last memory of his son was when he was seven years old and held his hand as they waited for the bus. His hand back then was that of a small child with so much happiness and questioning of life. So eager to get out and explore. Now the hand he holds today is cold with unfortunately the ending of life that still hoped for and waited for more. Those dreams shattered because of an illness that stole from him. 

Jungkook had opened the front door to his home with Minhee. He had been aware of the situation between Jungmee and her husband days ago. Jungmee had gone out to the doctor to get a check-up and Minhee had been pacing around the sitting room. 

"Hello?" Minhee replied over the phone. "Jimin?" She had believed he answered her phone call but was automatically sent to his voicemail. She knew it was his voicemail after a couple of rings but there was a hopeless miracle that she waited for. She yearned for the love of the man who quietly became distant because of all his commitments. The past couple of weeks had been difficult for her. She had trouble communicating with Jimin and hardly had any conversations with him through the phone. He would reply coldly to her messages always stating that he was too busy running errands or would forget to turn on his phone. 
"Hey Jimin" she began speaking to the phone. "I just wanted to inform you that I went to the ultrasound a couple of weeks back and I know the gender of the baby." She paused for a couple of seconds. "Could you possibly give me a call? Okay bye!" 
She ended the phone call and threw the phone on a purple futon. At this point, she did not care if the phone broke or not. She sighed as she looked up at the ceiling. She was very stressed out with everything. She was engrossed in her own thoughts and didn't notice the tall man standing at the doorway. He watched her move and sighed wishing she could be happy. He knew that if she gave him a chance, he could make her happy and bring her the peace that she longs for. 
"Hey." Jungkook paced towards her. 

She turned her attention to him for a second and then looked back down. "Hello." 
"You okay?" Jungkook asked concerned for the women standing in front of him. 
"Not really." She sighed once more. 
"I'm sorry you feel that way." He answered as he marched on over to her. 
"It's okay" she smiled faintly turning her attention to the male. "Thank you for caring." 
She smiled brightly and Jungkook could feel his heart pounding insanely fast. Despite all these years, she still had a beautiful warm smile from high school. The same smile she would give him when she would walk over to him during English and sit by him to work on their writing assignment. The same bright smile she would give him when she would find him down the hallway walking towards her. He truly missed the smile of the girl he loves. 
"Want to do something fun?" Jungkook asked abruptly, not thinking clearly of his decisions or words. 
Her eyes widened. "What?" 
Jungkook shook his head, thinking about the words he chose and how they might have sounded to her. "I mean... let me take you out. We haven't done it at all since we got married and I would love to take you out somewhere fun." 
"Really?" Minhee thought. "Where do you want to go?" 
"You'll see." Jungkook smiled. 
It took an hour or so to arrive at their destination. Jungkook had been waiting to show her everything. 
"What's all this?" She smiled as she felt the beach wind blow through her hair. Jungkook ran over to her side of the car and opened it for her. 
"Come here." He grabbed her hand and they walked down a large pathway. Eventually, she was able to see the beautiful two-story house on the beachside. 
"What are we doing here?" She asked curiously. 
"I will explain it when we get there." Jungkook smiled he wrapped his hand with hers and they walked down the large pathway to reach the home. 
"Wow." Minhee smiled as she looked closely at the home. It was a beautiful color of white with a balcony that overlooked the ocean. 
"My parents have been working on this for a long time. I been helping them and well now that it is complete, I wanted to show you." Jungkook stated as he unlocked the front door. "Welcome to our second home." 
The first room they walked into was the sitting room. It was filled with new furniture and the walls were painted into a beautiful eggshell color. There were beautiful decorations of landscapes in the room. 
"Woah." Minhee smiled as she looked around the house. It was more fascinating than their home back in the city. 
"Wait until you see this." Jungkook smiled. "Come." 
They walked over to the kitchen that led to the back of the house. It has a huge glass see-through door that leads to the patio outside towards the beach. 
"Oh my goodness." Minhee stared astoundingly towards the beach. She could see the beautiful cold ocean. 
"I am going to order us some food. What would you like to eat?" Jungkook asked as he picked up the phone on the counter. 
"I am craving Chinese!" Minhee pondered. 
Jungkook smiled and looked for a delicious Chinese restaurant in this town. 
Jungmee walked out of the patient room with paperwork. She was cleared and was going to be getting treatment to deal with the traumatic event. She had received a text from Minhee stating that she was going to be out of the house for a couple of days. 
Jungmee felt pretty sad and she didn't want to go back to her father's house. She didn't want to run into him and cause a scene. She was afraid of her father. She also didn't want to stay at Jungkook and Minhee's home especially now that she kept having nightmares every single night. She walked over to Minjung who was playing with her Barbie doll. 
"Minjung" Jungmee began, she kneeled down in front of the small girl. Minjung looked at her aunt and smiled. "I want to go visit someone is that okay?" 
"Yes." Minjung smiled.
"Come on". Jungmee smiled back. She quickly put her paperwork inside her purse and walked out of the cold clinic. They hopped inside the car and headed to their destination. 
Jungmee pulled and tugged on her sweater as she waited outside the door of the apartment. She looked at the address she had written and had taken her to this destination. However, she was scared and worried. She didn't want Taehyung seeing her the way she looked. She was in pain, her body did not feel like hers and she felt like she was a disgusting person. Would he still like her even though she was not the same girl?
"Auntie, are you going to knock?" Minjung asked as she noticed Jungmee tensing up. 
"Yes." She sighed. "Just give me a minute." Jungmee let out a puff of air and shut her eyes. She brought her hand up to the door and knocked quickly. Her heartbeat began to raise as she waited for the individual to open the door. 
"Jungmee." His low baritone voice called for her. 
The tears welled up in her eyes, she did her best to prevent them from falling down her face. She did not understand why she felt like this, she felt so dirty and didn't feel like she deserved the attention of the one person she loved. 
"Taehyung," Jungmee whispered. "Can we stay here this weekend? Minhee is out with Jungkook for a couple of days and we don't want to be alone in their home. Plus I can't go home and see my father." 
Taehyung nodded and moved away from the door. He looked towards his living room. "Absolutely. Come in." 
"Thank you." She bowed slightly. She pushed Minjung inside his apartment. They proceeded on to take off their jackets and shoes. 
"Are you guys hungry?" Taehyung asked as he walked over to his kitchen. He placed a clean silver pot on the stove. 
"May I get ramen?" Minjung asked as she sat down on the small couch in his living room. 
"Yes!" Taehyung chuckled. He brought some water to boil. Jungmee sat down on his couch next to Minjung and turned her attention to the TV. She noticed her father showing up on the local news and her eyes adverted down to her hands. She fiddled with her rings as he began to speak about his business and the expansion of it in Australia. She began to shake tremendously and uncontrollably. 
"How about we put a movie?" Taehyung asked. He noticed the change of mood. He wanted to help her heal but knew it would take time.  "Let's watch Zootopia?" 
Taehyung sat on the opposite side of the couch with Minjung sitting between him and Jungmee. He would occasionally glimpse at the Jungmee. She looked tired and hurt. She would chuckle during the movie but stare at the screen with a blank cold stare. Halfway through the movie Minjung fell asleep. She had her small bowl of ramen and fell as