33

Uber.

One of the best creations of the 21st century. Cheaper and quicker than a cab, and they don't even ask questions when picking costumers up. Literally what would the world do without it? 

The middle-aged driver has been mindlessly chatting about how his twelve year old daughter keeps wasting time on some famous boy band instead of doing her homework, but Hara hasn’t paid him much mind. 

She’s too busy thinking about what she’s about to do. 

She wants to run away. 

To say that she had panicked after the kiss would be the understatement of the century. 

There had been a roaring in her head, her heart had still been beating like crazy, even after Jungkook had given her a goodbye peck on the forehead and left, and her brain had been screaming at her to run, run, run. Hara can’t believe things would turn out this way, she cannot believe that in the span of half a year she has managed to find something she has been looking for all of her life. 

And Jungkook, that annoying fool, had finally put the last piece of the puzzle where it belonged and Hara’s mind had just shut down. 

On instinct, the need to run and get as far away as possible had kicked in.

But it didn't take longer than a second for Hara to realize that leaving is no longer an option. 

Why? 

Because of everything she has found here.

Hara is not going to give up her friends, she is not going to give up Yunho and Sora and Leeteuk and everyone else she feels a connection to. 

She is not going to leave Jungkook.

Sweet, sweet, cracker dust crazy Jeon Jungkook.

Just the thought of leaving him makes Hara’s heart drop to her abdomen, , she’s in deep trouble - but for the first time in her miserable life she’s welcoming it. 

So what exactly is she up to now that she has ignored everyone’s text messages and calls, and quite possibly started a search party for herself? 

“We’re here, miss,” the uber driver says, entering through big, iron gates before coming to a halt in front of the entrance. Hara pays her fare and then flushes in embarrassment when the older man helps her to the door, scolding her for walking when her legs are in such a bad shape. 

Hara lies and says she twisted an ankle. She doesn’t really wanna get into the whole internal bleeding and wheelchair thing. 

Yeah, okay, so maybe she didn’t think this whole thing through, at all, but desperation had sent her stumbling out of her wheelchair and she had all but crawled up the stairs and then limped her way through the hallways, thanking god when she had found a backdoor next to the kitchen area. The door that the chefs use to dispose of garbage was thankfully unlocked and Hara managed to leave the premises unnoticed.

She doesn’t know how bad the situation is at home, she has long since turned her phone off and she hasn’t really checked any of the messages, but she hopes no one is worrying too much. 

She just needs to do this, she really needs to get some answers to questions she has yet to form before she can return home. 

Home.

When she has made it inside and thanked the Uber driver, Hara goes through the same process as last time. After signing a bunch of papers and going through a metal detector, Hara is led down a hall by one of the burly guards and curtly nods at him when he opens the door for her. 

“Hara?”

Jimin looks good. 

He looks so much better than he did last time Hara saw him. Hara knows he has started eating more so his progress will double before Christmas, the boys have all given her updates on him from their weekly visits, but seeing it up close makes Hara mute with emotion. 

The familiar knot in the back of wraps an iron grip around Hara’s vocal chords and she smiles through tears. Jimin looks like he knows exactly what Hara is going through, but Hara cannot be too sure since Jungkook promised not to tell a soul about her predicament. Yoongi wouldn’t say anything that’d hurt Jimin or anyone else. 

“Hi, Jimin,” Hara finally whispers. 

“Hey, are you okay? Shouldn’t you be in a wheelchair?” Jimin looks worried now, and Hara feels her emotions suddenly overwhelm her. Oh . 

“I should,” she murmurs, biting her lip and laughing lightly when a tear trails down her cheek because she must look ridiculous. Jimin just shakes his head and walks up to her, wordlessly wrapping her in a hug that sends Hara crashing. 

“It’s okay, let it all out, Hara, shh, everything is going to be okay,” Jimin whispers against her hair, and Hara tightly clutches onto him, whimpering into his shirt. He smells like flowers and sunshine - whoever is in charge of the laundry here uses the same detergent as Jungkook. Hara cries harder into Jimin's shirt and he murmurs a “oh, no, poor baby,” before pulling the door closed behind her so they can have some privacy. 

Hara follows him over to his bed and sits down next to him, grip still tight around his neck, but Jimin doesn’t seem to mind, and he just keeps smoothing a hand over her hair, whispering words of comfort until Hara has calmed down. 

“Rough day?” he murmurs when they pull apart, and Hara laughs through the pain, grimacing as she wipes away her tears.

“Rough couple of years,” she replies, sighing, feeling like the weight of the world has been lifted off of her shoulders. She hasn’t even told him the truth yet. 

“Would you like to talk about it?” Hara stares at Jimin for a moment, taking in his small, shy smile and slightly worried eyes. 

“It’s a long story.”

Jimin’s smile widens and he shrugs. “I have all the time in the world.”

And so Hara drags in a deep, deep breath and decides to unload. 

Jimin is quiet the whole time, patiently listening, watching, observing. Hara doesn’t tell one lie, something about Jimin’s piercing gaze makes it feel like he knows what she’s about to say before she has even opened . 

“And- and I just don’t know what to do,” Hara concludes, wiping away a fresh batch of tears that have formed towards the end of her monologue. “How can it feel so right when it’s wrong?”

“Who says it’s wrong?” Jimin murmurs, and Hara arches both eyebrows. “I mean, legally it might be considered a violation of law, but who says it’s wrong?”

“It-it just is,” Hara whispers, averting her gaze to her fiddling fingers. Jimin reaches over and gently places a hand over Hara’s.

“Do you love him, Hara?” 

Hara slowly looks up, brows furrowed. 

Does she? 

“Does your heart skip a beat whenever he touches you? Do you feel genuinely good whenever he’s around? Is he a pain in the because of how much he worries about you?" He laughs shyly and makes a vague motion with his hand. "The list could go on, but these are just some of the more superficial feelings one would feel when in love, no?” 

Yes.

Hara wants to say yes, , yes to that and more. Jungkook is just- he’s just amazing. 

“You’ve accepted his troubled past so easily, Hara, you recognized a broken soul and helped mend all of his wounds. You also fixed all of his problems, somehow unknowingly, because it was never the intention, right?”

“It just changed at one point,” Hara whispers, “I didn’t feel hatred as much as I thought I did, because every flaw had a reason and Jungkook actively worked on repairing them.”

Jimin looks proud, his smile small and genuine, and he nods and leans back a little. 

“Then what scares you?” 

Hara doesn’t know. 

Maybe it’s because this is all so unfamiliar to her? Maybe it's the fact that she’s settling down for good, with no backup plans in case something goes wrong. But shouldn't Hara also have a chance at experiencing something good in life? And what exactly can go wrong now that everything seems to be so perfect? 

“It’s just on paper.” Hara snaps her head up and blinks. Jimin shrugs. “The familial ties. And it’s not exactly gonna be blood-based. There’s a reason why he’s your stepbrother.”

Hara bites her lip and runs a hand through her hair. “I think- I think I should see dad. Before the court meeting.” 

It’s the one thing keeping her from fully settling down here. She needs to see him one last time and just-just try to make sense of it all. Of why he let his life come to this point, of why he even bothered staying for as long as he did. Of why he pretended to love Hara and Sora when he clearly never did. 

Jimin suddenly looks a little uncomfortable.

Hara frowns. “What’s wrong?”

“Hara, about your father,” he murmurs, pursing his lip to find the right words, and Hara feels her heart beating a little faster.

“What? What about him?” 

Jimin sighs and looks at her. “He left the country.”

Hara stares at Jimin, unmoving, and then frowns.

“What does that mean?”

“He left. Fled the country because of the court case,” Jimin gently says, “Jungkook didn’t want to tell you, he even stopped your mother from mentioning it at the hospital all those days ago.”

Hara can feel her eyes beginning to water. Somehow, she knew this was going to happen. Somewhere deep inside she had felt it. 

“Why?” she whispers. 

“He didn’t want to hurt you, he didn’t want you to think about him more than you already were, Hara.” Jimin reaches over and gently interlocks their fingers, giving Hara’s hand a light squeeze. “Jungkook was afraid it would make you run off earlier than you said you initially would, he was scared you would leave without a trace to go find your father. Kept talking about how he thought you’d do something stupid, hitchhike or something, and get into some deep trouble. Said he doesn’t know what he’d do if you suddenly left him.”

Hara feels a tear escape and squeezes her eyes shut. “He should have told me.”

Jimin waits a moment before he speaks again. 

“He knows. He said he felt guilty, so, so guilty for keeping you in the dark, but Hara, he was also worried about you. That worry and concern is what convinced him to do this. This was never about his own needs, it is all for your own best and nothing else.” 

Hara sniffles and bites back a sob.

Jimin squeezes her hand tighter before letting go, and Hara takes that as her cue and quickly wipes away her tears and runs a hand through her hair, sobering up. 

A moment of silence passes, none of them say anything nor do they feel the need to. Hara is battling a mental war, Jimin is silently observing her and judging by the small smile pulling on his lips, Hara seems to have won.

“I hate him,” she whispers, shaking her head in annoyance. “I really ing hate Jungkook, that son of a .”

Jimin’s smile is warm and amused. “Sure, you do.”