Something broke.

He could feel it.

It was his own heart.

The silence that resonated around the pristine white walls at the moment was suffocating. The doctor stood rooted to his spot, his head hung low in apology. Mrs. Jeon stood there, stiff, and before anybody could utter a word, her body swayed. Jinwook, being the closest beside her, grabbed onto her shoulders before she could fall. Jungkook took a step forward in shock and helped to steady his own mother. She sobbed out loud, and brokenheartedly.

“Why didn't he tell us? Didn't he know this would only leave us in an even worse state? That fool. That stupid fool.”

Jungkook felt his own tears cascade down his face as his mother turned around and sobbed into his chest. He wrapped his arms around her and rested his chin onto her shoulder.

Hanuel's father had his arms wrapped around his wife, rubbing her arm in a comforting manner. Hanuel had Junghwa in her arms. The little girl looked around at the people grieving,

“Is daddy gone?”

Her mother glanced at her, and choked out another sob at her daughter's words. Hanuel adjusted Junghwa in her arms, and Junghwa buried her head into her chest. Half in fear, and half in sadness.

Jinwook cleared his throat and looked at the doctor, “I'll follow you to do the paperwork.” The doctor looked up in relief and gave him a slight nod before gesturing him to follow.

Another nurse walked out of the surgery room, and Mrs. Jeon detached herself from Jungkook's arms to run up to her.

“Can I go see my husband? Please, I beg of you. Please, just let me see him.”

The nurse, startled at first, nodded in sympathy and stepped back to open the door for her. Mrs. Jeon thanked her a few times before she rushed inside. The others followed suit, with Jungkook right behind her.

His body lay there. Dressed in that dull blue colour all hospital patients were required to wear. His face was pale, and his chest no longer rose up and down when he took in breaths. Mrs. Jeon almost tripped on her own two feet as she crouched down beside his operating bed. She took a hold of his hand, bringing it up to her cheek.

His hand, cold and lifeless, against her own warm skin.

She cried as she held onto his hand. Jungkook walked behind her, and placed a hand onto her shoulder in consolation.

Hanuel's mother let out another sob, seeing her best friend cry over her husband's death. Her husband stood beside her, comforting in the best way he could. He was just as upset about his friend's death, but seeing his wife cry like that, he wouldn't allow himself to break down for her sake.

There was one unspoken thought that everyone in the room seemed to be thinking at the moment.

He's gone.

- - - - -

The funeral was held two days later.

Friends, relatives and coworkers came to see him one last time.

Condolences were exchanged, cries were heard, and hugs of comfort were given.

The people stood around, watching and grieving as the workers of the cemetery carefully laid his coffin onto of the wooden planks. They carefully lowered the coffin down, and then excused themselves from the crowd.

Jungkook looked at the gravestone in utter disbelief. His father's picture was on there, along with his birth date and the words, “Loving father and husband.”

He looked so happy in the picture. He was smiling. His face, which was full of life, was glowing bright.

Mrs. Jeon turned around to the guests and gave them a weak small, but grateful smile, “Thank you all for coming. I'm sure Jiwook feels very blessed to see so many of his friends here today.” Some ladies walked up to her, giving her another hug which only caused another fresh batch of tears to fall.

Hanuel stood there, silent, as she watched Jungkook adjust the flowers on his father's grave. She walked over and crouched down beside him. He glanced up in acknowledgement, but said nothing more.

After a while, it was time for most of the guests to leave, seeing as how they had work soon. Mrs. Jeon thanked them again, and bid them farewell. Hanuel's family stayed behind.

Hanuel's mother walked up to Jungkook's. They shared a look, and Hanuel's mother gave the other an encouraging smile. Mrs. Jeon let out a breath, one that she had been holding this whole time, and returned the smile. Only this time with more happiness.

She turned back to her husband's grave. She let her head hang low and she got onto her knees. The others around her had their eyes open in shock.

She let her forehead touch the ground as she gave a deep bow, and when she lifted up her head,

“I'm sorry Jiwook.”

- - - - -

Weeks passed after the tragic incident that was bestowed upon the Jeon family. They were beginning to get accustomed to the fact that they no longer had another man in the house. Mrs. Jeon was fairing well, going by the thought that her husband would always watch over their family from above.

Jungkook lifted up his sister when she came running out of her room, dolled up by his mother. He smiled at his mother who walked out behind the little girl. Junghwa giggled, “Are we going to see unnie now?” His grin broadened at her enthusiastic tone, and he nodded.

“Yeah, let's go.”

His mother smiled and waved them off, “Call me at work if you need me, alright?” He nodded, “Got it, mom! See you.”

They walked over to the Lee's apartment, and he bent down to let Junghwa ring the doorbell. When the door opened, and it was Hanuel who did so, Junghwa immediately squirmed out of her brother's arms to go into Hanuel's. The girl smiled as Junghwa beamed up at her with her bright, shining eyes.

Hanuel looked up and met eyes with Jungkook, who looked at her with the same affection he always did. Even after what she had told him weeks prior.

“Jungkook, I don't know if this is the right time to tell you this or not, but I really can't keep it to myself.”

He adjusted the snapback cap he was wearing on his head before turning to her, “What? That you love me a lot?” She looked up at him and gave him a look, signalling that this was serious. He chuckled before turning to look at her from his position on the park bench.

“What is it, Hanuel?”

“I knew about your father's condition.”

His smile fell off, and he looked at her in confusion, “What do you mean by that?” She wrung her hands together, “I saw him at the hospital when I went to visit my dad. I saw him come out of the neurology department. He told me his condition then, and he also told me he didn't want me to tell anybody. Jungkook I'm-”

“Of course he would.” She looked up in surprise at his tone. It wasn't angry, rather, it was more of a disappointment. She had a feeling the disappointment wasn't directed at her, either.

“I'm sorry I didn't tell you earlier.” She added. He shrugged and leaned back, “I don't think it would've changed much if you did. This happened all too soon for anybody to know what to do.”

Hanuel sighed in relief at his understanding words. He turned to her with a smile, “So, don't worry your pretty little head over it, okay? It's over. I don't want to talk about this today.” She nodded, “Thank you, Jungkook and I'm-”

 

“If you apologize again, I'm going to kiss you.” He warned with a raised eyebrow. She rolled her eyes as she stood up to dust off her skirt,

“Wouldn't you have done so anyway?”

“Well, you're not incorrect.”

Junghwa took a fistful of Hanuel's hair to run her tiny fingers through. Hanuel looked down at her with a happy gaze, “Are you ready to go to the park?” The little girl bobbed her head up and down so fast that it looked like it would become painful soon. Jungkook chuckled. He looked at his girlfriend with a grin,

“Where's my greeting kiss?”

Hanuel raised her wrist up to look at her watch, “Mr. Jeon, you're late by a whole 3 minutes. I don't think you deserve your kiss.” Jungkook gaped at her, “Hold up! That was her fault, for your information.” Hanuel shrugged, turned around to close her apartment door. She leaned down to Junghwa's face,

“You can have a kiss though, Jungie.” Junghwa laughed as Hanuel kissed her cheek and Jungkook stood there as the two walked down the hallway without him.

“Junghwa! Stop stealing my girlfriend!”

- - - - -

Jungkook pretended to fall over in pain when his little sister shot her water gun at him. He pretended to gasp for air, “Jungie, how could you?”

Junghwa's eyes widened in honest fear when she saw her brother sprawled across the grass. She dropped her gun and ran over to him, kneeling down beside him. Her lips wobbled as she shook him,

“Oppa-”

“Oh, look, I'm alive!” He announced as Hanuel choked on her water at his feeble attempt to prevent his sister from bursting into tears. Junghwa brightened at the fact that she didn't 'kill' her brother and threw her arms around his neck.

Hanuel smiled at the sight, glad that the two were playing together so happily. She stretched her stiff back and stood up, walking towards the pair of siblings. Jungkook looked up at her, mouthing, 'your turn'. She rolled her eyes and picked up Junghwa, “Do you want to take a walk by the river, Jungie?” The little girl nodded, “Yes, please!”

Jungkook stood up and intertwined his fingers with Hanuel's, as her other hand held onto Junghwa's tiny ones.

“Whoa, what a happy looking family.” Someone commented from the left. Said three turned, and Junghwa gasped in surprise,

“Alphabet!” She slipped out of Hanuel's hands and ran over to V, who grinned and lifted her up before spinning her around. She laughed in glee.

The couple walked towards them, and V whistled at their small skinship. Jungkook rolled his eyes in annoyance while Hanuel ducked her head down in embarrassment.

“Are you here alone?” Jungkook asked. V shook his head, and nodded towards the ice cream truck where Jimin and J-Hope were currently standing in line. Jungkook raised an eyebrow at Jimin's slumped figure and J-Hope's laughing face.

“Did he lose a bet?”

“Yup.”

“How are you today, princess?” V questioned as he fixed up Junghwa's bangs. She giggled and threw her arms out, “I had fun!” He chuckled, “Well now that your other three oppas are here, it'll be more fun.” She nodded and laughed.

“Do you think we're cooler than Jungkook?” They turned to the new voice, to see J-Hope with a goofy grin. She reached over into his embrace, and he gave his cone to Jimin before holding her. She nodded,

“I like Dopey more than Kooky oppa.” She admitted with a small pout. Hanuel suppressed her laugh into her fist while the other two guys laughed. However, one guy remained still as he frowned at his little sister.

“Ouch?”

“Oh, don't be such a baby, Kooky.” Jimin cooed, but then winced as Jungkook let go of Hanuel's hand to put him into a chokehold.

“Yo, watch it! I have ice cream cones in my hands.” He proclaimed. Jungkook released his grip before stealing one of the cones that looked uneaten. Jimin gasped with wide eyes and tried to reach for it,

“That's mine- oh, wait. It's not. It's V's. Okay, you can have it.” He smirked as V stared at him incredulously. J-Hope laughed,

“So are you guys ready for our last year of high school?” V shivered in distaste. “Nope.” Jimin his cone and shrugged, “I don't mind.”

“What about you, Hanuel?” She looked up in surprise, mostly because he included her into the conversation. Nonetheless, she smiled, “I'm excited.” Jungkook nodded, “Same here.”

“Ew. Of course you the Einstein couple would be.” Jimin rolled his eyes and pretended to gag. Junghwa looked up, “Einstein?” V nodded, “Yeah. His hair colour is white, and it sticks out everywhere like a crazy guy. But- he's still super smart.”

“So, just like Kooky oppa?”

“Okay, I want a new sister.”

- - - - -

Hanuel and Jungkook were now sitting together on the couch in his apartment. They had tiredly put Junghwa to sleep after an hour of pleading. Jungkook yawned as he lay his head down onto the armrest. Hanuel turned to him, “Sleepy?” He nodded as he lay his arm over his eyes, “Worn out, actually.” She smiled, “Me too.”

“Man, I didn't know little kids could be so tiring.” He groaned. Hanuel chuckled, “Of course they are. They probably have three times as much energy as you do, grandpa.” He gaped at her, “Grandpa!? Are you calling me Einstein now, too?” She shrugged, “That's what it looks like, doesn't it?”

“I hate you.”

“Really?”

“No, but I can pretend I do since you made me sad.” He pouted at her. She rolled her eyes in amusement, “You're such a kid.”

“Speaking of kids, I can't wait to make our own one day.” Her eyes widened at his comment, “Jungkook!” He laughed, but said nothing more.

She raised an eyebrow when he lifted up one arm and put it up into the air. After a few more seconds, he peaked his eyes out and frowned at her, “What, you're not going to take my hand?”

“That's a weird position to be holding hands.” She commented as she shuffled further away from him. He leaned forward from his position, and he narrowed his eyes at her, “Don't make me get you.” She stuck out her tongue, “Don't you dare.”

“Oh, but I do.” In the span of a few seconds, he had pulled her down so that she was laying down on the couch beside him. Her eyes widened and she was about to push herself up when he wrapped his arms around her waist.

“I'm sleepy, and you can be my teddy bear.” He chuckled as he buried his face into the back of her shirt, inhaling her scent. She rolled her eyes with a silent laugh, but she made no more attempts to get up. She reached for his hand, which happened to be his left, and played around with his fingers. After a few minutes, she felt his breathing slow down, indicating that he had fallen asleep. She carefully turned her head,

“Jungkook?”

There was no response.

She quietly slipped out of his embrace and took the blanket from the other couch to place over him. She crouched down in front of his sleeping face with a smile. Brushing away his bangs, she leaned down to give him a kiss on the cheek.

“I'm glad you're smiling again, Jungkook.”



Once again, it's a late update, and I'm sorry T-T I've been reading all your comments, honestly, but I just couldn't bring myself to actually update. Seeing as how I've been so caught up with my real life, I had to move my writing life down my list of priorities. 

Anywhoo, here you go :D No more sadness!?!?!? 

HOLY COW THOUGH. I GOT FEATURED!? I can't thank you guys enough for the support ;~; I think I had a mini heart attack in my Math class when I read the Story Comments cause all that ran through my mind was, "Why are people congratulating me?" Oh yeah, that's when it hit me. But thank you guys  so much! <3 All your comments are lovely! I find it admirable when people take the time to write down an encouraging comment for someone else (: Thank you guys for that. 

I was thinking, since you guys seem to love JungkookxHanuel so much, maybe I could make another Next Stop story with this couple as a cameo :D 'Cause, I have no idea what I could write for a sequel with them, seeing as how they're already together. But yeah x] 

It seems like Chen and baby Zelo were the top two from the poll! So, here's another poll with JUST those two :D (Poor Zico and Dongwoo. Zico was doing so well in the beginning too !)