Wide-eyed and confused I watch him rotate and walk back to the willow tree. He stands in front of my parents, peering down at them with an unreadable expression on his face. 

“I didn’t come here for you,” he lifts his head up and our eyes automatically lock causing his lips to curl up in the tiniest of smiles. “I came for them.”

Wait did I hear that right--I stare open-mouth and dazed as Jimin turns away from me and towards my parents. 

He bends his back into a 90-degree angle greeting, “Hello, my name is Park Jimin,” before lowering himself to the ground into a kneeling position. He places his arms on the ground and rests his head on his hands, like a New Year’s greeting; the sign of ultimate respect. 

 “I’m here to apologize.”

  I gawk, willing him to look at me and explain but he stays in that position, prostrating to my parents with his head centimeters from the ground. As he lays there motionless, all I can think about is how his entire being exudes tiredness and weariness. I begin to wonder what’s been going on this past week that I’ve been gone, specifically what’s been going on with him.  

“I know how lousy this is, to have to apologize on our first meeting but I’ve really wronged your daughter. I wouldn’t be able to ask for her forgiveness before asking for yours first.”

Lifting his upper body off the ground, Jimin now sits upright. He pulls his dirt-stained hands into his lap, and I watch his fingers dance with restlessness as they wrestle each other.

“I apologize for acting so selfishly. I was too self-absorbed to realize how much trust and courage it took for your daughter to tell me about you two. I should’ve...” he pauses as he struggles to find his next words. “ I should’ve cherished her honesty, but instead, I tried to force my own timeline on her. I had-- no I have no right to tell her when or how she chooses to speak her truth.”

His presence here, at this present moment, still baffles me. Almost as much as the words flowing from his mouth. I feel vulnerable and exposed standing in the midst of the three people I’ve probably hurt the most.  How can people who care so much for one another continuously inflict so much pain as well? 

My heart swells when I think of how my instincts told me to run away, while Jimin's instincts drove him to chase after me. God, I’ve missed him so much. And I hate myself for it. I have absolutely no right to yearn for him. 

   “I cannot imagine how hard it must’ve been to lose both of you on the same day, so recently and still maintain a strong face. I was a wreck when my mother passed, if I’m being honest I still am even over a decade later. I felt lost and completely alone, with no one to turn to. Until recently...” 

His voice, now light, holds a new tone of certainty. He no longer wrings his hands together but instead, his fingers are laid out across his thighs as he grips the muscle, lifting his knees up off the ground. I glance back up to his face just to find he’s already staring at me. His face, previously shadowed by such an intense expression of sadness that my heart ached looking at him, is now replaced with unspeakable tenderness. 

“...the pain has lessened and I feel like I can finally breathe again.” 

“I catch myself smiling more, laughing more, feeling more. I catch myself stepping further and further into myself and away from the darkness that I called home for so long. And all that...” 

Our eyes remain locked as if he’s challenging me to look away but I don’t dare.

 “...that is because of your daughter.” 

Time slows down, along with the beating of my heart until both seem to cease completely. His words hit me like a strong gust of wind; rustling my clothes, eliciting goosebumps along my arms and spine, leaving my eyes misty in their wake.   

“Ari-ya, I am so sorry,” he says and the wind ceases. His words ride the sound waves directly into my ear, prompting the first salty droplet to fall from my eyes in response. And then another. And another. I watch through blurry eyes as he stands up and walks closer and closer to me.

I whirl around quickly in an attempt to hide my face. I hate people seeing me cry. I hate breaking down in general but I especially don’t want to do it in front of Jimin. I can’t bear to see his face because I know that if I look into his warm dark eyes I won’t be able to hold back anymore; not my tears or the growing urge to bury myself in his arms. Why am I like this?  Why am I like a flame to the ones I love? 

A flame can bring warmth but without caution can inflict pain at a moment’s notice. I begin to wonder if it’s possible for me to care for someone without burning them...

Before I can come up with an answer, I’m trapped within his embrace as his arms envelop me. The torrent of tears I was trying so desperately to suppress comes streaming down, mimicking the path to which Jimin’s hands run up and down my back in an attempt to quiet my cries. 

“I never should’ve left you there,” he breathes out. His head lowers into the crook of my neck, effectively igniting my cells with his warm breath and I can’t help but lean further into him. “I don’t know what I was thinking.”

“You weren’t,” I manage to squeak out and I feel his frame vibrate emitting a light chuckle. 

“You’re right, I wasn’t thinking,” he responds, pulling away from me just enough so that I can see the full extent of his crescent moon eye-smile. Instantly I feel like I’m basking in sunlight and warmth from his coquettish grin and I can’t resist the small upturn of my lips that occur in response. “If I remember correctly I wasn’t the only runner...” 

I roll my still misty eyes and shrug his arms off me, “And here I was about to accept your apology.” I pout, feigning annoyance.

He responds by pulling me back against his chest, enveloping me once again into his chypre-scented form. He smells, feels, and soun