• Chapter One •
“Eomma, when is Appa going to be home?” Junho asked softly, looking up from his dinner plate with a sad pout.
Haeyoung put her chopsticks down and smiled as she gently ruffled her four year old son’s hair, “Your Appa will be home late tonight.”
“Can I stay up and wait for him?”
“You know you have to go to bed because you have school tomorrow.”
“Please mommy?” Juhno pleaded with a pout and sad puppy eyes, “Puh-leeeease....”
Haeyoung could never resist that sweet face of his. She heaved a deep sigh of defeat and said as she pointed at his plate that was filled with untouched vegetables, “I will make a deal with you. If you eat all the broccoli and carrots from your plate, you can stay up.”
Haeyoung watched as Junho’s face lit up with determination. He obediently and immediately stuffed the vegetables that he barely touched into his small mouth. He smiled excitedly and said with his mouth full, “I miss daddy so much. I can’t wait to see him.”
Haeyoung looked into her son’s eyes and said softly with a gentle smile, trying to hold back her tears, “Eomma feels the same way.”
Jungkook and the BTS members have been on a world tour for the past four months. The first few weeks after his departure, Jungkook had called on a daily basis to check up on them. Then slowly the calls came less frequently to once or twice a week. Then the calls eventually stopped completely.
Haeyoung had tried calling a few times, but the calls would immediately be forwarded to voicemail. She tried texting him and for every text messages she could see that they were read, but there would be no response from him.
They went without any communication from Jungkook for the last two months. Junho would ask her occasionally from time to time why his dad hasn’t called. She would reassure him that his dad was really busy and would eventually call when he had a spare time.
But deep down, Haeyoung had a hard time believing what she kept telling her son. She was bothered by why he hadn’t kept in touch with them. Especially when she would text the other members and they would respond right away. It was unusual for him to go months without any sort of contact.
She began to worry that maybe he felt suffocated of being tied down to one person and with a family at such a young age. She was bombarded with thoughts that maybe with him being away, he realized he missed his freedom and wanted to become an unmarried man.
After dinner, the two of them settled on the couch and started to watch ‘Zootopia.’ Halfway through the movie, Junho started to giggle as he placed his cute, small hands over his mouth. Haeyoung smiled curiously at her son and asked, “What’s so funny, honey?”
Junho looked up with his big round eyes and his bunny teeth smile filled with amusement, “Eomma, that Judy bunny reminds me of Appa.”
He turned his focus back to the television and starts giggling again. Haeyoung turned to look at what her son was talking about and sure enough, she started to softly laugh at her son’s finding.
Junho looked up with eyes full of innocence and a huge smile that spread from ear to ear, “Right? Am I right, eomma?”
Haeyoung couldn’t help it but she hugged him tightly and said with a grin, “You are so right.”
When his laugh subsided, he continued on to finishing the movie in silence. After the movie finished, he let out a big yawn and rubbed his eyes. He looked at his mom and sighed, “Is it time for Appa to come home yet? I want to see him right now.”
Haeyoung grabbed her phone and noticed that it was past the time that he should have been home already. Her stomach twisted with an uneasy feeling as she forced a smile upon her face, “Come on. Let’s go upstairs to your som-chons’ apartment. Maybe he is up there.”
Junho excitedly jumped off the couch and went to put on his shoes. While Haeyoung waited for Junho to put on his shoes, she anxiously prayed that he was up there having a drink with Jimin and Jin like he normally does as a way to wind down from his busy schedule.
Suddenly she felt a light tug at her hand that snapped her back to reality. She looked down and Junho smiled brightly without any worries, exactly how she wanted. He was a bright child and he normally could sense when something was wrong with her.
“Come on, mommy. Let’s go find daddy,” he said as he continued to tug at her hands.
She lightly squeezed his hand and followed him to the elevator. As they rode on the elevator to the floor where the members lived on, Junho spoke non stop about how excited he was that his dad was finally home. He spoke about his som-chons and how he was going to give them each a hug. His excitement somehow calmed all her worries away.
Once the elevator door opened, Junho excitedly ran towards the apartment as Haeyoung nervously walked after him, unsure what to expect. As she rounded the corner, Junho already rang the door bell and waited excitedly for someone to open the door.
When Haeyoung finally caught up to Junho, the door opened and Jimin stared at her awkwardly. She felt uncomfortable at the way he was looking at her, as if he had something to hide from her. He ran his fingers through his hair and said softly, “Hi Noona.”
“Are we interrupting something?” She asked softly.
Before he could answer, Junho jumped up and down innocently as he exclaimed happily, “Uncle Jimin!”
Jimin looked down towards Junho as he knelt down with open arms and a smile, “Junho! My favorite nephew!”
Junho wrapped his small arms around Jimin’s neck and giggled, “Som-chon, I am your only nephew.”
Jimin gave him raspberry kisses on his cheeks and said, “Oh! That’s right! You are my only nephew.”
Junho giggled and then asked, “Is my Appa here?”
Jimin let go of his embrace from Juhno and answered, “Yes, he is.”
“Yay!” He exclaimed gleefully as he ran inside the apartment.
Jimin stood up and faced Haeyoung, “Are you coming in?”
“If this is a bad time, you can send Junho back out and we’ll just leave,” Haeyoung mumbled softly as looked down at her hands.
Jimin smiled and said, “Don’t be silly. We were just sitting around and having a few drinks with some of the new trainees.”
“Okay,” she said softly, still unsure of the strange vibe that she got from Jimin.
She carefully followed Jimin inside the apartment and looked around the room for Jungkook. She found Junho sitting on his lap, listening to every word Junho had to say to him. She sighed a breath of relief until her eyes fell upon an unfamiliar girl sitting quite closely next to her husband.
Haeyoung’s brow furrowed together in confusion. She didn’t want to be one those clingy people who misunderstands the situation and gets jealous. But from her view, this other female was sitting too close for her comfort to simply let it slide.
Jungkook’s eyes finally met hers and he uncomfortably did his best to move further away from the unfamiliar female. But she simply moved closer to him as she talked with Junho.
Then Haeyoung caught Jungkook shoot a glance towards Jimin. Jimin uncomfortably cleared his throat and asked, “Noona, did you want a drink?”
Haeyoung chuckled in disbelief and shook her head, “No, thank you.”
She turned back towards Jungkook and said in stern voice, “Junho, now that you’ve seen your appa, let’s go back home. It’s past your bedtime.”
The unfamiliar female turned her head towards Haeyoung and if she wasn’t mistaken, she was pretty sure that she saw a sly smirk on her face. Haeyoung turned her focus back towards Junho with a stern face.
“Eomma...” Junho began to whine as his tears rolled down his cheeks.
“Junho, come here now!” Haeyoung said firmly as she raised her voice at him. She felt horrible for raising her voice but she needed to get out of the apartment.
Junho relunctly slid off his dad’s lap and walked towards his mom with the tears rolling down his chubby cheeks non stop. Haeyoung picked him up and his shoes as he softly whimpered, “Appa...”
Jungkook got up from the couch and followed his family home. In the elevator, he looked at his wife helplessly. He knew that she was upset with him and she had every right to be. He sighed and said gently as he held on to her elbow, “Babe...”
“Don’t!” Haeyoung raised her voice causing Junho to start wailing.
When they got home, Haeyoung took Junho to his bedroom. As Jungkook tried to follow them, he reached out to her in attempts to stop her, but she slammed the door in his face. He closed his eyes and rubbed the back of his neck as he knew that he messed up big time and needed to make it up to his wife somehow.
~~~
Author’s note: This is a teaser... are you intrigued? Should I continue? Let me know. Thanks! 😊
