home, kim jungwoo

28

DREAMS

As you grow you gain. Whether it be interests or life experiences you change as time goes by. And right now Akina was gaining a lot due to her soulmate bond.

Those fluttering butterflies were moving inside of her as the two -with Sora- entered his apartment. Its smell and breeze all accustomed to Akina as she had spent more time there than in her own apartment.

She was not complaining though.

In all honesty, Jungwoo's apartment held some sort of natural warmth for Akina, it was cozy and she had weaved her life into that apartment by now.

As she let Sora out of her cage, the cat explored around, her eyes were big and curious. The two stood by each other staring at the cuteness Sora held so easily.

She stood there wide awake, even as the late time had passed- she didn't feel one ounce of sleepiness, and luckily the queasiness she felt before had subsided.

Even if she wasn't sleepy she was definitely hungry because after moments of standing her stomach growled out of hunger. It gained his attention, turning his head towards her.

"You hungry?" He almost teased, he knew the answer already so without an answer he turned to his small kitchen looking around in the cabinets.

She sighed in annoyance at herself, pinching the bridge of her nose as a small amount of embarrassment ran through her.

Pushing through the said embarrassment she walked into the kitchen as Sora's collar rang in the living room as she explored.

"Stir-fry sound okay?" Jungwoo asked, showing her the egg carton he pulled out of the fridge. She nodded, almost too eagerly making him chuckle.

Wanting to get out of his way in the small kitchen she went to go sit on the barstools, memories from multiple nights ago hitting her as she sat.

"Why did you become an art therapist,?" Jungwoo questioned. His third question in minutes as Akina perked up to his curiosity.

"When I was younger I didn't speak to anyone but my grandmother, so somehow art became my coping mechanism, it always made me feel better and I wanted to share that with others who needed a place to let out your emotions without speaking..."

She felt almost bashful as she explained, but she pushed away from the grim memories that started her overuse of painting and drawing to stay somewhat sane.

"...Although in middle school my dream was to open a pottery shop, like on a little corner of some calm street. Music would play, there would flower pots, and people could just come in and create anything." She marveled unknowing to her.

But Jungwoo saw the stars in her eyes when she spoke about her dream. Her dream wasn't anything crazy or difficult, but the glimmer in her eyes and the dusting of a smile on her face showed all the love she had for that dream.

He never wanted to make something happen so bad.

"What about you? Was being a mighty detective your dream?" She sang, her dreamy look still on her face, mirroring much of a kid making him chuckle to himself.

"More like I saw my father catching bad guys and I wanted to be like him. So it became my dream I guess, I couldn't see myself doing anything else," He remembered as he shifted the stir fry in the pan with a spatula.

"Your father was also a detective?" She asked, finding a new curiosity of wanting to know all about Kim Jungwoo.

"He was a cop, when I was looking into being a cop I saw a detective position at Neo and it intrigued me. I'm really glad I chose to go there... I've met great people, even you technically."

He was waiting for her response in her face, hoping to see her cheeks reddened from his words- and they sure did, her eyes were still sparkling like his life was almost as magnificent as her dreams.

Jungwoo didn't know that this was one of her dreams.

Solidifying a home and having someone who would be there with her. Although Akina wasn't positive about Jungwoos feelings she liked how they fit together too much to not let the unknown get in the way.

Because even if her monsters of insecurities crawled inside her, she was too caught up in the moment of Kim Jungwoo to let them disturb her now.

"Yeah, we did meet on a case which is a little odd but hey I know people who met their soulmates while they were working in the ER." She replied standing up to migrate into the kitchen.

"Really?" He asked, almost a little shocked.

"Yep," She popped her 'p' as she looked through the cabinet grabbing plates for the two of them.

"Many of the boys haven't met their soulmates yet, I was the fourth to..." Jungwoo said as he finished the stir fry, Akina moved beside him quickly to put the plates on the counter beside him so he could plate their food

"I think it's the job that makes it harder to bump into your soulmate, I'm the only one who found mine because of work... my parents were so shocked when they found out."

"Your parents know about me?" All new worries filtered in her mind, she wondered what they thought about her, or better yet what Jungwoo said about her as they walked to the table.

"I called them when we left for the states, I didn't want them to show up randomly and not know where I was... they want to meet you but they are being patient."

After the phone call he gave them before the two left for Portland, Jungwoo kept them updated with Akina through texts. She didn't know that the man sitting in front of her had bragged off to his parents about Akina.

They were also very excited to meet her, knowing how much of an effect she had on their son, but they also knew that soulmates needed bonding time and they also didn't want to put too much on the girl's plate after she had just lost someone.

So they were indeed patient but they still were anticipating the text or phone call that Jungwoo was ready to introduce Akina to them. They were excited about it.

"Oh, well I should meet them soon right?" Akina asked not knowing for sure how this all went as Akina never had gone through any crush meeting her parents or even her grandmother because her occasional crush didn't last long nor did she even have the courage to speak to them.

"If you want Akina, there's no pressure," He responded honestly as he took a bite of his food.

He might've said no pressure but Akina was already in the world of pressure when she thought about meeting his parents.

thank you all for 1k! i cannot believe that so many people have read this book. thank you all for the comments, votes, and adds to your reading lists. its very reassuring. i hope you all enjoyed this chapter as well. love, crab <33