Love After Love...

Chapter 67: My Everything

~8 years later~

Author's POV:
"Okay, Mr. and Mrs. Park. Would you like to tell me why you are in couple's therapy?" said the marriage counselor.

"Firstly Dr. Mrs. Park. Second, uh... Well, we have been continuously fighting for the past two months. It got pretty ugly. But-" Jieun started but Jimin cut her off, "But we thought working on our marraige was important. We're stronger together and neither of us wanted to lose that. Also, we have a seven year old son. I'm starting to think our fights have a serious negative impact on him."

"Do you agree, Dr. Park?" asked the therapist. "Dr. Mrs. Park. You know what? Just call me Jieun. That'll be fine. Also... Yes, I agree. Besides, I don't like telling my son that his father and I sleep in different rooms," Jieun replied. "Our son," Jimin corrected. Jieun nodded and said, "Yes. Our son."

"Alright. Well, I'm Dr. Lee Youngji. Let's start with the fact that you both deciding to come to therapy is a brilliant start. It means you both consciously want to work with and on each other. Was there any hostility from either end about this decision?" asked the counsellor. "No. We both decided divorce was not the way. So, counselling was the way out of our problems. We have high expectations from these sessions," Jimin replied. "No, Dr. Lee, it's not like that. I'm here so I can understand Jimin better. I feel like we are so distanced, I've built a wall and being on one side of it is hurtful. But yes, therapy was a mutually agreed upon decision," Jieun said.

"Alright. Let's begin with what you both do for a living," Dr. Lee said. "I'm a college psychology professor and Jimi-" Jieun began but Jimin cut her off again, "I'm a stay-at-home dad." Jieun sighed.
"Mr. Park, first off, we don't cut our partner off. Lesson number 1, okay?" Dr. Lee said to which Jimin just nodded.
"Tell me about a time when things were happier than ever for the both of you," Dr. Lee asked.

The couple looked at each other and took a deep breath. They both reminisced the memories and smiled slightly.

~7 years, 11 months ago~

Jimin's POV:
"Jimin... I have to tell you something..." I said, nervously. "Yeah, honey, what's up?" Jimin said, setting the book he was reading aside. "Well, I was late, and I'm never late, and I felt some nausea in the morning today... So, I took a pregnancy test... It's positive... We're pregnant," I said, tears in my eyes. "WHAT?!" Jimin said and hugged me tight. "You're gonna be a father," I said. "I love you so much, Park Jieun," Jimin said, crying, "I'm gonna love this baby so damn much."

~6 months later~

Jimin's POV:
JY: "Jimin, I have excellent news!"
JM: "Why, what happened?"
JY: "Okay, I know you have one uneddited copy of 'Love after Love...' for your wife, but the editted copy is out! Your book is hot off the press, Park!"
JM: "Oh my God, that's brilliant!"
JY: "Oh, it gets better. My boss loved that book. He thought it should be translated. So he had it translated in Japanese, Mandarin and English!"
JM: "I cannot believe this!"
JY: "It gets better! The advertising is gonna be so heavy on this. So... brace yourself... hear me out..."
JM: "Enough with the suspense, Jinyoung, just spit it out!"
JY: "They're sending you on a 9 month long book tour. It's all across Korea for the first two months and then some parts of China, Japan and for the next two and then the rest will be in the west. Probably the States!"
JM: "Are you kidding?! That's so great!"
JY: "I know, right?!"
JM: "When does it start?"
JY: "Two weeks from today!"
JM: "What? No, that can't be. My wife's pregnant, I'll miss her delivery and the first six months of my son!"
JY: "People never remember the first six months of their lives, Park. Don't miss out on an opportunity like this!"
JM: "I'll call you back later."
JY: "Make the right choice."

And my agent and I hung up.

"Jimin! He just kicked!" Jieun yelled, snapping me out of my thoughts, making me focus on my unborn son entirely. I ran to the living room and touched my beautiful wife's pregnant belly where I could feel him kick. I almost teared up.

"He's fiesty!" I said and Jieun laughed. She had just begun her maternity leave, making Beomgyu single-handedly manage the clinic. It was basically a child psychology clinic now. But Beomgyu was unbelievably supportive of Jieun and the pregnancy, so he had no issues managing alone.

I can't do this. I can't go on this book tour. I can't miss moments like this. I can't miss my son's first babbles.
"Hey, what's wrong?" Jieun said. "Nothing," I replied, kissing and stroking her belly. "Baby, we're a bit past me asking later again and you telling me when we're going to bed, don't you think?" she said with a small smile. I smiled back. "My agent called. The book's being published. The final version," I said. "That's awesome!" she said, giving me a kiss. "Yeah..." I said. "Why so sulky then? This is great news!" she said.

I looked at her, her beautiful brown eyes, and that glow she had because of the pregnancy, and said, "They want me on a 9 month long book tour. Starts two weeks from now." Her smile dropped. "What did you say?" she asked. I responded, "I said I'll call him back. But... I'm not doing it." She gasped and said, "Jimin, this is an opportunity of a lifetime. A book tour cannot get postponed." "I know... But the birth of our first child is not something I can miss. The book tour is gonna have to wait for my next book," I said, leaning in for a kiss. She stopped me and asked, "Are you sure you've thought this through? I can manage here. I totally understand if you have to go. I know how hard you've worked for this book, Jimin. I don't want any of it going to waste because you gave this opportunity up. I don't want you to lose your dream." "Lose my dream? My dream is right in front of me, baby. I don't need to think it through, Jieun. There's no question that I need to and want to be here. For you and our son," I said. She softened up and said, "I love you." I kissed her and assured her the same.

My gorgeous wife and my already handsome unborn son... are my everything.

~Present~

Author's POV:
Jieun took a deep breath and said, "I think the day he gave up that book tour was the day our problems began."