Second Chance At Love

Chapter 6

Jimin sat under the tree in absolute silence while Taehyung stood behind him. The afternoon sun shining on their backs, it's scorching heat making them sweaty but neither cared. It was silent..too silent. The silence felt too heavy to Jimin so he finally broke it.

"Before leaving...he told me that he'll be back soon..it won't take long like last time when he went away for four months..he promised me and he did keep his promise....he did come back sooner than before.....just not..alive."

He didn't look back to see Taehyung's reaction as his voice broke, as the tears he had kept in came out. He didn't make an effort to hide them either. He wanted to let it flow.

"Everyone told me that he died for his country..so I shouldn't be too sad..I should be proud of him and I am proud of him..a lot..and they told me to move on after a while...but...one can only move on if they have something or someone to look forward to in their life..if they know that if they go on, there will be someone waiting for them...but how could I move on when everything I had and everything I ever knew and cherished with my life left me behind...how could I not wish to follow him..and move on..?"

Silent tears fell from Taehyung's eyes. His heart hurt thinking about the pain this man had gone through. He wanted to reach out and hug Jimin but didn't know if he had the right to do that yet, so he stood there, fighting every impulse in his body telling him to just bring the other man to his chest, protect him from this world and take all his pain away.

"But you know..for the sake of everyone..for my friends, who were suffering because of me..I tried and after an year my close ones thought that I finally moved on....but...it was just an illusion..an illusion I created so they wouldn't worry about me. I got busy with the cafe..put all my attention on it so I wouldn't have the time to think about anything else...but if my pillow could talk, it would tell you, how much I soaked it with my tears every night."

"The truth is that I never moved on and I don't want to because I don't think I'll be able love anyone how I loved him."

"I'm scared Taehyung-shi..I gave Taeho my all..I don't think I have it in me to give anyone else what I gave Taeho and even if I somehow am able to love someone in the future and they leave me again....I'll break so bad that no matter how much anyone tries to put me back together...I'll b-break a-a-again."

Jimin was full on sobbing now and Taehyung was done restraining himself. He went directly behind Jimin and bent down to gently hug him. Jimin immediately leaned into his touch and cried like never before. Jimin tilted his head head sideways to hide his face in Taehyung's chest while the other man held him tightly, his own tears falling down on Jimin's hair. He gently swayed them from side to side, trying to comfort the smaller man but never made an attempt to stop his tears because he understood that Jimin needed to let them out, the tears he had kept in for so long, he had to release them to ease some of his pain.

They held each other for what felt like hours. When Jimin finally calmed down Taehyung gently stood up and helped Jimin too. He bowed his head to respect the dead and held Jimin's hand to lead him back to the car. No one said anything, too overwhelmed with emotions to speak properly.

When they got inside the car, Taehyung just asked Jimin to sleep for the ride back as he looked exhausted. He accepted the offer with a small smile he could muster with difficulty and put his head on the window. As Taehyung pulled out from parking and started the journey, Jimin closed his eyes, not even realizing when sleep overtook his conscious.

Jimin was woken up a gentle voice calling his name. He stretched his arms the best he could in the confined space and cracked his stiff neck before opening his eyes and taking in his surroundings. They were outside his cafe, which was nearing the closing time. There were nearly two or three customers left. He looked beside him at the man who had recently taken over his thoughts, who was currently watching him with a small smile and a look that can only be described as fond.