Just One Day [Taekook]

47) Closing In

"What are you thinking so much, Hyung?" Jungkook asked, stepping out into the balcony holding two mugs of hot cocoa. He gave one to Taehyung, who thanked him before looking out into the garden. He had been standing out here for quite some time now and Jungkook gave him space till now, thinking he needed it. But now it was getting cold and Taehyung didn't look like he had any intention of coming in. So, he decided to talk to him instead.

"You see this garden, bun? It's beautiful, isn't it?" he asked and Jungkook just hummed in reply.

"Do you know it was my grandmother who made this garden? Each and every plant here was planted by her own hands except that purple magnolia tree. When my parents died, I was just a kid back then, too small to realize what was happening. I used to cry everyday for them and I remember my grandma bringing me out into this very garden and giving me some seeds to plant. She told me that when the seed would grow into a big plant my parents would come back to me and I like a fool believed her. I used to water the seeds everyday and wait for it to grow, but would get disappointed everyday when I saw that it wasn't growing. Dumb me didn't know that the plant that I was watering everyday was the purple magnolia tree which takes minimum ten years to grow fully.

By the time it grew fully, I was already old enough to understand that my parents were never coming back. So, I asked my grandma why she lied to me back then and gave me hope? She smiled at me and asked me a question in return. She asked me why I kept watering the tree even though I knew it was all a lie? I didn't know what to answer her then. She told me to let her know when I figured it out. But It was only when I lost EunBi and my grandmother in just a span of 6 months that I figured it out, when I found myself standing under the same purple magnolia tree and pouring buckets and buckets of water on it. Do you know why I kept watering it?" Taehyung asked, lost in nostalgia while Jungkook just stood next to him silently.

"Because when my grandmother told a five year old boy that if he kept watering the plant and when that plant grows into a tree, his parents would come back, he believed it. And he continued to believe it day after day, month after month and year after year. Even when he realized it was all a lie, that boy continued to water it diligently. Do you know why? Because that tree represented hope and longing for him. Hope that if he did what was asked and believed wholeheartedly then he could make the impossible happen. And it was that very hope that didn't allow me to give up even when I lost everything. That undying, stupid hope of a naive five year old. And I could really use some of that hope right now."

Jungkook didn't know what to say to the elder. This was the first time he was seeing him being so vulnerable and lost. Taehyung had always been strong and put together, so seeing him like this was heartbreaking for him. He didn't like seeing Taehyung like this and he couldn't help but feel more guilty for putting him in a situation like this.

"I don't know how my grandma did it. She was all alone raising a young boy without any help. I have help and still I fail every time. I failed for the first time when I chose my career over my family. I failed when I ignored my daughter's cries while drowning in my own grief. I failed when I was told that my Eunie has selective mutism. I failed when I was told by strangers that I don't know how to raise a child. I failed when I was told that I wasn't enough for my Princess. I have been failing everyday for the past two and a half years, until you came into our life like an angel from heaven.

You know sometimes I think that you're a miracle that was sent to us as a reward for me for never losing hope and watering the tree. You're the fruit of the tree that I planted." he said, chuckling to himself at his absurd thought. Jungkook stayed silent, letting Taehyung speak his heart. He knew Taehyung needed to get everything out of his chest, so he kept quiet.