In Seven Days

Tuesday, 7:00 AM

Would it be stupid to say that Byulyi panicked when she woke up and Jin wasn't beside her?

She reached out—eyes close, mind half-asleep—humming as she did. And instead, her hand was only met with nothingness in the space where he should've been.

She opened her eyes, her brows already crossing.

And still found nothing.

She pushed herself to sit up, clutching the blanket to herself as her eyes roamed around the room. The spot beside her was empty and the clothes that were previously strewn all over her bedroom floor were nowhere to be found.

The first knee-jerk reaction she had was anger.

That asshole promised he wouldn't leave. And he couldn't even last one day. She scoffed out loud.

She'd kill him if she ever saw him again.

Despite this, pins pricked her eyes and a weight began to settle over her chest.

But then she spotted his beat-up bag sitting against her wardrobe at the very end of her room. It noticeably collapsed in on itself, the top of the shirt on the pile peeking through the open zipper.

In the corner of her eyes, something lit up. Jin's phone buzzed in place loudly, exactly where he left it last night on her nightstand.

Byulyi wilted to lean against her bed's headboard.

He was here.

She laughed to herself as she pressed her fingers to her eyes.

Yesterday still felt unreal.

Somehow, she'd gathered enough courage to drive him to the station, to stay in the parking lot, to watch the train leave the station.

She sat there and she watched, even as she felt her heart slowly carve a hole out of her chest, begging to be freed and follow him to where he was going. She sat there and she swallowed every sob that burst out her throat that it made her feel afraid that she was going to implode anytime yesterday.

She told herself it was so she'd feel the finality of it all. He was leaving them and they never had to see him again.

A goodbye—a permanent one.

And yet, a part of her—the stupid, naive, hopeful part of her that still loved him with the love she had since they met—sat there and hoped he'd turn around and run out of the station and prove her doubts wrong and tell her he was going to stay.

And he did.

And now here she was, sitting in bed, head to the ceiling as she fanned her eyes dry.

He was here.

He didn't leave.

She didn't have to do spontaneous silent calls just to hear his voice.

She laughed to herself again as she dismissed Jin's alarm. A smile crept up on her lips after seeing his lock screen. She would berate him for taking such an ugly picture for her later—she was wearing old stained clothes for God's sake!

But she'd let him keep the wallpaper a little longer. For now.

She kicked the blankets off her and shivered when her bare feet touched the cold floor. She walked over to her dresser to take fresh clothes and went out the door.

The gentle crinkling of Seokmin's baby mobile fluttered through the air. The soles of her feet pat, pat, patted across the floorboard and as she quietly approached the slightly open door to his room, she started to hear Jin's low voice.

"—orgive me Min-ah?"

Seokmin, the bright and animated boy that he was, replied in coos and aahhs in his small voice.

Jin didn't seem to mind that and replied without missing a beat, "I know. I'm trying to do better—I am going to do better in the future. Can you be patient with appa in the meantime?"

Byulyi felt her heart melt into a puddle and rematerialize in her chest again. The smile on her face was so wide it could have split her face in two despite the water that was beginning to pool at the edge of her eyes.

God, since when did she become such a crybaby?

The door didn't make a noise when she gently pushed it open—and good thing it didn't. She didn't want the moment to end yet.

Jin's wet hair gleamed in the sunlight, contrasting Seokmin's bird's nest of a hair. Jin's back was turned to her but Byulyi could her boy and traces of sleep still present in his eyes as he gazed intently at his appa, already smiling with all of his four teeth.

"I'm asking a lot from you, aren't I?" Jin murmured again, swaying side to side slightly, "I'm sorry. I'm not as good as eomma at this. She got a head start because I was being a—uh—not good guy." Jin cleared his throat and Byulyi tried not to laugh. "But I won't leave anymore, I promise. I'll always be here now. Is that okay?"

"Okay?" Seokmin babbled with a tilt of his head. Or at least something that sounded like it.

Jin chuckled and peppered the boy's face with kisses.

As Seokmin giggled from attention, his eyes landed on her. "Mama!" he called out.

At that, Jin turned around to look at her and instantly his eyes melted. A smile tugged his pink lips, one that made Byulyi's heart leap in her chest. Her eyes started to get misty again.

He was here.

He was going to stay.

Everything was going to be alright.

«««-»»»

END SCENEIHAF;USDFUSD ITS DONE ITS OVER GUYS OMG

just wanna ask a few questions now that it's done hehe these help me a lot once i edit the story as a whole and i would really appreciate your help!

Was there any part or character of the story that was confusing?

Was there anything that you noticed was inconsistent?

Was it difficult to go through any part of the story at all? Why?

Was the pacing alright? Did it drag at some point? Was it too fast?

some more author's note: mama byul was supposed to have her own chapter with her own story from the point she discovered she was pregnant up until jin came but one chapter spiraled to five spiraled to 15 :D honestly im still debating whether i should publish that (sort of like a prequel book) but for now its going to locked in the dungeon for the foreseeable future while i focus on finishing my other stories

also also i might need more time to publish the epilogue because im impatient and i need to mark this tsory as complete for my sanity's sake so its going to be stuck in the dungeon for now too

ONCE AGIAN TAHNK YOU FOR READING I HOPE YALLS SKIN CLEAR UP AND YALLS WALLETS STAY FULL (ﾉ>ヮ<)ﾉ*✲ﾟ*｡✲ﾟ