ENCHANTED

21

Three months went by with you wrapping up your life to go back to Jungkook. Each day you worried about if they were doing okay. Due to the time difference it was hard for you to call them at a time when they were all home. You did make sure before leaving that they were settled in their daily routine with Jungkook and a new care taker.

Jungkook did text you sometimes when one of the kids did something appreciable or thew a tantrum. He started going for therapy and said it was helping him face people and move ahead with his life packing the past in the past. Even the children started going for sessions to help them communicate their problems which were sometimes later discussed with Jungkook if he could help.

As you stepped outside the airplane and went outside the gate with your luggage your eyes only searched for those three familiar faces. Mismatched yet a family.

Yejun shouted your name when he saw you and you ran over to them. It wasn't easy to tell if you hugged them faster or them. You had longed to smell their sweet scents and touch their silky hairs and squish their softest cheeks for so long you couldn't believe you made it until now.

"We missed you so much. Please don't leave us again." Yejun said clinging on to you with his head rested on your shoulder.

"I won't... I won't baby... no more.." You pressed a kiss on his little head running your fingers over his back.

"I thought you weren't coming back" Ria says when you caress her cheek.

"What made you think so?"

"You kept saying it'll be soon but then it took you so long"

"I'm so sorry honey... I'm so sorry" you pull her back into a hug too.

A lady passing by watches you holding the kids and smiles at Jungkook who watches you from a distance.

"Mother came back after long hmm?" She asked. Jungkook just smiled at her as she went ahead on her way.

The fact that Jungkook didn't feel the urge to correct her did something to you. He didn't mind people calling you their mother anymore.

You stood up when he walked closer to you. You both leaned in for a hug. It provided much needed warmth and affection to you both. You needed this physical touch to assure you that a bad time didn't mean a bad life.

"I missed you so much. You've got no idea." He said allowing himself to express his feelings.

"You don't know how hard each day was for me..." You tell him as you both smile at each other. Time had passed and now smiles didn't feel like a wrong thing anymore. You could allow yourself to be happy and not feel like you weren't grieving enough.

You felt relaxed to see how much Jungkook and the kids had progressed from when you left them. He was his usual self around them again now, making them laugh and laughing with them. They were trying to make things feel normal again. You wished you could only add to their joy rather than become a hindrance.

"So now tell me properly about your job scene" Jungkook said when you both had put the kids to bed after watching a movie with them and having a cosy dinner.

"It's remote work. I might have to go for tours sometime. Not that often though" you tell him as he sits with his hand stretched on the back of the sofa.

"Did your pay got reduced?"

"Not that much" Jungkook sighed at your response.

"Mom didn't come to even see the children" you asked and Jungkook nodded "no" in response.

"Yours?"

"Once"

"I can't believe they're being like this. For once they can't understand us. They never supported me through my divorce and the case. Now they're doing this to you. What sort of gratification do they get from this? I understand they just lost their daughter but still... Ria and Yejun are her only grandkids, she could at least come once in a while to look after them..."

"Let's not talk about it..."

"Yeah okay..." You reply. "Also I was thinking about getting a place for myself nearby. I could stay until their bedtime then go back. And then I could return in the morning. Our arrangement doesn't really seems practical."

"But why? We have a spare room here...  you could use it as you like. You can just live there and well... if you find someone then" he purses his lips before speaking ahead.

"I don't think that's happening in this life again"

"You can't give up on life like that..."

"I tried Jungkook once or twice but you know... the divorce and the infertility part of my life doesn't really makes me suitable for people..."

"Then just have fun..."

"I did have fun... I had a girlfriend back there... we did goof around a few times. I'm just afraid of anything serious."

"Oh..." Jungkook replied.

"For the first time I actually got to explore my options as in what I actually like. I had always somehow known that I was unbiased in my attractions towards other humans but then I actually got to experience it in these last three years. My chances aren't very limited now..." You tell him trusting him with something you hadn't told many people. Labels didn't exactly worked for you so you just refrained from telling a lot of people. Jungkook was that one person you found comfort and trust in and you knew you could tell him anything without fear of judgement.

"I'm kinda afraid Jungkook. What if something happens between us?"

"But I don't think I have yet moved on from Dahyun... I'm sure I'll get back out there someday but not in the near future..."

"Not immediately but like... sometime in the future maybe after a long time."

"If it happens it happens. You and I do we really have anything to fear anymore?"

"But I believe I have faced too much to believe in a good thing..."

"And I believe what I have faced has only made me stronger to never be afraid again. Nothing is in our hands. Look at you and me. What happened with you wasn't in your hands and you tried so much... for me what happened was out of my hands and I couldn't even try..." he said as you leaned your head on your knees folded against your chest smiling at him slightly.