THIS IS US// JIKOOK FF

14

The following morning, Jungkook woke up as soon as Jimin got out of bed to go make breakfast. they both made their way to the bathroom sleepily. Jimin took out their tooth brushes from the holders and put some toothpaste before handing Jungkook his. they brushed their teeth silently. Jimin finished first then turned to Jungkook brushing a peck against his forehead.

"Going to make breakfast quickly, see you in the kitchen?"

"Yeah. I'll be down soon." Jungkook told him then proceeded to undress as he headed to the shower cubicle.

He showered quickly so that he could go help out his husband before going to work. Once done, he went to the closet to get dressed. He found Jimin cooking some eggs and decided to set the table. Areum joined him as he was putting down some of the food in the bowls. They sat down to eat. It finally felt right. Their family was complete again and Jungkook was going to keep it that way. Areum was the first to finish her food, she pushed her chair back and took her backpack. She went to Jimin first and kissed him on the cheek.

"See you later appa. Have a good day." She approached him and did the same before rushing out.

"She's in a hurry." Jimin said drinking his coffee.

"Yeah. She's about to start exams." Jungkook ate some eggs then turned his attention to his husband who was already looking at him fondly. "When will you be going back to work?"

Jimin looked to be contemplating before he answered, "I think I will swing by to check how your outfits are coming along. But I was still working at Tae's so there is not much that I am missing out on."

Jungkook shook his head understanding Jimin's point. "I'll discuss with the hyungs about our coming out. We will decide the details later, okay?"

Jimin took his hand and squeezed it, "I am excited to take this next step with you. We've been through a lot since we were teens and finally, finally I feel as if all that weight has been taken off. I can finally be free in public with you, I can now hold your hand as we walk down the red carpets of events we are both invited to. Areum and I can finally cheer for you loudly at the music shows." Jimin had tears trailing down his cheeks which Jungkook wiped with his thumbs. he moved his chair closer to Jimin's and kissed his lips softly.

"And I can finally have lives at home and talk about you for as long as I want. I can support you openly now and take you out without hiding on date nights. We can even go to arcades with Areum. We are free baby." They both broke down to tears as they held on to each other tightly in a hug whispering words of comfort and soft confessions of their love. At that moment they didn't have any doubt that their future was going to be okay.

later the same day, after Jungkook left for work, Jimin called the cleaning company to do a thorough clean up of the entire house then went to work after letting them in. when he got inside his company building, his employees were standing in a line holding a welcome back banner for him. He smiled as they shouted 'WELCOME BACK MR. PARK'. He went around shaking they hands as they congratulated him on his recovery.

"Thank you guys. I wanted to surprise you with my return but you beat me to it."

"Mr. Jeon told me you are coming in today so I arranged this quickly." Hana told him as she hugged him.

"Thank you Hana." He thanked the employees again then they scattered and went back to their work stations. Jimin and Hana went back up to their floor. "Get me the copies of the reports from each department and tell the designers to get ready to present their designs to me. I know most of them are complete, I want to see them anyway."

"Alright. Do you want some coffee?"

"Have a caramel macchiato delivered. buy yourself some too. Oh and I would like to meet department heads tomorrow for a meeting, put it in my schedule please." Hana nodded then excused herself. Jimin busied himself with some emails and reports on his computer taking notes on the various projects they had coming up.

time went by quickly as he met with the designers and soon enough it was already lunch time. he left the conference room and back to his office with Hana trailing behind him. once he was behind his desk he continued going through the hard copies of reports Hana had brought in. he was so engrossed in work when he heard a knock on his door then it opened. he looked up to see Hana still at the door.

"Mrs. Park is here to see you."

Jimin inclined his head on one side wondering why she was there. They weren't that close to pay each other a visit. In fact he was more closer to Jungkook's mother than her. "Let her in. bring her some refreshments also." Hana nodded as she opened the door wider to let her in. once Mrs. park walked in, Jimin stood up and bowed slightly to her.

"How are you doing son?" She asked as Jimin ushered her to the couches and he sat opposite her.

"I am doing fine eomma. how are you and Jihyun?"

"Good."

"How can I help you today?" Jimin asked as Hana came back in with some drinks on a tray. she served them then left them alone.

"I wanted to see how you are doing. it has been some time before we have sat down to talk."

"We have never sat down to talk ever since I came out. You have always brushed aside what I had to say since then." Jimin saw how her eyes filled with tears. His therapist had encouraged him to talk to his mother about how he felt and how she had made him feel all these years. He wasn't about to back down.

"I didn't think you were serious then." Mrs. Park told him in a shaky voice.

"No offence eomma but I introduced Jungkook to you. Do you have any idea how much courage I had to gather for that? You knew how homophobic father was but you still told him about Jungkookie."

"At that time I didn't think he would do anything to either of you."

"Eomma! That man had his goons beat me up a week later. That's why I was in the hospital as a teen in the first place. You enabled him so much you forgot I needed your protection then." Jimin said standing up. he had tears running down his cheeks just like his mother. "Do you know how scared I was in that house? I was even scared of my own shadow eomma. and even when I ran away with Jungkook I was never really at peace. I wanted to so much to invite you to our secret wedding but I wasn't even sure I could trust you not to tell him. it hurt so much eomma, so much, to see my Jungkookie say no to his parents about coming to our wedding because I had no one on my side either. I could not forgive myself for so long for the life we had to live knowing he wanted the opposite. You are my mother, I shouldn't have to beg to have you in my corner even if everyone else turned their backs on me."

"Eomma is sorry Jiminie. I'm sorry I was ignorant to everything. I was so focused on building a complete family for you and Jihyun that I ignored everything else. forgive me son, I promise I will do better. I will try to be there for you always." Mrs. Park said as she approached him. She took his hands and squeezed them then pulled him in a hug where he broke down completely.

"It will take time to have my trust again." Jimin stated when he calmed down.

"I will work for it till I get it back." She said firmly.

Jimin nodded. That's all he had ever wanted from his mother.