Flower

CHAPTER 22

The carriage came to a stuttering halt, a servant running up to open the door, lending a hand for him to step out. "Eomma!" Seokjin squealed as he hopped out of the carriage and skipped towards his mother who stood on the front steps, a wide smile on her face as she opened her arms for her child. Seokjin burst into a fit of giggles as he hugged her tight, the lady muttering sweet nothings into his ears, tickling his waist lightly. 

"How is my baby doing?" she asked, cupping his face. "I am doing alright eomma", he lied. "I missed you so much". "I missed you too sweetheart" she smiled, but it did not reach her eyes like the previous one did. "You've put on weight" she pointed out, Seokjin now conscious of how chubby his cheeks were, nervously stepping away. 

He hadn't thought about his mother until he had left the house, ensuring repeatedly that he looked absolutely presentable when she saw him. He did not think his weight gain would be visible...

"It is alright. All newlyweds put on weight after their wedding" she laughed, putting him into ease a bit. "But make sure that is does not keep increasing all the time. Learn to manage it without your mother around" she said, Seokjin eagerly nodding at her words. 

"I've missed you" he whined, burying his face in her neck. Instead of humoring him, she pushed him away lightly "What are you doing Jin the servants are out here. Is it okay for a married omega to act like a child?" she hissed, prying his hand away. 

Seokjin pouted, a little hurt, a little taken aback. This was usually how he acted back at the Kim mansion, his behavior had never been pointed out there. "So what if there are servants?" he inquired. "Don't be silly Seokjin, you are married. At least start acting like a grown up now" she muttered. He felt a stab in his heart, the kind he hadn't experienced since months. He quietly followed the woman inside after instructing the servants to place his luggage in what used to be his room. "How long will you be staying?" she asked.

"I was hoping to stay here for a few days. I has been months since I last saw you, so I wanted to spend some time with you all" he mumbled, nervously twirling the pendant that he was wearing around his neck. Why was he nervous while asking if he could stay in his own home?

"What happened?" she huffed. "Huh?" he asked, confused. "Usually when a newlywed comes back to his maternal home just to visit, it means something is wrong. Now tell me, what did you do? I hope it was not your childish attitude that caused a big fight between you and your husband. That would be very embarrassing for me to fix" she answered. 

"I wasn't because of me" Seokjin said, miffed. Even though he marveled at the fact that she was instantly able to recognize that there was a problem, he was upset about the fact that her first assumption was that it was because he did something. 

She turned towards him, hands on her hips. Before she could speak, Seokjin was hit by a massive weight, a shrill voice screaming his name right beside his ear. "Seokjinnie!" Dami shrieked, pulling her brother into a bone crushing hug until he was whining for her to let go. "How is my baby brother doing?" she giggled, pulling away and furiously squishing his cheeks.

 "At least someone is excited to see me". 

"M oing al ifght!" he managed to squeak, voice muffled as she cooed, squeezing his cheeks harder. It was rare to see his eldest sister be excited merely by his presence leading Seokjin to decipher that she much have really missed him. "What a surprise! How did come so late?" she questioned after he had finally convinced her to let him breathe. It was pretty late by the time he had reached, the sky dark and stars peeked from behind the clouds. 

Seokjin smiled sheepishly, "I left a little before sunset but could not process the time it would take me to reach. Besides we met a little disturbance in the way and were stuck for a long time" he explained, now guilty of not informing his family about his visit. He made a mental note of making sure that his parents knew that he was coming rather than directly show up at their door the next time.