Responsibility | Jihancheol FF | Seventeen FF

32

Instead of calling Joshua ,Jeonghan called Seokmin," hey are you at day care?"

"Yes hyung,why?"Seokmin replied now filling bag pack of one of child, "There will
Lady and guy coming there,will ask for Jeongin,they told us that they are Joshua's related,I still don't know anything to confirm,so for now don't let Jeongin infront of them"Jeonghan said now taking Haeun with him walking towards bench.

"Ok hyung." Seokmin said and cut the call.

Jeonghan now dialled Joshua's number,"hello,Joshua?"

"oh,yes.." Joshua replied,Jeonghan can hear the clicking of keyboard and buzzing of fan.

"Where your mother lives?" He asked,"huh?" Joshua halted on his fingers as typing stopped, "suddenly?"

"Actually there is this Miss who introduced us as your mother, but she don't know anything about Jeongin,so I felt it suspicious"Jeonghan said threading his fingers through Ha-eun's hair who were squeezing her toy.

"My what?" Jeonghan heard the slide of chair,Joshua surely have stand up abruptly.

"Does she have blond hairs and green specs?" Joshua inquired there is rush in his tone,"yes?" Jeonghan replied sensing the wrong about to happen.

"I will call you later,thank you by the way" and Joshua cut the call,Jeonghan just started at the phone,he can see throught it, something is fishy. He hope Seungkwan and Seokmin will work other things out.

-
"Hello?anyone here?" Asked Jaden ,stepping in with his mother.

"Oh,hello! How can I help you?" Seokmin asked coming from inside.

"Ohh Hello young man,I am Hong Sujin, Joshua's mother,I am here to meet my grand son,Jeongin." There is politeness in voice,which make Seokmin believe that this people are no harm to Jeongin.

"Umm, actually without parents or guardians permission we don't let anyone meet the children"Said Jihoon.

-

Joshua's hands trembled as he pulled his son’s backpack off the table giving little glance to Seokmin.  He could sense her presence before he even turned around. He had imagined this moment a hundred times, maybe more, but now that it was happening, he was unprepared.

“Josh...” Her voice was softer than he remembered, aged and strained, as if unused to saying his name. “It’s been so long.”

Joshua’s grip tightened on the backpack’s strap, his knuckles whitening. He kept his back to her. The familiar scent of jasmine filled the air, a ghost from his childhood. For a split second, he was a boy again, small and confused, the door slamming shut behind him, his father’s shouts echoing, "Get out! You’re dead to me" His mother’s silence—the same silence that haunted him every day since—had been like a cold, unbreakable wall.

“What do you want?” he asked flatly, finally turning to face her. He saw the years that had settled into her skin, lines etched deep by regret or guilt—he didn’t know, and he didn’t care to find out.

“I—” She hesitated, eyes flickering from his face to the boy standing beside him, clutching his hand. “I came to see my grandson.”

Joshua let out a hollow laugh, harsh and brittle. “You came to see your grandson?” He shook his head. “Where were you when I needed you, huh? When I was barely holding, nowhere to go, no job, no nothing? Now you want to play grandma?”

“Please, Joshua.” Her voice broke, and she took a step forward, reaching out. “I know I failed you. I know I should have done something, said something. But your father—”

“Don’t,” Joshua snapped, his voice a razor-sharp blade that cut through her words. He stepped back, putting more distance between them, his son looking up at him with wide, curious eyes. “Don’t you dare blame him. He’s dead to me. Let him take his blame to the grave. You... you were supposed to protect me, Mom. You were supposed to be the one person who had my back, and you stood there. You watched as he kicked me out, as he threw away my things, and said nothing.”

His mother’s eyes filled with tears, but Joshua felt no satisfaction. Just the same old ache, the same old anger that simmered in his chest, threatening to spill over.

“Joshua, I’m sorry.” Her words were a whisper, broken, and she looked down at her hands as if they were stained with the past. “I was scared. I thought... I thought if I didn’t say anything, if I just let things be, he would calm down. That he would—”

“Change?” Joshua finished for her, shaking his head.He then glanced at Jaden,Jedan standing there like it's unwillingness of him to come here “He never did. And Jaden? He was your perfect son, wasn’t he? The obedient one, the one who could do no wrong. He just watched. You both did.”

His mother flinched as if struck, and for a moment, Joshua saw it—raw pain, regret etched deep in her eyes. But it wasn’t enough. It could never be enough.

“I know I can’t change what happened,” she murmured, voice thick with unshed tears. “But I want to be there for you now. For my grandson. Please, Josh. Let me make it right.”

"Someone is already here, don't bother there happy family"Seungkwan said,maybe he can't stand Joshua's mother anymore.

Joshua looked down at his son—his bright, innocent eyes staring up at the stranger who claimed to be family. Anger and bitterness roiled inside him like a storm. He crouched down, brushing a hand over his son’s hair.

“Say goodbye,Jeongin” he whispered gently.

“Goodbye,” Jeongin said softly, uncertainly, glancing between his father and grandmother.

Joshua looked, his gaze locking onto his mother’s, hard and unyielding. “You don’t get to make it right. You don’t get to walk back into my life like nothing happened. You lost that chance when you turned your back on me.”

“Please, let me—”

“No.” Seungkwan cut her off, his tone final, like a slammed door.

“I’m not that scared kid you left behind anymore. I have my own life, my own family. And you’re not a part of it.”said Joshua.

"Family?"Mrs.Hong asked.,"Oh yes,you see this man here" Seungkwan said pointing towards Seokmin,"He has more willingness and sincerity towards Your son than you ever did!" Thare is sassyness in his voice.

Joshua and Seokmin both looked wide eyes at eachother and then Seungkwaan.

His mother’s shoulders sagged, defeat and sorrow etched across her face. She opened her mouth, but no words came out. Joshua stepped back again when she moved to reach for him, the unspoken rejection clear.

“Goodbye, Mom.”

Without another word, Joshua turned around, guiding his son towards the exit. He didn’t look back, even as he heard her muffled sobs behind him, even as the weight of the past pressed down on him. Some wounds were too deep to heal.

"So,your name?" Jaden asked as Joshua stepped out of door behind him.

"Seokmin" he said anxiety creeping in, Seungkwan can't just randomly pushed him into someone's family matter.

Mrs. Hong hold his both hands,"please take care of my son and Grandson and thank you for accepting the child,which is not your blood!

I am grateful to you my whole life." She bowed afterwards and Seokmin were standing there like statue.