puzzle piece | jeong jaehyun

10

A/n: i have added a disclaimer for this book in the intro chapter (image above), please take a second to read it before continuing this book any further as some sensitive topics mentioned above will be present in this chapter 🫶

"Daddy!" Jinah shouted with relief, running towards her father who immediately crouched down to brace the impact and wrap his arms around her, being her safe space like any other good parent

"Are you okay? Did you get hurt?" Jaehyun asked, his fingers brushing against her soft cheeks that clearly had dried tear streaks.

"Woojin pulled my hair and said it was ugly" she sniffed, a pout on her lips as she picked at the collar of her dad's grey blazer, not wanting to look into his eyes

"But Hyuk pushed him so he would stop hurting me" Jinah said, explaining the situation better than the principal and quickly jumping to defend Minhyuk's actions

"Jinah, sweetie...where's Hyuk?" Yunhui asked with a small voice as she interrupted their conversation. The little girl looked up at her before turning and pointing to the desk at the corner of the room

"He won't come out" Jinah said and the two adults looked over to see the boy who was sat underneath the table, hugging his legs with his face almost buried to block out the outside world

Yunhui didn't waste another second to walk over to her son, sighing before she sat down on the carpeted floor and placed a hand on his leg, squeezing it gently to get his attention

"Hyuk...it's me. Do you want to come out?" Yunhui asked with a soft voice. Regardless of how petty and rude she could be to everyone else around her, she was the most patient and soft when it came to her child.

Minhyuk didn't answer her, he just shook his head and didn't bother looking up at her either, worried she might be angry at him.

"That's okay, you can come out when you're ready" she said, rubbing his legs gently

"Can you tell me what happened though?" She asked, hoping she wasn't pressing into him too much but also hoping for a response to make sure he was okay

"Woojin pulled Jinnie's hair so I pushed him" he answered plainly, his voice clearly strained for crying earlier. It hurt her to even have to hear him like this, let alone have to restrain herself from engulfing him in a tight hug at this very moment

"Why did you do that?" She asked softly again, not sounding angry or frustrated but more curious as to his thought process

"Because we're friends."

And then it hit her.

He calls her Jinnie, she calls him Hyuk.

Minhyuk had made his first real friend.

Minhyuk was special since he was very young, he preferred to be alone, not that he liked it or anything but he just didn't like what the other kids liked doing. He preferred to sit alone and read, put together puzzles and play that operation game he got as a Christmas present.

He kept to himself. He didn't like to share his toys or his food with people, he tended to be very protective of his belongings and almost territorial sometimes, especially when it came to his room.

But now he had someone with him almost everyday in his space, someone his age that was a lot more outgoing and talkative, someone that was quite literally the opposite of him. Yunhui initially thought he would hate that, but turns out he was a lot more fond of Jinah than he let on.

Jinah was his friend now, and he was going to do everything he could to protect her.

"Hyukie come out...my dad can buy us ice cream" Jinah said, trying to crawl under the table to tug on his arm

"I don't want it" Minhyuk said, his words muffled

"But you love ice cream!" Jinah said, tugging on his arm again and Yunhui removed her hand from him lightly, shaking her head at the girl

"I'm not hungry" Minhyuk said again with a sniff escaping his nose a few seconds later

"He just needs to be alone for a while, Jinah" Yunhui said and the girl pouted, standing back up to her feet

"But I want to play" she said with a saddened expression, unhappy that her new friend was suddenly shutting her out

"Jinah, let's go. You guys can play tomorrow" Jaehyun said, trying to persuade his daughter to take his hand and follow him out. She looked towards the woman for confirmation and Yunhui nodded

"You guys can play tomorrow after school" she smiled reassuringly until Jinah eventually gave up and decided to follow her dad's orders

"I'll drop off some ice cream tonight Hyuk" Jaehyun said, dropping his pride quickly as he came to the conclusion that the neighbour's kid actually ended up helping his little girl out and protecting her from a bully

Yunhui didn't bother responding to him, her shoulders were slumped with not much energy in her voice for much else other than worrying about her son's wellbeing as he ignored Jaehyun's statement as well. Jaehyun didn't need words to understand that either, he pursed his lips and brought his daughter out of the room, giving Yunhui the alone time she needed with Minhyuk.

"Hyuk, you shouldn't push people okay? They could get really hurt" Yunhui said, her hand reaching up to pat the top of his head instead and he slowly raised his face to meet her eyes

"Daddy always used to push you" Minhyuk said, his eyes looking straight at her with no emotion other than one she couldn't quite put her finger on. Yunhui's hand froze for a moment, her fingers pausing against Minhyuk's messy hair as his quiet words sank in. A sharp pain shot through her heart at the mention of his father, something she tried so hard to shield Minhyuk from but couldn't entirely erase from his memories. She took a breath, steadying herself before speaking, her voice soft but firm.

"I know, sweetheart," she whispered, forcing a gentle smile to hide the sadness in her eyes.

"And it really hurt. That's why... I don't want you to do it again." She said. Minhyuk's gaze flickered up to hers, his eyes big and round, searching her face for something he couldn't quite put into words. For a long moment, he just stared, like he was trying to understand something much bigger than either of them.

Slowly, he crawled out from under the table, shuffling forward until he was close enough for Yunhui to pull him into her lap. She wrapped her arms around him, holding him tightly as if she could shield him from every harsh memory, every painful truth he'd already learned too young.

They stayed like that, sitting on the floor in silence as Yunhui ran her fingers through his hair, comforting him in a way words couldn't. He nestled his face against her shoulder, letting himself be small, be vulnerable, in the safety of her arms. The only place he could ever truly just be a child.