New Horizons

part 30

Jungkook searches the house for Sunmi, his is  mind heavy with everything that just happened. His children’s words keep replaying in his head, and Taehyung’s broken expression won’t leave his thoughts. He needs to fix this today at any cost.

He finds Sunmi standing in the kitchen, staring out the window. The light reflects off her tired face, making her look older than he remembers. She doesn’t turn when he enters, but he knows she hears him.

“Sunmi,” he says softly.

She sighs and finally looks at him. “What do you want, Jungkook? I was making a milkshake for seojin. She wanted her favorite one.”

“We need to talk.” Jungkook says stepping further toward her.

She crosses her arms. “About what? About how our children are hurting? About how they want their family back?”

Jungkook exhales, running a hand through his hair. “I know they’re hurting. But what they’re asking for… it’s not possible. You are aware too.”

Sunmi’s eyes darken. “Then what do you expect me to do? They miss their family. They miss how things used to be.”

Jungkook shakes his head. “Things can’t go back to the past, Sunmi. We both know that.”

She lets out a bitter laugh. “Do we? Because I don’t think they understand that.”

Silence stretches between them for a moment. Then Jungkook speaks again, softer this time. “Why did things go wrong between us, Sunmi? We were happy.”

She blinks, caught off guard. Then she exhales deeply, looking down at her hands. “You know why, Jungkook.”

Sunmi looks away. “I was young when I got pregnant. Too young. I had dreams, Jungkook. I wanted to do something with my life, but suddenly I was a wife, a mother, a daughter-in-law. And I tried. I really did. I put everything into our family. Into you, the kids, your parents. But one day, I realized… I lost myself.”

Jungkook listens, his heart aches remembering his beautiful past . He knows what sunmi felt. He wasn't blind. They talked about it a lots of times and came to a mutualism of divorce. Jungkook understood her side.
“I loved you, I still do Jungkook. It's not easy to move on from the only man I have ever had.” Sunmi continues, her voice cracking. “I loved our children. But I was tired, Jungkook. I felt like I was drowning. And the more I tried to push through it, the more I felt like I was disappearing. I couldn't recognize myself anymore.”

Jungkook swallows the lump in his throat. "I'm sorry that I couldn't make you feel better. I'm sorry that you felt this way with me."

She smiles sadly. “You were a good boyfriend , a good husband. A good father. But I needed to find myself again. And by the time I did… we were already too far apart.”

Jungkook nods slowly. “I don’t blame you for leaving, Sunmi. It hurt, but I understand.”

Tears well up in her eyes, but she quickly blinks them away. “And what about you, Jungkook? Are you happy now?”

He takes a deep breath before answering. “Yes. I am.”

Sunmi flinches slightly, but she nods. “With Taehyung?”

“Yes.” Jungkook looks her straight in the eyes. “I moved on, Sunmi. He is my wife now. He’s an important part of my family that I cannot leave.”

A silence falls between them again, this time heavier. Then Sunmi sighs. “The kids don’t see it that way. To them, I left, and you found someone else to replace me. They just want their family back.”