FROM WHERE HE stood, jimin could see his mother's gaunt form fidgeting at the reserved table. his brows knitted together, frown etched on his features as he stared at her in worry. she looked sick. very sick.
taking a deep breath, he approached the table, hands in his pockets to stop him from fidgeting with the silver jewellery on his fingers. the woman looked up as he stopped at the table, bowing his head in respect to her. her smile reached her eyes but looked incredibly wan to him. silently, he took a seat across from her.
he'd called the hospital like bora had told him to. and they'd confirmed what she'd told him. the test was never carried out. his mother had cancelled it, telling them she no longer needed the test to be run. it had still surprised him, despite having already been told by his sister.
"i was so surprised when you called, jimin." she sent him a weak smile, hands reaching out for him before drawing back unsurely. "have you ordered anything? you need to eat. you look skinny." his voice came out more detached than he'd planned. "uh, no. no, i haven't ordered anything yet." she shook her head, eyes casted downwards. jimin sighed at the look of dejection on her face.
"why haven't you been eating?" he questioned softly, eyes on her skinny face. she smiled wanly. "i haven't really had an appetite. perhaps it's my own body punishing me for my mistakes." she answered quietly. jimin listened, gesturing for a waiter. he made the orders as soon as the man appeared.
"i'm sure you wanted to find out everything that happened." she continued when the waiter left again. "yes and no. but please, go on." he answered, lacing his fingers through one another.
hyunjoo sighed deeply, eyes casting downwards. "you know your father always warned me about airing dirty laundry in public but i never listened. i always thought, 'if can't talk to my friends about my issues, then who can i talk to?' but i guess i was ignorant." she began, gaze meeting his.
"remember ryu misun, chairman moon's second wife? i went to her, complaining about jangmi appearing with a child no one knew about after years. she was the one who gave me the idea. at first, i was appalled but then she convinced me it wasn't bad if i just took the girl out for like an hour. i could just say i wanted to spend some time with her, which i guess i did. so i took her bad advice and got someone to pretend to be you."
she played with the handkerchief in her hands, stretching and squeezing the fabric repeatedly. she could no longer look at him, instead she watched the movement of her hands. "she was brought to me and i took her for ice cream and packed her rice cakes she ate on the way there. she's such a lovable child, so easily excitable. and she seemed so happy that i took an interest in her. she reminded me a lot of you and bora when you were her age. at that point the similarity became glaring because i'd finally looked at her. that's when i called and cancelled the dna test."
the waiter returned with their orders in tow. mother and son were silent as they waited for the food to be served. only the sound of dishes being placed on the table filled the emptiness between them. "do you need anything else?" the waiter inquired. "no." jimin shook his head. "thank you," he added quickly, imagining jangmi's displeased face for his lack of courtesy, much like when they'd had dinner together the night of the recital.
"eat," he urged his mother. she nodded, taking a bite before letting out a sigh. she picked up her cutlery again when he nodded at her. they were in silence, the only noise coming from silver against ceramic. jimin said nothing in spite of the fact that he wanted to know more. he waited until his mother had food in her system.
"jimin, you have to understand, i planned to bring her to you after an hour. but when i suggested it, you should've seen the way her face fell. she started crying like i told her santa wasn't real. i didn't know what to do and the sight of her crying made me feel bad so i told her we could spend a little more time together. i let her eat more ice cream, which in hindsight, was a bad idea because she got so hyper and kept yelling about watching mulan. while we watched it, i found myself wondering how many times jangmi let her watch that movie because she knew the lyrics to every song and i had to sing along."
jimin noted the small nostalgic smile on the woman's face. it seemed to him like rosalie had cast her magic spell on her grandmother. her lips turned downward suddenly.
"it was already nighttime when i realised how late it had gotten. still she wanted to play. i wanted to bring her back but i didn't know how. how would i begin to explain myself? i really didn't want to leave her all by herself. before i left, i promised her a small bouquet of roses and to have breakfast with her in the morning and that's when she asked for applejacks. when i got home, hoping to figure out how to get her back to her mother, the whole place was in chaos. i was so scared and i knew i had bungled the whole thing but i couldn't say anything."
jimin's brows creased together as his mind pieced the puzzle, noticing a missing piece. "nari called you to find out what happened. when? what did you tell her?"
"she called me a few hours before you showed up. i was surprised because she was supposed to be on a flight to attend her little brother's graduation in the states. she kept asking me what happened, saying that she'd been hearing rumours. and i just wanted her to be quiet because she was making my anxiety worse. so i told her everything will be fine and at least i now knew that rosalie was yours. she sounded so confused but i just ended the call."
jimin rubbed the tip of his nose, lips pressing together. "okay," he nodded slowly, assimilating all the information that his mother had just released. his head hurt as he tried to think.
"jimin, i'm so sorry for everything. i realise i've made so many mistakes over the years, letting myself take wrong advice and i regret them all. i thought i was protecting you but it turns out i was just hindering your happiness." she was brave enough to reach for his hands, wrapping hers around them.
he let her, not pulling away even as he stared down at their hands. he was tired of being angry. he was still hurt, still disappointed but he could not continue to ignore her.
"it's fine, mother. i've forgiven you. it'll take some time to adjust and get over everything. things won't just magically be alright between us, but i have forgiven you." his eyes met hers. her lips curved up gratefully. "thank you."
he nodded, finally letting himself smile. "but i'm not the only one you need to apologise to."
☀️☀️☀️
and now we know the full story.hyunjoo is not all bad. sort of. just ill-advised. and nari's innocent sksksks so that's that. bye!
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