Oppa (전정국)

~26~

A/N: WARNING! This chapter contains sensitive content.

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He shook his legs rapidly underneath the table as the grip on his phone became tighter each passing second.

Jungkook was afraid that she forgot about this whole plan they made, even thought it was him who forced her into it.

"Excuse me," a woman's voice sounded from in front of him. "Are you the person who I was supposed to meet?"

She could feel a familiar, mysterious aura from the boy in front of her. "Kang Jihye?" Jungkook asked, trying to sound confident.

Something about the way his thin lips formed into a straight line, his doe eyes shone yet still sent a sharp glare when they wanted to, and his nose that smoothly curved down and showed his nostrils which were now flaring in a swamp of mixed emotions seemed like an S.O.S. message that was somehow encrypted. Whatever this mystery was, she wanted to know more.

Jihye nodded before Jungkook gestured for her to sit down. "So, I know that you're wondering who I am at this point," he began.

"Yes..." she mustered, still confused as to why the brunette was pulling a folded piece of paper from out of his pocket.

"There's no subtle way to say this, so take a look at this. I'm going to go up and order some coffee. Would you like anything?"

"I'm good; thank you, Sir."

"No need to call me Sir. I'll be back in a bit."

As soon as he got up from the table, Jihye took the piece of paper in her and slowly unfolded it as if there was a bomb inside that could go off at any moment. As soon as she read the words "Certificate of Live Birth", she furrowed her brows as to why a young boy would want to show her his birth certificate.

It was all made clear to her once she read the first line of the page. The realisation hit her like a speeding truck, and the impact of the collision slowly spread through her body as she unfurled the paper more and more.

Flashbacks of how her newborn child was snatched from her grip and the scars she had tattooed on her body as a reminder of having nothing rushed in like a bursting pipe that would take too much effort to patch up.

"I assume you've read it?" Jungkook comes back with a piping cup of coffee in his hand.

Looking up at her son, she admired how tall and handsome he managed to become over the years, but still felt the pain and guilt of not raising her child like a proper mother would've done. Jihye's eyes began to well up as she took in the fact that her son, who she hadn't seen for 16 years, was right in front of her eyes. "J-Jungkook?"

"That's my name," he smiled shyly.

"I'm s-so sorry. I-I can ex—"

"Not here. Let's go somewhere private."

Jungkook and his real mother walked out to a spectacular view of the city painted in sparkly white. The little snowflakes that caught on the ridges of their clothes dotted them as Jihye led her son to a private grove.

"I always come here when I need to clear my head," she begins. "During the summer, the waves of the water that glimmer under the light make for a beautiful view, but of course now, the lake is frozen."

The boy chuckles as he saw his breath fog up in front of him. "This is beautiful, too. I like how the sun makes the snow and ice appear to be different colours depending on where you stand."

The woman chuckles back, and tries to cut off the awkwardness by getting straight to the point...hopefully. "S-So, you're p-probably wondering why I h-haven't raised you, right?"

Jungkook nodded but still kept his gaze fixed on the shiny snow.

"Y-Your father and I were young, naïve, teenagers. We were attached at the hip when we were teens, and being so crazy in love with him, I thought we were inseparable."

The brunette turned his head to face his mother when he noticed that her voice started to croak. Her story was beginning to sound like it would lead up to the dreams that he'd been having.

"One day, we had an obvious slip up, and since that day, I was starting to feel sick and weak. I shrugged it off, thinking that I ate something bad the night before, but my friends took me to the doctor, where I found out I was pregnant.

"I didn't want to tell your father because I was afraid that he'd leave me to raise you by myself, but when my belly began to grow rapidly in size, and my parents kicked me out of the house, I couldn't keep it a secret for much longer.

"As soon as he found out, we began having little arguments about what we should do about you, but then I shrugged it off and said that we'll figure something out after you get born.

"So, we didn't really talk much, and on my due date, I had to drive to the hospital myself since he was nowhere to be found. Once you were born, and the doctors left to give me some privacy, I only got to hold you in my arms for thirty minutes until he came to the delivery room and persisted me to put you up for adoption.

"I refused, since I wanted to raise my baby. When I saw him loading bullets in a gun from behind his back, I immediately ran while holding you, not caring about breaking from the wires that would help me recover. My only goal was to keep you safe.

"I ran and ran, trying to find a room where I could temporarily hide, but he shot me in the leg, so I had no option but to crawl to the nearest door. Being too slow, I couldn't lock the door in time and he walked in with the gun in his hand.

"He told me that he'll kill you if I didn't want to give you up for adoption, so I fought back and told him to kill me before killing you, but he decided against it.

"I was shot in the arm and he took you away since my arms were too weak to hold you. That was when I said my final goodbye to you.

"I could see both of you in the room across, and he was injecting some sort of serum inside your head. At that moment, my heart truly sank. I thought that I had permanently lost my son, and I wouldn't see him again.

"Afterwards, I fell into a state of complete loneliness and depression, but during each day without you, I told myself that I needed to stay strong for my son, who I prayed would grow up to be a fine, successful young man.

Jungkook didn't know that his eyes were overflowing with salty tears at this point. It was never even his mother's fault for leaving him, yet he was sad that they couldn't bond like a real mother and son for the last 16 years.

"I completely understand if you hate me or don't see me as your real mother, but—"

"Eomma," he held Jihye's crying face and looked at her lovingly. "Don't cry. I'm here, now."

She sobbed more as she pulled Jungkook into her arms, squeezing him as if it was the last hug they'd ever share. "I missed you so much, Jungkookie."

After the brunette broke the hug, he suddenly became conflicted. Spending time with you and his mother at the same time would be difficult for him, since Jihye was a four hour drive away from home. "I want to catch up. I want to get to know my real mother, but I don't know what my other parents and sister will say."

"Aww, Jungkookie. We can always FaceTime, and I can come to Busan on the weekends."

"You sure about that?"

"Of course, my child. Anything for you."

The two lit up and exchanged warm smiles at the thought of meeting each other in the future. "I love you," Jihye says. "Drive safe."

"I love you too, Eomma."