Can we ? | JJP ✔

13

"Can we talk?"

This one simple interrogative sentence from Jinyoung's mom was enough to make Jaebum thought that his life had just ended. He kept on thinking about what Hyunjin had said that he would tell everyone about his past behavior.

The three of them sat in the living room, with two cups of hot chocos on the round table.

"Thank you" Mrs.Park said as she looked at Jaebum in the eyes.

Taken aback, Jaebum wasn't sure if this situation was real or it was just his hallucination. They thanked him? "S-sorry?"

"Thank you. You saved his life" Mr.Park clarified.

Heart beating fast, Jaebum didn't know what to do. Cat got his tongue, he couln't speak. He couldn't even let his voice out. He was stuck in an awkward situation where he thought he didn't deserve the word thank you but instead, the in laws said it with sincere in their eyes.

"I'm sorry, but I don't-"

"Oh shut up. If you weren't there we don't know what would happen to him at that moment. We are very thankful that you saved his life... and also that you are able to accept Jinyoung"

Mrs. Park saw Jaebum was about to speak a word and she continued, "We talked to him, and he told us how grateful he is that he has you by his side. The truth that he allowed only you to touch him was like a point where we see this marriage is right. For him, for you- for both of you. He also told us about you having a hard time leaving your boyfriend but you soon overcame it and tried to live with Jinyoung. He assured us that nothing was wrong and that you are a very good man for him and he's happy with this marriage. So, thank you"

Mrs. Park had to wipe her tears by just talking about her beloved son. "Sorry, I'm getting emotional. Its just- Jinyoung has changed and I'm proud of him" she smiled, "He's a very sensitive boy. He would cry if an ant got separated from it's colony. He would whine if he found a rice left on a plate saying that what if his family is looking for him in my tummy? And he ate it. Oh he was so cute. He was easily affected by bad words and he's not like that anymore since he graduated from college. He acted all tough, but I don't know if he trully changed or the tough personality he showed to us was a cover up to his soft personality. Hearing that he's happy was enough to convince us that you're the one, Jaebum-ah. I'm telling you this as a mother.. I, we, really are thankful towards you for keeping him happy, and safe. We trust him here. We trust you"

"At first, we were not sure if this was going to work. You had a boyfriend but the marriage needed to happen. We were worried if you couldn't leave him for Jinyoung and ended up hurting my son... We're sorry for forcing you marrying Jinyoung and had to leave your boyfriend" Mr.Park added. "But now we trust you, Jaebum-ah"

Felt like standing at the very front line of a war, in a battlefield full with archers aiming their arrows toward him, and rows of catapults ready to fire, he felt like he had done something very wrong and that he did not deserve all of the thanks the Parks addressed to him. One strong pang of a heavy stone of truth about Jinyoung's past life mixed with the trust his parents gave him, hit him hard like it was fired from the very close distance by the catapult. He finally realized that he wasn't the only one that was strugling with the marriage. Jinyoung must've been struggling too with his personality that he labeled as weak during college.

He then questioned why didn't Jinyoung tell the parents about the abuse? Why did he tell them that he was happy and all was fine? Why did he lie? Why did he cover it up?

.

Jaebum went to his own room to take a shower before bed. This room was starting to get dusty since he didn't use it for quite a long time. He slept with Jinyoung for the sake of his safety and that he surprisingly felt a lot more comfortable being in the same room and the same bed with Jinyoung, exchanging warmth.