hold me. ○ minjoon

4b.

HTOUY

"Jiminie, can you help me out?" His mother smiles softly, peaking her head from the kitchen. Her bangs brush over his eyelashes, and her cheeks always seemed to be a peach blush. "My hands are getting pretty tired..."

"Coming mama," says little Jimin, placing a small styrofoam cup beside a small plant by the living room windowsill. Turning to walk over to the woman with a smile, only a couple inches shorter than her.

As soon as she seems her son, she can't help but hold his soft cheeks in her palms. "My handsome boy," she murmurs. "I'm sorry I have to make you do all of this. I should be the one taking care of you..."

His hands wrap around two handle bars connected to a wheelchair which held the woman. Her legs no longer able to walk around so she could hold the boy, she couldn't play with the son she always wanted. Afraid that being bound to that chair won't let her son feel youthful around her, feel like her son.

"It's okay, mama," Jimin's gentle hands grip the bars as he wheels her out of the kitchen and into the living room with him. "Can we continue my work instead of lunch?"

She sighs softly. "You can't be skipping lunch, you need to eat well. Just because you're homeschooled doesn't mean you can have a different schedule."

He moves her so she's seated closest to the desk beside the window. Plopping himself back on the desk chair, "I'm really not hungry, mama. I wanna finish learning this."

"You better eat during dinner then or your papa won't let you leave the dinner table," His mother laughs, leaning over to slide his work toward herself. ".., You really like science don't you, baby?"

Jimin nods furiously. "I wanna learn everything, so papa can start teaching me about how to make robots."

She shakes her head as a warm smile is shown once more. "You'll learn in high school," she says, "It's too early for you to reach out for these big things! We gotta put you in a high school first. Papa and I said we didn't want you homeschooled during high school."

"Can I go to a high school for l robots?" Jimin asks.

"Hm, if we find you a good one," She nods, "You want to be an engineer? Like papa?"

"Yeah!" He nods furiously, "I like how he makes stuff that help people. Not like that thing you practice with so you can walk, but- but legs! Actual legs."

"I know what they are," She hums softly, reaching out to pat his head. "Papa likes to make people happy by giving them back what they lost when they got hurt."

She scrunches his hair before laughing airily. "Like if you keep biting your nails, papa's gonna have to make you new ones."

Jimin scrunches his nose before looking back at his mother. "Why won't you let papa help you?"

Her smile fades, and she pulls her hand away - resting it on her lap. "... My legs are still here, Jiminie," she says hushed, "I can still walk with them, I just have to try harder than others."

"... But that's not fair."

The security alarm beeped to stop their conversation, hearing the door code being inputted before a audio bell rang through the house.

"Where's my two angels?" says his father.

Jimin always runs over to greet him with a hug.

[unedited]