Once Again

29

Jungkook carried the plate of cut fruit to the living room. He had found it in the fridge when he put away the condiments that Jin had placed on the dining table for his son.

"Jin, I found the fruits. Let's have..."

Jungkook's voice trailed away when he realised no one was in the living room. He put the plate down on the table and made his way to the master bedroom. He knocked and waited but there was no answer. He knocked again.

"Jin, are you there?"

When he still received no answer, he slid the shoji open. He looked inside the tidy room but it too was empty like the living room. He slid the shoji closed and made his way down the corridor to Minjoon's room which was opposite his.

Unlike his parents, Minjoon had a solid door to his room. Probably for the best, thought Jungkook, with the noise his parents make when they have sex.

He knocked on the door.

"Jin, are you there?"

When there was no answer, he knocked a second time before turning the knob to enter. The room was dimly lit with a night light, and he could see the little boy asleep in bed with his blanket kicked off.

Jungkook smiled and padded in softly to pull the blanket gently back over the sleeping boy. His heart hammered in his chest as he looked at the innocent features of his best friend's son. He realised now why the boy looked so familiar to him when he met him yesterday.

Asleep, the boy was the spitting image of his Jinnie when he was a child. Jungkook knew this because he had an album of Jinnie's childhood photos that he'd found in his apartment.

He quietly left the room and went back to the living room. Along the way, he noticed that the light was turned on in the back. He decided to check.

As he approached the sliding glass door, he saw Jin standing in the middle of the backyard, talking on the phone while looking up at the night sky. Jungkook's breath caught in his throat. There was so much resemblance between Jin's and Jinnie's side profile, and how they stood.

How could he not be my Jinnie?