"kitty!" jacob squealed in delight as he spotted the peaceful cat, making a beeline to the tiny dark feline, which backed away from the excited child in fear. "kitty?" watching the small kitten back away from him, jake ran over to jaebum for a sense of comfort, with tears pooling in his eyes from the rejection. "kitty doesn't like me."
"look here jacob," jaebum stretched out his palm, beckoning for his pet to come
to him. hesitantly, the cat made its way to jaebum's palm, basking in the warmth it executed. soft purrs were heard from the small act of affection, they replaced jacob's tears for smiles. jacob began to stoke the cat gently, with the owner's supervision so that the creature wasn't shaken again. "see, jun was just a little scared." even though jaebum's tone was soft and gentle, jacob looked up at him with a shocked face.
"am i scary?" the boy said in disbelief.
y/n crouched down next to jaebum and caressed her son's tearful face. "no, baby, jae's cat just didn't know who you were," she began explaining to him, jaebum felt relieved that it wasn't him having to do it, "it's just like when you didn't like jaebeom and now you do."
"wait-" jaebum locked eye contact with jacob, "you didn't like me?" feeling guilty, jake hid himself in his mother's arm as he let out small squeals of annoyance. y/n let out a chuckle at the sight of jaebum's gaping mouth. "do you like jackson? you've only seen him twice."
jake perked up at the mention of jackson. "is jacks here?!" he asked with excitement, whilst jaebum scoffed at the toddler's reaction.
"do you like me now, at least?" jaebum asked with a feeling of defeat, his shoulders dropped as a sign of loss, which earned him a moment of y/n's sympathy. her hand rubbing his arm caused him to go slightly pink in the cheeks.
"of course! you are my best friend!" jake beamed. he detached himself from y/n and closed the short distance between him and the older man by wrapping his small arms around him as best as he could. y/n's heart melted as jaebum embraced jacob into his arms. the picture that her son drew for her was still vivid in her mind.
"look see, me, mummy and jae." jake pointed to the drawing he had made whilst still being bedridden in hospital.
she knew that jacob was longing for a father figure, but a part of her wasn't ready to let someone walk into his life, after having the man who should have been his father leave like jacob didn't matter. the other part felt like she found that man.
•
"i'm sorry about jake, he's been really tired lately ever since..." y/n felt guilty for putting her toddler to bed in jaebum's bed, not that he minded at all. whining like the baby he was, jacob kept pestering y/n saying he was tired and of course she listened to him. a cranky jacob wasn't a pleasant one.
"it's okay," jaebum spoke quickly in a soft tone as he rubbed y/n's arm in a comforting manner, as he pulled her into his side, "lets talk about something else."
"can it be anything?"
"anything." comforting silence fell amongst the pair. it caused jaebum to wonder what y/n was thinking about in her mind.
"you know, when i think about how you were in school," y/n took a pause, looking away from the dark enticing eyes to glance at the floor, the moment caused his heart to bang against his rib cage, "...i remember how you always did your homework yet still asked me to do it for you."
"yah..."
"you were cute. you still are." y/n said with a soft smile as she moved a few strands of his hair to the side. it was enough to cause jaebum to freeze up. he hadn't heard anyone give him a sincere compliment in years, not since he was classed as a thug. the cold heart that had been iced away for years was finally melting away, slowly but surely. jaebum closed the gap between them and let himself grace upon y/n's lips. the abrupt action led y/n to tense for a split second before she began to reciprocate, feeling warm hands cradle her face. only an action could have sufficed what he felt, what he had always been feeling.
"jaebeom, i like you." y/n uttered quietly, her lips still in such a close proximity that jaebum could feel the softness of them.
instead of voicing one of the million thoughts, he just kissed her again with all the love his damaged soul bared.
that night, a part of himself returned.
y/n came back.
