𝙳𝙴𝙲𝙴𝙸𝚅𝙴𝙳 |ᶰʲᵐ

Chapter 27

She stands outside by the backyard with a cup of hot chocolate on her hands. Closing her eyes, she exhales and looks up to witness tiny little ice crystals falling down from the sky. It finally snowed. The sound of the door slides open made her turn, Jaemin steps out with a coat while his hands were in his pocket. He stood next to her while biting his lip.

"i think its time to tell them....right?" he started. Shinrae turned to face him as she smiled. She took another sip of her drink and continued to admire the cool weather as her arm extends, watching the snow hits her hand.

"i guess it is," she spoke. Not gonna lie, jaemin was devastated but he doesn't show it. The closer it is to Christmas time, the sadder he gets. He would soon have to leave, to let her go. Jaemin stood as he puts an arm her and laid his head on hers. They stood there for a few, before going inside.

-

The whole family sat down in the living room. The two adults looked at each other confused, curious at what Jaemin was about to announce to them all of a sudden. Hyunjae ran down the stairs and ran towards Jaemin as he sat down on his lap. Shinrae sat down next to her mother and turned to Jaemin, giving him a nod to tell him that its time.

"what's going on Jaemin?" Jin spoke. He looked at him as began to clear his throat.

"ive been thinking about this for awhile and ive chosen to return to the company," he managed to say.

"what?" Soo stutters as her daughter held her hand.

"shinrae and i have talked about it and she's right. i can't stay here forever. the world still thinks im on sick leave and if this keeps up a little longer, people will start to get suspicious so i think its time for me to go," he continued. Hyunjae turned around as he pouts, he gave Jaemin a tight hug. He was trying his best to hold his tears, it wasn't easy for him to express himself to them after all.

The sight in front of Shinrae made her go emotional too but she was quick enough to wipe off her tears as she smiled. Both her parents sat there silent, they were sad to hear what jaemin had to say to them but they knew it was the right thing to do.

"will you come back to us?" the little one spoke making Jaemin to look down at him with a chuckle. Eyes watery, he nods. He knew its going to be hard but its possible. It was his plan, he will return to visit them one day.

Ms. Soo stood up from her seat and walked towards Jaemin as she too, joined in the hug. She gave the boy a pat in the back.

"when are you going leave?" she asked.

"after Christmas," Shinrae said.

"what?! that's in less than two weeks and you chose to tell this to us now," Ms.Soo scolds Jaemin as she smacks his arm making the others laugh including himself as he apologized to her. She playfully rolled her eyes as she stood up.

"okay then let's make christmas memorable this year! im going to cook a whole christmas dinner for you before you leave," she cheered, trying to cheer up the room.

"thank you so much Aunt Soo... Uncle Jin, Shinrae and Jaejae," he thanked them as he hugged the little boy tighter in his arms.

-

Time flies and it was now the 24th, Christmas Eve. The past week has been nothing but joy, no one spoke about jaemin leaving. They all just wanted to have a good time together as a family. On the bright side, Shinrae was now able to drive, still rusty with her parking skills but she was able to drive on her own. Jin was aware of her daughter's progress, also relieved that she didn't wrecked the car. He might take her to get her license soon.