strings & bullets┃hajeongwoo (under revision)

〚 ch: eighteen 〛

haruto bit his lip as he looked at jio and the woman. jio was smiling as the woman spoke to him. he's so like his father that he doesn't even hesitate to speak to anyone. was this baby not taught that you shouldn't talk to strangers? and oh boy, what if jeongwoo's gonna get mad? no no, she is still jio's mother. they have to be on good terms. she just told haruto she's jio's mother without providing any proof, and haruto sees no resemblance between the two.

haruto cleared his throat and mustered the courage to ask. "excuse me, i just... want to ask you something"

the woman stopped for a moment and turned to face him, smiled and nodded.

"are you really jio's mother?"

haruto had seen a woman in front of jeongwoo's house before, but he hadn't seen her face, so she wasn't all that familiar to him. if she is indeed jio's mother, then jeongwoo and her had a relationship in the past. it made his heart ached, how many times had jeongwoo made him feel this way?

"actually, uh no." the woman replied after a brief silence.

and haruto was confused, why had the woman introduced herself as jio's mother when she was not? haruto raised an eyebrow as he rose from the bench and picked jio up.

how dare this woman make him feel sad again by reminding him that jeongwoo had a child with someone else despite the fact that they are soulmates.

"we're leaving, bye." he exaggeratedly turned his head to leave after scanning the woman up and down.

"who was that daddy?" jio asked, confused as if he didn't laughed when she talked to him.

"hey, no! come on, i was just joking!" the woman yelled as she ran quickly to catch up with them and prevent them from leaving. when the woman blocked his path, haruto stopped.

"no, i'm sorry. i'm just joking, i didn't think you'd take that seriously" the woman said, panting.

with a deadpan expression, haruto observed the woman panting and catching her breath. they weren't even that far away when she ran to them. she's overly dramatic for no reason.

haruto sighed and shook his head, why does it feel like he's judging the woman?

"your sense of humor is so dry, i didn't even laugh"  again. he didn't mean to say that, it's just that.. no he doesn't even know why he's acting like this

"so dry" jio suddenly said as he giggled at what haruto said

the woman laughed and placed her hands in front as if telling him to calm down "you know what? you need to relax, like really relax, because it seems that you are upset with me."

i mean, who wouldn't? she probably had seen the strings then why did it happened. and what if she's the reason why the string was cut? haruto wanted to walk away but he knows it's not necessary for him to act like this, she's jio's mother after all.

haruto forced a smile, "yeah, sure."

haruto placed jio down as the woman carried him again, now smiling with the baby as they talked. jio seems comfortable with her, he shouldn't interfere right?

"hi baby, i'm your mama."

"mama???"

a smile then formed on his lips. it was nice to see the baby getting to know his mother, but he didn't understand why it affected him. but maybe he should probably give them some time to catch up. haruto began to walk away, turning away from the two to give them some space. the baby turned to him, as he watched haruto walk away. is he leaving him with this woman? jio's face slowly crumpled and he burst into tears.