Flame of My Love (A Seokjin Fanfic)

Chapter 21: Help From a Distance

"A letter from Jin? When did he give this to you?" Yumi asked Namjoon.

"He gave it to me before he left; the letter will explain everything in more detail. I'll leave you to read it," he replied.

Namjoon exited the room and left Yumi to read the letter on her own. She opened the envelope and unfolded the paper. A check with a hefty amount of money fell on her lap. She then began to read the letter:

Dear Yumi,

If you are reading this, that means your grandmother passed away while I was gone and I am so sorry for your loss! I suspected I wouldn't be there to physically comfort you when you lost someone very important to you so I wanted to be prepared to help you anyway. I instructed Namjoon to give this to you in the case that your grandmother passed. Attached is a check that I want you to cash and use for any services you need for your grandmother's passing like her casket, the burial, or the party you told me your grandmother wanted you to throw. I also ask that you please get your grandmother a huge array of cherry blossoms with that money from me since I know she loved them so much.

Again, I am very sorry I cannot be there to comfort you but I promise to visit your grandmother's burial site with you when I get back. She was always a kind woman and she helped raise a very equally kind, gorgeous, talented, and overall amazing young lady. Remember that even though your grandmother is no longer with us, she will forever be with you in your memories and your heart. Please pass on my condolences to your mother who I am sure is also missing her as much as you are.

With much love,

Seokjin

Yumi's eyes filled with tears the more she read the letter. She was crying because she was reminded of her grandmother passing but she was more crying because of Jin's gesture and all the preparation he did knowing that he would miss a devastating yet important moment in Yumi's life. A few days later, she cashed the check with her mother and used it to pay for most of the party and ordered the cherry blossoms. About a week later, everything was prepared.

The first day, on a Friday, was the casket viewing where people also talked about special memories they had with Yoonah. Mrs. Yang and her family attended, some of her mother's friends who had met Yoonah also went, the BTS members, and of course Yumi and her mother were there too. It wasn't the biggest funeral but everyone who needed to be there was there. The second day, Saturday, was the burial where Yumi put the cherry blossoms from Jin as a temporary place holder for the tombstone that would be made later. Lastly, on Sunday, the party in her grandmother's honor was held.

They served her favorite foods, played music by her favorite artists, and even BTS performed her favorite song of theirs which was "Magic Shop" (to make up for Jin's absence, Jungkook and Jimin filled in his parts of the song). At the end of their performance, Namjoon queued up a video on the projector screen and everyone sat down to watch it. On the screen was Jin sitting in front of a row of beds with his crew cut and military uniform so everyone knew this video was recent. The video began to play for everyone.

"Today is the 6th of May of 2023 and a couple days ago, I got a message from Namjoon saying that Yoonah is no longer with us. So, I'm making this video in her honor and I hope it can be played at one of her memorial events. I spoke to Yoonah very briefly before my leave to the military but I didn't need to speak much to her to know she was an amazing woman. Yumi always praised her grandmother's actions and I will never forget her smile that one time I video called her with the other members. I am so sad I didn't get to spend more time with her from being busy and my duty to the country, but I'm hoping this sort of makes up for that. You will be dearly missed Yoonah, may you rest in peace with the angels. Thanks for listening."

The video ended and many people in the audience, including Yumi and her mother, cried from the sweet message. The remainder of the party was very uplifting and a wonderful memorial for her grandmother. When the event ended, Yumi spent the night with her mother and was picked up by Jungkook the next morning to return to the dorm for breakfast.

Even though they were making breakfast together, Yumi and Jungkook were silent while cooking as the music played in the background. They also hadn't talked a lot in the car. When Yumi mixed some items in a bowl to make pancakes, Jungkook wrapped his arms around her waist and hugged her from behind. Instead of accepting the hug and reciprocating the affection, she pushed Jungkook's arms away from her and asked for some space. He didn't like the vibe he picked up from her and wondered if he did something wrong.

"Did I do something to upset you Yumi?" he asked in a calm tone.

"Can we discuss this after breakfast?" she replied.

Jungkook nodded and they finished making pancakes for everyone. They prepared the table, served the food, and shared their meal as usual with everyone else. All the members were talkative about their plans for the last year without Jin and before Yoongi and J-Hope would go together next. Yumi was silent during the meal and when asked why, she told them she was paying attention to what they were saying.

After cleaning the table and doing the dishes, Jungkook reminded Yumi about their conversation that they put a pin on. Yumi agreed to continue the conversation in his room. She sat on his bed and Jungkook sat at his desk chair.

"I'm going to ask again, did I do something to make you upset?" he asked, respectfully.

"It's more of what you didn't do," she replied.

Jungkook had a puzzled look on his face.

"I don't understand, please elaborate."

"When my grandmother passed away, all you told me to comfort me was 'Sorry for your loss' while Taehyung said more than you and he's not my boyfriend."

"I'm sor..."

"I'm not done," she interrupted him, "Then, Jin gave me a letter with a check to send his condolences about her passing, which mind you he prepared before he left for the military. Then at the party, that video that he had no obligation to record, was played and you heard him, right? He said the sweetest things about my grandmother who he barely saw, Jungkook. And what did you do? What did you say? Hm?"

Jungkook looked down at his lap with sadness and realized he hadn't done much to help or comfort Yumi. On top of that, he had spent way more time with Yoonah and had nothing to say for it at any of the memorial events.

"I didn't realize how much I lacked in the comfort department," he said.

"Jin said more on a piece of paper and a one minute video than you did in the two weeks that it all went down, and he wasn't even here."

Jungkook looked up and made eye contact with Yumi. She had her arms crossed and an annoyed look on her face.

"Yumi, I am very sorry for not being there for you but I just...I didn't know what to say or what to do and I didn't want to make you feel worse."

"But you didn't even try! What kind of boyfriend doesn't try?"

Jungkook had no words and Yumi sat in silence awaiting a response. Seeing that he wasn't saying anything, she spoke again.

"Listen Jungkook, I've been thinking about this for a while now and...I don't think I want to be with you anymore."

Jungkook's eyes widened from the bomb she dropped on him.

"Yumi, we can work this out, right?"

"I don't know Jungkook, there's a lot that needs to be fixed."

"Tell me Yumi, I will do anything."

"I know you would but I'm sorry. I don't want to work this out."

Jungkook almost began to tear up at the idea of a break up but he then realized she had gone through a lot of emotions with her grandmother passing, Jin communicating again, and his lack of comfort.

"Ok Yumi, I know you've gone through a lot lately so I'm willing to...take a break until you're ready to get back together because I don't think we should...fully split up (at least I hope not)."

"Sure, we can take a break. I'll umm...let you know."

She stood up, without saying another word, and walked out of his room.