ᴍʏ ᴍɪssɪɴɢ sᴏᴜʟ || ᴛᴀᴇᴊɪɴᴋᴏᴏᴋ ✅

єριѕσ∂є 15

Seokjin casually chose a barbershop and walked into it. The barbershop was small but warm, with few customers in it. Before long he took his turn.

"Just crop my hair," He said gently, gazing at his image in the mirror. Maybe it was the last time for him to have his hair trimmed because the chemotherapy that he was going to take would cause extensive hair loss.

The barber was a man of few words, and very efficient as he finished the work within a quarter of an hour. He put down the scissor and praised, "Your hair is thick, glossy and in tip-top condition."

Seokjin smiled at him politely and paid the bill before he left the barbershop. He couldn't help but recall the similar words that Jungkook had said to him in their schooldays – "Jin, you have soft ebony hair." At that time, Jungkook liked to rub Seokjin's hair with his big hands as if he was stroking a docile puppy.

Seokjin hummed a song that he heard several years ago and walked at a brisk pace toward the subway station with a slight smile on his face, trying to find back some vitality and happiness. He used to like one of Japanese song called 'No Heart' . He sang the song as his eyes slowly reddened and his voice dropped,

'If I finally threw everything away,
Would it be easier for me
to laugh out loud today,
Now there’s a pain in my
chest I’ve learned to love,…'

Suddenly, Seokjin broke into a soft laughter and felt himself foolish.

At the entrance of the subway station, Seokjin caught sight of a shoebox in the corner. He moved closer and heard the rustling of small animals scratching the box with their paws.

He carefully lifted the lid of the shoebox and his heart skipped a beat when he saw four black-and-white kittens in it. They were probably abandoned by their owner.

Seokjin preferred hairy animals above all others, but he never kept a pet before because Jungkook was a clean freak and disliked animals. He was very hesitant to take the kittens home. The weather was so cold that they would certainly die outside if no one saved them. Soon he made up his mind to bring them home as this time he wanted to satisfy himself instead of Jungkook.

At last, Seokjin returned home with four kittens. He bought a can of powdered ewe milk and some biscuits in the supermarket downstairs. Fortunately, the kittens were all in good health and after staying in the warm room for a while, they recovered their energies and mewed to him. They also pushed one another back and forth with their soft, velvet paws.

Seokjin got four ribbons of different colors from the drawer and tied the ribbons around the kittens' necks to mark them. Then he reconstituted the powdered milk and put the biscuits in it. He fed the kittens and felt amazed when he touched their soft paws. They rubbed Seokjin's palms with their fluffy little heads and wanted to eat more. He was completely struck by their loveliness since he had never touched a small animal before.

In the evening, when Jungkook came back, he saw Seokjin sleeping on the sofa, with four hairy kittens on his chest. They all slept well and Jungkook even heard the kittens purring slightly.

"Seokjin!" Jungkook frowned and stood still at the door.

His voice woke Seokjin from his light sleep. He opened his eyes with a slightly addled expression on his face and asked, "What's wrong?"

 "Who let's you bring those home? Throw them away!" Jungkook commanded in an exasperated voice and threw his briefcase on the floor beside the shoe cabinet. He had a strong personality and couldn't tolerate any rebellion of his spouse.

Seokjin dropped his eyelids, his face covered with loneliness, as he said in a soft tone, "Throw it where?"

Jungkook anger evaporated when he heard Seokjin beseeching words. He would yield to the soft words but reject the strong protests. So when Seokjin begged him, he had to suppress his dislike of the kittens and tried to persuade his spouse, "Jin, the kittens are dirty and they will trouble us as soon as they grow up. So, just send them away, okay? We don't need pets."

"But I really want to keep them…" Seokjin bit his lips and insisted.

"You…"

"Jungkook, you know me well, right? I've always wanted to keep a pet since I was a child. But at that time, my parents didn't allow me to do that. I was upset for a long time, and made a silent vow to keep a dog or cat when I grew up and got my own house."

Jungkook hesitated for a moment but didn't change his mind. "Weird, 10 years has passed, hasn't it been fine not raising anything. Can you wait later to raise one?"

Seokjin stared at Jungkook. Later? His eyes slowly reddened as he said in a pleading voice, "I don't want later, I want it now. Kookie, please let me raise them."

Jungkook resolve fell apart. He shut his mouth, changed his shoes and went straight to the study. His actions showed his attitude. Seokjin was aware that Jungkook acquiesced in his decision of keeping the kittens in their house.

In truth, Jungkook knew clearly that Seokjin was of a rational turn of mind and seldom asked for something. He always put up with all his decisions regardless of whether he liked or not. Gradually, Jungkook took his tolerance for granted and paid little attention to Seokjin's real thoughts.