Once Again

88

It had happened two weeks ago but Jin was only now comfortable with wearing his engagement ring in public. The day after he said yes to Jungkook, he had taken the ring off and put it on a long platinum chain around his neck. Because he seldom wore shirts that had low necklines, his engagement ring had remained hidden until now.

A week after they got engaged, Jungkook had asked Jin where his ring was. He had noticed it was missing from his fiancé's finger the day after he put it there but he had waited to ask its whereabouts because he thought Jin might have gotten it resized.

When Jin confessed that he was too embarrassed to wear it, Jungkook had felt hurt but told Jin that he understood his misgivings. After all, Jungkook had had a lavish wedding that ran in the papers and on TV for several days. When he'd gotten divorced, the media coverage had been even more intense so Jungkook couldn't fault Jin for not wanting to be exposed as Jungkook's new significant other because he had always been a private person.

After Jimin's untimely death, the press had dug up Jungkook's past connection with the Park family. Though Yoongi had intervened on behalf of Jeon Corporation to quash any mention of Jin's involvement, Jimin's father had leaked 'stories' of an illicit affair between his former son-in-law and a married man in an attempt to make the public forget about his son's sordid past and garner sympathy for his demise.

When Jungkook learned of his former father-in-law's duplicity, he had become quite enraged. It was bad enough that Jimin had tried to destroy Jungkook's future with Jin but for Mr Park to turn his attentions and his wrath on an innocent that his own son had tried to kill twice? It was not something that Jungkook could let pass without taking action.

When Jungkook was in the middle of his acrimonious divorce with Jimin, he had kept most of his husband's appalling behaviour out of the public eye. Instead, he had provided the information to his father-in-law, hoping that the older man would encourage his son to agree to the divorce and accept the generous settlement that Jungkook had offered. But Mr Park had kept out of the entire messy business and remained silent.

Jungkook had been greatly disappointed by the man's lack of support but he did not push. Despite Yoongi's advice to release the unsavoury details of Jimin's private life so his husband would be forced to agree to the divorce, Jungkook had chosen to take the high road out of respect for Mr Park and his longtime friendship with Jungkook's father. His decision had panned out in the end, and Jungkook had been only too happy to sever all ties with the Park family so he could concentrate on helping Jin regain his lost memories and hopefully reunite with him.

Then Jimin had kidnapped Jin, and lost his own life in the process. Somehow this one incident had triggered Mr Park into finally getting involved by going up against his former son-in-law. It had infuriated Jungkook, and after Jin disappeared from Jungkook's life for a second time, Jungkook had channelled all of his rage and sorrow into razing Park Corporation to the ground. It had soothed the angry and grieving beast in his heart as he took apart the company that Mr Park had built with pride. More so when he discovered that Jimin had been responsible for the death of Jungkook's older brother, and that Mr Park had helped to cover it up.

Jungkook was glad that his parents were no longer alive to learn that their closest friend's son was the man who ran their son over after a night of excessive drinking and debauchery. He was grateful that they never heard the details of how Jimin's father had arranged for the Jeon heir's body to be moved to a different location so that it would be found the following morning by unsuspecting commuters as they went to work. It had left a horrible taste in Jungkook's mouth when he told Yoongi to seal the discovery, and never speak of it again.

Both men kept their side of the bargain until Jin's return. After their engagement, Jungkook shared the account one last time. Jin had held Jungkook as he cried and raged over the loss of his elder brother. Jin encouraged Jungkook to let all of his repressed emotions out because he remembered Jungkook had told him he never once cried at his brother's funeral thanks to his father's strict instructions to step up and become a man worthy of the Jeon name.

That one evening opened the floodgates for Jungkook, and he began telling Jin everything about himself. Things that he had never told Jin during the course of their relationship. Things that he had never shared with another soul, not even with Taehyung nor Yoongi. It had humbled Jin to know how much Jungkook trusted him but it had also made him grieve as he finally understood the burden that Jungkook had carried, and the difficult decision that he had to make between saving his family business or staying with Jin.

When Jungkook told Jin that if he had to do it all over again, he would choose differently – that he would take Jin far away to a place where Jimin would never find him – Jin's feelings overflowed. And he realised that he didn't want to hide his engagement ring anymore. That it was time to honour all of Jungkook's suffering and sacrifice for him. So he had removed the chain from around his neck, threaded the ring off, and placed it proudly back on his finger where it belonged.

"Yes, Hobi, I'm engaged. Jungkook and I are getting married," Jin confirmed to the man sitting up in bed. "I love him. I love him so much."

Tears pooled in Hoseok's eyes at Jin's declaration. Though the young chef had been there when Jin was still married to Taehyung, he could see there was a stronger bond and a more powerful attraction between Jin and Jungkook. That was not to say that Jin did not love Taehyung because Jin had truly loved his late husband and Hoseok was certain that Taehyung knew it until the end.

No, Hoseok was not disregarding any of it. He was merely acknowledging what anyone could clearly see existed between Jin and Jungkook.

"I'm so happy for you, Jinnie. You deserve all the happiness in the world."

"I second that," Yoongi inserted as he sat himself gently next to his husband. "It's been a long time coming so I'm happy that you and Jungkook will get to spend the rest of your life together, Jin."

There was a lump in Jin's throat as he looked at the two men. And when a small hand gripped his gently, he turned to look into his son's eyes. Eyes that looked so much like Taehyung's. Eyes that conveyed complete approval of Jin's upcoming marriage.

My dearest Jungkook, we lost each other once before but we found one another despite it all. And we will never take each other for granted again.

THE END