Begin (JJK) BTS 2026 series Book 3 (COMPLETED)

The Morning After

Mrs. Park comes through the door of Jungkook's apartment with her usual shopping in tow. She noisily passes through the hallway into the kitchen to set the bags down onto the marble counter, 'hum singing' in her usual way. She knows he is on set at the old dorm already and will likely be there all day. She looks over at the plaque she gave him as a housewarming gift. She smiles at the pretty English lettering and giggles a little as she thinks about how this is really also a gift to herself since she is the one who stands at the sink doing the dishes and cleaning the most. 

The sentiment, 'To love is nothing. To be loved is something. But to love and be loved, that's everything,'  makes her smile.  Jungkook never mentioned the sentiment on the plaque when she gave it to him, although she knows he understood the English, maybe even better than she did. But she knows that he isn't ready to understand the full meaning yet. One day, he will. It will almost happen without him realizing it. She imagines that one day, he will be stood at the sink, look up at the plaque, and he will suddenly realize that he understands, as if for the first time, because it will be the first time he's in love. She smiles at the idea of it. 

She had a great love in her life, who she spent the better part of 30 years with before he passed. Even though they never made much money and there were more struggles than there were easy days, they were happy together. They were rich with their bond. She gave Jungkook this plaque in hope that he might find that one day too, and find himself happy, truly happy. He is happy when he is working, but she knows that when he comes home alone, when there is no work to do, he struggles with feeling satisfied, and at peace with himself. 

She begins to put the groceries away, finding a new song to hum-sing; his new song. He played it for her before it was released, and she heard it coming out of his edit room day after day as he worked on the video. The sentiment to that song is not dissimilar, finding the joy in life and truly feeling like you have lived. Jungkook seems eager to try everything he can, to experience everything that's out there, almost as if there is meaning in the next thing; true happiness around the next corner, with the next girl, after the next concert. For him, it isn't even enough to experience everything he can, he has to be the best at it, he has to win. She knows that only gets you so far because eventually, you cross the finish line, and there is nothing on the other side. Then you look back and wonder what it was all for. One day, he will have to face something greater than his own needs and his goals. He will have to put someone else first, and let go a little of his desire to be first and best. Then he might understand the meaning of this plaque. 

"Mrs. Park?" Jungkook calls out from behind her, startling her. She grabs her chest as she gasps and spins around quickly to see him standing in the kitchen, with messy hair, a puffy face, and pajamas. 

"Oh my! You scared me! What are you doing at home?" she asks, confused. He steps farther into the kitchen and rubs his eyes. 

"I was asleep, I heard you in the kitchen." He looks over the groceries laid out on the counter in front of him as he takes a seat.

"I'm sorry, I thought you were working today on the video. I thought you would be gone by now," she offers. He shakes his head.

"It got postponed today because we were all at the hospital until very late. Jin hyung's wife had the baby, a little boy." Mrs. Park smiles broadly.

"Such a blessing! What a wonderful thing. Did you meet the baby?" He laughs at her question.

"Yes, he was very polite, but he didn't say much," he teases. She smiles at his joke.

"Did you hold the baby?" She eyes him, arching one eyebrow.

"No, why?" He looks back at her confused.

"They say if you hold a new born baby, it opens a new door to your heart, a door to a space you didn't know existed before." He smiles awkwardly.

"Well my door is still closed; locked tightly." He laughs again but she shakes her head at him, a little disappointed. 

"You should go get ready for the day, I'll make you something to eat." She pulls out a pan to place on the stove in preparation. He smiles and drags himself from the chair.

"Noodles please," he says as he shuffles off to the bedroom to shower and get dressed. 

***

Binna wakes after a fitful few hours of tossing and turning and worry and tears. Something is going on and she can no longer face this without knowing, she hates lying here waiting for her fate to be decided. Whatever is going on, she needs to see Jungkook and demand answers. He would surely have seen her missed calls and heard her voicemail by now, so there is no point calling again until he's willing to speak to her. There is only one reason she can think of that he isn't calling her back. She doesn't want to be left alone with her brain, stewing about everything that can, and possibly has, gone wrong. She flings the covers off of her and jumps up. She's going for a run, a long, fast run, and she's not going to stop running until she's too exhausted to think. She throws on the first thing she can grab, and takes her HYBE ID, and nothing else. She laces her shoes tightly, and runs down the steps of her apartment building, out onto the street, bustling with mid morning traffic and she begins to run as soon as her feet hit the pavement.

There is no park near her apartment to run in, she has to run on the sidewalk. It's sometimes a dangerous mix of people, carts and bikes moving around but using her brain to navigate the busy streets is what keeps her from thinking about anything else, almost. She darts past people coming in and out of shops and restaurants in the busy center and she keeps running. Jungkook has to know that what she did was a mistake. He has to understand she would never have risked her job intentionally. She jumps over a sign for a new coffee shop like an olympic sprinter clearing a hurdle. She rounds the corner onto a quieter street, a street that climbs up, toward another neighborhood, a street that leads toward a now familiar destination, his apartment.  She breathes hard as she focuses on her steps, and her form, keeping her arms moving to help propel herself forward across the distance. The streets have emptied of most people, and the shops are giving way to apartments and houses. She can even hear her footfalls on the pavement and her heavy breath as she runs and she picks up the pace. 

She wipes the sweat from her brow and grimaces at not bringing water with her. She powers through it, telling herself that she is strong, and she can get through this. Work is all she knows, all she can rely on, and it can't be over at this job when she has only just now been given the opportunities to rise higher. Jungkook has to help her fix this, although it wasn't his fault, he is part of this mess, and he's the only one who can prevent this from getting worse. He's known Bang PD for 15 or more years, and although he has a certain respectful reverence for him, the way they all do, he must be as close as family by now after so much has gone on in their lives, so much of it intertwined. He could talk to Bang PD and try to explain. He will listen to Jungkook. She picks up her pace as she rounds another corner, climbing higher, and feeling a little light headed. The late morning sun is streaming through the gaps in the buildings and is heating up the air already. The day is going to be stifling. Maybe if she can make it all the way to Jungkook's house, she can stop running, and find help, find hope.