HYUN [ JJK ]

50

Jeongguk leaned against the railings, followed by Jaehwa who proceeded to copy his action. A part of him still couldn't believe with what happened today—from sending Hyun to the foster care for good and finally having the guts to subtly confess to Jaehwa, everything just felt so surreal yet for the first time in forever, Jeongguk wished they weren't just a part of his dream.

He inhaled the night air deeply, loved how humid the breeze was as it brushed against his exposed skin. The transition from winter to spring—Jeongguk had always loved this phase the most. He loved to experience the gradual increase of temperature, the melting of snow and the way the bud on tress started to grow again. But this year's spring wasn't all about him and those—this year's spring was more than special that he himself couldn't believe that many things had changed far from his imagination.

Jeongguk stole a glance at the girl leaning next to him, a small grin crept onto his face when he saw her hugging her upper body, probably trying to endure the coldness which started to pierce her skin. The first time he met her, Jaehwa was no different from those girls who annoyed him with their characters—a drama queen, constantly pestering him with her nosiness and her judgemental side. As a babysitter, Jaehwa cared too much for Hyun, cared too much for the baby's wellbeing to the point she would butt into Jeongguk's life without a slight hesitation, didn't bother if her action would annoy Jeongguk or not.

But thanks to her, Jeongguk learnt a lot. He learned way too much that he himself couldn't recall what they were, probably would take a whole night for him to list down how Hyun and Jaehwa changed his entire life. Nevertheless, Jeongguk was grateful that he went through the drastic change of his life with someone who could stand his personality.

Funny how he didn't notice how he started to fall for Jaehwa. Maybe Hoseok was right after all. To love someone, you must know them because falling in love is not all about admiring. It's about timing and accepting each other's flaws. That's what that happened between Jeongguk and Jaehwa—they had seen each other's flaws, yet no one ended up backing away.

"What if Jimin suddenly wants Hyun back?" Jaehwa's question snapped Jeongguk out of his thoughts. She huffed, looking at Jeongguk with a look of concern painting her fair complexion.

Jeongguk smiled, nonchalantly taking a step to decrease the gap between their body, only stopped when their shoulder brushed against each other's. Being someone who's inexperienced in love, he wondered if this was what people had been saying about falling too hard, to the point a small thing like that could cause his stomach go haywire, as if a riot was happening inside him. "Once I get the custody, Jimin will lose all the parental rights and responsibilities. He won't be able to claim Hyun but if he wants to see him, of course I will let him. No matter what happened, Jimin is still his father. Isn't that what you told me before?"

Jaehwa scoffed playfully, rolling her eyes out of habit. "You suddenly sound so mature. I feel like I'm standing next to a stranger."

Silence then took over the scene, with none of them knowing what should be talked about. Jeongguk had never foreseen them to be so speechless (for them to have a habit to talk a lot or bicker almost all the time) and now, he regretted his decision to drop by a park before sending her home. He planned to inhale some fresh air while getting rid of the wall of awkwardness that was built after what happened at the gazebo, yet everything seemed to happen the other way around now.

"About what happened earlier today..." Jeongguk's breath stuck at the back of his throat when Jaehwa brought the topic up. Maybe she too, was tired of beating around the bush and having silence engulfing the two of them that she had no choice but beating Jeongguk to it. "Did you... mean it? I mean, I don't want to get the wrong idea." She forced out a chuckle, only to look away from Jeongguk on the next second.