I smile and stare into his eyes, and he brushes some strands of hair behind my ear, holds the side of my face, and he inches closer to kiss my lips. I do not let him break it but make sure we keep kissing, and he does it with sweetness.

Our lips embracing each other, hugging each other, we passionately show love to one another and share a moment of intimacy.

— Next day —

Saturday, September 11th, 2021.

10:50 am.

The sound of the doorbell ringing, some happiness runs through my body, and I look at Jungkook walking up towards it. He opens the door, and the warm, joyful voice of Cherry brings me a lot of delight. "Good morning," he gives a bear hug to Jungkook, Jun staying close to me and wondering who this is. "Good morning. How are you doing?" he returns the same amount of care and closes the door, greeting him with a bright smile. "I'm doing good, and you?" he takes his shoes off and glances in our direction, and my lips curve up. "I'm doing good."

I stand up to greet him as well and hold Jun in my arms, and Cherry walks up to us after putting a bag down on the floor. "Hello, sweetie! I missed you so much," he holds my face with both hands and pecks my cheek. "And look at this adorable baby boy," his eyes sparkle in front of my shy son, and with a lot of delicacy in his gesture, he touches his cheek to caress it. "What is your name, honey?"

He does not dare to speak but sets his eyes on me, answering with some apprehension at the sight of a stranger. "He's too shy to talk yet," I reassure Cherry so that she does not worry about his behavior, and he understands. "Aw, it's alright. He's just a cute boy," he becomes very soft for him, and I smile, unceasingly. "How are you doing though? Are you feeling better?"

"I do. I'm doing great here with Jungkook," I peek at the one who came closer to us, and Cherry lays eyes on him as well. "I'm proud of you. You're an amazing man."

Some fluster gets expressed on his face, and he glances at me. "Aw, he's shy too," Cherry teases him about it, and I laugh, but Jungkook smiles and pulls his hair back. "I'm not. You're complimenting me too much, that's all," he gives a reason, making eye contact with me a lot, and Cherry clicks his tongue. "You'll never be too complimented. You deserve much more than that."

"Whatever, do you want something to drink?" he attempts to avoid the subject and not have to hear more about it, and Cherry notices. "Hm. Some water, please."

"I'm coming back with it," he flees away, and I invite Cherry to sit down on the sofa with me. "How is it going at the nightclub these days?" I curiously try to know what is happening over there, and he does not show any negativity. "It's going well, I mean, some V.I.P's are asking for you, but it's going well overall."

"Great," I feel some relief, despite how much I wish he would not have to work there anymore. "And...Is Sookyung not bothering you?" I dare to bring up, but Jungkook comes back. "Here you are," he hands him the glass of water, and he grabs it and already clears her throat with it as Jungkook sat down next to me. "He's not. I made it clear that I didn't know where you are, so he left me alone."

"Oh, okay. I hope he won't annoy you again," I mean my words, feeling pretty surprised to know that he has not harassed anyone to find me and Jun. This is better like this.

•••

11:30 am.

"Do you want to color this one?" I point my finger at one drawing after turning the pages of my baby's coloring book, and he nods and grabs his pencils to get ready. I let him have enough room to draw in a comfortable position, and I take a look at the door behind which Jungkook and Cherry are having a talk. I wonder what this is about. I wonder if this is about me, about Sookyung, or about Jungkook, I do not know, but I cannot eavesdrop, so I can only wait until tonight to ask him what this was about.

'JUNGKOOK'S P.O.V'

"I know how she is feeling, Jungkook, but you need to talk about it to the police. I'm getting scared of him, and I don't know when he'll stop this," Cherry explains all that is happening, all that I was aware but fearful of. "Stop going to work and live in my house, this is the best thing to do now," I suggest her to do, knowing that y/n is not ready to talk about it to the police and deal with the exhausting process. "He won't find you since he knows I'm not there anymore."

"He's a fucking psycho, Jungkook. I'm not worried about me, but the three of you," she does not calm down, exposing way too much worry, which affects me. "No one other than you knows about this place, Cherry. He won't know. What has he told you though? Did he talk to you again these days?"

"Two days ago, he called me in while I was working. At first, he was just serious and pretty harsh, he told me that I should be very sure of what I am doing and telling him because if he ever gets to know I lied to him about you, he'll make sure I pay for the consequences, but I stood my ground and said I didn't know because you never told me. After that, he asked me to spur you to tell me where y/n is and if stuff like that. He even tried to make me believe Jungkook was the one who manipulated her into thinking he was the bag guy and some bullshit like that," she does not hide anything from me, letting me know what is happening, and I raise my eyebrows.

"He knows he's gonna lose everything if y/n speaks up, so he's freaking out," I state, with confidence. "Yeah. I can't wait to see him in jail."

"I'll talk about it with y/n soon, but I don't want to rush her or seem like I'm forcing her. So, I'll wait until she tells me that she is ready, this is very important," I move away from my desk chair to stand up, and I head towards the bag Cherry brought. "I know. It's been really hard for her...I just want it to end so that she can live peacefully."

"I want the same, trust me," I take the envelope out and get it in the lower drawers of my desk. "Don't forget to not open it," she reminds me, and I nod. "I know, I hope it will be useful if he doesn't accept to take a DNA test."

"He won't accept it," she affirms what I am aware of, and I lean back on the side of my desk. "I know, but he'll be convinced no matter what he does, so I don't care anymore."

"What will he be charged with though? How many charges do you think there will be?" she sits down on the sofa to not be on her feet anymore, and she crosses her legs. "Well, statutory rape will for sure be one of them. Then, it depends, unfortunately. Since he got her pregnant when she was sixteen, and that it will be proven, this might also be a misdemeanor, or felony, or unlawful sexual intercourse with a minor. There will also be sexual assault, sexual molestation, maybe foreplay offense. I can't cite them all, but he will pay for sure."

"What about child prostitution?" she adds one more, but I shake my head. "No, because from what she told me, he waited for her to be eighteen to make her become sexually active with the clients, before that, she was only serving, cleaning, and doing some paperwork."

"Ah," she sighs and runs her fingers through her hair. "Don't worry, there will be so much against him that we will be satisfied with the result because we have to add the physical assault, and I took some pics when she still had them on her body, so I'll get her the best lawyer, and we won't have to worry about anything."

"I trust you," she smiles, and I do it too, hoping for this conversation to become true one day. I only want this whole matter to come to be over so that y/n can move on and recover. "I'm glad to see her with you, she looks healthy and happy, and I can tell that she feels safe around you. I knew you'd be the one for her."

"Thank you," I lower my eyes, not knowing how to respond to this. She knows how much this means to me. "I'm trying my best, I love her."

Her lips turn up even more for her blissful expression to brighten, and I feel some delight spread through me to release the tension.

"How is your relationship going now?" she plays with her long hair nonstop, seeming very interested in knowing more about us, and I gladly talk about what means a lot to me. "We grew much closer. I can feel that she is more comfortable with physical contact, but we haven't really had the 'talk'. I'm waiting because I feel like asking her to be my partner might make her feel like she will be trapped again, I don't know, I'm scared that making it official could scare her."

"I see what you mean," she gets what I am talking about, and I feel a bit better about it. "You have all the time you need now anyway, so everything's fine."

"You're right," I agree, loving the sound of this sentence.

— Three weeks later —

Friday, October 1st, 2021.

8:30 am.

"Are you ready?" I check on y/n before going out, holding Jun's hand, who is waiting as well, and she nods. "Yes," she smiles and hurries towards us, and she holds Jun's other hand to leave the house. We step out to go shopping together for the first time, and I lead them to my car.

I unlock the doors, and I let y/n get in the front to put Jun in his seat. For some reason, he gazes up at me once I fasten the seatbelt, and he pokes my neck with his finger. "What is that?" his small voice escapes his small body, and I smile. "Tattoos," I answer him, and he brings his big eyes down to my hands, but he touches one the same way and holds his plushie away. "And this?"

"Tattoos too," I tell him and move my hands back. "But you're too young to get those, honey."

"Too young?" he questions me a lot, being way more talkative than in the beginning. "Yes, you'll have to wait until your eighteenth birthday, so in a long time," I do not close the door yet in case he wants to talk more. "Oh, but why?" he hugs the Pikachu I offered him, his favorite other plushie sitting next to him. "Because it's too painful for babies, honey."

"Ah, okay," he does not complain or disagree, and I laugh but finally close the door to join them and sit on the driver's seat. I take my keys out and slide them in, and put my seatbelt on to turn the ignition on. "Are you ready to go?" I peek at Jun, and he nods, enthusiastically. "Yay."

"Alright, let's go then," I drive backwards to leave the driveway, and I leave the house.

30 minutes later...

"Look at those cookies, do you want them?" I grab one of the boxes and get Jun's attention, and as expected, he does not refuse. "Yes, please."

I smile and put it in the cart, and y/n never leaves my side, seeming very vigilant, nervous in public. I keep my eyes on her for a moment and touch her hand to hold it, getting her to glance at me, and I draw her in to place her right in front of the shopping cart. I let her move it so that she focuses on Jun, who will talk enough to keep her mind away, and I walk by her side.

"Mommy," he heaves his hands up to her face and touches her cheeks. "Yes, baby?" a smile grows on her face, and I feel the same form on mine. "Can I have a kiss?"

She leans in and presses a kiss on his lips, then on his cheek, on the other one, and she pampers him with kisses but causes him to giggle in one of the most adorable ways. "I love you, my baby."

"I love you too, mommy," he replies and stretches his arms out to her, asking for a hug. She does not rebuff him but takes him in her arms, and she holds him so that he can always stay close to his mother. He is so attached to her, way more than a child of his age should. He is so dependent on her that whenever she is a little too far away from him, he cries and gets scared.

"Let me push it now," I chuckle and get the cart back to take care of it, and she stays near me. "What do you want to eat for dinner today?" I ask her, and she purses her lips. "I don't know. Are you hungry for something?"

"Some japchae," I tell her since she does not seem to want something particular. "Let's eat this then."

"And for lunch?" I check the aisle we are in to not miss what I need to buy. "Bulgogi," this time, she picks, and I remember it. "Alright, I'll cook that."

"Is it okay if we pass by the mall afterwards?" I plan on doing something for them both, and she agrees, even shows some eagerness. I cannot wait to shop with them and let Jun pick some new toys.

20 minutes later...

"Have a good day," I bow to the cashier and leave with a bag and the shopping cart, and once we step out of the shop, I move towards the carts to put mine back there, then once it is done, I head to y/n, and we walk to my car.

I already take the keys out of my pocket to unlock the doors and have a glimpse of y/n and Jun, who are having a conversation. When I finally reach my car, I open the trunk to put the bag inside, but the sound of y/n leaving someone's mouth startles me.

"Y/n," the one I heard hurries towards her, and he grabs her arm, scaring her and getting my heart to race.