🌺
The mind remembers the words, but the heart remembers how it feels. The mind can forget, but the heart will never.
🌺

Amy's POV

A tall man dressed in a trench coat, hat and mask entered my room. I couldn't see any part of his face.

Social stigma? Depression? Inferiority complex?

Smiling, I greeted him and motioned for him to sit down, and he did so while taking off his hat and mask when I was flipping through the pages in my notebook.

My eyes lifted from the notebook to look at the man, and my heart stopped beating abruptly. I felt as if a train of emotions had just run over me, turning me into a block of frozen solid.

I couldn't move.

I couldn't speak.

I couldn't hear.

My eyes widened, and they wouldn't blink.

My limbs trembled, and my stomach twisted as I forced myself to look away from his intense eyes and his soul-piercing gaze while I nervously kept clicking the pen in my right hand.

Taehyung leaned back in the chair, his gaze not wavering one bit, making me extremely conscious of my every move. I didn't have to look for more than three seconds to notice how ethereally handsome he looked today—as always—but I intentionally avoided eye contact.

Don't look into his eyes. My God! Is he aging in reverse?

My heart was melting and thudding heavily, the beats nowhere closer to human limits, but the pain in my chest overpowered the fluttering of my heart since the bruises inside were bleeding and hurting more. Out of extreme nervousness, I kept biting the inside of my cheeks and lips, and I hated it that he had this effect on me.

We both remained silent for a while, with just the sounds of our breathing and the pen clicking filling up the silence in the room until I let out a long breath to release some of my nervousness and decided to talk first.
"What brings you here?" I asked, looking down at my notebook.

Don't look at him!

"I want to talk to you," he replied in his voice so deep and silky that had literally been my lifeline for so many years.

My skin bristled, and I had chills down my spine hearing his voice in real life, so close after all these years, and the memories that I could never forget in a hundred lifetimes came flooding through my mind in full force.

Sighing, I clutched on to the pen tighter to give some stability to my trembling fingers.

"I want to spend my life with you and MinJun. I want to make up for all the lost time" he said firmly

My eyes shot up to look at him.
"Why now? Did I say I want to spend the rest of my life with you?" The tone of my voice was cold and sarcastic with a strong hint of anger, but I felt he might hypnotize me with his eyes so powerful.

Those eyes made my stomach twirl.

I was so nervous that my voice sounded not like mine, and I broke into a sweat, but I felt chills on my skin too. I looked and felt like a mess although I tried my best not to show it to Kim Taehyung.

Chewing the corners of his lips, he leaned forward and pushed a few pinned papers to me across the table, and I knew what they were.

Calm down now!

"What's this?" I quizzed him, not bothering to touch the papers.

"This is our DNA profiling report. I am MinJun's father," he announced confidently, and I let out a chuckle that was surprisingly dripping with sarcasm.

I KNOW THAT!!

"You know that because these papers told you so? Don't be so sure" I said mockingly

He was shocked, his mouth hung open.
"What do you mean? There was some glitch in the old report. This is the correct one. I got it re-profiled for us, and I totally trust and believe in this. Besides, MinJun looks like a mini me, and it's unmistakable." He shook his head and said with a pout, his voice coming out louder than before.

"Just because he looks like you does it mean he's your son? What if he had looked like me? Would you still have done this? You have always trusted these papers more than me, right?" I asked him sarcastically and tossed the papers back to him

Author's POV

Her questions shot him in the heart like poison darts.

"Amy, I know sorry wouldn't be enough. I have been such a dumb asshole, my behavior was absolutely shitty, and I can't even think of why I was so inconsiderate and inhuman in the past. I hate myself for doing it," he said in a soft voice, his tears ready to fall.

Amy crossed her arms, tilted her head to the side and looked at him mockingly.

Sniffing back his tears, he looked into her magnetic eyes.
"I want to put our pasts behind us and start afresh. I really love MinJun. I love you more, and I don't want to waste any more time. I want us to be happy." He said confidently in a much deeper tone.

She let out an amused chuckle, letting her eyes look away briefly before returning them to his face.
"Huh? Put our pasts behind us? Taehyung, I killed my self-respect trying to empathize with you over a wretched, shitty report. You really don't have any idea of what I've been through, do you?" Her emotions threatened to burst out, but she was trying her best to be strong and hold them back, and his eyes moistened.

Amy leaned forward from her seat and spoke in a grim and cold tone with her burning gaze almost searing him through to the bone.
"I've been all by myself for six years now, Kim Taehyung. I delivered MinJun with no one by my side. If not for Jay and Allan, I wouldn't even be here right now. I've spent my days and nights raising him all alone. I had to be his dad and his mom and everything else in between. You have no clue how hard my life has been. Wherever I went, everyone was so judgemental, treating me like an outcast just because I am a single, unmarried mother. My life has been way harder than you can ever imagine..." her voice grew louder with each word she spoke, and then she stopped for a few seconds, letting out an exhausted sigh. "You know what? I don't owe you an explanation for any damn thing. Just leave already!" Amy's emotions melted out through her eyes in the form of her tears.

Fighting hard the urge to pull her to his chest and give her a comforting, long hug that no kind of words could ever express, he pleaded with her.
"Amy, I really want to make up for everything. Please, will you forgive me?" His puppy eyes pouring out tears endlessly.

Amy leaned back in her chair, covering her face with her hands, hiding her tears from him. She didn't want to cry again. Not in front of him.

Her tears stopped in a while.

She gathered her thoughts, uncovered her face and spoke calmly,
"If you have nothing more to say, you can leave now," she pointed to the door and closed her notebook.

Taehyung's heart fell.
"What? No, I'm not leaving without an answer," he sulked.

"What answer? I'm better off without you. That's the only answer. I don't want you. I'm happy being a single mother. You can leave now" she snapped back

"But I'm not better off without you. I've been going through hell as well. In all these years, there's not a single day that passed by without your thoughts. I had no clue what was going on in your life. I lived like trash... please let us live happily, Amy," he pleaded in a shaky voice, his tears dripping down his face.

She shook her head.
"But you chose to do this to us. I always thought it was you, and I wanted you to be the one, but you never wanted me to be the one for you, did you? You killed us, Taehyung. My head hurts, please leave now!"

Taehyung leaned forward and asked her in his deep voice.
"Tell me something. Why are you still wearing this bracelet and the engagement ring if you're better off without me?" He pulled the last straw hoping it would work.

Her eyes widened. She glanced at his wrist and saw that he was still wearing the bracelet too, which he hadn't returned to her along with the bag of other things that he sent her away with on that cold evening in the park—along with a mind full of memories and a bleeding heart on that dreaded evening of their breakup.

Every word he spoke was still fresh in her mind, and time wasn't healing her wounds.

"Do you want them back?" She asked him instantly, her face devoid of any expressions.

He was shocked and dumbfounded.
"No, I don't. I want you back." He pouted and leaned forward resting his elbows on the table, his eyes not leaving hers for even a second.

He was being so cheesy that she almost smiled amidst all the chaos.

Amy looked away from Taehyung, but using the moment of silence to his benefit, he quickly stretched his hand and grabbed her hands in his. She was taken aback, her eyes widened, and she tried to pull her hands back, but his hold was strong.

She broke into a sweat when he touched her cold hands, his hands were cold with nervousness, and they trembled terribly, but he held onto her hands for support.

"Amy, look... I'm already regretting having lived my life like this. I'm regretting everything I've done to you and MinJun. Please don't make things harder for us," he said in a more solemn tone.

"Am I the one who is making it hard for us?" She raised her eyebrows, her head tilted to one side.

"Please, I want to live the rest of my life with you... please," he pleaded, the only thing on his mind right now was to let her accept him and his apology for the time being.

"Taehyung, I have other patients waiting. Please leave now." She shook her head.

"I'm your only patient today. I've taken care of it already," he said calmly, and Amy almost gasped.

"Amy, I love you," he added in his smoky voice, looking straight into her soul.

Her heart pounded crazily, and within that small corner of her pounding heart, she still loved him—the only man who gave her his love in every form when she had almost lost all hope in true love. Although she wanted to say it back, the wounds made by his words and actions in the past barricaded her words, kicking them back into her throat.

Her hands trembled inside his hands, but he held them tighter. She fought back her tears but couldn't look away from his powerful gaze.

She never hated him after all.

Amy spoke finally,
"I need time to think."

He shook his head and said,
"I don't want to waste any more time being away from you." The intensity and seriousness in his tone made her skin sprout goosebumps.

Amy shook her head again.
"MinJun doesn't even know you. I have to think about everything. He is my only priority in life."

"MinJun and I know each other already. He just doesn't know that I'm his dad. We can tell him now," he declared casually, nodding to himself, completely unaware of what a Herculean task that would be to explain it to a six-year-old who would come up with a million questions unknown to all mankind in less than ten seconds.

Amy opened her mouth to speak, but her words failed her. She slowly withdrew her now sweaty hands from his hands and set them down on her lap, and sat in silence massaging her temples while Taehyung sat looking at her.

"I don't know what to do," she said what was on her mind. She had been thinking about this since yesterday, trying to work out possible scenarios within her head, and she really didn't know what to do.

"How about I move in with you?" He asked with a pout

Amy's doe eyes widened in shock.
"What? You can't. No..." she panicked and shook her head, flat-out rejecting his request.

"Why? I'm his father, and I have equal rights... right? It is unfair that you're getting all of his love," He raised his voice and his eyebrows and pouted.

"But-" she began to say something, but he cut her short.

"I'll go with you today. I brought my stuff along," he smiled broadly and leaned back in his chair.

Things were moving too fast for her liking although, ever since Jimin told her everything yesterday, she kind of expected this impulsive behavior from Taehyung whenever they met.

"I'm not leaving until evening," she protested, and he nodded slowly.

"I can wait," he said calmly, with a soft smile.

With a defeated sigh, Amy buried her face in her hands.

Taehyung's POV

Her tears pierced my heart, shredding it into pieces. I feel so guilty and shameful thinking of all the words I had spoken, and every foolish thing I did in the past.

My heart exploded with joy when Amy agreed to let me live with her and MinJun, well, I took her silence for a yes. I feel ecstatic. She is so forgiving, an angel so precious to me. How did I even survive all these years without her? I want to hug her tight and promise her that I'm here to stay and never leave ever again.

I decided to sit around and look at her the whole day, the sight that only the eyes of my mind were seeing all these years. Resting my chin on my upturned palm, I kept my eyes locked on her. She looked at me briefly and then quickly looked away, blushing lightly.

Amy fiddled with her phone for a while without looking at me. I didn't mind though. I loved being near her, having all her attention to myself and giving her all of my unhindered attention.

Almost an hour passed.

I looked at the clock, and it was 11:30 am. Leaning back in my chair, I decided to bless my eyes by just looking at her. She knew that I was looking at her and purposely avoided any eye contact with me. I couldn't help but smile at her cuteness.

I was studying her carefully with my intense eyes.

Amy looks just the same as she did six years ago, not like a penguin, of course. She is weaker and paler than before though, and she has definitely lost weight. Her arm has the scars from the surgery. I couldn't see the scar on her head, and she has her hair shorter than before, but it suits her so well, and it is still super silky, and she has her usual light makeup and simple delicate jewellery—everything that I've always loved about this woman.

I admired every inch of her, every single move of hers, everything that I've missed so much in all these years. I saw the elephant moles on her left arm and smiled to myself thinking of a random night in bed when I told her that we were a match made in Heaven because we had matching moles on opposite arms that connected perfectly when she sat or slept on my right.

Her slender fingers had only the engagement ring from more than six years ago. Nothing much had changed about her appearance. Her eyes were still magnetic, and her lips looked so inviting, and I had to fight hard and resist the urge to ogle at her face and her lips and not crash my lips on hers right away.

I want to kiss her for the rest of my life, until our breaths cease. I want to meet her collarbone mole. I want to see her smile and laugh so that I could see her cute little dimple and the lone crooked canine tooth. I want to hear her cute giggles, soft whispers, sleepy good nights, passionate moans...I missed everything about her even though she sat right across the table. Taehyung ah! Don't screw up again. Don't make any wrong moves. If you try to get physical right away, it will seem so so wrong. Let her ease in and accept you fully.

I mentally comforted myself that I could earn my way back into her heart with my actions.

She got up and went to the bathroom, and I observed how slim and curvaceous her body was, and her hips were a bit wider now, making her so attractive.

We could have had a family of at least three kids by now if we hadn't wasted all these years because of my foolishness and impulsiveness. For the amount of love we shared, we could've had even four kids by now. Precious years gone waste.

Regretting my life decisions

However, we had MinJun now, and I had Amy back. I felt thankful for the blessing I received.

She came back from the bathroom and looked at the clock and then at me.
"Taehyung, this feels so awkward. Can you leave?" she complained.

"I'm not leaving without you," I said firmly, leaning back in my seat and crossing my legs.

Sighing deeply, she asked me,
"Can I drop you at home and come back then?"

"You don't live at Songpa-gu anymore?" I asked her the obvious, and her eyebrows lifted in surprise.

"You went there?" She asked, folding her arms under her chest.

"I did," I nodded sheepishly.

She nodded too.
"I bought an apartment and moved in there four years back."

Whoa! Really?

"Wow! That's amazing..." I said, my voice mirroring the surprise on my face.

Amy half smiled and reached out for her bag to fetch the keys.
"So I'll drop you at home and come back,"

"Why do you have to come back? You don't have any other patients anyway," I shrugged, quoting a logical reason to keep her to myself for the rest of the day until junior returned from school.

She let out a frustrated sigh.
"Arrghh... fine! But I don't want to leave here with you. You wait downstairs. I'll be there in a while." She said, and I smiled and left the room without wasting another moment.

Amy's POV

Taehyung left my room, and I collapsed in my chair, my head reeling from the events of the day.

His chair.

Oh my freaking GOD! He just apologized and came back to me after all these years? He wants to move in? Whoa! Whoa! Calm down!

My mind is still struggling to process the events that unfolded here today.

His words seem really genuine, but it still hurts me so much and kills me that he trusts the report more than he trusted me.

Where the hell did I bury my self-respect and pride? Did I even have any of those to begin with? He just rips my soul out just like that.

Thankfully, Jimin already prepared me for this, so I handled it pretty well.

What would I tell MinJun? He knows Taehyung already, but he would ask a million questions if Taehyung lived in our house. How can I trust Taehyung and tell MinJun that he is his dad? Will he be with us forever?

My mind was a confused mess, but I decided to take it one step at a time, and I wanted to make it clear to Taehyung that I was doing this only for the sake of my son—our son.

Gathering all my stuff, I informed the floor manager that I would be taking the rest of the day off and left.

As I stepped out of the building, my eyes automatically moved to the spot where he always usually parked his car. He had come in a different car today, and he was waiting for me leaning on his car with his hands folded under his chest.

My heart fluttered wildly as I went up to him, and with a bright smile he opened the car door for me to get in.

"I'll go in my car. You can follow me in yours," I schooled my expression to a more stoic one, completely in contrast to the jitters within my heart. The mask and his hat revealed only his arrestingly captivating eyes that were piercing through my soul since morning.

"You have a car? Okay, then... I'll follow you," he nodded with a sly smile.

»»-----　⚜　-----««

Phew!
🥵

And, no. Don't judge Amy for giving him a chance. She has her reasons.
💕