Chapter Text
We’re coming back to Korea on the 15th. Our plane should land some time that morning. Will you be able to pick us up at the airport?
Jeongguk had fucked up. At this point it was just a fact. The sky was blue, the grass was green, and Jeongguk had almost ended his own marriage. So, when Jimin had texted him that he was coming back to Korea, Jeongguk had understandably gone a little overboard. He’d stayed up almost the whole night cleaning the house. He’d showered and shaved for the first time in probably too long. He’d laundered every single piece of clothing in his closet just so it would all smell fresh and then proceeded to spend the next six hours stressing over what he was going to wear. For the first time in four months, Jimin and their daughter would be back on Korean soil and Jeongguk would rather die than mess this up.
In a rare act of self-awareness, Jeongguk had known he’d fucked up the morning after he’d done it, basically as soon as he’d woken up, still incredibly hung over on Seokjin’s couch, and checked twitter. The video had been all over his timeline. Blurry and dimly lit though it was, it was most definitely him, kissing one of the cute Omega song writers from his company on the same couch he had later passed out on. His inbox was completely full, but at the time he’d opened the only message he’d cared about, a single line from Jimin stating, “I’m coming home.”
Jimin had been in Daegu at the time, just a small stop on the tour that his dance company was performing around Korea. It wasn’t a long tour, just a little over two months, which was the whole reason Jimin had agreed to go. They’d talked about it extensively before he’d left, weighing how much Jimin wanted to take this once in a lifetime opportunity versus how much he would miss his mate and their daughter. At the time, Jeongguk had urged him to go, told him that everything would be fine. He just hadn’t realized how lonely he would become.
It was a shitty excuse, he’d known that from the beginning. He’d been tired, working and taking care of their daughter on his own. When his parents had offered to watch Eunmi for the night so he could go to Seokjin’s party and relax he’d eagerly taken them up on it. When Jiyoung, one of the writers who had helped him with his latest album, had leaned in from their conversation and kissed him, he had kissed her back. He was lonely, he was drunk, and in the morning he’d hated himself more than words could say.
Jimin had gotten back into town that afternoon, leaving his dance crew back in Daegu to finish their tour without him. Jeongguk had been at home with Eunmi at the time but Jimin hadn’t even spoken to him as he began rooting around their bedroom, throwing clothes into a suitcase before doing the same thing in Eunmi’s room. Jeongguk had demanded to know what he was doing, growing more and more desperate as Jimin continued his task in silence until he was practically screaming at his mate as he followed him around the house.
“If I even speak to you right now,” Jimin had finally said as he zipped his suitcase closed, “I know I’ll say something that I’ll regret.”
“Where are you going?” Jeongguk had begged to know as Jimin dragged two suitcases and a crying Eunmi out the door all on his own.
“We’re going to stay with my aunt,” Jimin had said, and without another word the two of them were gone.
For four months they stayed with Jimin’s aunt in a small New England town. Jeongguk knew part of it was because Jimin was an easy target for the press, who were all rabid to know what the famous singer’s mate thought about his infidelity. The other part was harder to think about, the part where Jimin couldn’t even see Jeongguk’s face without breaking down into angry tears.
For the first month Jimin refused to take his calls. Once a week Jimin’s aunt would call him so he could talk to Eunmi, but as soon as he began asking after Jimin the call would be disconnected. For the next three months Jimin began sparingly accepting his calls. During that time Jeongguk cried on at least five different occasions while on the phone with Jimin, twice to the point where he actually threw up and had to listen to Jimin’s panicked voice from where his phone had dropped to the floor while his head was stuck in the toilet. They’d mended things somewhat, at least to the point where Jeongguk no longer cried while they were on the phone and Jimin no longer yelled. A month ago Jimin had told him that he was no longer angry, he was just tired and sad, and Jeongguk honestly wasn’t sure if that was worse or not.
Jimin had texted him though, so Jeongguk was here at the airport, two hours before Jimin’s flight was scheduled to land just in case they were early. He didn’t know what Jimin’s plans were once they were back, whether they were actually coming home, whether he was back because he wanted to fix things, but whatever it was Jeongguk was ready to be the best mate he could possibly be. He had spent the past four months in their house drowning in his own scent of loneliness and despair. He was ready for whatever olive branch Jimin was willing to extend, no matter what form it came in.
Once Jimin’s plane was announced to have landed Jeongguk could no longer sit still, a feat that he was barely managing before. He stood near the off-boarding gate and shifted from foot to foot. After hours of agonizing over his appearance he had gone with just a pair of jeans and the soft maroon sweater Jimin had given him, leaving his hair soft and down just like how he normally wore it around the house. As Namjoon often said, there were many faces inside each person, and right now Jeongguk was just a father and a mate and a sad, desperate Alpha and nothing more than that.
He saw Eunmi before he saw anyone else. The five year old was bolting right for him, pigtails bouncing as she squealed, “daddy!” and threw herself into his arms. Even though Jeongguk had crouched down to catch her he nearly toppled over as she barrelled into him, just barely managing to keep both of them upright. Immediately he was surrounded by the scent of milk and honey that all children carried, though this scent had become so foreign to him over the past months that it felt nearly overwhelming now. Jeongguk buried his nose in his daughter’s hair as he held her tightly to his chest, doing his best to hold in the tears that threatened to spill. He’d missed her, god he’d missed her so much.
By the time Jeongguk was standing back up with Eunmi securely in his arms Jimin was walking out of the gate. He looked good, tired, skinnier than when Jeongguk had last seen him, but in Jeongguk’s eyes he was stunning. He had a loose hoodie on and Eunmi’s pink princess book bag thrown over one shoulder but Jeongguk felt like his heart was about to burst out of his chest as Jimin greeted him with a soft, “Jeonggukie,” and gently brushed their cheeks together. It was a casual greeting between mates, as if Jimin had simply been at work all day and now he was home, but Jeongguk felt like he couldn’t breathe, the only thing keeping his knees from giving out being the knowledge that he would drop his daughter if they did.
“Minnie,” Jeongguk’s voice cracked. He wouldn’t cry in the middle of the airport, he wouldn’t . “How was your flight?”
Jimin shrugged. Most of his hair was hidden under a beanie, but from the little bit that stuck out over his forehead Jeongguk could tell he had dyed it back to black. “It was okay. There was a lot of turbulence though, so Eunmi didn’t sleep much.” Which of course meant that Jimin hadn’t slept either.
“We can go home then if you’d like to rest,” Jeongguk suggested, “or we could go eat something- I mean, um, did you eat breakfast on the plane? Like, are you hungry?”
Jimin gave him a small smile. Jeongguk babbled when he was nervous, but it had been years since he had done so because of Jimin. “They had breakfast but we didn’t eat anything.”
Eunmi patted Jeongguk on the shoulder to get his attention. “They had the bread with the cheese in it.”
“Ah, I see,” Jeongguk nodded. She meant that they had pastries with cream cheese, which were one of the many foods that Eunmi still refused to eat. “Well we can go get some breakfast, or we could go home and I could make something. I know we’ve got eggs at least, or if you would rather something like cereal or-”
“We should go somewhere,” Jimin said before Jeongguk could ramble himself hoarse. “We just need to get our luggage first.”
“Yeah, yeah, of course,” Jeongguk agreed. He led his little family down to baggage claim where he insisted on holding Eunmi while also helping Jimin with the luggage. Once they got to the car Jeongguk drove them to a little cafe not far from their house that they sometimes used to frequent on the weekends. They let Eunmi get a small bottle of chocolate milk to go with her banana bread, and Jeongguk and Jimin both picked at a blueberry muffin, neither of them holding much of an appetite. It was nice though, just sitting across from Jimin while their daughter ate and talked about all the movies she watched on the plane ride over, their fingers brushing occasionally while they reached for the same crumbling pastry.
Jimin didn’t talk much as they ate, simply letting Eunmi and Jeongguk fill the silences. Jeongguk could feel his anxiety growing as Jimin remained in silence. There were many reasons for Jimin to not want to talk, he was likely tired and jet lagged, maybe he just didn’t have anything to say, but Jeongguk couldn’t help the way that his mind flooded with insecurities. Had Jimin come home just for Eunmi? Had he done it because he wanted a divorce? Without any reassurances from his mate Jeongguk could feel himself growing increasingly agitated, his heel bouncing under the table, his fingers shredding the napkin in his lap.
On the car ride home Eunmi quickly began to doze, belly full of milk and bread and finally surrounded by both her parents’ scents again. Jimin let Jeongguk put her to bed once they arrived at their house, waving the Alpha off when he insisted he could help with their bags as well. Something settled inside Jeongguk’s chest as he laid his daughter down under her soft pink comforter, inside his home, under his care. His Alpha was no longer lonesome and bereft, mourning an empty nest.
When he came back into the living room Jimin was there, pacing around the place, refamiliarizing himself with it. Jeongguk had been meticulous in his cleaning, there wasn’t a hair out of place, though that left it devoid of any signs of life. He stopped when he saw Jeongguk, his brown eyes tired but open.
Jeongguk swallowed, rubbing his hands together. “I’m sure you want to talk.”
He watched as Jimin’s shoulders slumped, his mouth turned down at the corners. “All we’ve done for the past three months is talk. I just- I just want to be with you right now. If that’s okay.”
Jeongguk bit his lower lip to keep it from trembling. “Yeah. Yeah, of course.”
“I feel like I haven’t been in my nest in forever,” Jimin admitted, but Jeongguk knew even before Jimin entered their bedroom that he wouldn't want to be in his nest. Jeongguk had had to completely strip the room of any scents after he had drowned it in the smell of heartbroken, lonely Alpha. In doing so, the room no longer smelled like either of them, and Jeongguk could read Jimin’s distaste clearly on his face. Their nest would have to be completely rescented before Jimin could rest easily inside, a task that would take more energy than the Omega had at the moment.
They ended up on the couch instead, Jimin’s head pillowed against Jeongguk’s shoulder as he told him to just put whatever he wanted on the TV. For a moment it reminded Jeongguk of when they were back in college, when Jimin would come home from a long day of dance practise and collapse against Jeongguk on the couch, watching him play Smash Bros or Overwatch until he fell asleep and would nap until dinner. This time Jeongguk put on one of those soothing baking shows with the volume down low to help Jimin fall asleep. Tentatively he wrapped an arm around Jimin’s waist, finally relaxing when his mate didn’t protest the touch.
“Mimi,” he asked as Jimin’s eyes began to droop, “you’re- you’re staying, right? You’re not gonna leave again?”
“You know I want to stay, Kkyu,” Jimin murmured, nuzzling into Jeongguk’s shoulder. “Just don’t give me a reason to leave again.”
Jeongguk turned his face into the top of Jimin’s head, taking in his soft vanilla scent as he tried to swallow down the lump in his throat. “I won’t, baby, I promise I won’t. I’m gonna be the kind of mate you deserve.”
Jimin took Jeongguk’s free hand in both of his own so he could play with the Alpha’s fingers. “It’s not about deserve. I just want you to be someone who loves me.”
Jeongguk squeezed his eyes shut. “I do. Jimin, I love you so much, I really do.”
Jimin pressed a soft kiss to Jeongguk’s knuckles. “I know. I believe you.”