Chapter 36

"No place like home"

Saturday

The landscape passed by so quickly, that all the colors blended together like paint on a canvas, and Jimin observed it closely as he stared through the car window from the back seat. He felt someone squeeze his hand and turned his head, whereafter met with Ha Na's calm smile. Since they got inside the car earlier this Saturday morning, she hadn't let go of his hand for even one minute.

After things had cooled down the night before, Ha Jun had invited Ha Na to stay at their house for the weekend, as a way to help Jimin relax. Jimin didn't seem too eager that she was going with them, but he wasn't against it either.

Nobody had said anything in the past two hours and they weren't planning to either. Everyone was drained from energy because none of them had been able to sleep through the night.

When Ha Na yawned for the tenth time already, Jimin sighed and gently guided her head to rest on his shoulder. At first Ha Na was startled by the sudden action and her heart immediately started racing, but once she felt Jimin intertwine his fingers with hers, she calmed down and fell asleep without any trouble.

"She is a nice girl," said Ha Jun from the front seat, when he saw Ha Na sleeping through the retrospect.

"Mm," hummed Jimin as a response, not feeling like talking.

"We will be there in about 40 minutes, so just let her sleep until we arrive."

"I will," said Jimin.

"You can sleep too if you want."

"I am not really tired," responded Jimin and looked through the window again, starting to feel familiar with the landscape they passed by. 

It slowly started feeling like home.

When the car came to a halt, Ha Na woke up by the sudden stop and she slowly opened her eyes and found Jimin and Ha Jun in the middle of unloading the car. Feeling incredibly rude to have slept through everything, she hurried out of the car and started helping as well. Only after she grabbed her own bag and started following Jimin towards the house, did she notice the surroundings.

The house in front of her was built from wood, had a black roof and two floors. In the middle of the roof was a skylight and Ha Na wondered if she would be able to see the starry night sky from it tonight. There weren't any neighbors around, the house was sheltered by hundreds of tall trees, which made the house seem incredibly small in comparison. The garden had a few flowerbeds, but they didn't seem very well maintained, along with an old swing which was tied to one of the tall trees. Ha Na started imagining a little Jimin running around this garden, happily playing on the swing while laughing.

Ha Na's thoughts suddenly got cut off when someone touched her shoulder and when she looked up, Jimin was standing next to her with a somewhat impatient look in his eyes.

"Are you coming?" asked Jimin and Ha Na quickly nodded and followed him inside the house.

"Can you show Ha Na to the guest room upstairs? I will go get the rest of the things from the car," yelled Ha Jun while going towards the entrance again.

"Yes," responded Jimin and Ha Na looked at him a little confused, as she hadn't been able to see what Ha Jun just said.

"Just follow me," said Jimin slowly so Ha Na understood, "I will show you to your room."

The old wooden staircase felt wobbly under Ha Na's feet, and she made sure to be careful, keeping a firm grip on the railing. When they got upstairs, Jimin walked down the hallway and then opened one of the first doors which let to a beautiful small bedroom.

"This is your room," said Jimin and showed Ha Na inside. She put her suitcase next to the bed, which she sat down on while looking at Jimin with a smile.

"I love it," signed Ha Na, and Jimin sent her a smile back.

"I am glad," replied Jimin in sign language, making Ha Na's heart beat faster when she saw him signing for the first time in a while.

"Where is your room?" asked Ha Na.

"It is just a bit further down the hall," replied Jimin.

"Can I see it?"

Without replying, Jimin just gave a simple nod and Ha Na immediately got up from the bed and follow him to his room. It seemed like Ha Jun hadn't touched anything since Jimin left, the walls were covered in posters of famous dancers and the bookshelves were filled with movies and books about the art of dancing. Ha Na giggled a bit, imagining a young Jimin standing in front of the TV while trying to mimic the dancers he saw.

"Why are you laughing?" asked Jimin and Ha Na noticed he was blushing a bit.

"Sorry," signed she and stopped laughing, "when we arrived I saw a skylight from outside, what room is that in?" Jimin's facial expression suddenly changed and Ha Na was startled by the depressed look in his eyes, which made her wish she could take back her words.

"It doesn't ma-" Ha Na was cut off when Jimin looked at her with a smile that didn't quite reached his eyes and he asked:

"Do you want to see it?"

Not knowing if it would make things better or worse if she said yes, Ha Na chose to follow her curiosity and simply nodded along. They walked across the hall to a room which seemed just as untouched as Jimin's room and when he opened the door so Ha Na could walk inside, she was blown away by the millions of colors that filled the room. She counted at least thirty canvases when she first took a look inside and many more seemed hidden behind doors in other corners of the room. The floor was covered in newspapers with paint splattered on it here and there. Right next to the skylight was an easel with a canvas on it. It looked half finished with the pallet placed right next to it, but it looked like the paint had dried out a long time ago.

She noticed the name on every one of the canvases. Lee Kyung Hee. She remembered hearing Ha Jun mention that name the night before when he had confronted Jimin. So his mother had been an artist?

"So here it is," said Jimin and opened the window which made Ha Na snap out of her dreamlike state and followed him to look outside. She could see the car that was parked next to the house and the road they arrived from. As she gazed into the horizon all she could see was field after field, a single house could be spotted in the distance, but other than that, only nature surrounded the small wooden house.

"Can we see the stars from here?" asked Ha Na with great enthusiasm and Jimin chuckled a bit.

"Yes we can, do you want to look at the stars tonight?" Ha Na nodded happily, like a child who was just promised her favorite candy.

After closing the window and leaving Kyung Hee's room, they went separate ways to unpack their things. Most of the day went by peacefully, Jimin and his dad seemed to be on good terms and Ha Na was glad Jimin finally had time to rest, but when it was time for dinner, things seemed to heat up a bit.

"You have to eat more than that," said Ha Jun when he saw how small of a portion Jimin had made for himself.

"I am not really hungry," responded Jimin without giving a care, but Ha Jun didn't let him get away that easily and grabbed his plate from his hands and filled it with twice as much food.

"There you go," said Ha Jun when he put the plate down in front of him.

"How am I going to eat all this?" said Jimin after looking at the plate.

"I guess you are just going to have to try," said Ha Jun in a spiteful tone and Jimin clenched his fist in anger, but then felt a warm hand rest on his. He looked to his right where Ha Na was sitting and she sent him a heartfelt smile.

"Just give it a try," signed she, "your dad is just worried about you. And to be honest, I miss your squishy cheeks. So please make sure to eat a lot." After signing, Ha Na put both her hands on Jimin's cheeks and tilted her head to the side while smiling as bright as ever.

After Ha Na removed her hands from Jimin's cheeks, Jimin took a deep breath and then turned to his father again.

"Fine," said he and started eating without any more complaints. Ha Jun looked at Ha Na and wondered whatever she could have told him to make him give in that easily, but instead of worrying about that, he thanked himself for bringing her along and then started eating too.

"I will go practice a bit now," said Jimin after helping his father do the dishes.

"What?" said Ha Jun, "you can't practice right after eating, you will get cramps."

"No it is okay, it has been a while since we ate," said Jimin and looked at his father with a determined look, "I will be okay."

"I still don't think it is a good idea," said Ha Jun with a firm voice, "you came here to relax, so you shouldn't spend time practicing."

"If you make me eat this amount of food for the entire weekend but don't expect me to practice, I will be a laughing stock in the company."

"I don't care, if that is how they treat you then you shouldn't be in that company at all!" argued Ha Jun.

"What? Just because they want me to diet and practice they are treating me badly?"

"You still don't get it, this is becoming both dangerous and unhealthy. I forbid you to practice this weekend."

"You can't do that!" yelled Jimin with fiery eyes. 

"Oh yes I can, I am your father and right now you are under my roof."

"Well then maybe I should just leave!" said Jimin and Ha Jun was about to throw another argument at him, but before he got that far, Ha Na suddenly appeared behind them with a big photo album in her arms.

"Jimin, do you have time," signed Ha Na with one hand while holding the book in the other, "I really want to see pictures of you as a child. Can we look at it together?" Jimin looked at Ha Na who stood with an innocent look in her eyes, seemingly oblivious about the argument that had just taken place.

"Sure I have time," said Jimin and went with her to the living room, but he didn't fail to send Ha Jun a glare before he was out of sight.

As they looked through the photo album together, Jimin glanced outside the window and noticed that it was a clear sky so he gently poked Ha Na on the shoulder while gesturing towards the window.

"Do you want to look at the stars?" signed Jimin, which made Ha Na jump up from the couch in happiness.

"Dad, we are going upstairs to look at the stars," said Jimin and Ha Jun looked up from the newspaper he had his nose buried in.

"Upstairs? In Kyung Hee's room?" asked Ha Jun.

"Yes," answered Jimin while getting up from the couch as well, "is that alright?"

"Y..Yes of course that is alright," stuttered Ha Jun, a bit surprised, "will you... be okay?" Jimin rolled his eyes at his father's question.

"Of course I will be okay, we are just looking at the stars." Without waiting for his father to speak again, he gestured for Ha Na to follow him and they both walked upstairs.

When Jimin opened the window again, Ha Na's eyes widened as she gazed up at the beautiful night sky. She didn't remove her eyes for a long time, simply taking in all the beauty in front of her and Jimin did the same, only he didn't look at the sky, but instead he looked at Ha Na.

"It is beautiful!" signed Ha Na enthusiastically.

"Really? I guess when you grow up in the country side, you kind of take it for granted," responded Jimin, using all the signs he knew, "I am glad you like it."

"Thank you for bringing me here," signed Ha Na, "I was scared... you would hate me even more after I called your dad."

"I was angry," said Jimin and Ha Na held her breath, "but I am not angry anymore. I know you did it to help me." Jimin locked eyes with Ha Na and sent her a smile which she returned. Jimin lost himself in Ha Na's eyes and for a moment forgot both time and space. With dark surrounding them and only the stars being their source of light, Ha Na's eyes felt like a deep sea, gently drawing Jimin towards her in a way he hadn't felt for a long time.

"Thank you for staying by my side," signed Jimin with a mix of happiness and sorrow in his eyes. While waiting for a response, Jimin was startled when Ha Na's thin arms wrapped around him, but her warmth made his heart calm down and he quickly wrapped his arms around her as well.

Standing under the night sky, the young couple held each other more dearly than ever before and just let each other feel the comfort of their warm embrace.

From: Unnie 💕

How are things going? I got really worried when your mom told me you left for the weekend.

To: Unnie 💕

Things are going pretty well, Jimin needed to relax, things were getting out of hand.

From: Unnie 💕

But won't he get back to his old habits when he return to the company?

To: Unnie 💕

I hope he doesn't, but even if he does, his father and I are much more aware of it now, so we'll make sure to keep an eye on him. 

From: Unnie 💕

I'm glad you two are working things out.

Btw, is something up with your brother? He's been avoiding me for over a week now.

Ha Na gulped when she read Jung Hwa's message and internally cursed her brother for not telling Jung Hwa about his transfer yet. It was killing her inside that she couldn't talk to her best friend about it.

To: Unnie 💕

He's probably just busy at work, he hasn't been home much either.

Anyway, any plans for tomorrow?

From: Unnie 💕

Nothing much, just a blind date.

To: Unnie 💕

You're going on another blind date after last time's disaster?

From: Unnie 💕

If I don't go on dates how will I ever find a man?

To: Unnie 💕

If you say so, I'm gonna sleep now. Goodnight

From Unnie 💕

Goodnight

Ha Na put her phone on the nightstand and plugged the charger in, before switching it on silent, so she could sleep without worry. After going through her suitcase, she finally found her pink pajamas which she quickly put on, ready to go to bed as she had already brushed her teeth. While rustling through her suitcase once again, she suddenly felt the presence of someone behind her and when she turned around, Jimin was standing in the doorway to her room.

"Jimin, is something wrong?" asked Ha Na after getting up, not really caring that she only had pajamas on since it wasn't the first time he saw her like that.

"I..." started Jimin, but then looked away while nervously rubbing his neck, "never mind, sleep tight."

"What is wrong!" signed Ha Na before she rushed to Jimin's side and took his hand, which was shaking.

"You are shaking," signed Ha Na and looked at Jimin in concern.

"I just... I was trying to fall asleep but I kept having these thought... they scared me so I just... I felt like seeing you would make me feel better."

"Then stay here for a while, maybe you will calm down a bit," signed Ha Na.

"Can I?" asked Jimin and Ha Na nodded and pulled him inside the room.

After they both sat down on the bed, Ha Na looked at Jimin again and noticed how he was diverting his eyes and seemed to be on the verge of tears. Trying to get his attention, Ha Na waved her hand in front of his face which made him turn around to look at her.

"Are you thinking about your mom?" asked she, thinking back on their time in Kyung Hee's room earlier.

"I..." said Jimin and Ha Na noticed he began shaking again, "I actually haven't been inside her room since she died. It has... been 6 years now."

"Jimin, I didn't know," started Ha Na signing with an apologetic look in her eyes, "I wouldn't have asked you to go in there if I knew. I am really sorry."

"No it is alright, it is just..." Jimin stopped talking for a while and looked at the ceiling while focusing on his breathing, "I am sorry I don't know why I keep feeling like I am about to cry."

"There is nothing wrong about crying." Jimin looked at Ha Na as she signed those words and suddenly felt his tears pushing on even more.

"No... no that is stupid," said Jimin, but the tears had already started flowing, "it has been 6 years... I shouldn't let it affect me... I..." Jimin stopped talking when Ha Na squeezed his hand tighter and looked at him and Jimin suddenly noticed her eyes were also tearing up.

"Seeing you sad, makes me sad as well," signed Ha Na, "but it is okay to cry. It helps you heal. So just let me lend you my shoulder for tonight, okay?" There was a moment of silence as the two just looked at each other, half smiling, half crying, until Jimin then nodded slowly and said:

"Then... just for a little while?"

Hello everyone!

I hope you enjoyed this chapter. Remember to stay warm and eat healthy and take care of yourself. Stay safe.

Also, don't forget to leave a comment down below.

Love, Annalise~