Chapter 68 - What Remains

Two days after the verdict was announced, the sky opened up again. It rained softly, almost silently, as if even the rain didn't want to interfere with the new beginning. Yuna was drawing at the table, immersed in her crayons. She was drawing a house. The same one as always, but now bigger, with a garden, a cat on the roof, and three people inside—holding hands.

Jungkook watched her from the kitchen. His heart still couldn't get used to the idea that they could breathe without fear. He felt like a man who had been underwater for a long time and had just begun to breathe deeply. Even though his body was still sore, something inside him had relaxed. Something that had previously been tense, ready for a blow, for loss, for the taking away of what was most important.

Jimin sat at the piano. He hadn't touched the keys in weeks. Now, as he lifted the lid and ran his fingers over the white and black keys, it sounded like a return to himself. Note by note, slowly, without haste, with gratitude. Jungkook sat down next to him, silently, not disturbing him. He was just there. And that was enough.

“Do you think we can do it?“ Jimin asked quietly.

“We don't have to prove anything anymore,” Jungkook replied. “Now we can just live.”

That day, the three of them decided to go to Yuna's favorite café, the one where she always got a star-shaped cookie. The waitress recognized them immediately. She gave them a warm smile but said nothing. She simply showed them to a table by the window. It was their moment. They sat as if it were an ordinary day. And yet there was something special about it—a sense of freedom.

Yuna ordered a hot chocolate, which she drank in one gulp. Then she looked through the window at the wet city and asked quietly:

“What now?”

“Now...” Jimin looked at Jungkook. ”Now we can build. Piece by piece. No rush. Just the way we want.”

When they returned, Yuna brought them her drawings and laid them out on the floor. “I wish we had a garden. And a cat. And that you would never be afraid again.”

“We won't,” said Jungkook, kissing her on the top of her head.

In the evening, the girl asked,

“Auntie won't take me away now, will she?”

“No,“ Jungkook replied, crouching down next to her. ‘Your aunt understands that your home is here. And that you're happy.”

Yuna smiled uncertainly. ’Maybe I'll draw her something on a postcard?”

“That would be a lovely gesture,” said Jimin. “Let's do it together.”

The sound of a piano filled the room. Delicate, soft. Yuna walked over and sat down next to Jimin. Jungkook watched them from the kitchen, leaning against the doorframe. And suddenly he felt something he hadn't felt in years — security. Not in a material sense. In an internal sense.

“I used to want a house with a terrace and a big garden,” he said quietly. ‘But today I know that you are my home.”

“Maybe someday we'll have that garden,’ Jimin replied with a smile. ”But we already have everything we need.”

When Yuna fell asleep, the two men sat down on the balcony. The city whispered beneath them. You could feel the beginning of spring—not in the temperature, but in the air, in that strange lightness after a long cold spell. The lights in the windows looked different. They weren't scary. They weren't accusatory. They were just the lights of other people who maybe also love, fear, and struggle.

“I want to remember something from all this,” said Jungkook. ‘Not just the pain and fear. Something real.”

“Remember what's left,’ replied Jimin. ”Because we haven't lost everything. We've gained something that will last forever.”

“Family?”

“And each other.”

From the balcony, they could see the lights of the neighboring houses. And although those lights had previously caused anxiety, now they meant one thing: we are not alone. We simply are.

In the background, the wind moved the curtains. The piano was silent, but the melody Jimin had started earlier continued to play—somewhere deep between their hearts.

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Chapter 69 - New Plans

Three days had passed since the verdict was announced, and the silence after the storm was still new. The house smelled warm—pancakes, raspberry tea, children's shampoo. Wordless music trickled from the radio, and Jimin—for the first time in a long time—hummed under his breath as he ironed Yuna's small shirt.

Jungkook sat on the floor with a photo album. He was looking through old photos—ones from Yuna's childhood, from her first birthday, from an autumn walk when Jimin was still “the piano man” to them. He stopped at one: Yuna snuggled up to Jimin, and he was kissing her on the top of her head. It was shortly after she had started to really warm up to him.

“Have you ever thought about leaving?” he asked suddenly.

Jimin looked up from his ironing. ”Where?”

“I don't know. Maybe somewhere where no one knows us. Where no one looks. Where no one judges.”

Jimin didn't answer right away. He crossed the room and sat down next to him. “I've thought about it. But now... I don't think we need to run away. We can start everything here. On our own terms.”

Jungkook nodded. “But I want Yuna to have more. A place where she can run around on the grass, have her own tree house, build tents out of blankets and laughter.”

Jimin smiled. ”You're talking about a home.”

“Yes. A real one.”

That evening, they sat down at the table with a notebook. They wrote down everything they wanted to happen. “Live in a house with a garden.” “Find a school that loves children for who they are.” “Take Yuna to the sea.” “Make an album of every year together.”

Yuna joined them with a crayon. “And I want a cat. And a wall I can draw on. And for you not to be sad when I think about Mom.”

They paused. Jungkook looked at Jimin, then at his daughter. “We're not sad, sweetheart. We just loved her very much. And now we love you. And each other.”

“I'll draw it.” She sat down solemnly and began to sketch three hearts—one large, one medium, and one smaller. ”That's us. But together.”

Then they understood that the future didn't have to be perfect. It was enough that they would be together.

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Chapter 70 - Promises Made in Whispers

When Jimin woke up that day, the sky was steel gray. It wasn't raining, but the world looked like it was waiting for rain. He got up first, put on a warm sweater, and quietly went down to the kitchen. He made coffee for himself and tea for Jungkook, placing the cups on a tray as carefully as if it mattered.

Jungkook got up later. He sat down at the table with a newspaper he wasn't reading, staring into the distance. Jimin sat down next to him and handed him a mug.

“You looked like you were gone today,” he said quietly.

“I was thinking about her.”

“Haneul?”

“About Haneul. About what our world would look like today if it weren't for her decisions. But also... if it weren't for ours.”

Jimin took his hand. “I wouldn't change a thing.”

“Me neither. But I'm still afraid that something will surprise us. That we won't be ready.”

“Then we'll hug and wait it out.”

Yuna ran into the kitchen with wet hair and a smile bigger than the whole day. “Today is fairy tale day at preschool! I'm going as a kitten!” she shouted and jumped so high that she knocked over the napkin holder.

“Kittens have to eat breakfast,” Jungkook reminded her with a smile.

“Only with milk!”

They laughed for a long time. Then Jimin zipped up her costume, and Jungkook tried to draw whiskers on her cheeks. When they left for kindergarten, passersby smiled at them. And no one judged them. Just ordinary, human kindness.

In the evening, when Yuna fell asleep cuddled up with her stuffed cat, Jungkook and Jimin sat down on the sofa under a blanket.

“Tell me something you've never told anyone,“ Jimin asked.

“I'm afraid I don't deserve all this,” Jungkook replied quietly. “You guys. This home. This second chance.”

Jimin was silent for a moment. Then he leaned over and kissed him on the forehead.

“Then I'll tell you something you've never heard before: you deserve it.”

And that was a promise. One that didn't need to be sworn. Because it was made in a whisper. And whispers build true closeness.

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Chapter 71 - A quiet day

Sunday came without haste. There were no plans, no to-do lists. Just the smell of coffee, soft sheets, and Yuna, who for the first time in a long time came to her parents' bed by herself, squeezing herself between them with her cat in her arms.

“Are we doing anything today?” she asked.

“Absolutely nothing,“ said Jimin, burrowing deeper under the covers.

“Not even cooking?” she asked seriously.

“We can order pizza,” replied Jungkook with a smile.

The whole day passed peacefully. They read books. They did puzzles. They watched cartoons that Yuna already knew by heart. And when the afternoon came, they sat down together at the table and drew. Yuna suggested that everyone draw “their heart.”

“But not like in a book! Just how you feel it.”

Jimin drew a piano with roots growing out of it. Jungkook drew an open hand with three lines. Yuna drew three houses connected by a thread.

When they were done, she stuck their drawings on the refrigerator. “Now you know. This is our heart. It will always be here.”

In the evening, while she was asleep, Jungkook leaned against Jimin's shoulder.

“This is what happiness looks like, right?”

Jimin nodded. “Let's keep it that way.”

Nothing happened that day. And that was the most important thing.

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