The Bonds Between Us

Chapter 2

Hyerin's POV

He said he had to come back to Seoul. But why? After all these six years in which he only spent his time working in Busan, he finally came back.

Why? What did he want? And what was he thinking?

"Why?" I asked him after telling Daehan to go to his room and take a nap, his habit. And whenever we talked about something deep, we never let him hear even once.

"I've got promoted."

"Congratulations."

And that's how our conversation works. And it didn't surprise me at all because he always moved up his level every year with all his efforts and he's really worth it.

We both felt the same way, awkward, careless and emotionless.

Our marriage happened without love and we have been married for six years for our parents' sake.

It was arranged. It was because of his parents' concern about his future. We married because of his parents' love for him. But although it happened, it didn't help them to feel at peace at all.

We married at such a young age and I just threw away my youth because of him.

Six years ago, I was told to marry him by my parents. His parents told me that they wanted to stop him from doing his job.

Jeon Jungkook, my husband, a police officer, is soon to be police chief. His parents owned a big business company but his dream job was being a policeman.

His father tried to go against his dream but nothing could change his mind. So his parents came up with an idea: marry him off and he'd pay more attention to his own family so he would not risk his life in his job.

But those were only their thoughts.

He agreed to marry me after he graduated from university without saying a word to them and I promised my parents to marry whoever they chose for me.

There, I found I made the wrong choice. After the marriage, one week later, he had to work in Busan, so he left for his bureau, leaving me alone in a big apartment which our parents bought for us.

And during our honeymoon, we slept in different rooms because we both confessed that we didn't have any feelings for each other and were intense about marrying. But we promise to keep it a secret from our parents as long as possible.

After that, he was barely home. Sometimes, he made a call and asked if I was doing fine. Once in awhile, he came home for one or two days and went back to work.

Instead of calling him often, I just updated the news or everything about our families through text.

One year later, I worked for his father's company.

And that year, our parents asked us about children's plans and it was awkward.

Flashback

"It's really hard to see you now, Jungkook." During the family meeting, Mr. Jeon said, making the boy raise his eyebrows. Junghoon, Jungkook's brother, nudged his brother's arm to alert him while Hyerin bit her lips nervously.

"This is an important meeting and I hope you'll understand what I'm going to say." He continued with his serious voice.

"Yeobo, don't put pressure on them too much. They're still young." Mrs. Jeon patted her husband's shoulder.

"It's been a year and I don't see anything change about you, Jungkook. So if a wife cannot make you stay home, then have a child." Hyerin suddenly choked at her father-in-law's command. And Jungkook faced palms himself.

"I agree." And there came Hyerin's mother, who also agreed to the idea, making Hyerin sigh hopelessly.

Those two households were full of a traditional culture where young people had to listen to the elders no matter what they said.

Jungkook glanced at Hyerin and sighed.

Somehow, he pitied her for being his wife. At such a young age, she was so patient and mature to handle the loneliness by herself after the marriage without any complaint.

Then they went back to their apartment without saying anything to each other and went into their own room.

Later that night, Jungkook knocked on the door of Hyerin's room and she opened it after a few knocks.

"What?" Her voice was cracked and Jungkook noticed her fluffy eyes.

"We need to talk." He said, pushing the door and going in. She rolled her eyes, closing the door behind her.

"What is it?" Comfortably, she sat on an armchair beside the window while he was on the edge of her bed.

"About what my father said earlier," he mumbled, and she sighed upon hearing it.

"Don't think about it too much. They will be over it and soon they will be tired of waiting." Jungkook said lowly. He tried to tell her not to worry about it but she still had tears in those eyes. She turned away, gulping hard.

"Somehow...I wonder If they care about my feelings..."

"..."

"I agreed to marry you without saying anything. I threw away my youth at such a young age and they don't even care how I am feeling about having a child at this age again..." It was the first time she said those hidden words in front of him.

"..."

"I really have no idea whether they love me or not." Finally, she paused to breathe with tears. Jungkook had his head down. When it comes to girl's tears, he really had nothing to say.

"I'm sorry." He said those unnecessary words and it didn't help her to feel better at all.

"No, it's not your fault, it's not mine either...and not even theirs..."

"..."

"They just want a bright future for us. Your parents just want you to stay home instead of working far from them. And my parents just want me to live well with a good husband who they think you are..." She confessed what she was thinking and it's true.

"But...I'm not..."

"At least...you try your best for our country."

"..." Jungkook nodded his head and they became quiet for awhile.

"Then...good night." He got up and walked to the door.

"Jungkook..." Softly, she said his name and he turned to her. And slowly, Hyerin walked toward him. Jungkook stood there staring at her. Her steps were heavy and her heart beat crazily in her own chest.

"Hyerin..." Unknowingly, her name came out of his lips when she stood in front of him.

"Then...we should give them what they want. Marrying from the first place is our mistake and it's ok to make another mistake." Her lips landed on his after saying those words. Jungkook was dumbfounded as she wrapped her arms around his neck, pulling him down for a kiss.

"Even if without love..." With tears, she mumbled on his lips.

His hands were still by his sides, and they didn't even move an inch until she stopped on her own, feeling embarrassed.

"Another mistake? Then what will you do to that one?" He asked, looking down at her, who had her head down, hands gripped his shirt tight.

"I don't know...I don't know what to do...and I don't know why I am living like this..." Her question made him frown. It sounded hopeless, helpless and lifeless and it concerned him.

His hand slowly reached her chin, pushed it up and his eyes pierced into her teary ones.

"Once we make it, we should be responsible." He said, leaning down to kiss her on the lips. His strong arms circled around her waist, lifting her up and walked toward the bed.

It was the first time they had a passionate kiss ever.

Their hearts shared the same beat, fast and crazy.

And there, l**t emerged without love and that was how they had Daehan...

...The families were happy to hear that Hyerin was pregnant. Both Hyerin and Jungkook also became excited, but the fact they didn't even love each other, they were still hunting them.

While Hyerin suffered from the sickness from her pregnancy, Jungkook was working his head off with the crime cases. So he didn't even have time to be a responsible husband to his wife and his child. And it hurt Hyerin the most, although he tried his best to call her and asked some questions about how she was doing. Sometimes, he visited her when he could, even if it was only one or two days.

Meanwhile, Hyerin told herself to be strong. She embraced herself to be calm and thought only about the child. And she tried her best to comfort her own feelings, to deal with the hardships she was going through without him.

Somehow, those hardships built her strength unknowingly.

The day she was giving birth, Jungkook made it at the last minute when the baby cried for the first time. He felt like his body was about to fly off when he heard the first high pitch of his child's crying, his son. Meanwhile, Hyerin had tears and a smile at the same time as she heard her baby's voice.

Tiredly, she closed her eyes after she made sure he was approaching her and little did she know, he held her hand gently.

Flashback ended

"After all these years, have you decided to come back now?" I asked, looking into space.

"I said we have to be responsible, so I'm claiming it." He lowly said, staring down at his hand.

"I can..."

"He's not a mistake, Rin." Finally, he looked at me in the eyes. Speechless, I blinked slowly.

"He is our son and..." So he still thought that I considered Daehan a mistake?

"After he was born, I never thought he was a mistake either. That's why I try my best to give him love, despite the fact that we had him during the times we didn't have the intention of having him." I explained as he stared at me with a small frown.

"..."

"But he is LOVE now. The love that I will keep all at cost. I don't care about what you want to do next, divorce or separate, I'll make sure to keep him for myself." I ended the discussion by getting up and walked into the room to rest.

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