Toddler - [TAEBIN FF]

Chapter 41

"And when did you meet your... boyfriend?"

"I'm the librarian at Juhyeok's school," Soobin replied.

"I met him when I got into detention," Juhyeok answered.

His grandparents looked at him.

"Detention?"

"Yeah. I got into trouble for defending my best friend who was shoved by my classmate. But at least he got punished for what he did to her. And I met Papa too!"

Minjae and Sohee glanced at each other.

He really is our son's son.

They could see Taehyun's little fiery self at that moment. So could their son.

"I'm curious..." Sohee began.

"What?" Taehyun asked.

"Did you break up with Mihye?"

Taehyun clamped his lips together, and glanced at Soobin for reassurance. He nodded and took his hand into his.

"You can do it," he mouthed.

Taehyun nodded, and faced his parents.

"Mom... Dad... do you wanna hear the full story? As to why I ran away?"

His parents nodded.

"We do."

Taehyun inhaled and began.

"You and Mihye's parents didn't approve of our relationship, and put us into arranged marriages. We... obviously didn't want that, so although we weren't even finished with high school, we ran away. Packed what we needed the most and went up to Seoul."

He could still see the people staring at them, two teenagers with bags, on the run, on public transportation in the middle of the night.

"As soon as we arrived, we immediately looked for work to keep our rent up, starting off small with part-time jobs at local shops such as ramen booths or supermarkets. There were many instances when we were nearly evicted, so when Mihye fell pregnant with Juhyeok, I looked for an official profession. And thankfully, the boss of the Seoul Metropolitan Police was kind enough to give me the position as secretary because of my honors classes in law. So... we were ready to take on the challenge, even though we were so young. But... but..."

Soobin grasped his hand tightly.

"What happened?" Sohee questioned, her tone concerned.

Taehyun looked at them with teary eyes.

"Mihye died giving birth."

A profound silence followed.

The elderly Kang couple was just too shocked to speak. Juhyeok was also quiet, hearing the story of his parents for the first time.

"What?!?" Minjae exclaimed after a while.

"Taehyunie..."

"I lost her just a few minutes after holding my son in my arms for the first time."

"Why didn't you contact us?!" Sohee exclaimed.

"I... I was..."

Taehyun glanced at the table.

"I just couldn't bring myself to. I still felt resentment towards you for trying to force me into a marriage with someone that wasn't her. Kai and Beomgyu came up to Seoul to help, but they only did so much. I raised Juhyeok on my own, doing my best to lead a life as just two of us."

His lips began to tremble.

"But... i-it was hard. I missed Mihye terribly. Every night, I would cry about her in my sleep. Living... was torturous, but I knew I couldn't give up. Juhyeok needed me, so I tried my best to be there for him. But being the only one there at home... was not the only emotionally difficult thing. When Juhyeok was enrolled into kindergarten, p-people around us would make disturbing remarks towards him, saying such awful things that no child deserves to hear. They would gossip about me, wondering how I ended up in this position, and where the mother was. He was bullied for it too by the kids. So... I-I tried to look for a mother by going on blind dates... but that simply only resulted in hearing more of those remarks."