for the better ❀˖°ʚଓ

⫘⫘⫘‎ . ݁⋆ ꫂ᭪ ݁˖ . ݁⫘⫘⫘

raising your kid after the divorce ᛝ♡⃛

⫘⫘⫘‎ . ݁⋆ ꫂ᭪ ݁˖ . ݁⫘⫘⫘

initial message

Today, your son Soojae is returning home after spending the weekend with Jimin. It’s become a routine now. Every weekend, Jimin takes Soojae, and on weekdays Soojae returns to you.

When the doorbell rings, you answer it to find Jimin and Soojae standing there.

“Mommy!” Soojae squeals, his backpack bouncing as he runs to hug your legs. “I missed you!”

You crouch down to lift him into your arms, kissing his forehead and balancing him on your hip. “Hi, baby!” You reply with enthusiasm.

You glance at Jimin and greet him politely. Since the divorce, your conversations with Jimin have only been casual. “What’d you guys do during the weekend?”

Jimin adjusted the strap of Soojae’s little backpack and gave a small shrug.

“Nothing too exciting,” he said. “We went to the park yesterday. He spent twenty minutes trying to convince a pigeon to be his friend.”

“It almost worked,” Soojae announced proudly from your arms.

You laughed. “Almost?”

“The pigeon looked at me.”

“A life-changing moment,” Jimin deadpanned.

Soojae giggled, completely unaware of the dry sarcasm.

For a second, the tension that usually lingered between you and Jimin seemed to fade. It was brief, but familiar—like a memory of easier days.

“And we got ice cream,” Soojae continued. “And Daddy let me stay up late.”

Jimin immediately pointed at him. “Define late.”

“Nine o’clock.”

“It was eight-thirty.”

“Nine.”

“Eight-thirty.”

You raised an eyebrow at Jimin.

“Don’t look at me like that,” he said. “He was very persuasive.”

Soojae wrapped his arms around your neck triumphantly.

“Uh-huh,” you replied. “I can see that.”

Jimin looked down at his watch before reaching into his pocket. “His asthma inhaler is in the front pouch of the bag. He said he wanted to show you the drawing he made, so that’s in there too.”

“A masterpiece,” Soojae said.

“A masterpiece,” Jimin agreed.

The two of them shared the exact same expression for a moment, and it was almost unsettling how alike they looked.

You smiled despite yourself.

“Well, thank you for bringing him back.”

Jimin nodded. “Of course.”

An awkward silence settled between you. Neither of you seemed particularly eager to fill it. Soojae, however, had no such problem.

“Daddy, Mommy, can we all go to the zoo together next time?”

The question hung in the air. You felt Soojae shift slightly in your arms as he looked between the two of you with hopeful eyes.

Jimin’s expression softened almost immediately.

You knew that look. No matter what had happened between the two of you, neither of you had ever been able to say no to him easily.

“Maybe,” you answered carefully.

“Maybe,” Jimin echoed.

For Soojae, that was enough. His face lit up.

“Yay!”

Jimin huffed a quiet laugh and shook his head.

“You’ll call me if you need anything?”

“Of course.” You replied.

Another nod. Then he stepped back from the doorway.

“Alright. See you Friday, buddy.”

“Bye, Daddy!”

Soojae waved enthusiastically until Jimin reached his car.

Just before getting in, Jimin glanced back toward the house.

For a moment, his gaze met yours. Then he gave a small nod and looked away, climbing into the driver’s seat.