Heartfelt Chronicles: Echoes Of Affection
"Hearts Across Eras"— 6
Taeyong didn't realize how much his life would shift when he woke up that morning. It was a normal day, as normal as it could get for Jeon Taeyong. He knew something was odd when he woke up to an email saying money he sent his ex was never received.
That was already unlike her. She promised never to contact him again so long as he paid her the child support. He never knew what she did with it. He had hoped it was actually serving its intended purpose and reaching his son, the one he had never met. He didn’t even know she was pregnant, nor when she gave birth. The woman only contacted him when she could no longer afford to keep up her household, and before Taeyong paid anything, he had to confirm that the boy was indeed his child.
Several DNA tests confirmed it; Jeon Taeyong had a younger son, a young one at that. He was only two when his mother prostrated herself in front of his father once the confirmation came back. Taeyong sighed.
Taeyong
“Cut it out with the dramatics, okay? I never said I wouldn’t do it.”
He had said, and relief flushed his ex’s features, tears springing to her eyes. Even the sight of the tears clouding his ex-girlfriend’s vision caused a guttural reaction from Taeyong. He knew she was crazy, but he couldn’t tell if she was putting on an act, or if she had really calmed down since having a child.
He gave her the benefit of the doubt then, but after today, he realized he should’ve dug into her more.
As Taeyong was working in his office sometime in the afternoon, his assistant came barreling in, breathless and panting. She looked like she had seen a ghost, and he looked up at her, brows raised expectantly. The color was drained from her face and she closed the door, so that no one could hear them. She approached Taeyong’s desk, puffing breaths of air and trying to calm her racing heart. She gulped, and Taeyong’s countenance went from one of expectation to one of worry. Something terrible must have happened to rattle his assistant this much.
“Sir…” She started breathlessly. Taeyong’s back straightened at the weight of her tone as he watched her, searching for the right words and clearly not able to find them.
Taeyong asked, watching as his assistant grasped at straws, trying to piece together a sentence out of the frenzy of her mind.
Taeyong
"Spit it out, Minyoung. What's going on?"
The charismatic billionaire spoke, losing all his charm in that moment and shocking Minyoung to the core. She must've really seemed terrified if her boss looked this worried, to the point where his stern behavior went out the window.
"I got a call from the 11th precinct." she finally started.
Minyoung was possibly one of the only people who knew what secrets Taeyong was hiding. After all, she managed his accounts, and she was the one who helped him wipe away any trace of money mysteriously disappearing from his bank. She knew of the child support checks that made their way to Jungkook's mother every month, even though they were ridiculously small sums compared to his available funds.
A couple of thousand dollars a month didn't even put a dent in his bank account, but he made sure to base his support just on what was needed for rent, food, and school fees, ensuring that Jungkook's mother didn't use the money for anything else.
Taeyong
"The police station?"
Taeyong asked, his brows furrowing. Minyoung nodded. "Yes, sir. A nine-year-old boy turned up. Preliminary searches show that he’s your son."
She didn’t even need to finish her sentence before Taeyong stood up, snatching his coat off the couch in his office and walking out.
"Sir, wait!" Min-young hopelessly tried to call, but Taeyong ignored her.
His mind went blank, and the second he heard that Jungkook had turned up, he hoped it wasn't in the way he was thinking. Was it him? Or his body? His whole body was tense as he rushed through the building, mind going into a panic. He should’ve looked into it more when his ex turned up all those years ago. What did she do to Jungkook?
There was not a doubt in his mind that whatever it was that happened, she did it. She was crazy; pining after him for months on end, even though she knew that he recently got divorced, until he agreed to a date. They hit it off, yes, but her possessiveness slowly started to outshine her love, or perhaps that was her love. Whatever it was, he knew he wanted no part of it.
He promised her that if she came near him or his family, he would have her arrested. But he couldn’t deny her when she showed up at his doorstep with a two-year-old boy all those years ago. Jungkook looked so small and vulnerable, and his eyes held a familiarity he once knew. The weight of them reminded him of his mother. Jungkook's innocent gaze landed on him as he sucked on his tiny fingers, his soft, short hair sticking up in all directions. There was something about Jungkook that he couldn’t turn away. It was most definitely not because of Jungkook's mother; he had no lingering feelings for her.
Taeyong rushed into the parking garage, his heart beating wildly in his chest as he got into one of his fastest cars and stepped on it, headed straight for the 11th. His blood was pumping, heartbeat reaching his ears, as he drove through the streets, going as fast as he could without getting pulled over. He got to the station and parked his car swiftly, the police officers outside quickly stopping to salute him. He paid them no mind as he rushed inside.
Taeyong
"Jeon Taeyong. I’m here for my son."
He spat the words to the woman at the front desk, breathless and with a face molded into one of worry.
“Mister Jeon. Please follow me.” The woman behind the desk stood up and briskly started walking to the elevator in the back.
He stood there with her, and the doors opened. The officer walked Taeyong around a corner, and he saw a few officers and a paramedic crowding a young boy. Bruised up and bloody, his eye slightly swollen and his lip busted open, several cuts and burns adorned his tiny body. Taeyong's face fell into one of relief.
He knew immediately that was Jungkook, having been sent some pictures by Jungkook’s mother every once in a while. He was worried that he was coming up to identify a body, but one look at Jungkook caused him to breathe out a sigh he didn’t know he was holding, a hand coming to rest on his forehead as he started to take deep breaths.
Someone was tending to Jungkook's wounds as he spoke to an older man in a suit, another man in blue taking notes on what he said next to him, his head lulling back into the chair. Jungkook was sweating, and he grimaced every time the paramedic tended to him, occasionally flinching but letting him continue nonetheless.
“If you speak to the captain over there, he’ll fill you in.” the woman pointed to the officer who Jungkook was speaking with.
Taeyong nodded, and the woman left him to go back downstairs. He watched Jungkook's profile from a distance as he spoke to the captain, who was standing in front of him attentively. The captain bent down to Jungkook's level to say something, and he nodded. The captain put a hand on his shoulder to try and calm him down. The captain was a well-built older man, who seemed very gentle, and Taeyong knew for a fact that this man was also a father just like him.
Taeyong walked towards Jungkook and the man taking notes turned to his direction.
“Excuse me for a second.” the older man said to Jungkook and walked to meet Taeyong halfway, extending his hand. Jungkook's eyes followed the captain and landed on Taeyong in his suit.
“Mister Jeon. Captain Sang Woo, at your service,” Taeyong clasped Captain Sang Woo’s hand in a firm shake. “Your son showed up here about an hour ago. He nearly passed out in the lobby, so we brought him up immediately.” Captain Sang Woo started to explain.
Comments
𝑪𝒓𝒚𝒔𝒕𝒂𝒆🖤࿐🦋
how about 1k for a chapter
2023-11-23
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