Chapter Text
Jimin doesn’t love to be alone. It was something he always avoided, he loved to be around people. When he was younger, he used to cry all the time because he didn't love to be alone, he wanted someone to be there, he was always glued to his parents, and when his little sister was born 4 years after him, he never left her alone.
He loved to be the center of attention, he loved to be surrounded by an audience, even when he was in a class where he didn't know anyone, he always managed to have someone near him. He didn't have to be outgoing; people would come up to him as if he was giving off how much he loved being around people.
And for his relationships, it was the same thing. He couldn't be alone, he needed to be with someone. He needed to give all the love he had, and he wanted to receive the same amount of love.
He thought that with Areum, he would be fulfilled.
She was his total opposite. Loneliness was one of her best friends. She didn't need to be around anyone to feel good. While Jimin went from one dream to another, Areum had her feet on the ground. She was calm and gentle, someone who could bring Jimin back down to earth whenever he lost his balance by trying to fly too high. And she knew how to give Jimin all the love he needed, and he didn't think he could ever find someone as perfect.
But Jimin realized that you can’t be perfect forever. People change.
Areum became someone else when she went to medical school, and he became someone else when she got pregnant.
"I just think that managing a surgical residency and being pregnant is not necessarily the right combination. You should at least think about getting some rest, yesterday you cried all day because you couldn't keep a patient alive."
"I'm not a robot Jimin, of course, I'm crying, that patient had been on my service for two years!" Areum looked for his coat with a sigh. "If I wasn't working, how would we be able to buy stuff for our baby's birth?"
"I told you I could drop my classes to work, I-"
"Why? So, you could accuse me of ruining your dream? No. End of the discussion, I'm already late."
Areum suddenly stopped holding her tummy, Jimin rushed to her, already panicked. She never talked about her pain, wanting to be brave, but Jimin was always worried about her. When he tried to put his hands on hers, he didn't feel the ring on her finger. But Jimin didn't want to say anything, she had already told him that she preferred to take it off when she needs to spend the day in the OR.
Areum sighed and looked at him, her face softened, and she tried to catch her breath.
"It's nothing, our daughter just has a lot of energy today."
"Promise me you'll think about what I said. I'm not asking you to give up your job, I just want to be able to help you while you're on maternity leave."
"I promise, Jiminie."
But Areum had already decided everything.
Areum had always decided in her and Jimin's life. Even though he studied math and economics for 3 years, Areum encouraged him to pursue his dream. Dancing. So, he gave up a career in an international company to be able to dance, he passed several auditions to get into the school he wanted to have.
And he could count on her. Areum was always complimenting him, bragging to her friends about Jimin's talent, and Jimin loved it. But Areum stopped all this when her dream began to come true. So, to return the favor, Jimin did his best to make Areum's life comfortable during her hospital internships, he was the one who bragged about Areum's talent.
Thanks to her and her ability to decide their future, they were happy. At least Jimin thought Areum was as happy as he was. When she told him she was pregnant, he had immediately proposed to her, and they were happy. They should be happy. They were going to fulfill their dream and on top of that, they were going to have a child. They were happy. At least Jimin was.
He was happy when Areum was the one who decided on everything because she was the one who did the big studies, she was the one with her feet on the ground, she was the calmer and more collected of the two.
But when Areum gave birth to Minhee, Jimin discovered a side of his wife that he probably never wanted to see.
"What do you mean she didn't come for her?" Jimin asked over the phone. "I told her I was finishing school in an hour."
"Don't worry, the daycare called me as a last resort. You know I don't mind coming to see my granddaughter Jimin-ah!" Replied his father.
Jimin knew that his father was overjoyed to have Minhee by his side, but he was concerned about his wife. It wasn't the first time she did something like this to him. But every time he understood, she was in the hospital, she couldn't be everywhere at once. He understood. He really understood.
But as Jimin watched his daughter sleep peacefully that night in her little bed, he noticed that she was holding an old piece of cloth next to her. Jimin took the piece of cloth in his hands and saw that it was an old shirt that Areum had decided to throw away, he had seen her throw away this shirt a few days ago. How could Minhee have left her bunny blanket for such a piece of cloth?
Hearing Areum coming from work, Jimin decided to take the old shirt and went to talk to his wife.
"Oh, Jimin, you don't know what I was able to do today! Dr. Kang let me perform my first solo surgery! I had to take my break so I could study and practice, it was amazing!"
"Is that why you forgot to pick up Minhee from daycare today?"
Areum's smile vanished immediately, she realized Jimin's words and sighed.
"Oh..."
"I really want to be happy for you Areum, I really do. I'm trying. But this isn't the first time you've forgotten Minhee, I know you've had a hard time getting used to being a mother and a surgeon. But Minhee notices your absence and I think-"
"She's only a year old, how can she notice my absence?" Areum started to head off to the bathroom. "At that age, children only sleep and eat. And then, the little time they stay awake, they don't remember half of those moments as they grow up."
"You stayed with her for almost six months after giving birth, do you think she hasn't noticed that her mother isn't with her as often?"
"Six months of suffering Jimin. I had a horrible delivery, I was forced to stay in bed, those six months where I couldn't do what I loved, six months where I agonized here all day waiting for you. Minhee doesn't need a mother who suffers, she needs a mother who takes care to bring money so she can eat, damn it!"
Jimin was trying to understand, really. He sighed and tried not to argue with Areum.
"Can I ask why you're holding a shirt that I had decided to throw away? Jimin, I've already told you that keeping things that we don't like is useless, we should throw them away."
"Minhee had it in her hands, she was sleeping with it."
Areum looked at him and seeing that Jimin didn't move, she walked over to him and snatched the old shirt from his hands.
"If we bought her teddy bears it's not for her to sleep with such trash."
Jimin watched Areum throw her old shirt in the trash a second time. She continued her speech about her day, but Jimin wasn't listening to her anymore. He didn't want to hear her anymore. Usually, he would have loved to listen to her, and he probably would have told her about his day, about how his teacher thought he was less of a slacker now that he was a father, about how he could record a dance video with his friends for YouTube. Jimin loved the attention he got, and he loved giving his full attention to his wife. He didn't love to be alone.
But that day, Jimin wanted Areum to shut up. He wanted to take Minhee and Areum's old shirt and get away from here. He wanted to be alone. He wanted to stop this fucking joke.
But Areum brought the money, Jimin still had to study for a degree. So, he listened to his wife talk about her day and tried to convince himself that he was just tired of his day. And not of his current life.
Yet the day Jimin took his life into his own hands for the first time was the most terrible day of his life.
Minhee was two and a half years old, and Jimin was unemployed now. He had to audition to get into a musical where he would be one of the dancers. But he didn't care, he had grown fond of his role as a stay-at-home dad, and he wondered if it wouldn't be better if he stayed at home. He had forgotten what it was like to have people’s eyes on him because his eyes were on Minhee.
That day, Jimin was folding laundry and watching his wife fill out files while eating with Minhee. They argued when they woke up this morning, about the sink that still hadn't been fixed. Again.
"I'll call a real plumber, we can't wait for the concierge to come every time, he's already 60."
Jimin didn't want to let go but Areum didn't care.
"I already told you that I spoke with him. He will come today, it's just that he was busy these days."
"You already told me that on Tuesday. He never showed up. I can't wash anything without having to flood the kitchen."
"You'll just have to do it in the bathroom for now."
"I can't watch Minhee at the same time, do you understand that?"
"Don't start being annoying with me. This morning you've been giving me a hard time about the missing blanket thing. Like I said, you only have to buy another teddy bear.”
"This is the one you gave her; she doesn't want a new one."
"It's just a fucking teddy bear Jimin-ah, grow up!"
Areum picked up her things and placed a kiss on her daughter's forehead as she continued to eat in silence. Jimin tried not to say anything. Areum headed for the entrance and Jimin went to get Minhee so she could get off the highchair and stretch her legs in the living room. But he saw that his wife was still here, she must have forgotten something in her office. As Jimin settled Minhee by her playpen, he turned his head slightly in the direction of where his wife might have gone.
"Don't forget to close the safety barrier, Minhee is starting to run around lately."
"I'm not stupid Jimin."
Jimin shrugged and looked at Minhee who was trying to get up on her own, she began to smile at him and Jimin drowned her with kisses on her face. Today he didn't have much to do, he just had to do the laundry and wait for the concierge to come and to fix the sink. He heard Areum leave quickly, and he got to work. Minhee was in her baby walker while he put the laundry in the wash.
He carefully folded the laundry he had ironed beside Minhee who was out of her baby walker now, Jimin showed her how to fold a shirt and Minhee tried to imitate him with a bath towel. While he was trying to make her tell the colors present on a dress of Areum, he heard the doorbell of their apartment ringing. He looked at Minhee who was concentrating on folding the laundry very awkwardly and decided to leave her alone for a few minutes, making sure that he put the dangerous objects out of her reach. He went to the camera that showed the entrance and he was happy to see the concierge with his tools, he quickly opened the door and greeted the old concierge.
"Jimin-ssi! Sorry for the delay in coming."
"Hello, it's nothing, come on, it's the kitchen sink."
The old man asked Jimin about Areum, and Jimin simply replied that his wife was working very hard for their family. They talked for five minutes about the condition of the sink, and after putting down his toolbox, Jimin asked if he would like a glass of water. The old man agreed and got to work, but he seemed to remember one thing.
"Oh, did you drop Minhee off at the daycare?"
"Hmm? No, she's in the living room, trying to fold laundry."
"Really? Well, I don't see her."
Jimin frowned and turned toward the living room where Minhee was supposed to be playing with the laundry. But she wasn't there anymore. As he approached the living room to look behind the couch where she used to hide, Jimin noticed something unusual to his left. The security gate leading to the hallway was open. Wide-open.
He rushed down the hallway calling his daughter's name, but when he realized which room the child had chosen to explore, he heard a loud noise followed by a cry.
The cry of a baby.
Jimin opened the door to his wife's office and saw with horror the small bookcase in her office overturned, with a little girl's arm under a large medical book.
The scream Jimin let out that day was the most painful the concierge had ever heard in his life.
Jimin had managed to get his child out of that mess, but she wasn't breathing when she found herself in his arms. Jimin yelled at the old man to call an ambulance, and he rushed into the room to see what had happened. He grabbed his phone and immediately called for help as Jimin tried to revive his child, Minhee began to breathe after Jimin was able to give her CPR. But the child started to scream and cry in pain, Jimin could feel the water on his face, he knew he was crying, but he had to stay calm so that his baby could calm down.
The concierge opened the door for the paramedics who were handling the child gently, Jimin found it very difficult to separate himself from Minhee who was calling for help from her father. Jimin quickly put on his shoes and the old man reassured him that he would close the door behind him.
Jimin entered the ambulance while trying to explain what had just happened to the paramedics, he begged them to go to the hospital where his wife worked. He took his phone and tried to reach Areum's phone, when it went to voicemail, he tried to page her so she would understand that it was an emergency. But she ignored him. Jimin began to lose patience, Minhee was still crying her eyes out and Jimin felt like he was suffocating in that ambulance.
When they finally arrived at the ER of Areum’s University Hospital, she finally picked up the phone. Jimin looked up and saw his wife in the middle of the ER, she had her white coat on and her phone was next to her ear.
"Jimin, I already told you not to contact me while I'm working, you have to call me that if-"
"Only if it's a fucking emergency." He replied when he was finally near her.
Areum turned around surprised to see her husband here, but her face turned livid when she saw Minhee with a neck brace on a stretcher. The young child cried even more when she saw her mother, and several doctors came to help the paramedics take the little girl to an examination room. Areum's eyes turned red, and tears threatened to fall, but Jimin's gaze was cold, and he had no compassion for the woman who was his wife. All he wanted now was for his daughter to get through this.
Jimin entered the room where his daughter was being taken, and he saw Areum following right behind him. He heard the whispers of Areum's various colleagues. He knew that everyone knew each other here, they helped Areum give birth and Jimin recognized some of Areum's colleagues and friends. But he was more reassured when he saw the head of pediatrics, Kim Namjoon.
"What do we have?"
"Park Minhee, two years and six months old. From what the father saw, a bookcase full of books fell on her, she has several bruises on her body and surely organs affected by the impact. She has an open right eyebrow." Announced one of the interns. "And... And... It's um-"
"Dr. Kim, it's my daughter," Replied Areum, she had come out of her trance. "I want to take care of her."
"It’s a big no." Namjoon quickly replied, he saw Jimin at the corner of the room totally distraught. "Jimin, did you see any other objects that might have fallen on her or only books?"
"I found her mostly under the big anatomy books-"
"What was she doing in my office? Aren't you supposed to be watching Minhee?!" Areum cut in, suddenly angry.
"She would never have gone there if the safety barrier had been closed." Jimin was for once, very calm.
"You didn't close it?!"
"Yes, I did. I did. But this morning you left in a hurry and went back and forth several times, so maybe-"
"What are you trying to do here? Say it's my fault? That it's my fault if our daughter is here in the ER?!"
"When the fuck did I say it was your fucking fault?" He replied, immediately less calm.
"You can't even watch her for five minutes?!"
"Will you both shut up?!" Cut Namjoon off amidst the shouting. "It's nobody's fault, it's an accident that happens more often than you think. Instead of arguing, you should tell us her different allergies and fill out the different papers we'll give you."
"Are you going to operate her?" Jimin asked suddenly.
"We still need to run some tests. You two are going to stay here and I'll get back to you with more news."
It was the most horrible day Jimin had ever experienced. Areum was angry at him, she was milling around in the room where they both had to wait for the results. Their daughter was with strangers, surely suffering, but Areum preferred to argue with Jimin.
"I don't fucking understand, Jimin. How could you leave her alone for five minutes, you don't leave a child alone for more than ten seconds!"
"I went to open the door for the concierge so he could get in and fix the damn sink. I didn't think the safety barrier was open, it should have been closed."
"She went to my office, and you didn't see it." Areum turned to him, her eyes could have killed Jimin on the spot. "You didn't fucking see it!"
"Do you know why she went into your fucking office?"
"Jimin don't start it."
"You're never there. Never. Every time you come to see her, she's already sound asleep. The only time Minhee can expect to see you is in the morning. And then again." Jimin began to laugh nervously. "If I'm in the same room with you, you literally run away. You get into an argument almost every morning, and when I try to talk to you, you just walk away. You can't stand me anymore and our daughter is the one who suffers the consequences. Your office is the only place she can find you, the only place she can see you. Of course, she went there, damn it, you're her mother and she just wants to see you."
"I..."
"I never tell you anything, you come home late every night, sometimes I don't see you for two days. I don't say anything because I understand, I know you're working, you make me understand this every day. But Minhee doesn't understand that! She doesn't have to understand that now. Even if you can't be in the same room as me, even if you prefer to be here, don't do this to Minhee. Stop it, please."
Areum looked at him without adding a word, letting Jimin have the last word for the first time. Jimin looked at her and saw that his wife was no longer the imposing, confident woman she used to be. Something in her broke, and he only noticed it now.
"I... I didn't... I couldn't forget to close that barrier... What... What mother could forget to close a safety barrier?" Areum brought her hands to her face. "What kind of mother could do that to her own child?"
"Areum. Stop. It was an accident."
"You're wrong. It was no accident." Areum began to have tears in her eyes. "It's true, I can't stand being in the same room with you anymore, I spend my days in the hospital because I can finally be away from you. I want to get away so bad that... I forgot to close that barrier. It's me, it's my fault if Minhee... If Minhee is here, it's because I forgot to close that damn safety barrier."
Jimin watched as the woman of his life burst into tears before him. And he couldn't find the strength to comfort her. It was too late. There was no one to blame for this accident, but at that very moment, Jimin's mind pointed to Areum as the culprit. He couldn't look at her anymore, it was beyond his strength. Jimin knew it, he knew that his heart was broken forever, all the love he had felt for Areum was gone. He would surely regret his words later, but he was sure that day he would have preferred Areum to be in Minhee's place.
It was hard and horrible. But just as Jimin could love someone passionately, he could hate them from the depths of his being.
Namjoon had returned quickly to tell them that they need to operate Minhee quickly, and they signed the release at once. Areum left with the medical team to observe the operation, so Jimin was left alone in the waiting room. And during those long hours of waiting, Jimin thought for a long time. He had time to call his parents and Areum's parents, but he stayed on the line with his father.
"Jimin-ah. There's something else, isn't there?"
"Dad." Jimin finally felt his tears return. "Dad. I have to get out of here."
"What do you mean? You want to leave Minhee and-"
"No! No. I have to go with Minhee, we have to get away from here and Areum."
"Jimin... It's nobody's fault, it was an accident, you know Areum would never have left that safety barrier opens on purpose, Jimin..."
"Dad." He burst into tears. "I can't take it anymore. Dad, help me, I don't know what to do, please, you have to help me."
Jimin's father was in shock, this was the first time his son called for help. And he decided to help him, to offer him different solutions. Jimin listened to him, and his father promised to get him to the hospital as soon as possible.
Jimin hung up the phone and continued to cry for a few moments, he heard footsteps coming towards him, and he tried to compose himself. He looked up and saw Namjoon coming with a rather tired look, but his smile was also there.
"The operation went well." Jimin stood up as he walked to Namjoon who pointed down the hallway. "Minhee is in intensive care right now, but as soon as her condition is stabilized, she'll be in the regular ward with her own room."
"Can I see her?"
"Of course. Areum is already there, we'll get you scrub so you can go into the ward."
"Thank you so much hyung, thank you."
"Come here Jiminie."
Jimin let Namjoon hug him, he felt more relieved, he thanked the doctor who had become his friend over time, he was the only person Jimin had been able to sympathize with in the whole Areum’s ward. After a few clarifications, a nurse guided him to the intensive care unit, and he put on the proper outfit to be able to enter his daughter's room. Areum was indeed here, standing in front of the bed that Minhee had been assigned, silently watching her daughter.
Seeing her like this, Jimin recalled a distant memory from Minhee's early months, when he found Areum in the middle of the night watching their daughter sleep. He asked her why she was awake and why she was watching Minhee. Areum simply told him that watching Minhee breathe and sleep peacefully calmed her down when everything was too stressful, so Jimin stayed with her. They spent the rest of the night watching Minhee breathe and sleep, without saying anything. He was happy at that point. His wife had been able to find comfort in their daughter. Areum had been in a bad state after giving birth and Minhee had helped her feel a little better.
But as Jimin watched her today, he noticed that Areum was not at peace.
He decided to join her and unlike Areum who stayed at the foot of the bed, Jimin sat next to their little girl, on her right. This way, he could avoid seeing Areum, and focus on Minhee.
At that moment, he was sure of it. Minhee had taken up so much space in his heart that he could do anything for her, even walk away from Areum, the woman who was supposed to be the person he loved the most in this world.
"I didn't ask why she was here. Do you know?" Jimin asked softly.
"She can't breathe on her own right now.” Areum sighed, "When she can breathe on her own, they'll take out those horrible tubes and she can go back to the pediatric ward."
"I see."
Jimin stroked his little girl's hand gently, trying to give her all the comfort he could, praying that she wouldn't be in too much pain and would be able to breathe on her own again.
"Jimin."
Jimin didn't turn his head in Areum's direction, he was focused on his daughter, but when he felt Areum's hand rest on his, he saw that she had moved closer to him.
"Jimin... I'm sorry." Areum tried not to cry. "I don't know why I said that to you. I'm sorry. I think there's something wrong with me."
"You're a psychiatrist now? I thought you were a surgeon.”
"Jimin, please... I don't want you to take this the wrong way. But I... But I can't, I can't do it. I don't know how to be a mother, I'm not ready to be one."
"You should have said that three years ago when you got pregnant. Don't you think it's a little too late?"
"Jimin, I'm trying to be honest with you, please look at me."
Jimin closed his eyes and forced himself to take his eyes off Minhee, so he could look at Areum. She looked tired, exhausted. Jimin must have been in the same state, but Areum was livid. That's when he noticed that she had lost weight, her hair was dull, her face really pale. The glow she used to have when she went to work was not there. She seemed to be a shadow of the woman she had once been.
A woman Jimin had loved. A woman who had disappeared completely.
"I love Minhee, I adore her, I know deep down I love her." Areum looked him in the eye. "But I can't be her mother, I can't do it. At least not now. The six months I was with her, I wanted to leave, I wanted to run away, I wanted to die.” Jimin was speechless at her revelation. "But I stayed because I thought that coming back to work would help me. It did help me, but I realized that I didn't want to die as much being here as I did be by Minhee's side."
"Areum..."
"Jimin, I'm not doing well. The delivery was horrible for me, I thought I was going to die right there. And I associated it with Minhee, I associated that horrible experience with Minhee." Tears rolled down her cheeks. "Jimin, I'm a horrible mother, I can't, I can't go on living with you, I can't anymore."
Areum collapsed in tears against Jimin, he listened to her cry and confess what she had been feeling for over two years. He no longer recognized the woman who was crying in his arms. So, he began to cry. They were crying by their daughter's bed, and everything seemed to be falling apart around them.
After both had calmed down, a small noise interrupted them. And for good reason, Minhee was coughing.
"Areum? Areum, what's wrong with her?"
"Oh my god, she's trying to breathe." She moved away from him to see Minhee, "Call a nurse, we need to get the tube out of her."
Jimin walked out of the room to get help from some nurses at their desks, and he saw Areum doing her job as a doctor for the first time. He didn't know if it was because it was Minhee, but he saw how smooth and quick Areum was in her movements. Their little girl was breathing on her own again, and when everything calmed down in the room, Jimin could be near her again.
Several doctors came to check on the little girl, Areum thanking them each time, but Jimin was focused on Minhee who had fallen asleep after asking to be cuddled by her father. Areum approached them but stayed at a distance as if she were afraid of disturbing Jimin and Minhee. As if she might disturb her own family.
"I'm going to see Namjoon ask him several questions. Can I leave you with her?"
"Yes." He saw her walk away, but he spoke again. "Areum?"
"Yes?"
Jimin looked at her one last time, she was near the door, ready to leave. He was lying next to his daughter, and she was clinging to him as if her life depended on it. This picture made him laugh in silence because he knew this was the end of their family.
"When Minhee gets out of this hospital and gets better, I want a divorce." He turned his head to Minhee who had slowly moved closer to him. "I'm going to leave. You'll take all the time you need to heal, but I'll leave with Minhee. I don't want you to look for us, if you're still thinking about dying while you're near our daughter, I'd rather you weren't around her. I won't ask you anything, I don't want your money. If you want to see your daughter again, you must be cured. Do I make myself clear?"
Areum didn't utter a word, Jimin didn't even try to turn to see if she had made a move. Hearing her leave for good, he finally allowed himself to cry with his daughter in his arms, asking for her pardon dozens of times.
Jimin hated being alone.
But from the moment the divorce papers were signed, he found himself alone.
Even though Minhee was by his side, he had to learn to live alone. He was no longer looking for someone to love him. He had to love his daughter first, his daughter came before everything else. Areum's parents cut ties with their daughter from what Jimin heard from his father, they were ashamed that their daughter had chosen her job over her family life, and Jimin was slightly heartbroken because Areum was as lonely as he was.
When he moved out of their apartment, he wondered if everything was a good idea?
But when he saw Minhee's smile when she learned that they would be living with Jimin's parents for a while, he forgot everything else.
He was alone with a child, but he was accompanied.
Namjoon gave him a contact in Seoul, Jimin didn't understand why at first. But when he saw that a good part of their neighborhood was looking down at Jimin and especially Minhee, he understood that he could not stay in Busan any longer.
So, he found himself in Seoul, alone with a child.
Well, almost alone.
He met Namjoon's contact, who was none other than his pharmacist cousin, Kim Seokjin.
He was a little disconcerted when he met Namjoon's cousin, but Seokjin quickly reassured him. When Minhee laid eyes on Kim Seokjin, she opened her arms as if to welcome him into their family. Jimin was surprised to see his daughter so welcoming to a stranger, she was normally very afraid of strangers. And by this gesture, Jimin had managed to trust Seokjin.
He had become his best roommate. Seokjin had never complained about having a little girl of almost 3 years old in an apartment. Even if she woke up in the middle of the night because of a nightmare, or if she broke Seokjin's favorite picture frame, the young pharmacist was always the one to pick up the little girl from school with a little pastry from the bakery.
He was very different from the other people Jimin had known, even his own friends had turned their backs on him when they learned of his divorce from Areum. Many had accused Jimin of stealing Minhee and letting his wife work when he should have been doing it for her.
But Seokjin never judged him, even when Jimin told him what happened between him and Areum, Seokjin listened to him and even gave him tissues when he started to cry.
Jimin was not alone, he had Minhee and Seokjin, as well as his two parents.
But there were times when he wondered what it must be like to be alone. Not all the time, but sometimes, when he wasn't running between his two jobs, or taking care of his daughter, Jimin often took five minutes to imagine what his life would be like if he were alone.
Sometimes he was happy to think about it. But when he tried to imagine his life without Minhee, Jimin felt miserable.
So, to avoid being miserable, he promised himself every day to think only about Minhee, about his daughter's happiness. Because if she was happy, Jimin would be happy. He would never be alone with her. Jimin had closed his heart after Areum, the only person who could access it was his daughter.
While he lived to be surrounded, to be admired, to be the center of attention, Jimin found that he no longer wanted any of that. He shunned people, he didn't like to be looked at for too long, he wanted to be unnoticed. All he cared about was keeping Minhee happy. Even though he might look unhappy, Jimin didn't have to be.
Minhee was more important.