25: The Love After

                                    

                                          
The next time doesn't come until 3 days later. 
The morning after Jungkook's second visit to your parents' house, he messaged you to say that he left some meat on your doorstep after his hunt but that he had so much work to do so he couldn't pass by again. He said the same thing the next two mornings, and he'd left some fruits and vegetables that some townspeople had given him.
Your grandfather insists that he's feeling better. Baram had taken him to another hospital for a second opinion and he was told the same thing - change in medication and diet and more leisure walking. He has to be even more careful, though, as the next heart attack could be severe, but he assures you that he's fine.
"I won't let you stop your life for me, ___," he says sternly over breakfast.
"How are you doing that? I choose to be here with you," you counter.
"And you shouldn't be. Your parents are here, so is your sister. You should be home, with your mate. Jungkook is who you need to be with right now, not me."
You look down at your plate and glance at your phone, his message from earlier that he'd already dropped by left open without your reply. You didn't see him again, and it's getting increasingly hard to deny that that isn't making you sad. 
"Go back to him today, okay?" Your mother responds to your silence. "You can't keep running from your fate like this."
"That's not what I'm doing," you defend. 
"Every time you need to heal from something, you're here. Your source of strength is the one next to you, the one you keep pushing away," she gently hits you with reality. "It's not us anymore, sweetie. It's him."
You know they're right, so you reply to Jungkook that you'll return in the evening and he responds with an okay.
You end up leaving for the cabin earlier, as you'd gone to your parents' after work but your mother just sent you packs of food for dinner then pushed you out. Perhaps you deserve that, so you took your scooter and rode up the mountain, ready to sort things out with Jungkook, whatever it is you need to sort out with him.
The sun has only started its descent and you arrive at the cabin, your eyes widening in surprise that you have to look around to make sure that this is the same place you retire to everyday.
You've only been gone barely a week but you don't recognize it at all. You wouldn't have known it's the same place if not for Jungkook's pickup truck parked on the makeshift driveway. 
There's a small porch on the front, framing the door; on the sides are planter boxes and birdhouses, none of which were here a few days ago, and you wonder if there are any more changes to surprise you.
You enter the cabin and place the food that your parents gave you on the dining table, and from there, you notice something outside that you hadn't seen before, too.
The door creaks open, and you're stunned at the sight of a back porch, not as large as what you have at your parents', but spacious enough for some seating and some plants. 
This used to be just a bare, flat space with one of the dining chairs you'd bring out for you to sit on, as you gaze at the tall trees that block out much of the sunlight. You've learned to find peace with that sight, choosing not to compare with what you're used to back home. But somehow the view has changed, too, as the trees seem to be less than you remember. 
The porch looks unfinished but it's sturdy, and your jaw drops at the realization that it's a wraparound, as the corners are open and more wood slabs are laying on the ground. It's a mess in the backyard, with lots of tools and concrete and logs laying about. You wonder if this is the work that Jungkook said he had to do.