Namjoon's POV

"Daddy, where we going?" Soojin asks me from the backseat.

I haven't told her that they're going to see Jiwon yet, because I know my daughter. She's so rebellious when it comes to even mentioning her mother. It saddens me that it has come to that when she is only 7 years old. My daughter shouldn't feel that way about her mother.

"We're going to the park." I simply respond, telling only the partial truth.

It takes us about 25 minutes to get to the park and when we get here, I park the car and let the kids out. They run to the playground as I quickly look around. No Jiwon yet. I sigh as I take a seat on the bench, making sure to keep an eye out for my soon-to-be ex-wife while keeping my kids in my sight. Soojin pushes Jaesun on the swing and he laughs loudly, requesting her to push him higher. I smile softly at them. Those two are my world and it's them that gives me the drive and determination to do what I do everyday. They will have the very best because they deserve it.

About 15 minutes into them playing, Jiwon is still nowhere in sight. I specifically said Saturday at 2. I'm getting really tired of her shit. If she stands us up, that's it. She won't be seeing the kids until a lawyer gets involved. I'm trying to work with her without getting the courts involved, but she's making it so damn hard. What's so hard about making time for your children? The beings that you carried and bore into this world? I begin to get upset thinking about her.

My phone begins to ring and I think it's Jiwon when I answer it. "Where are you?"

"Um, at home?" My beating heart calms when I hear Harlow's voice. "Are you okay?"

"Yeah, I'm fine." I huff. "Just a little agitated."

"I can tell. Is she there?"

"No. And that's what agitating. She can't even be here on time to see our kids. I'm getting angry."

Harlow sighs on the other side. "I know, Namjoon. But you have to keep it cool for the kids. Especially Jinnie. You know she'll ask you a million questions."

I chuckle, nodding in agreement. "Yeah she will. I'm sorry, I didn't even ask what you needed."

"Oh, no. It's fine. It isn't much. I was just calling to see if you wanted meatloaf for dinner."

"Sounds good."

"Okay. I'll see you when you get back. I hope everything goes well."

"Thank you so much. See you in a bit."

"Okay. Bye."

The call ends and I sigh. She did help relieve a bit of my anger. Just the sound of her voice helps me relax. She's the best, honestly. I focus my full attention back on the kids and they've moved on to the slide.

"Daddy, look!" Jaesun says, going down the slide on his stomach. He almost flies completely off the slide, but his hands catch him as he gets to the bottom. "Daddy, did you see me?"

"I did, buddy. That was so cool!" I smile at him, happy to see him having such a great time. "Come here so I can tie your shoes."

He runs over to me quickly, being careful not to trip over his shoelaces. I know my 4 year old doesn't understand a thing that's going on, so he hasn't really questioned where his mom is. I take this as my opportunity to ask him, just to see what he says without Soojin being in his ear.

"What do you think about mommy?" I ask as I start to tie his shoes.

"Mommy?" Jae looks around at the mention of her, then huffs slightly. "I miss mommy, daddy. Where is her?"

"I don't know." I answer honestly.

"Mommy don't wanna live with us?"

"No, buddy. And I don't know why."

"Oh, okay." He's 4. I didn't expect him to ask much about why she's gone. I do now know for sure, though, that he misses her. "I wanna see mommy."

"I know you do. I'll try to get her."

I finish tying his shoes and he runs off into the direction where Soojin is playing. Another 15 minutes pass and I'm getting very upset. I shake my head, texting her that if she doesn't show up in the next 10 minutes, I'm leaving and the next time she hears from me, I'll have a lawyer. Cutting close to that 10 minutes, I see a familiar car begin to pull into the parking lot. Jiwon exits the car and makes her way toward me. I can't stop looking at her, even though I want to so bad. It hurts so bad to look at her.

I scoot to the far left of the bench as she sits on the far right. It's silent until she clears her throat to speak. "Hi, Namjoon."

"Hello." I greet, my eyes now solely on the kids. They haven't noticed that she's here yet. "Why haven't you called to check on them?"

"I wasn't ready yet."

"You're a mother. What the hell do you mean you weren't ready?"

"Just that. I wasn't ready. You just up and left, without letting me say goodbye."

"Jiwon," I finally turn to look at her. "You could've told me that you wanted to see them way sooner. You know I would never do anything to keep you away from them, but you didn't even make a fucking attempt. I had been calling you for days to see them. Don't give me that shit."

"You blew my phone up." She responds, pissing me off.

"We have fucking kids together! Of course I'm going to blow up your damn phone." I spit out in anger. Talking to her is giving me a headache. "I didn't call to talk to you about us. Whatever bullshit excuse you have for hurting me is whatever. I care more about our children and how this is affecting them. Did you know that Jinnie thinks you don't love them, and doesn't  even want to see you? But she's so confused because she misses you? And how Jae is confused because you aren't around? Do you know what this is doing to them mentally?"

Tears slowly slide down her cheek and I scoff. She has no reason to cry. "I'm sorry."

"Don't tell me that. Tell our kids that."

She looks toward the playground where the kids are playing and she sniffles. I hope she understands what she is doing to them by not being around. It's hurting them to not have their mother, even if Soojin refuses to admit it. She wants her mom.

Jae looks at me with a smile and then his mouth drops when he sees Jiwon. He bolts toward the bench with a big smile on his face. "Mommy!"

She softly smiles at him, her arms open wide as he runs to her. She embraces him and kisses his forehead. "Hi, honey."

"Mommy, where you go? I miss you!" Jaesun says to her and it pulls at my heart. He really loves her, and I basically had to force her to come see them both. "We move to a new house! You coming?"

She shakes her head. "No, baby. I can't come. Mommy is at the old house."

"Why you're at old house? You can come home with us!" He asks her. Soojin slowly walks towards the bench, coming over and standing near me. She looks at her mother, but I can't tell what expression she's giving. My daughter almost has a blank face. Her and Jiwon lock eyes and I can feel that Soojin wants to say something, but doesn't. "Jin, look! It's mommy!"

"Hi Jinnie." Jiwon smiles.

"Hi." Soojin says plainly. She then looks at me. "Daddy, can we go home?"

I can almost hear Jiwon's heart breaking, but she did this. She made Soojin feel this way toward her.

"In a minute. Talk to mommy." She looks at Jiwon, who has one arm extended for her, then back to me. "Go ahead."

She cautiously grabs her mom's hand and is slowly pulled into her embrace. Jiwon breathes out slowly. "I've missed you, pumpkin."

"You did?" Soojin asks, wanting to make sure she heard her correctly.  "You missed me?"

"I did." Jiwon nods. "Both of you. And I love you so much."

"Harly told me you love us."

I see Jiwon tense at the mention of her name. "Oh yeah?"

"Yeah." Soojin nods. "She stays with us."

"She what?" Jiwon's eyes widen and I shrug. I needed help and she isn't there like she should be, but Harlow is. "She lives with you all?"

"Yup." Jaesun pops the 'p'. "She take care of us good, mommy."

Jiwon looks toward me, wanting answers. I remain silent. I don't owe her any type of explanation as to what happens in my household. We are no longer together, and soon, she will no longer be my wife.

"Oh, that's nice." She responds back to the kids. "Mommy has to go now, but I will come get you soon."

"Where you going?" Jaesun inquires.

"Home, sweetie."

"You not coming with us?"

"No, and I'm sorry honey."

"Leaving us again." Soojin says, disappointed.

Jiwon shakes her head. "I'll explain another day, baby. I promise I will. I love you."

"Okay. Love you." My daughter hugs her mom quickly and comes back over to me.

My son is attached to his mother right now and it pains me that he isn't going to be able to go with her like he wants. Hell, it pains me that we are no longer together, but this is how she wants it. She doesn't want me anymore and we haven't come to an agreement yet on how often she will see them. I just hope that it's very frequent because I refuse to hold them back from her. That isn't my place.

"I love you, Jae. Go with daddy and I'll call you, okay?"

"Okay." Jae says sadly, giving Jiwon a kiss then scooting over to me. "Bye mommy. I love you."

She smiles, standing up from the bench. "I'll call you."

I simply nod, not believing until she actually calls me. She walks over toward her car and gets in, waving at the kids as she pulls away. The only noise between the three of us now are the birds chirping. It isn't tense, but I feel a bit awkward now that their mother has left. I still have unanswered questions for her.

"Daddy?" Soojin says.

"Hm?"

"Can we go home to Harly?"

I nod, standing and walking with my kids to the car. She's asking for Harlow and not Jiwon. It saddens my heart that she doesn't have that same enthusiasm when she sees or hears about her mother. And there is nothing that I can do about that. The most I can do is get on the same page as Jiwon and get to a point where we can agree on how we want to co-parent.

I get the kids all strapped in their seats and we make our way home. I'm going to tell Harlow everything that happened today. I hate that my first instinct to tell her about the shit that goes on in my life, but I trust her like no other. She's been so amazing to me and my kids. She cares about my kids so much that I'm sure she would want to know. I think she deserves to know how the meet-up went.

We get home and she's outside on the phone, smiling. I get the kids out and they run straight to her, hugging her legs. She smiles, holding the phone between her cheek and shoulder so she's able to rub the kid's backs. I smile as I walk toward her and direct the kids to go inside.

"Can we talk for a minute? When you're done on the phone." I ask.

"Of course." She smiles at me, before returning to her phone call. "Huh? Oh, that's my boss. I'll talk to you later. Can't wait to see you next week... Okay. Bye."

"Got a date next week?" I chuckle, leading her into the house.

"Something like that." She says softly.

I don't know why, but that kind of makes my stomach drop. Harlow has a date? She's dating now? When did this happen? Was she going to tell me? Why do I feel this odd surge of jealousy? We aren't together, and we're just friends. So why does she owe me an explanation as to what she does with her life? She owes me nothing. She already does more than enough for me and she's given herself to me on more than one occasion. I can't take anything else from her, and I should be happy for her. So why am I feeling jealous?

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Double update because my birthday is tomorrow, my best friends birthday is today & she's pregnant & found out that she's having a boy so I have a godson, & I'm in just a great mood! How you liking this chapter? Want more Jiwon interaction or no? Ready for the mystery man to be revealed next chapter? I think I'm most excited about him! I hope you liked this surprise double update 💕💕

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~S.xx