[JIMINIE]
Jiminie was losing himself bit by bit. It had been a month since Agust had left and since he had miscarried a baby he didn't even know he was carrying. And in that month, Jiminie hadn't taken the time to heal.
If anything, the alpha had returned to the office and focused on making Kiyoto better. The initial weeks were hard for the people of Kiyoto. They could see how terribly their alpha was hurting.
They could sense his pain and in the night they could always hear him crying to bed. They knew this wasn't the best of times for Jiminie. but then when mornings came, Jiminie was the alpha his people needed.
It was like he was normal by day and he never slept at night. If he was being honest, Jiminie couldn't remember the last time he had slept. The alpha had pretended like he hadn't lost a child, like his life hadn't fallen apart that evening.
It was like he was determined to protect himself and hate everything that would be alright.
"Where's the prince consort?" Kim So Hee, King Agust's trusted enforcer, asked as she looked around. The pack was too perfect and everything seemed to go well. but So Hee knew this wasn't it.
She had seen grief and it was just a matter of time before the mess caught up with Jiminie. Life and love were tearing the young prince consort apart and it was like the world was fading in the distance.
So Hee had hoped that Jiminie would talk about his lost baby or even Agust, but then for the past month, the only thing that he had heard from the man were instructions on how to protect Kiyoto.
Everything was going on so well; a little too well if So Hee was being honest, but she had to wait it out. She had hoped that Jiminie would embrace his reality, but even that had been a problem.
"He's out with the kids. They seem pretty happy," a depressed Luna Park said as she defeatedly watched her son.
Jiminie and said a word to her for the past five weeks and it was eating her up so badly that she wanted to go and ask him if he needed anything.
However, she couldn't because Lee Tang had sworn to bury her in the deepest parts of hell if she so much as looked at Jiminie the wrong way.
She knew Lee Tang was loyal to Jiminie and she knew the man would do just what he had said, so Luna Park had kept her distance from her son. She hated it, sure, but then even she knew that she was a little too late for the mother-son defense program.
She couldn't claim shit without triggering Jiminie and that Lee Tang would kill her like he promised.
Luna Park didn't want to test the beta's patience.
"Again?" So Hee sighed. This was not getting any better. The man hadn't even acknowledged that he had had a kid and now he was living his life like everything was all mushy and shit.
It hurt her more than she had ever thought possible and as So Hee looked out the windows just sot see Luna Park's confirmation, she swore to put an end to this, but what the fuck was she supposed to do when her best friend hadn't made a show?
It was like Agust had decided to close the Kiyoto chapter and let him be. He hadn't come to Kiyoto once and none of the Lycans had ever been seen lingering around Kiyoto, unlike the last times when Lycans made their presence known.
They always never came closer because even they knew that Park Jimin was the one alpha who never cared for anyone more than his people. And yet the Lycan King of Helia had managed to break his heart to pieces that couldn't even be fixed in the longest time.
So Hee couldn't understand how Agust could be okay with everything that was happening on this side of the realm. She wanted to give her best friend an earful but then she couldn't.
The man was the king and he would probably kill her. So Hee wanted to go to Agust, but she couldn't even do that because she knew Jiminie was always watching him in some way.
Funny how all of that was so depressing and yet Jiminie never once shed a tear after the night of his surgery.
"Alpha Park," So Hee greeted when she reached Jiminie.
She was all for this happy smiling alpha but he needed a break from it all. Hell, the man hadn't even asked if So Hee would take him to Agust. It is like that had all been a blabber in the moment; but it hadn't been that and they both knew it.
"Oh, So Hee, you're here. I was hoping you would come. There are some things that you and I need to talk about," Jiminie said and So Hee smiled in anticipation. Perhaps this was the day that Jiminie would ask about Agust, right?
"I see. What is it, alpha?" So Hee asked, careful not to mention the title 'Prince Consort' when she was around Jiminie, especially after Agust had left. There were so many things that had changed and So Hee had already adjusted.
"It's about your stay in Kiyoto. I understand that your king told you to stay here for a while but I am the pack alpha and I see no need for your services here. You must also miss home and interacting with your fellow Lycans.
"Please pack up by evening and leave before the sun rises tomorrow, alright?" Jiminie said casually, as he carried one of the kids he had been playing around with. This all seemed like Jiminie and So Hee had long agreed to this, but had they really?
"What?" So Hee asked in the hope that Jiminie would be bluffing.
"We both know you heard me loud and clear, enforcer. Your time here is over and you have nothing to do here anyway. I am sure you people will need your services more than us. Besides, the season is getting harsher and we can't feed extra mouths," Jiminie said.
So Hee let out a gasp as she saw the smirk on the alpha's face.
He was pushing her limits intentionally. He was riling her up so she would leave and never come back. She could see that and it was interesting because this was the first real reaction from Jiminie.
So Hee wasn't about to give up on the alpha no matter what he said, because there was a different kind of hell coming for Kiyoto, one that they would need So Hee's help with.
"Well then, I understand what you mean. And you're right, my time here has not been productive. If you want me to leave, prince consort, then we have to talk about the miscarried heir to Helia and Kiyoto," So Hee stated carefully.
She knew she was probably being a dick for this, but she wasn't going to leave if they never mention what had happened. Jiminie would change in ways that would get so complex and So Hee needed to tell him what to expect.
Hell, the man was mated to the devil of all devils.
He surely had to know that his fate and that of his people had long been changed, right?
"I guess you can still stay in Kiyoto for another ten years then," Jiminie said after a long silence, before he immersed himself in the game with the kids, leaving a defeated So Hee standing there unsure of what he needed to do.
There was only so much the alpha could do to avoid the subject. He wasn't ready, and it was heartbreaking So Hee in one too many ways. There was a storm coming and that storm needed to find a stable Jiminie, not one in denial.
That storm would be the harshest that anyone ever experienced and it would change so many lives, especially Jiminie's. Kim So Hee was desperate to make things work right for the consort, but just like every other day, Jiminie pretended so perfectly.
"What about Xiao Xiao, Jiminie?" So Hee tried again, hoping that the familiar words could snap the alpha back to what he was supposed to be, and the reality he so desperately needed to deal with.
"Don't you want to see him anymore?" So Hee added and Jiminie tsked.
"He's in Helia, leading his people just like I am. This is why you need to leave Kiyoto on your own unless you want my beta to escort you to the gates. I bet Tang-ah would love to do that," Jiminie stated casually.