The Princess and The Tailor |Park Jeongseong|

30

"You're home!" Eli said excitedly as he ran over to Jay, wrapping his arms around his legs.

Jay struggled to smile as he picked up Eli, hugging him tightly.

"Jay, Eli was doing-" Jane stopped in her tracks at the look on Jay's face.

Eli was still a little oblivious to notice, but Jane was old enough to notice when her brother was struggling.

Jay placed Eli down and ruffled his hair softly.

Fran walked into the apartment with red eyes as she tried to give the kids a smile.

"I'll be in my bedroom." Jay announced as he walked to the room, closing the door.

The kids stared at the door as they wondered what was wrong with him.

"Kids." Fran called out, making them both look at her.

She gestured for them to come closer as she kneeled down. "Your brother needs some time on his own right now, he's- he's not doing well. You guys are coming to stay with my family for a few days. You remember them, right? My husband and Suzie."

"Huh? What happened? Did Jay have a fight with the queen?" Eli questioned as he frowned.

Fran felt tears weld up in her eyes again, as she didn't know if she needed to break the news to the kids, or if Jay wanted to do it himself.

"We told him not to fight with her." Jane chuckled as she shook her head.

"They didn't fight. But your brother will let you know what is happening soon. Okay?"

Jane and Eli looked at each other in worry.

They jumped as they heard a thump coming from Jay's bedroom.

They all turned their heads to look at the door as if waiting for it to open, but nothing was heard after that.

"I will pack some clothes for you guys. You can wait for me in the garden, yeah?" Fran suggested as she sat up straight.

Eli excitedly pulled Jane to the door as she was practically being dragged behind him.

She knew something was really wrong.

After the door shut, Fran walked over to Jay's room, softly knocking on the door.

"Jay?"

Fran waited for a response for a second as she heard sniffling from inside the room.

"Yes?" His voice broke making Fran frown in pity.

He was really trying to pretend like it wasn't affecting him as much.

"I'll be taking the kids for a while as I told you. Take-" She tried to swallow the lump on her throat. "Take as much time as you need, okay?"

On the other side of the door, Jay didn't respond.

He wiped his red nose as he sat on the floor next to his bed, trying to keep the tears from falling.

The pain he was feeling felt physical. It was like someone had torn apart his insides and rearranged them.

He had tried so hard to keep his loud sobs in that his chest was in pain, and it was hard to breath.

"Thank you." He weakly said as he laid his head back against the bed.

"I know this is something that is hard to talk about, but would you like me to break the news to the children?"

Jay nodded his head, completely forgetting that she couldn't see him.