(Tag for this AU is Time Travelers Husband AU)
When she opened her eyes, she was standing on a beach, staring out over the ocean.She blinked in surprise, entirely unprepared for where she found herself. What she was even more unprepared for was getting tackled into the sand.
She hit the ground with a gasp, ready to yell at whoever had touched her, only to find a black haired head buried into her stomach.
“Jumin?” She asked in confusion. His head peeked up at her and in that moment she judged him to be somewhere between ten and thirteen. She shifted him so they could sit up together, but even as they were re-situated, he kept his face buried in her neck. She wrapped her arms around him, rubbing his back. “What’s wrong, baby?”
“You’re here.” He mumbled into her neck.
“What’s going on?” She asked him softly. He finally pulled away, looking up at her. He looked so young, and it made her heart squeeze.
“Father decided that I needed to further my education, so I’m staying on this island.” Jumin said quietly, and then pulled away from her entirely with a small frown. “I need to focus on my studies.”
“Are you here by yourself?” She asked, looking over his shoulder as if someone would appear from the foliage on the beach.
“Um. Mostly. The tutors come in once a day. But then they leave before dinner..”
“So you’re here by yourself.” She said, disbelief coloring her tone. She stood up, and pulled him up with her. His hand was so small in her own, and she squeezed it tightly. “C’mon. Let’s make you some dinner.”
He stared at her in surprise, but then nodded with a grin. She smiled, and let him lead her back to the isolated house on the island as he quickly chattered the entire time about different things he’d learned. This continued after they’d reached the house. She’d managed to convince him to sit on the counter so he could watch her cook.
(”Father would be so mad at me for sitting on the counters.”
“Well, he’s not here now is he?”)
They had sat down next to each other at the long dining room table, far to long for a single boy to be eating at alone, and she had prompted him to continue talking. Just judging on what she knew of him in the future, he didn’t get these chances often.
Then, not for the first time, she felt the tug in her gut, letting her know that her time in this time was coming to a close. However, for the first time, she resisted.
Please. I can’t leave him by himself.
However, the tug simply became more insistent, and she reached out her hand and grabbed his.
“I’m going to try and come back, okay? You’re not going to be alone.” She nodded insistently at him, and he nodded back to her, eyes wide. Satisfied, she gave him a strained smile. “Study hard~.”
And then she was gone, only to find herself laying on a couch.
“Welcome back.” A much deeper voice called to her. She sat up, looking over the back of the couch to Jumin, who was standing in the kitchen cooking something that smelled very familiar.
“Your dad sucks.” She called over to him, and he laughed.
“Did you just come back from the island?” He asked her, sounding amused. She rolled her eyes, standing up as she walked over to him. He’d finished what he was cooking, and handed her a plate.
“Yeah, but that doesn’t change the fact that your dad sent his ten year old to a deserted island to survive by himself.” She grumbled, looking down at the plate that had been handed to her. It was what she had just cooked for him. “Oh. You remembered.”
“It’s one of the only things I can reliably cook.” Jumin admitted, and she laughed. He smiled at her fondly and nudged her slightly in the side. “Besides, you remembered too.”
“What?” She looked at him in confusion. He smiled, pressing a kiss to the top of her head, something that she was getting used to as it filled her chest with a warmth that she didn’t want to name yet.