“I will never be good enough for anyone. That's all.”
•••
The swimming tournament ended two hours ago, leaving some fractions of the winner's happiness in this competition. There, a young man in a swimsuit was plunging his two feet into the cold water.
Jungkook lost this tournament. He did not get first place, but won second place. Actually not a bad thing because it can still be categorized as a winner. It's just that, because he didn't get first place meant he broke a promise to his mother two years ago.
“Mom, I promise I will get first place if I am selected to represent the competition. I will bring the medal to you, and you can display it later in the living room.”
That's the sentence he spoke. It's not an ordinary sentence, it's a promise. Promises that must be kept. But this time Jungkook broke it, he couldn't win first place. Only because his mind had drifted somewhere and made him lose one precious second to win.
Jungkook doesn't want to go home. He was ashamed of his mother. He didn't want his mother to be sad about not getting the medal she wanted. Jungkook roughly rubbed the surface of his skin which was filled with tears that had been falling down all this time.
Once in a while, his legs swayed in the water, trying to harass the excessively calm water. With a beat, Jungkook came down and stood in the middle of the pool.
Jungkook decided to sit at the bottom of the pool with his legs crossed. Hoping that this can get rid of the guilt in his mind. No need to doubt Jungkook's ability to hold his breath underwater, he was able to break the longest record, 6 minutes.
“Jungkook.”
Jungkook vaguely heard a deep voice coming from the surface of the water. He tried to deafen his ears. Don't want to be bothered by anyone.
“Son, let's get to the surface quickly. You could run out of breath.” Jungkook is still silent. No intention of replying to a sentence that came out from someone at the edge of the pool.
Jungkook suddenly felt the water shake a little, he opened his eyes. It turned out that his father was very reckless. Participate in plunging into the pool to pick up Jungkook here.
Jungkook's father slowly pulled his son's arm into a standing position. Jungkook could see the look on his father's worried face, more and more concerned with some white sparkles in his thin hair. He realized that his father was getting old.
“It doesn't matter if you can't carry the medal. Second place is not a bad thing, son,” said Jungkook's father then pulled his son in a hug. Even though they were both drenched, Jungkook could still feel the warmth.
“I broke my promise to Mom, Dad. I will never be good enough for anyone. That's all.” Jungkook sobbed in his father's warm embrace. Pour all complaints to his hero.
Jungkook's father took his son to sit by the pool. Loosens the hug then looks at his son sincerely. “Who said you're not good enough? You're already unbelievably good. You're even capable of joining this tournament. Isn't this tournament hard to enter?”
“But I couldn't get first place, Dad.”
“It's okay, son. There's still next year. Failure is not the end of everything. But make failure as a lesson, so it doesn't happen again in the future. Father believes you can next year.”
