Chapter Text
If one were to ask Jeongguk why he started writing books for children instead of an older audience, the answer was easy: connection.
Children have a harder time explaining things because they lack the life experience and the words to do so, but their experiences and thoughts are valid and important nonetheless. So Jeongguk decided that he'd help them and their families understand, make the adults realize that just because they are children they still have feelings, they have worries that deserve to be respected regardless of whether or not those worries are "childish". Of course they are! The ones having them are children! But it's all they know. They don't choose to be upset about sharing a toy or eating something they don't want to, those are just the things that are the most important to them right now.
So Jeongguk became the well known children's books author that he is. From simpler, shorter stories that smaller children can understand and maybe even read by themselves, to more complex stories with children as the main characters, to inspire the creative brains the tiny ones have, to make them believe that they can do it all if they want to. Of course, with some sprinkles of asking the parents for permission before going on the adventures. Don't want the children to get hurt or in trouble because they wanted to copy a book.
He also has some more grown-up audiences too, however. Those that want to revert back to a simpler time, want to invest in their inner child and move forward in ways they were unable to when younger because no one gave them a chance. The parents, and just overall caregivers, enjoy them as well, something to share with their kids and a way to spend time with them in a relaxed manner. And it's why he was able to do events like this. Book signing events that have him face to face with big smiles and thankful expressions, excited conversations and hushed confessions. A show of appreciation that had Jeongguk taking some deep breaths to keep himself in check and not shed some tears. He never thought he'd make it this far, some insecurities here, some market saturation there, and he'd be riddled with doubts one whether or not he'd make it through. But he did. He made it and although he's still a bit thoughtful about whether or not he's worthy of this, he appreciates every single little thing about this. The research, the planning, the writing, the meetings to bring it all into existence… and the readers. Meeting them like this is worth all the worries and stress that he feels during tougher times.
"I really just want you to understand how much your books mean to me and my child. Reading them has been an activity that we can share and experience together. It means a lot that I can bond with her like this." A father talked as Jeongguk signed the book, glancing over to them to show that he's listening. The little one was just looking at Jeongguk from behind her father's leg, shy but seemingly in awe of him. He gave her a soft smile and although she hid further behind her father, she smiled back.
"I'm glad. That's really all I want, for people to enjoy my work and happily share the joy." Jeongguk said. "I hope that I can continue to provide you two with times like those." He offers the book back and with a final smile and bow, they part, giving way to the next person. There were still a few people left and the event was almost over. He should be able to go through all of them by then.
And he did, luckily. He didn't want to take up the space more than what was agreed on with the bookstore they were at.
"Did everything go well?" Namjoon asked. The man was always there, getting in contact with whoever was needed to bring his books to life, to get these events scheduled and making sure Jeongguk has a social life by making sure he doesn't lock himself at home, writing. Getting him as a manager was the luckiest Jeongguk has ever been. "You were very smiley when talking to them."
Jeongguk grins, "Of course I was! They were all so sweet! Thank you for getting this to work."
"Of course." Namjoon nods, a smile on his face, "I want to be able to share your work with as many as possible, but also show you that it isn't just me. It's not just a fluke or networking and advertising. People genuinely enjoy what you do and who better to let you know that than them."
At that, Jeongguk gave a bashful laugh. He has always given himself less credit than he's worth. Not that he thought his works were bad. They weren't, he made sure of that. His readers were deserving of quality works so he always made sure to deliver. But one thing is to know you're doing your best. It's completely different to see that others think it’s good. Not only that, but to see that he has had an impact on these people’s lives beyond just some pages of momentary entertainment. It’s actually the reason why he wants to delve into deeper issues, to provide these people a way to understand themselves better and get a clearer view and explanation of situations that some might lack the words to explain. He’s planning on writing books about gender identity and sexuality. A way to help kids compartmentalize how they feel and think, provide some basic knowledge to start figuring out who they are as people, and also allow parents to understand their own kids or even themselves. It’s never too late to figure things out. In fact, better late than never.
There were some worries, of course. Jeongguk was more than aware that people out there have issues with anything other than heterosexuality and cisgenderism. Sometimes, it all goes down to not understanding, other times it’s all about having beliefs that seemingly deny anything other than these two senses of identity and claim it to be wrong. He wanted to provide education on these matters, but he didn’t want to cause harm either. He didn’t want parents to become “suspicious” about their children and talk badly about these topics. He also didn’t want those that enjoy his stories to stop being able to do that, to read his stories, because Jeongguk has now become associated with the “gay agenda” or even just ruin it for the reader that simply does not enjoy to be faced with these things in their space of comfort, whether from personal intolerance and discrimination, or just not enjoying those topics in these circumstances because of the hate and fighting that is, for some, associated with these things. Still, he wants to use his platform in some way to help more than he has. To provide more than just entertainment, to continue providing stories that educate on bigger issues, on anger, or sadness, on grief, on boundaries… So much.
Him and Namjoon have been working on studying these matters, to be able to avoid misinformation and misunderstandings and provide people with the proper knowledge, to know about these things and how they can work. They’ve also started to contact people who might want to share anything about their personal experiences with this matter, to be able to get a scope of how individual certain experiences can be and how to give them attention without robbing understanding of the main topic by making the book too complicated and unspecific. Namjoon is also working hard in figuring out who is okay with this and who isn’t without being vocal about it as to avoid rumors from spreading and making publication harder. It’s a bit difficult but that’s okay. It will be worth it in the end.
So they keep going. They keep with the research and investigation, Namjoon navigating people and Jeongguk navigating words. Together, they plan to make a difference, even if it’s not a solution and only to make things easier.
“Do you have any plans or are you just going to stay in again?” They have moved further into the bookstore, reaching the door of the staff room that they were granted permission to use to keep personal items and equipment.
“Yeah.” Jeongguk sighed, “I’ve been planning on making myself a cake and eat the whole thing alone. It’s been a while since I’ve indulged in the sugar.” He grins as Namjoon chuckles. “Plus, I just want to keep on the down low with socializing for the next couple of days. I'm very happy about being able to be a part of events like these, but they are surprisingly tiring.”
Namjoon gave his shoulder a squeeze, “I get you. I’ll leave you to it. Maybe we can meet up at your place soon for some takeout and drinks.”
“You can’t drink, Joon-hyung.” He squeaked when his coat was thrown at his face. “Very mature.”
“I can drink!” Namjoon huffed and rolled his eyes at Jeongguk’s ‘yeah, right’. “I can, and I’ll prove it when we get together.” He declares, putting his coat on, Jeongguk doing the same.
“Okay, hyung. I’ll be sure to keep a spot on my couch free for you to pass out on.”
“I don’t even get the bed?! What kind of friend are you?”
“The kind that will say ‘I told you so’ when you wake up with a major hangover because you drank two measly beers.” Jeongguk laughed at Namjoon’s confronted expression.
“Seven years of friendship and you not only won’t share your bed with me but you will also be mean to poor little me.”
Jeongguk snorted, picking up his bag and meeting Namjoon out the door. “You’re anything but little, hyung.”
“That’s what he said.” Of course Namjoon had to make that joke. Of course he did. Opportunistic bastard. “But seriously, we should meet up, it’s been a while since we had anything other than one-on-one time that did not revolve around work.”
“Yeah, definitely. Do you want a ride home?”
“Nah, I still have to talk to the manager of this place for something, you can go ahead. Besides, you’d be going out of your way to take me home.”
“As if that matters to me, Joonie-hyung. I’ll wait for you, just look for me around the store when you’re done.”
“If you insist.” Namjoon smiled and gave him a small wave, going off to do his managerial work. Jeongguk waved back, moving to go take a walk through the store, maybe see if there is anything in his reading interests. And by that he fully meant that he was going to see if this bookstore had a mangá section. He was behind on some of the new volumes of the popular names.
So he moved along, looking around, browsing the shelves and slowly but surely, coming to the realization that he covered pretty much most of the floor and no mangá in sight. He sighed, thinking about whether to go to another bookstore some other day or if he should just buy them online. He has a new shelf aftetall, he needs to fill it. He was about to start his second walk around the store when his name was called.
Now, Jeongguk was fully expecting that maybe it was just someone from the book signing that had hung around or someone who was trying their luck to see if they could find him after hours, after all, not everyone could make it to the scheduled time. So he turned around, a soft smile ready on his face to meet whoever it was but then what he saw would have made him drop his smile had his whole body not frozen over when eye contact was made. He knew that face. Jeongguk is sure that forever could pass and he’d still remember what that face looked like. Kim Taehyung.
Said man had a small grin on his face, seemingly excited but keeping himself in check. Not sure why, Jeongguk thought. What could be so exciting about meeting him again after so many years.
Taehyung walked up to him, hand holding on to something, and that’s when Jeongguk looked down and saw a kid holding hands with Taehyung. He seemed to shy away when he noticed Jeongguk look at him but braved on, keeping pace with Taehyung as they kept approaching. “Jeongguk, it’s been a while.”
“Hey.” Jeongguk’s voice came out airy, his body betraying him. Keep yourself in check, Jeon Jeongguk, no thirsting in front of children! He cleared his throat, “It really has, how have you been?”
Taehyung grins, “Well, as you can see…” He moved his hand, the kid’s arm swinging along with the movement. “I have a son now. Who just so happens to be a big fan of your work, aren’t you, Soo-yah?” The boy blushed, looking down at his feet, seemingly more interested in the bookstore’s carpet than in the writer. Jeongguk smiled.
“Is he now? Wow, it’s so nice to be able to meet people that like my stories!” Jeongguk gave a small laugh, before frowning in confusion. “I’m sorry, can you repeat that? I didn’t hear what you said.” He smiled, crouching down in front of the boy that had said something ever so quietly.
The boy shuffled a little in place, but with a squeeze to the hand by Taehyung, he took a deep breath and repeated, “I said, ‘love’. I don’t like your stories, I love them. They are the best! ‘Crown’ is my favorite!” He happily proclaimed, momentarily making eye contact with Jeongguk before lowering his gaze again. “Uhm, yeah…” Letting go of his father’s hand, the boy quickly turned and grabbed Taehyung’s leg, hiding his face in it. Jeongguk couldn’t help the light-hearted laugh that escaped him. Adorable, just like all the little ones that talk to him about his stories.
Getting back up, Jeongguk straightened his back and faced Taehyung who he knew had been watching the whole thing. There was a small smile on his face, but why wouldn't there be? With a son that adorable, Jeongguk would be full of smiles. “He seems like a wonderful boy.” Tahyung’s smile turned proud.
“He is.” He cleared his throat and gave Jeongguk a sheepish expression, “We actually came here to see if we could find you. We weren’t able to get here in time for the book signing event but we wanted to try our luck to see if we could catch you. Maybe get a book signed?” Taehyung looked eager but also a bit apprehensive, probably because he’s worried he’s bothering Jeongguk with the request. The event was over after all.
“Of course I can sign one! These things are just for organization and safety, I wouldn’t mind signing something at other times.” Jeongguk reassured, hoping to appease any worry that Taehyung could have of bothering him. “Let’s find a table or somewhere where I can sign it properly.” Jeongguk motioned for them to follow him around the store. “Do you have a book ready to sign or should we get one?”
“We have it here.” Taehyung said, hushering his son forward to follow Jeongguk, “Soobin wanted to make sure that he could get his favorite one signed.”
“The ‘Crown’, right, Soonbin? That’s the one you said was your favorite?” Jeongguk asked, attempting to bring the boy into the conversation.
“Yeah, that is my favorite story! Daddy said it is about being nice to everyone and that it makes the boy happy. If I am nice, I will be happy too!” His speech is a little choppy but he’s also seemingly quite young, it might still be a little difficult to bring thoughts into words.
“And your dad is absolutely right! He’s very smart.”
“Daddy is the most smart person in the world!” Soobin exclaimed, obviously proud and full of love for his dad.
Jeongguk smiled, “I have no doubts about that.” He tapped the top of the table they came across, “Bring out your book, I’ll sign it.” Hastily, Soobin took his backpack off his back and opened it, taking out the mentioned book, eagerly passing it on to Jeongguk who easily took it.
As he was signing it with a pen he keeps in his bag, Taehyung makes some small talk, “So, I see you’ve been making it big as an author! Can’t believe I personally know someone famous.”
Jeongguk laughs, responding while making a poor execution at drawing the main character on the page he’ll be signing. “I wouldn’t consider myself famous, but I appreciate it. I’m just trying my best.”
“Well,” Taehyung starts, “Be humble all you want, the readers know better than to not appreciate." That makes a shy smile grace Jeongguk's lips and he finishes signing the book and hands it back to Soobin. "What do we say, Soo-yah?"
"Thank you very much." Soobin bowed, making Jeongguk chuckle at the wonderful manners the little boy has.
"You're very welcome! And thank you for reading my stories. It means the world to me, Soobin." His voice was soft and his statement true. He really could never be thankful enough for the people who read his stories. They help him make his dreams come true. Many have said that his stories are great and are moments of shared happiness between the children and the adults, but ultimately, they make him happy too. They invest in him by buying his books and in turn, he invests in himself and his stories to be able to give back for the support. He'd be out of a job without these people. Or at least in a job that doesn't make him as happy as this one does. It's his dream after all. "Take good care of that book, okay?" The boy nodded, keeping it close in a hug.
Now they stood there in silence, just some seconds away from having it become awkward before Taehyung speaks up. "I haven't asked, how have you been? All good? We never kept up with each other so I don't know what you've been up to. Aside from the books, of course."
Jeongguk nods, "Yeah, I've been good! Did creative writing in university and had the chance to do some networking to help me get started on making my dream come true. My manager is also a big part of it. I met him in uni and we've been friends since. And you?" Jeongguk won't lie, he's extremely curious about what went on with Taehyung. They didn't see each other much, but the impact was there.
"Well, as you can see, I've got myself a little boy with my wife. She's my highschool sweetheart, I don't think you've ever met her. She was in a different university from me so she couldn't come home as easily." There was a smile on Taehyung's lips as he spoke, obviously happy to have the conversation be about his son and wife. I mean, why wouldn't he? That's how it's supposed to be. "Things have been good." He sighs, absolutely glowing.
Jeongguk gulps, "That's great!" He was probably a little enthusiastic with that answer but no worries, he's fine. "I should probably go now. Have to go home." He looks at Soobin and holds his hand out, "It's been a pleasure, Soobin. Keep reading, okay?"
The boy nods and shakes his hand, the other clutching at the book to keep it from falling. Jeongguk shakes Taehyung's hand as well before moving to leave, turning slightly to give them a small wave goodbye. They wave back and then go their way too, Soobin going back to holding Taehyung's hand again, animatedly talking. Jeongguk smiles and goes to look for Namjoon. Whatever talk that he needed to have is probably done by now.
And it was, Namjoon standing where they separated before, looking at his phone. "You're ready to go?" The man looks up and smiles, putting his phone away.
"Yup, let's go, I have some emails to send out once I get home. Did you wait long?" Namjoon asked as they walked out of the bookstore, following Jeongguk to where his car was. For a moment, Jeongguk is quiet. He was thinking about what went down back there and he had something he really needed to say.
"Well, I was a bit busy so I don't know how long it was."
"Oh, what happened? Everything okay?"
Jeongguk hummed, unlocking his car, allowing them both to get in. "Someone asked for a book to be signed. Apparently they couldn't make it in time and came to try their luck."
"Oh? They didn't bother you, right? You can say no if you don't want to." Namjoon stressed, making Jeongguk smile. Namjoon was always telling him that no matter how much we can attribute his success to his readers, that was their decision. They are in no way entitled to his attention and he is allowed to tell them as such.
"Don't worry, it was fine. I actually knew the kid's dad!"
"Oh, didn't know you had friends mature enough to be responsible enough to have children." Namjoon tries for a jab.
"You are aware you are a friend of mine, right?" Jeongguk had a mocking smile on his lips, watching Namjoon fumble with his words.
"Shut up, I'm plenty mature."
"Hey! You said it, not me!" Jeongguk laughed, starting his car and beginning the trip to Namjoon's house. "But he isn't really a friend, he's the brother of a highschool friend. Didn't know he had a kid. Didn't know he was married either."
"Well, it's been years since highschool, things are bound to happen." Namjoon said. "Don't tell me him going ahead with his life is giving you a mid-life crisis. You're too young for that."
Jeongguk bites his lip, slowing his car to a stop when the traffic light goes red. "It's not that he triggered a mid-life crisis. Like you said, I'm not an old man like you." He laughs as Namjoon slaps his arms, expletives escaping him. "I just…" Jeongguk gives a big sigh and the light goes green, making him restart his journey. "I just didn't expect that the next time I'd meet him, that that would be how his life is." He groans, "God, I can't believe my gay awakening is a dad."
Namjoon hums and the car goes silent, aside from the noises of the car and the world around them. And then,
"Your WHAT?!?" There we go.