Archive of Our Own ^beta

Almost 6 years ago…

Minji had called Taehyung asking to meet in a cafe near their campus that afternoon. She sounded distressed, which made Taehyung aware something must be wrong.

They had been having dates for a couple of months now. It wasn’t a very serious relationship, because Taehyung had broken up with his boyfriend of three years six months ago and was still a bit hurt about it.

He and Minji were on the same page about their status and liked how they were going. They were friends that liked each other enough to try dating.

Taehyung met her and they sat at a corner table outside of the cafe, far from other customers. Minji couldn’t stop fidgeting, which was making him nervous.

“Minji…” He held her hands over the table. “What is going on? What is troubling you so much?”

“I wasn’t planning this!” Minji tightly held his hands back. “I need you to believe that I had never thought of it!”

“I believe you, but I don’t understand what you’re talking about.”

“I am… I am pregnant.” Minji whispered, and started crying.

Taehyung immediately pulled his chair to her side and hugged her. His brain was in overdrive but his first concern was his girlfriend’s well-being. They were young, both 20-year-olds, still college students. He worked a part-time job, while she had the help of her parents.

When Minji had calmed down, Taehyung took her to the apartment he shared with his best friend Jimin. His friend was out until night, so they had time to talk privately. It was also the closest one to the cafe.

“I won’t ask how this happened, because I was obviously involved and I know what probably happened.” Taehyung said after he had brought a glass of water for Minji and sat by her side. “You have my full support, Minji. Whatever your decision is.”

“What do you mean?” She asked between sniffs.

“We never talked about if we would someday want to have kids and it is your body, so it is your decision if you want to have this baby or not.”

“But... You’re the father.”

“I know. Still, it’s your body and your life first. I’ll be with you in whatever route you take.” Minji looked lost yet. “You are the one who will pass through changes in your body and hormones and all that. Not me. I can’t decide what you should do or not, because it is not my body, it is yours.”

Taehyung had never let go of her hand since he had sat down and he was looking at her the whole time he spoke, so Minji could see he was sincere.

“I am not… I don’t know what to do yet. I don’t know what to think!” Tears started to stream down Minji’s face again.

“That’s okay, Minji.” Taehyung said, drying one of her cheeks. “When did you find out?”

“This morning.” She took a deep breath to try to calm down. “I went to the infirmary because I was feeling sick and it wasn’t the first day I woke up not feeling well. The nurse told me what my symptoms meant.”

“Did the nurse tell you to do any exams?”

“She gave me one of those from pharmacies. And the result was positive.”

“We should go to the doctor.”

“We?”

“Of course! I’ll go with you. Unless you don’t want me there.”

“No. No. I want you there! I want you with me!” Minji said and hugged Taehyung.

He let her hug him and cry all the tears she needed to cry. He felt like crying too, but he could hold on and be strong for her. He could hold on until later, when he was alone, to cry his own tears too.

Taehyung took Minji home later. Then he came back, closed the door of his bedroom, and cried. Jimin found him hugging his pillow with his face washed with tears. He laid down by Taehyung’s side and hugged him.

“TaeTae, what’s wrong? What happened?”

Taehyung could only shake his head. Minji had asked him not to tell anyone about their situation for now and he promised her he would be silent. He couldn’t speak.

Receiving nothing as an answer, Jimin just hugged him tighter and stood there for his friend until he calmed down and fell asleep.

One week later, Taehyung accompanied Minji to the doctor. They held hands all the while they had to wait for the appointment, wishing for that to help them control their nervousness.

They walked out of the doctor’s office in a state of confusion and astonishment. They went to the apartment Minji lived in and sat in the living room, none of them knew what to speak about what they had found out.

After a while, Minji spoke.

“Twins. I am pregnant twice over.”

“Yes.”

“What are the odds?”

“Low. But you said your mom is a twin.”

“She is.”

“The doctor said family history increases the odds.”

“Oh, yeah… I heard that.”

One or two minutes later:

“This is surreal.” She said.

“Yes, it is.” Taehyung nodded, still looking blindly at a spot in the wall in front of him.

“Will I sound too crazy if I say I want to have them?” Minji turned to Taehyung, to see his reaction.

“No. Well… Okay, a bit.” Taehyung finally looked at her. “Is it what you really want? Not because of some twisted society judgment, but because of you?”

“Yes. I thought a lot this last week and I want the baby.” She shook her head. “The babies. I want them.”

“Okay.” Taehyung nodded at her.

“Do you want them too?”

“As crazy as it will sound, yes, I want them too.” He smiled weakly.

Minji hugged him and he hugged her back. They could do it. It would be difficult, but they could do it.

A couple of weeks later, Taehyung told Jimin what was going on. Minji had talked to her parents the day before and she said Taehyung could tell his own as well. Jimin was in the clear too, because they were best friends, soulmates even, and lived together.

Minji had found a part-time job and, thankfully, her parents didn’t stop supporting her. They weren’t super excited, worried about all the changes the pregnancy would bring to their daughter’s life, but they were by her side. Just like Taehyung’s parents.

They kept their lives the most normal they could, still going to college, studying, working, and going to the doctor’s appointments together.

She was around six months into her pregnancy when Taehyung moved in with her. They had cleared their relationship months ago and had decided they were better as friends than everything else. Also, Minji didn’t want to get married, especially not just because she was pregnant.

It had been sad for Taehyung to leave Jimin’s apartment, but he felt he was doing the right thing and they would never grow apart just because they didn’t live together anymore.

When Minji started to feel too heavy to keep working, Taehyung assured her she could stop.

After being very careful, and following the doctor’s instructions, especially by the end of the gestation, Minji was able to give birth to the babies at 36 weeks and they were born healthy and beautiful.

It was the middle of the finals in university. It was also the middle of December, when Taehyung and Minji welcomed their two baby girls into the world.

They took Hayun and Seoyun home in a couple of days and started to realize how a life with babies was chaotic. But Taehyung and Minji also loved their girls very much and didn’t regret for a second the decision to have them.

They concluded their semester with the help of the professors, who facilitated for them to do their tests at different times from the rest of their classmates.

That winter break was full of work, nights awake, a lot of diapers changed, but it was also full of love and sweet bright faces.

Until one week before the new semester started.

Taehyung had a day off on his job, which he had assumed full time during the vacation time, and Minji needed to arrange a few things for the university. So he stayed at home with the twins and she left.

As the hours passed and she didn’t come back and stopped sending messages, Taehyung started to worry. He tried to call a lot of times until someone picked up the phone.

Unfortunately, Minji had been involved in a traffic accident and she didn’t resist her injuries.

Taehyung was so shocked he remained on the couch for almost an hour and he only got out of his state when he heard Hayun and Seoyun crying. They were hungry but he couldn’t do anything because they were breastfed, he didn’t have the formula to give to them, and the breastmilk Minji had left before she went out had ended.

He called Jimin, and only when he talked Taehyung realized he was crying.

Jimin came to help him with Hoseok, a new friend of theirs, and a daycare center manager. He was the one that knew what to buy for the babies. Hoseok also took charge and took care of the girls while Jimin talked to Taehyung to try and help him.

It was Jimin who called Minji’s parents and gave them the sad news. He made Taehyung take a shower while he made the calls, hoping that would help stabilize him a little.

When Minji’s parents arrived, Taehyung was feeling more stable and the girls were sleeping, thanks to Hoseok. Jimin and Hoseok stood with him all the time. They helped him a lot through the next days, while the funeral occurred and Taehyung faced the first days of grief.

Minji’s mom and Taehyung’s mom - that had also come to Seoul to be with him - teamed up to make him go back to college. They insisted he couldn’t give up when only one year was left for him to graduate. They said Minji wouldn’t want him to drop out, and that they would help with the girls.

But Taehyung couldn’t accept that. He couldn’t make his mother, who lived in Daegu with his father and younger siblings, move to Seoul for months because of him. And he couldn’t accept that Minji’s parents kept paying half of the rent of the apartment they lived in.

He went to the university, talked with the head of his department, and accepted their suggestion to suspend his course. That way, he would have five years to come back. If he didn’t, his enrollment would be officially discontinued, and if he ever wanted to finish his studies, he would have to start again.

Then, Taehyung looked for a cheaper apartment. He found one close to Jimin’s apartment, which his friend now shared with Hoseok. It had two bedrooms and one bathroom, the kitchen and living room area were good enough. The rent was cheaper as he wanted. It was still a good neighborhood, with the advantage that he would be closer to his friends.

The girls’ grandmas helped him with the moving process and only after seeing Taehyung settled in, his mom went back to Daegu, after Taehyung insisted he would be fine and that he would send daily updates about him and the girls.

Nari, Minji’s mom, continued to help Taehyung, since she lived in Seoul. She would babysit the girls for him to go to work.

Taehyung’s work was far away from where he lived now, so he started looking for something closer to home. Hoseok tipped him to go to an Art Gallery that was also a restaurant and shop.

The owner, Min Yoongi, was very nice and even asked if Taehyung didn’t want an internship instead of a salesman position because of his course, but he told him a bit of his story, making the man understand what he really needed. Yoongi tested his knowledge about art with a few questions and hired him.

Taehyung still had to comply with his notice on his other job, but Yoongi said that was not a problem. He could do that and start in the Art Gallery after with no problem.

Taehyung started to work for Yoongi when the twins were four-months-old. Nari kept taking care of them while he was on his job, but the gallery was close enough for him to come back home and spend his lunchtime with them every day, which was what he wanted: more time with his girls.

As the weeks passed, Taehyung got more and more comfortable in his new job. He befriended Seokjin, the chef in the restaurant, and Yoongi’s business partner. And Yoongi himself. Soon enough, they were all hanging out together with Jimin and Hoseok too. And the girls. They were a package deal along with Taehyung.

When Hayun and Seoyun were around seven-months-old, Nari told Taehyung, one weekday when he went home to have lunch with them, that she and her husband would move to Japan, to be with their son. She was sad and didn’t want to be away from the girls, but her son was very insistent and he had children too. And her husband had been really sad since they had lost Minji so the change could be good for his health.

Taehyung understood her reasons and assured her that that was okay. And that they were always welcome to come and visit the girls. He also said he would save to take the girls to Japan someday, so they could visit their grandparents and meet Minji’s brother.

That night, Taehyung called Hoseok after he had put the girls to sleep.

“Hey, TaeTae, what’s up?”

“Hey, hyung. Do you have a babysitter to recommend to me?”

“For you? I can think of a few names. Why?”

“Minji’s parents will move to Japan. I need a babysitter.”

“Oh! I’ll check my contacts and give you some names. But…”

“What, hyung?”

“Why don’t you matriculate them at my daycare center?”

“Aren’t they too young yet?”

“We have two nurseries that attend six babies each and one has only three for this month and next semester. And we accept starting from six-month-old babies, because of working parents.”

“Hmm…”

“You don’t know my place of work, you can come to visit it. But let me explain it better. It’s a family daycare, which means that each room has 10 children tops. We have two nurseries and six classes for toddlers, two for 1-year-old children, two for 2-year-old children, and two for 3-year-old ones. Usually, a kid that starts with us, stays with us until they go to kindergarten. And we basically attend people that live or work close to us. Each room has at least 3 caregivers.”

“You always talk good about the daycare and I trust you, hyung, but I don’t know…”

“That’s fine. Why don’t you come one day and visit the daycare? I will also give you the contact info of a few babysitters that I know that work full days, as you need. Then you decide.”

“Thank you, hyung. Thanks a lot.”

“Oh, don’t worry about it. Now! Tell me how my princesses are doing? It’s been days since you sent pictures of them in the group chat.”

They talked for a while more, before Taehyung went to sleep.

A few days later, he took one morning off of work and went to visit the daycare center with Hayun and Seoyun. Nari also accompanied him, because he asked for her opinion on both options.

In the end, Taehyung decided to enroll Hayun and Seoyun in the daycare center. The building was really close to his job and he settled with Hoseok that he would continue to see the girls on his lunchtime break.

The girls adapted very well to the daycare center routine. Taehyung’s working hours were fit to the routine too and, as much as he sometimes thought he spent little time with them, his time taking care of Hayun and Seoyun was a very quality time.

Time passed, and the girls grew up very smart, intelligent, and sweet. Taehyung couldn’t have wished for better daughters.

Taehyung had a small parent crisis when Hayun and Seoyun completed 4 years, because they were going to kindergarten, which made him think they were growing up too fast. He called Jimin one time, on the verge of tears to whine that he didn’t want them to grow up yet. They were already so independent and smart.

Jimin only laughed at him. He really made fun of his best friend and heard back that when he had kids he would understand.

Taehyung hung up the phone in Jimin’s face and went to see what his girls were doing.

~*~

December, the week of the 5-years birthday party of the twins, in Daegu…

Taehyung was in his parents’ kitchen, helping them make lunch. Hayun and Seoyun were in the living room, playing with Nari, who had come from Japan for the girls’ birthday. She had never missed her granddaughters’ birthday, always coming to spend the week with them.

He heard the girls laughing and sighed, content. That attracted his mom’s attention.

“How is your life going, my baby?”

“It’s great! You know I got promoted, I am now responsible for all the sales and sales staff in the Art Gallery. And Hayun and Seoyun did great in school, I’m very proud of them.”

“We know all that, my baby.” His mom said and back hugged him, putting her hand over his heart. “But I want to know about you .”

“I’m fine, mom.”

“But you are not completely happy.”

“I am happy. I am very happy.”

“I know. I’m not saying you aren’t. I’m saying something is missing.” She smiled at him.

“Mom…”

“You should open yourself for love, Taehyungie.”

“I think you’re missing your degree.” His father said. “You are still in time to finish your course, son.”

“I don’t have time, dad. I can’t have less time with my girls.”

“I think your boss would help you with making time. Yoongi is a nice guy, he is also a great friend of yours. And it would be even better for him to have you on the job with your degree.”

“I don’t know, dad…”

“We are not going to pressure you, but I think both of us have valid points. Think about it.”

His father winked at him and didn’t talk about that anymore. Nor his mother. They just enjoyed the week with all their family at home.

Taehyung tried to forget about what his parents had talked about, but both thoughts were stuck in the back of his mind. He found himself especially troubled about his course. The deadline for him to have a chance to go back without having to start all over again was around the corner.

Despite being out of college for the last five years, Taehyung didn’t let himself be out of date. He did small courses and he studied alone. From time to time, Yoongi would ask if he was ever going to finish college, but Taehyung always said it wasn’t a good time for it, the girls were too young and all that.

However, his father was right, he needed to think about it very seriously.

He went back to Seoul without an answer.

His group of friends took turns being the hosts of their Christmas party. That year was Taehyung’s turn and the girls couldn’t stop talking about it as soon as their birthday passed. The tree was ready since the end of November and Taehyung had already put a few presents there, that he had to stop the girls from opening every single day.

He was serving them breakfast on the 24th and Hayun and Seoyun took turns speaking about the uncles.

The girls called them uncles because they were like family for Taehyung, and the four of them were very proud to be called like that by the twins, because they loved them like Hayun and Seoyun were their flesh and blood.

“Uncle Hobi will come.”

“And uncle Jimin.”

“And uncle Seokjin.”

“And uncle Yoongi.”

“We will have more presents!”

“And cake!” Seoyun looked at Taehyung. “Daddy?”

“Yes, Seoyun-ah?”

“Uncle Jin will bring cake, right?”

“I don’t know, baby, do you wanna call and ask?” He smiled at her and took a bite of his rice.

“YES!” The twins answered together.

Taehyung called Seokjin and put him on speaker.

“Good morning, TaeTae! How are you doing on this bright cold morning of Christmas Eve?”

Taehyung let the girls talk.

“Good morning, uncle Jin!” They said together.

“Oh! My princesses! Good morning!”

“Uncle Jin, we want chocolate cake!”

“Seoyun! You said you would ask if hyung would bring cake, not demand one.” Taehyung giggled.

“Don’t worry, TaeTae.” Seokjin was also giggling. “And of course I’m bringing cake with me tonight, but I can’t say for sure if it’s a chocolate one.”

“It can be a carrot cake with chocolate icing.” Hayun said, smiling at Taehyung, that was shaking his head at her.

“Hayunie, I won’t tell you either. My princesses will have to wait and see, but I promise you will like it! Okay?”

“Okay, uncle Jin!” The girls said together again.

“I have to go now. I’ll see you all tonight!” Seokjin said goodbye and hung up.

Taehyung made the girls finish their breakfast and liberated them to go watch TV while he took care of things for the night.

Hoseok and Jimin were the first to arrive that night. They barely stepped inside the apartment and the girls jumped on them. Taehyung giggled at that.

“Girls, let your uncles get in before you jump on them.”

“Don’t worry, TaeTae.” Hoseok said while he did faces to Hayun. “We are always ready for our little angels.”

“Meaning the things we brought are in the hall.” Jimin said in between the kisses he was sprawling on Seoyun’s face.

Taehyung laughed and stepped outside to retrieve the dish they had brought and the bags of presents. When he put everything inside and looked for his friends and daughters, he found them already causing a ruckus on the floor of the living room.

He didn’t have time to say or do anything more because Seokjin arrived with Yoongi and he welcomed them, going to work in the kitchen with them to finish their dinner.

Every time they got together just to hang out was great, but it was also chaotic because the group of friends was loud, and when one added the two girls to the mix, the chaos was bigger.

They had dinner, exchanged presents, and watched a movie. Hayun and Seoyun were allowed to sleep later than their usual bedtime on a few special days, Christmas Eve included, which meant they only went to sleep by 11 p.m, after they had an overdose of brownies, Seokjin’s choice of cake for the day.

After Taehyung put the twins in bed, he went back to his living room to have some quality adult time with his friends. He grabbed his wine glass, topped it, and took a good sip.

“What is troubling you, kid?” Yoongi asked.

“I have to make a decision I don’t want to make.”

“About what?” Seokjin was the one to ask this time.

“Is it about your degree?” Jimin didn’t let him answer, talking first.

“Yes.” Taehyung sighed and drank again. “My father reminded me that I don’t have more time to stall about it. I need to go back or to give up.”

“I have said it already and I’ll say again: you should go back. Finish your course and secure that degree.” Yoongi said.

“But at what time? My course didn’t have night classes. And even if it did, what time would I have with my girls? And how will I work full time if I need to take classes?”

“We can reach an agreement about your working schedule.” Yoongi shrugged.

“Hyung…”

“I’m your boss. If I say we can work it out, we can work it out.” Yoongi was adamant.

“And maybe you can do fewer classes? Like, you will need more than one year to finish, taking it slower, but then you can occupy only part of your week with the classes.” Hoseok reasoned before they could start an argument.

“So you all think I should go back?”

He heard four yeses answering him and nodded.

“None of us is going to pressure you or try to say what you need to do, but we support you. Whichever decision you make.” Seokjin said, squeezing Taehyung’s shoulder.

“You should go to the university and talk to the head of the department again, TaeTae. At least to know in which conditions you could go back. Then you decide what to do.” Jimin said and got up from where he was on the floor to hug his friend. “I saw how hard you worked on your studies back then. I keep seeing how much you work and study to not be outdated, that is why I think you should finish the course.”

“We also understand your struggle.” Hoseok decided to say, after he thought for a bit. “Hayun and Seoyun are growing up and you don’t want to risk missing anything or feel like you weren’t with them when they needed you. However, going back to college to finish what you had started can be a great example for them.”

“I know. This crossed my mind already.” Taehyung snuggled more on Jimin’s embrace. “But I don’t know where to start.”

“I think you should do what Jiminie said.” Yoongi talked again. “Go to the university, talk to whoever you need to talk to, and explain your situation. After what they say about how you can go back, you make your decision. If you decide to go back we can fix your working schedule to accommodate the classes, Taehyungie.”

“And the girls are so smart, they will understand if you decide to go back to school. I dare to say they would be your biggest cheerleaders.” Seokjin concluded.

“Thank you.” Taehyung sighed, feeling lighter even though he hadn’t decided anything yet. “Thank you to all of you for your support.”

“We love you, TaeTae.” Jimin said, hugging his soulmate tighter.

They fell quiet for a while, until Seokjin remembered some gossip he wanted to tell the others and their conversation moved to lighter subjects for the rest of the night.

Taehyung decided to follow Jimin’s suggestion and see how the university would receive him back. He called the department’s secretary during the week before New Year and scheduled a meeting with the head of the department for January.

He remembered Professor Lee fondly and was very grateful for his help almost five years ago. Taehyung even exchanged a few text messages with him from time to time, so it would be great to meet him again.

When the day arrived, Taehyung left the twins with their babysitter and went to the campus before going to work. Yoongi had given him a few hours off for him to go to the meeting. It was a strange feeling to go to university after so many years. It felt kind of nostalgic.

Taehyung didn’t let his mind wander too much and focused on what he needed to do. He went to the head’s office and knocked on the door, after checking if he was right on time, not too early and not late.

“Come in!”

He excused himself in and stopped as soon as he saw a strange face sat on the desk.

“I’m sorry, I’m looking for Professor Lee.”

“I’m Professor Kim Namjoon. I am substituting Professor Lee while he is on an archeological trip.” The stranger said, getting up to properly welcome Taehyung. “Please, do come in.”

Taehyung entered the room and closed the door behind him.

“I guess it is my fault I didn’t confirm who I was meeting when I booked this.” He tried to laugh his awkwardness off as he approached the professor.

“That’s okay. It has been three months already and no one appears to have gotten used to me being the acting head of department, not even me.” Namjoon smiled at him. “How can I help you…?”

“Kim Taehyung. I’m sorry, I’m a bit nervous.” Taehyung blurted out, while he shook hands with Namjoon.

“Have a seat and let’s talk.” Namjoon smiled more, sweetly, trying to appease Taehyung with a gesture, his dimples showing up.

Both of them sat down and stared at each other for a bit. Taehyung took a deep breath to center himself and started talking. At least, he thought, Professor Kim had this air of gentleness around him that made Taehyung feel good.

“I am a student of the Archeology and Art History course, focused on Art History. Or, well, I was, almost five years ago, when I had to suspend my enrollment. I am here to know about the conditions for me to come back to finish my last year as an undergraduate.”

Namjoon looked at the computer, probably looking at Taehyung’s record.

“I am looking into Professor Lee’s notes, but I can’t find the reason why you suspended your course. He usually writes at least a few things about why he decided such things, I don’t understand. I’m sorry, can you tell me?” Namjoon looked back at Taehyung, a bit lost with the unusual behavior of his colleague.

“Maybe because it was a very personal reason.” Taehyung shrugged. “But it is no secret. I have twin girls. They are five-years-old now, but at that time they were two months old. A week before classes would start, their mother, who was also a student here, died in an accident. I had to take care of my girls and work full time. I was going to simply drop out, but Professor Lee explained the suspension process to me and convinced me to do it.”

“I’m so sorry.” Namjoon took a few seconds to speak again. “Now that your girls are grown up you want to finish your course, is that it?”

“Yes. I don’t know. Probably.” Namjoon just looked at him confused. “I’m sorry, I am not totally sure yet.” Taehyung continued. “I will be completely honest with you. I know I should get my degree while I still have the chance to do it without having to start all over. But I still need to work full time, so I have not quite figured out how I can do both things yet, despite my boss saying he will help me adjust my working schedule. And on top of all that, I have my girls to take care of.”

“You want your degree because of a sense of duty?” Namjoon asked before he could stop himself. “I’m sorry, I shouldn’t have questioned that, it’s the psychologist in me talking.”

“You are a psychologist?” Taehyung widened his eyes.

“Yes, I have a double degree.”

“Oh, wow.” Taehyung nodded, admired. “Answering your question, partly. I did put a lot of work into my studies before I stopped the course, so I think I should finish it because I’m so close already. But another part of me wants it because I chose this course out of love for the career.”

“Don’t take this as a malicious question, please, but do you think you can follow the digital media class you still need to do after five years? A lot of things changed since you had your last subject about it.” Namjoon asked, after checking the subjects Taehyung still had to do.

“It’s a valid question. Yes, I do. I did smaller courses during these years. I didn’t want and couldn’t fall outdated because, in a way, I still work with art. And my boss likes his employees up to date with the art world.”

“What do you work with?”

“I’m a sales manager in an Art gallery and shop.”

“Oh, which one?”

“Art Restaurant.”

“I have heard the name before, but I thought it was a restaurant?” Namjoon scratched his neck.

“It is an art gallery, an art shop, and a restaurant. My boss and his business partner thought the name would be funny, or so they explained it to me when I asked once.” Taehyung rolled his eyes. “They are kind of ridiculous.”

Namjoon giggled.

“I’ll make sure to visit it any day.”

Taehyung smiled at him.

“Oh. We drifted from the real matter. Let’s see how we can work your schedule for it not to worry you too much.” Namjoon tried to focus back on his work.

“Okay.”

“I see that you still have six subjects to do, two of them concerning the final project.”

“Yes.”

“If you were able to attend the normal class schedule, you would do 4 of them this semester and 2 on the next. But that would occupy at least all your mornings.”

“I can’t do that. Not only because of work, but I wouldn’t have a reasonable time to study well for four subjects at the same time.”

“The subjects regarding your thesis need to be done in different semesters, so you need to do one now. The other 4 can be divided…” Namjoon clicked a few pages on his computer, checking something. “One of the remaining 4 can be done during summer break, as a special course. And another one can be done in the last semester. This would leave you with 3 subjects total this semester, that can be done in 2 mornings plus 2 hours in one afternoon in the week. Would that schedule work for you?”

Namjoon printed a calendar and circled the subjects he was talking about, showing it to Taehyung. The other analyzed it and thought about his schedules and routine.

“So I have to attend classes two mornings per week and come in one afternoon too?”

“Yes. The afternoon appointment is concerning your thesis, so it is more like meetings with the professor that will be your advisor. So they don’t necessarily have to be every week nor have the full duration of it.” Namjoon studied Taehyung’s concentrated face. “Do you think this is doable for you?”

“My boss wants me to have my degree almost as much as my father, I think. He will make it work.”

“Your boss appears to be a nice guy, but will it work for you ? I don’t have much space to move things around to help you, you need to finish in the year. But maybe I can try for you to do another class as a special course during summer.”

Taehyung studied the schedule with rapt attention. He had an idea what the subjects were going to be about.

“Yeah, I can work with these 3 together.”

“Okay. Did you have a professor in mind to be your advisor before?”

“It would be Professor Lee.” Taehyung said, a little disheartened.

“Oh!” Namjoon’s expression saddened a bit. “He won’t be back for at least two more months. Did you have another option?”

“No, I had a concrete idea already, that I’m sure I can still develop, that was aligned with Professor Lee’s field.”

“I know you don’t know me yet. I wasn’t a professor when you stepped back from university, but I focus on the same field as Professor Lee. If you feel comfortable with it, thinking of the professors that are available to advise, I am, probably, your best option.” Namjoon offered.

“You don’t even know anything about me or my project.” Taehyung was astonished.

“Yes, but I trust Professor Lee’s opinion.” He chuckled at the other’s confused expression. “I won’t show or explain, but he left some notes on your file, that’s all you need to know.”

They stared at each other for a little while.

“Do you have anything else to discuss, Taehyung?”

“No. I don’t think so.”

“So let me ask you something: can I finish your suspension period and enroll you back in classes?” Namjoon smiled at him placidly.

Taehyung gawped once and closed his mouth. He took a minute or two to think deeply about his future.

“Yes.”

“I look forward to seeing you around and to know about your project, Taehyung.”

Namjoon said and got up, ready to continue the process for Taehyung to finish college. Taehyung followed him.

After he signed some papers and scheduled his classes, Taehyung stepped out of the university and headed immediately to a coffee shop nearby to sit down because he was shaking. He sent the same message to his parents and friends: he was going to get his degree.

~*~

To say that Taehyung’s first semester back in university was hectic was almost not enough to describe it. He struggled a lot in the first month, trying to get used to a new routine with even more responsibilities and things to do.

But, to calm him, his girls were very supportive and understanding of his even more busy schedule. Taehyung didn’t think they fully understood what he was doing or why, but Hayun and Seoyun cheered him up every time they saw their daddy looking tired. Their love gave strength to Taehyung.

He was also always cheered up by his friends and family. Yoongi had asked him to put in a few hours of work on Saturday mornings to equilibrate with the hours he spent in university and Taehyung accepted it without questioning, because Yoongi had been fully understandable of his classes’ schedule and on top of that, kept his salary as it was. While he worked on Saturday mornings, Jimin stayed with the girls to the delight of the three of them.

Seokjin, Yoongi, and Hoseok too sometimes stepped in to take care of the girls some nights, especially before Taehyung had an important paper to hand in or test to study for.

As the semester passed, Taehyung found himself liking Namjoon more and more. The professor was a lovely person, and they started to talk about more than just Taehyung’s final project in their meetings. Namjoon visited the Art Restaurant once at the beginning of the semester and became a regular there, sometimes to enjoy the art, and sometimes to enjoy the food.

By the end of the semester, Taehyung was exhausted, but happy that he had not only made a new friend, as he had had great grades in the classes he took, which left him 3 subjects closer to his degree.

Now he would have one week to rest before his summer class would start. With the twins on vacation, his job being busier during summertime, and a speed course to study for along with a few things to develop for his final project, Taehyung was already picturing more hectic months ahead.

His mother came from Daegu to help him during that week, stating that he was going to rest without a discussion or she would lock him in his bedroom every night. Needless to say that Hayun and Seoyun repeated that statement every day after for the fun of Taehyung’s mother. Taehyung was very grateful to his mother because with her there, taking care of the girls, he had been able to completely relax and rest, even if only during the evenings and nights.

Summer was busy for her too, as Taehyung’s parents owned a farm that produced fruits, so she could only stay one week. She suggested taking the girls with her to Daegu for one or two more weeks, but Taehyung didn’t allow it because that would overload his mother.

He had a babysitter that took care of Hayun and Seoyun during their school vacations, and Jimin and Hoseok had more free days, since their jobs followed the school calendar, so the girls always had options on how to spend their days.

Since the subject he was doing during summer was a speed class, Taehyung would have classes for 2 hours, 3 mornings per week. On Monday he had left the girls with their sitter and went punctually to his class.

He didn’t know the professor of this class. Nor him, nor the other 10 classmates he would have. So they were all waiting. Five minutes later, a young man entered the room and put the bag he was carrying on the professor’s table, and looked at the students.

“Good morning, I’m Jeon Jungkook. I’m professor Han’s assistant and I will assume this week’s classes because professor Han fell sick.”

In Taehyung’s eyes, the guy looked like a student and not a professor with that face and juvenile smile. Taehyung was sure the PA was younger than him, but he wasn’t going to ask. He just hoped that wouldn’t turn out to be a prank.

Taehyung observed Jungkook start to unpack a few things.

“Are you really the professor?” A guy asked.

“Yes, I am.” Jungkook answered, maintaining his expression serene, and not looking up for long.

“For real? You look like a kid.” The same guy insisted.

Taehyung rolled his eyes, because the said guy looked like he was nineteen or twenty, so who was him to call it out?

Jungkook stopped organizing his materials and looked up.

“Who asked?” He waited for a bit but no one raised their hands. “Whoever asked is free to go to the administration office and ask about me. I am a professor. Yes, I graduated last year, but I started my master’s degree and as a master’s student, I can be a PA. That is what I am. I wouldn’t advise you to wait for professor Han because that would jeopardize your attendance and you need 80% minimum to pass this class.” Since everyone stayed quiet, Jungkook smirked and grabbed his book. “Let’s start.”

No one else tried to question Jungkook’s authority after that, and Taehyung found himself enjoying the class greatly. It was the digital media class he needed to do and Jungkook talked about the subject with enthusiasm and anyone could see he really liked it, and that made the class even more appealing. At least for Taehyung.

The week passed in a blur. When Saturday night arrived, all Taehyung wanted to do was drink a glass of wine and talk with Jimin and Hoseok after his girls went to sleep. But before his friends arrived, Taehyung was watching Frozen 1, the second movie of the night, with Hayun and Seoyun.

They were laying down on a comforter on the living room floor. One girl on each of his side with their heads on his chest. The three of them sang along to all of the songs, that being the twins’ favorite movie. Every time, Hayun and Seoyun would change who played Elsa and Anna, and Taehyung was in charge of doing everyone else. If he wasn’t feeling like singing on movie night, he needed to convince his girls to watch something else. But tonight, he wanted to indulge them so he sang a lot.

After the movie ended it was time for the girls to go to bed.

“It’s bedtime, babies.”

“Noooo.” They said together.

“Hayun-ah. Seoyun-ah. We watched two movies already, it is getting late. So, time to go to bed.” Taehyung sat up, dislodging the girls. “Come on.” He pulled them up.

“I wanna see the uncles.” Seoyun whined.
“We heard uncle Jimin saying they were coming to drink wine with you, daddy.” Hayun completed.

“They are.” Taehyung confirmed, looking at them. “But we are having adult time today. You both are going to have a playdate with your uncles very soon, so don’t complain now. Come on. Let’s brush those teeth and go to bed.”

The twins shared a bedroom and slept in two single beds that stayed side by side with only a bedside table between them. Taehyung sat every night with his back resting on the bedside table and stayed with the girls until they had fallen asleep.

That night wasn’t different. He tucked the girls in and sat between them. Both Hayun and Seoyun were looking at him and holding one of Taehyung’s hands while he sang a lullaby and caressed their little hands with his thumbs.

Hayun fell asleep pretty fast, even though she had spent the entire bed routine time claiming she wasn’t tired at all. Seoyun was almost asleep too, but before she closed her eyes she asked, whispering.

“Daddy, will you have to study tomorrow too?”

Taehyung’s heart shrank in his chest. He had a few things to do for his final project.

“No, baby. Tomorrow, daddy is all yours.” He could work on his thesis after they were sleeping tomorrow night.

Seoyun closed her eyes, satisfied, and soon she was sleeping too. Taehyung kissed both their foreheads and messaged Jimin, saying he and Hoseok could come.

They arrived, and Jimin was carrying a bottle of wine that he shoved in his boyfriend’s arms as soon as he put his eyes on Taehyung, going to hug him immediately.

“What happened?”

“Nothing.” Taehyung said, trying to look at Jimin’s face.

“You’re sad. Don’t lie to me. I can sense it.”

“Seoyun asked if I needed to study tomorrow.” He sighed. “Am I neglecting my girls?”

“Of course not!” Jimin hugged him tighter and he felt Hoseok squeezing his shoulder in support. “You never neglected the twins. You are just a bit busier now, but even with all you’re doing, you’re still spending time with Hayun and Seoyun every day. They miss you just as much as you miss them. Are your daughters neglecting you when they want to spend their day with us, for example?”

“Of course not!”

“Yes. The same goes for you. You’re not neglecting them because you’re studying.” Jimin tightened his hug once more before releasing Taehyung. “Now let’s drink and gossip.”

After an hour of gossiping about other people, Jimin found an opening to ask something he was dying to know about.

“So, TaeTae, what about the PA?”

“The PA?” Taehyung was nibbling on cheese and raised one eyebrow at the question.

“Yeah.” Hoseok caught up on what his boyfriend wanted to know, even though he was already a little tipsy. “Is he really younger than you? How does he look?”

“I don’t know, I never asked and he didn’t say his age either.”

“No one asked or went to the administration office to know?” Jimin was surprised.

“After he scolded that kid in class on Monday, I think no one dared. I don’t care,” Taehyung shrugged. “his didactic is great and it’s obvious he knows and loves digital art.”

“You like him.” Hoseok blurted out.

“He can be just an assistant but he teaches better than some other professors I had before.” Taehyung frowned at Hoseok.

“Hobi means that you like-like him. What is his name again?”

“That is nonsense. I like his way of teaching. And I won’t even see him again, probably, because professor Han is coming on Monday.”

“You know you’re sounding a little defensive, right Tae?” Jimin insisted.

“I don’t need to be defensive about Jeon Jungkook, Jimin.”

“Okay. I believe you.” Jimin stopped, sensing that Taehyung was getting worked up and that was not what he wanted for his best friend.

“Oh, did you hear that Bo Young noona went on a date this week?”

Hoseok remembered a gossip about his coworker and with that, they drifted to lighter subjects.

Much later, Taehyung said bye to his friends and went to sleep, feeling much less stressed and ready to spend the next day having fun with his girls.

The next day, Taehyung slept in. When he woke up he couldn’t lift his arms out. Taehyung opened his eyes and saw Hayun and Seoyun sleeping while hugging his arms. He remembered feeling the mattress move earlier.

Luckily for him, his girls liked to sleep in like him too, and were snugglers just like daddy. So it was normal for them to come to his bed in the early morning and snuggle with him. Or for Taehyung to go wake them up and find Hayun and Seoyun cuddling in one of the beds.

He tried to free his arms without waking them, but wasn’t successful in it. Hayun scratched her eyes and looked up.

“Good morning, daddy.”

“Good morning, baby.” He smiled back at her.

On his other side, Seoyun climbed up and reached Taehyung’s neck and cheek, nuzzling him. He returned her nuzzles.

“Good morning, baby.”

“Morning, daddy.”

The family stayed in bed a while more, just cuddling. Taehyung loved those moments of peacefully enjoying his little girls. They were his whole world and he loved Hayun and Seoyun more than life.

When he heard a little tummy growl, Taehyung made himself and the girls get up and fixed breakfast for all of them.

While they ate, he had an idea. It was a hot summer day and the girls loved to go to the pool. Surely the water park would be crowded, but it was a great place to have fun with the twins.

“Girls, do you want to go to the pool?”

“YES!” Hayun and Seoyun screamed together.

He got the girls ready, prepared a backpack with clothes and toiletries, and they left for the water park.

They spent the day there, having fun in the pool. Taehyung bought their lunch in vending machines - one day only wouldn’t be that bad. He helped Hayun and Seoyun try to swim, teaching them how to breathe and splash their arms and legs. They also took a lot of pictures that Taehyung sent in the family and friends group chats.

On the way back home, they stopped in an udon’s restaurant that was close to their apartment, and they frequented often, to have dinner. Taehyung chose a round table so he could sit in between the girls.

“Are you hungry, babies?”

“No…” Seoyun said, scratching her eyes.

“My Seoyun is tired after having so much fun.” Taehyung cooed at her, kissing the top of her head. Then, he turned to Hayun. “And you, Hayun-ah?”

“A bit.”

Taehyung kissed her head too. The lady owner arrived at their table to take their order.

“Oh, hello, girls! It’s been some time. You look tired. Are they okay, Taehyungie?”

“They are, Mrs. Ahn. We spent the day at the water park, my girls are just tired after having a lot of fun.”

“Oh, I see! That’s good.” She smiled at Taehyung. “How many servings do you want today?”

“Two. Hayun and Seoyun will share theirs.”

“Ok. I’ll take care of yours personally, these beautiful girls need their rest.” She caressed their hairs and left.

Taehyung entertained the girls while they waited, to keep them awake. Mrs. Ahn served the twins’ portions in two different bowls, to which Taehyung thanked her. He helped Hayun and Seoyun eat. After they finished he paid and got the girls ready to leave.

They had to walk two blocks only, but Seoyun stretched her arms to Taehyung.

“Daddy, I’m tired.” She made puppy eyes at him and he gave in, taking her in his arms.

“Don’t sleep, Seoyun, you still have to take a good shower before going to bed.”

He felt her nod in the crook of his neck. Taehyung knew his girls, Seoyun would doze off on the way home. He sighed and looked down at Hayun.

“Do you want to be carried too?”

“No, daddy. The udon gave me strength.” She flexed her little arms to show she was strong, making Taehyung giggle.

He held Hayun’s hand and started walking. They arrived home quickly, and Taehyung put Seoyun on the couch, because she was napping.

He unpacked their backpack with Hayun’s help, and took her to the shower. After showering her and drying her hair, Taehyung helped Hayun with her pajamas and allowed her to watch TV. Then, he woke Seoyun up and showered her too. He dried her hair in front of the TV, watching a kid’s movie Hayun had found.

It was around 8 in the evening and the girls looked reinvigorated by their shower, so Taehyung left them watching TV while he showered.

When he went back to the living room, he found Hayun dozing off on the floor. He sat by her side and made her sit down. She blinked at him and smiled sleepily. Taehyung smiled back at her and stretched one hand for Seoyun.

“Let’s get ready for bed, my babies.”

That night, the girls slept as soon as they laid down. It was around 9:30, and Taehyung decided to study for a little while before he went to sleep too.

The second week of his summer course was calm. Professor Han came to teach, and Jungkook was just following the classes from a corner. The subject was very interesting for Taehyung, and he was happy to see that professor Han was also great.

He had a presentation to do on Monday, on his third week, and spent the weekend working on it. Jimin and Hoseok helped him, taking Hayun and Seoyun to have a fun day outside on Sunday. The girls came back home by the end of the afternoon, full of stories to share with their dad.

Taehyung spent time with his daughters until it was time to put them to bed. Then, he went back to his presentation. At that moment, he received a message from the twins’ babysitter saying she was with the flu and couldn’t come the next day. Taehyung knew he couldn’t count on Jimin and Hoseok tomorrow again, because they had said they had appointments to attend.

So he texted Yoongi and Seokjin, asking if it would be a problem for him to leave the girls in the gallery while he attended his class. Taehyung didn’t take the girls with him to work often, but they had been spending the day there from time to time since they were babies and his bosses never minded it.

They were fine with it once again, which made Taehyung relax a bit and focus back on his school work. He went to sleep later, very satisfied with his presentation.

Hayun woke him up at dawn, whispering with a hoarse voice.

“Daddy, I’m not feeling well.”

Taehyung got up immediately and put his hand on her forehead, feeling that she was warm. He took her in his arms and went to the bathroom to retrieve the thermometer.

“What is hurting, my baby?”

“My throat. And I’m cold.”

“Okay, baby. Daddy will take care of you.”

By the time he was ready to leave, Taehyung had already given Hayun an antipyretic, and checked Seoyun, relieved that she was feeling just fine. He called Yoongi, asking if he could leave Seoyun with him a little bit earlier because he was going to take Hayun to the doctor before class. Yoongi said he was already going to the gallery, and that he would give Taehyung and the girls a ride. His boss also lent him his car, so Taehyung wouldn’t expose Hayun even more on public transportation.

The doctor assured Taehyung that his girl would be fine, she had a cold, easily treatable with the proper care. Taehyung was relieved and Hayun said, after they left the clinic that she was feeling better already. Her daddy knew it was because her fever had come down. But he needed to keep an eye on her.

He stopped by a drugstore to buy the medicine the doctor had prescribed and checked the time. If Taehyung opted to leave Hayun in the gallery, he would be very late for his class. He was torn for a few seconds, but decided to risk it and took Hayun with him to the university.

“Hayun-ah, you will have to be on your best behavior, baby. I’ll take you to my class and I’ll give you paper to draw, okay?”

“Okay, daddy.”

“You need to keep your mask on and if you need anything, you tell me quietly, okay?”

“Okay, daddy.”

“Okay.”

He looked at her through the rearview mirror and he could tell she was smiling at him, so Taehyung smiled back and tried to calm down and remember his presentation.

They arrived just in time for Taehyung to take Hayun to the bathroom and to be in his classroom just before the professor arrived. Jungkook was by the door and greeted him, animated.

“Hey, Taehyung! Are you ready for today?” Then he noticed the little girl walking hand by hand with Taehyung. “Oh, hi?”

“Hi, Jungkook. I think I am.” Taehyung felt Hayun tighten her hold on his hand. “This is Hayun, my daughter. Hayun, this is professor assistant Jeon Jungkook. Say hi to him.”

“Hello.” She whispered, shy.

“Do you think-” Taehyung was interrupted by professor Han’s arrival.

“Good morning, boys! Are you ready to start?”

“Good morning, professor.” They answered together.

“Professor?” Taehyung called him before they all stepped into the classroom.

“Yes?” He looked at him.

At the same time, Hayun grabbed Taehyung’s hand with both of hers, and he automatically took her in his arms, because he knew that was Hayun’s reaction when she got nervous.

“My daughter is sick and I had to take her to the doctor before class, and I didn’t have time to take her to her uncle before class. I hope you won’t mind too much if she stays with me, professor?”

Han looked at Hayun, who was looking at him from the corner of her eyes, while trying to hide on Taehyung’s neck. He smiled at the little girl.

“Hello, little lady. What is your name?” He tilted his head.

“Kim Hayun.” She answered quietly.

“You are welcome in my class, Hayun. I hope I won’t bore you too much, but maybe you will like to see your father speak.” Han winked at her, and Taehyung felt Hayun relax in his arms.

“Thank you, professor.”

Han dismissed his thanks and gestured for him to enter first. Taehyung stepped into the class and chose a seat close to the door, pulling another chair to be very close to his. He sat Hayun there and put his bag on the table.

While the professor got ready to start and the other students rushed in, Taehyung took out a sketchbook and a pencil, giving both to Hayun so she could entertain herself during his class.

Jungkook sat behind them, because Taehyung had, absently, sat on his usual spot. That wasn’t a problem, and if Jungkook would secretly enjoy that more, no one needed to know.

“I didn’t know you have a daughter.” Jungkook whispered to Taehyung, after he checked that the little girl was distracted and professor Han wasn’t ready yet.

Taehyung turned to him. He didn’t mind the question. Jungkook was a nice guy and they had been talking every time he had classes, during breaks, or before and after class. He liked to think they were making friends with each other.

“I have twins, actually, but Seoyun was feeling fine, so she stayed with her uncle.”

“Oh.”

“Okay!” Professor Han spoke louder, clapping his hands once. “Let’s start the show. Taehyung, do you want to go first? If you want to take your girl home after, I won’t hold it against you.” He chuckled.

“I can go first, professor, but I would like to stay as long as I can, while Hayun feels okay, to watch my colleagues’ presentations.” He quickly glanced at his daughter and saw her looking back at him, her eyes smiling at her daddy.

“That’s fine by me. Come over.”

“Good luck, daddy.” Hayun whispered a little louder than she intended because of her hoarse voice.

Taehyung felt warmth wash over him, while he heard a few of his colleagues that were closer chuckle, and smiled at his little girl, winking at her, before he went to the front of the class and delivered his presentation.

He finished it and sat back in his seat. Hayun hugged his arm quickly and focused back on her drawings. Taehyung was proud of her, because she had understood when he explained to her and Seoyun what was a presentation and how people participated in it, and Hayun was behaving exemplary. Taehyung put his arm on the back of her chair and focused on his colleagues.

Half of the presentations had gone by when he felt Hayun lean on his side. He looked down and noticed she was a little bit pale, so Taehyung put his hand on her forehead and noticed Hayun’s temperature was going up again. It was time to leave.

He rapidly wrote a note in a clean page of his sketchbook and passed it to Jungkook, so he wouldn’t disturb anyone. The note thanked professor Han again and explained Hayun’s fever was coming back. Taehyung gathered his things quietly, took his daughter in his arms, and left the classroom as silently as he could.

When they reached Yoongi’s car, Taehyung put Hayun on her seat and retrieved the thermometer from his bag to check her temperature. She was feverish, it wasn’t time to give her medicine yet, so Taehyung helped Hayun drink water, and then he drove to the gallery.

They arrived at the gallery and Taehyung took Hayun to his small office, which he had since he had been promoted as sales manager. He laid her on the one-seat-sofa there and checked her temperature again.

“Baby, it’s time for your medicine.”

Hayun took it without any complaint and got comfortable on the sofa, looking sleepy. Taehyung picked a blanket he had put on his bag that morning and covered her.

“I’ll leave my phone with you, Hayun-ah. If you need me, call number 5 or 6 and you will talk with uncle Yoongi or uncle Jin, then you ask them to find me. I’ll try to be back as soon as I can, okay?”

“Okay, daddy.” She slurred out.

Taehyung kissed her forehead and waited until he saw her breath even-out in sleep.

He left the office to look for Seoyun and found her in the kitchen with Jin. The little girl ran to him as soon as she saw her daddy, and Taehyung took her in his arms, kissing her cheeks.

“Is Hayun okay, daddy?”

“She is better now. Hayun has a cold, but she will get better soon, with our help.” He explained so Seokjin could hear it too. “Did you behave well, Seoyun-ah?”

“I did! I painted with uncle Yoongi and now I was helping uncle Jin make lunch!”

“I see! That’s nice!” He smiled at the girl in his arms.

“Where is Hayun?” Seokjin asked.

Yoongi entered the kitchen at that moment.

“I heard you were here and was going to ask the same.” He said to Taehyung.

“She is napping in my office. Her fever is coming back again, but Hayun took her medicine and with rest, she will get better.”

“Take the girls home.” Yoongi said. “Hayun will be more comfortable there and you can take better care of her there.”

“But, hyung...”

“I’m serious. You have the day off.” Yoongi said with finality.

“Just wait for lunch, I’m making porridge for my princess.” Seokjin said.

“It will make Hayunie feel better faster, daddy. Uncle Jin’s porridge is magical!”

“Oh, is that right? And why is that?” Taehyung focused his attention fully on the girl in his arms.
“Yes! Because it’s made with lots and lots of love!”

“Ah… Yes, love makes everything magical, indeed.” Taehyung smiled at his daughter and then at his friends, silently thanking them for the support.

During the week, Taehyung’s friends took turns to take care of the girls, while their babysitter was recovering before coming back to work. Even with Taehyung putting Hayun to sleep in his bedroom, Seoyun caught a cold too. And by the end of the week, it was his time to feel sick. As usual, when any of them caught a cold or the flu, all three would eventually fall sick.

He went to class on Friday feeling miserable, but he was medicated and didn’t want to get an absence unless it was extremely necessary.

Taehyung arrived at the same time as Jungkook, who greeted him from afar and got closer.

“Hey, Taehyung. Are you okay?” He asked, concerned.

“I caught a cold from the girls. I will never understand how they can play so much even when feeling sick, while I can only feel miserable.”

“Shouldn’t you have stayed at home then?”

“No. I’m mostly whining. Meds are doing their job, and I didn’t want to miss class.” Taehyung smiled at Jungkook, hoping his eyes would show it over his mask.

They walked together, talking about amenities and the course. Taehyung almost bumped into someone that was crouching down in the middle of a corridor, and when he was going to apologize he recognized Namjoon. Jungkook spoke first.

“Namjoon hyung, let me help you.” He crouched too and helped collect Namjoon’s papers.

“Thanks, Jungkookie.” The professor said after checking who was helping him.

“Namjoon hyung, I almost tripped on you, I’m sorry.” Taehyung put his hand on Namjoon’s shoulder.

“Oh, Taehyung! I need to talk to you.” Namjoon straightened up, receiving the papers Jungkook helped him gather. “Thank you, Jungkookie.”

“I’ll leave you to talk-”

“No need, no need.” Namjoon dismissed Jungkook’s attempt to leave. “I just need to know if you can come next week on Wednesday, Taehyung? I want to check your progress on your thesis.”

Taehyung quickly reminded his schedule for next week.

“Can it be after my class with professor Han?”

“No, I have reunions all morning. Apparently, professor Lee wants to extend his trip, again, so the department needs to make new plans for the semester.”

“Are you going to continue as the assigned head of department, hyung?” Jungkook asked, while Taehyung was thinking.

“It looks like it.” Namjoon smiled.

“Can our meeting be by the end of the afternoon, then?” Taehyung asked.

“Sure. By five?”

“Okay, hyung.”

Namjoon nodded.

“Oh! Are your girls feeling better? You don’t look too well, Taehyung.” He said, a little bit concerned.

“They are great, but I am suffering from the cold they passed to me now.”

“I hope you get better soon. I’ll see you next week.” Namjoon said and stepped away from them. “Bye, guys!”

“Bye, hyung!” Taehyung and Jungkook said together, and giggled.

They continued their way to the classroom.

“Who stays with your daughters during the day? I remember you said you work all day.” Jungkook was curious.

“During school vacations, I have a babysitter who takes care of them most of the days, but my friends like to take the girls out some days to have fun. And during school time, they study in an integral kindergarten.”

Jungkook nodded and Taehyung observed him. They arrived at the classroom and entered it, sitting close to each other.

“You’re wondering about their mother.”

“No! I… Yes, I am. I’m sorry.” Taehyung could tell Jungkook was embarrassed.

“It’s okay. I don’t mind talking about it. Minji was a great friend and a great mother, but a traffic accident took her away from our girls too early.”

“I’m sorry.” Jungkook knew what Taehyung was implying. “Really. I shouldn’t have asked.”

“It’s okay, Jungkook.” Taehyung tapped his fingers for a little while. “Since we are getting into personal questions…” He saw Jungkook raise an eyebrow at him. “How old are you?

The PA burst out laughing.

“I wasn’t the one who asked those stupid questions on the first day, and if you didn’t want to say it wasn’t my place to ask during classes. But I think we are kind of friends now, so…” Taehyung explained himself. “If you still don’t want to say, that’s fine too.” He shrugged.

“I didn’t say my age during classes because I am not going to give in to someone trying to disregard me just because I look young.” Jungkook said, placidly.

“That is totally valid.” Taehyung nodded.

“But answering your question, because I also feel like we are friends, I was born in 1997.”

“Oh! I was right, you are younger than me! I was born in 95.”

“Oh! I guess I need to call you hyung from now on, then” Jungkook giggled.

“You should.” Taehyung said sassily.

They had to stop talking because professor Han arrived. By the end of the class, Taehyung was feeling his cold worsening again, so he didn’t linger and went to the gallery, where he gave himself 15 minutes to rest in his office, so he could work the rest of the day.

Taehyung recovered in the next few days.

He and Jungkook continued to talk before and after classes. They even exchanged numbers, and started exchanging messages too.

On the last week of the summer course, some of the students suggested for them all to go out to celebrate the end of the subject, including professor Han and Jungkook. Taehyung immediately said he couldn’t go, but Jimin tried to convince him of the opposite when they had dinner together in the middle of the week.

“You should go.” Jimin said.

“Where?” Hayun asked.

“I can’t.” Taehyung answered Jimin.

“Why?” Seoyun asked that time.

“Yeah, why?”

Taehyung raised his eyebrow at Jimin, and looked at the girls.

“Oh, come on! Princesses, what do you think about a sleepover?”

“Yes! Yes!” Hayun got so excited she stood up.

“When? When?” Seoyun screamed at the same time as her sister.

“Hayun, sit, and finish your dinner. Seoyun, you too.” Taehyung ordered gently but firmly.

“I’m serious, Tae.”

“Can we talk after dinner?”

“Okay.”

Taehyung focused back on his food.

“Daddy, can we sleepover with uncle Jimin?” Hayun asked, calmer.

“I’ll think about it, baby.” He smiled at his daughter.

After they finished dinner, Taehyung let the girls watch TV while he and Jimin cleaned the kitchen. He started washing the dishes and Jimin came to his side to dry them and to talk away from small prying ears.

“TaeTae, I just want you to have some fun on your own.” Jimin said, quietly. “You are so young to close yourself off to some things. I know the twins are the most important thing in your life, but you are still you. You should have some things for you. That’s all.”

“They are my life, Chim.”

“I know.” Jimin sighed. They had had that talk one too many times in the last five years. “But hey, at the end of last year you thought you couldn’t equilibrate your life with college and you proved yourself wrong. Why don’t you just try going out in a program that doesn’t involve the girls? After it, you can turn to me and say that that is not for you anymore.”

Taehyung stared at Jimin and they locked eyes. He knew his friend was talking out of love. They were friends for too long, they were so close they considered each other as soulmates. They were family. Taehyung knew Jimin’s concern was like the one his parents had shown last year.

“I don’t know, Chim. I’ll think about it... The plan is to go to some bar on Saturday, I think... I’ll think about it.” Taehyung shrugged.

“Okay.” Jimin passed his hand up and down his back to soothe him. “And even if you decide you don’t want to go out with your classmates, you can come sleepover with my princesses, okay?”

That made both of them giggle, and dissipated the heaviness in the air.

By Saturday, Taehyung had changed his mind so many times that he was confused. The plans for the sleepover had been settled because Hayun and Seoyun’s vacation was almost over. The only question was if their dad was going to attend it with them or not.

After lunch, Hayun and Seoyun were doing a puzzle on the floor, and Taehyung was fussing on his phone on the couch. He had been texting Jungkook all day about games, a thing they found out they had in common.

“Daddy?”

“Yes?” He asked, raising his head and looking at the girls.

“Will you see your college friends today?” Seoyun asked.

“We don’t mind if you go, daddy.” Hayun said.

“No?” Taehyung asked, surprised.

“No. You say we always have to try to make new friends. You have to do it too.” Seoyun stated, like she was very wise.

“Your uncles are my friends.” He said.

“We know. But you don’t have friends in college.” Hayun said.

Taehyung moved to the floor to be closer to his girls.

“You think I don’t have friends in college?”

“You only talk about uncles.” Seoyun answered.

“And Namjoon hyung.” Hayun completed.

“You should call him ‘oppa’, not ‘hyung’.” He giggled and booped Hayun’s nose. “But I think he would really like to be called ‘uncle’ too, although you don’t know each other very well yet.”

“You don’t have friends in college, daddy?” Seoyun asked, getting up and sitting on his lap.

“I can’t say I have. But don’t be sad, babies. My situation is different.” Both girls looked at him, curious. “Because I stopped for a while, the people I knew before have already graduated and now I study with a lot of new people that are much younger than me. And I have a lot of things to do outside of classes… It’s just different this time. But daddy is fine. You don’t have to worry.”

“So you don’t want to make friends?” Hayun was trying to understand.

“I am happy with my friendship with Namjoon hyung. And Jungkook. He is a new friend. Do you remember him, Hayun? The young professor that sat behind us that day you went to college with me?”

Her face contorted in a concentrated expression, but she ended up shaking her head.

“Not well.”

“That’s okay, you only saw him once and you were sick.” Taehyung messed her hair, making her laugh. “But he is daddy’s friend now. So, in the end, I have two friends in college.”

“They will go out today?” Seoyun asked.

“Jungkook is going.” He answered.

“Go meet him, daddy.” Seoyun cheered on.

Hayun nodded at him, joining her sister on Taehyung’s lap.

“My girls think I should go out without them today?” He asked to be sure.

“Yes!” They said together.

“What about you two?”

“We have a sleepover with uncle Jimin and uncle Hobi!” Seoyun talked loudly.

“Okay. If you are so sure, I’ll go out. Will my princesses help me choose a nice outfit?”

“Yes!” The girls answered, excited.

A little while later, Taehyung texted Jimin, confirming his plans. He was still a bit unsure, but he would obey his girls that time around.

Later that night, Taehyung got ready with the clothes his daughters helped him pick up, and took them to Jimin and Hoseok’s place. It was still early for him to go meet his classmates, so he stayed with them for a while.

Jimin took advantage of that moment to convince Taehyung to let him put makeup on him. He used a light shade of red with a little more light pink, smearing it on Taehyung’s eyelids. Close to the lashes, Jimin made a dark brown smokey eye with black outlines. On his lips, Jimin used a gentle touch of peachy lip tint.

The makeup fitted very well with the black pants, detailed with metal circles on the waistband, and the dark green sweater, paired with black point boots he was wearing. A sweater could be too much for the end of summer, but that one was a light fabric that pleased Taehyung’s skin a lot.

After Jimin put the finishing touch, he declared.

“TaeTae is ready.”

Hoseok, Hayun, and Seoyun, who were also in the room, stopped playing around to look at him.

“Wow, TaeTae. You will attract a lot of attention today!” Hoseok beamed.

“Daddy is so pretty!” Hayun said, touching Taehyung’s cheek.

“Daddy is always pretty!” Seoyun pushed her sister.

“Girls.” Their dad stopped them quickly. “Thank you for your compliments. Why don’t each of you give me a kiss on the cheek and I go? Hum?”

The discussion simmered down as fast as it had started, and the twins rushed to hug and pepper kisses on Taehyung’s cheeks. He kissed his girls too and instructed them to behave and all the other recommendations he always gave to them and their uncles every time they spent time away from him.

Taehyung left after that. He was a little nervous about his decision, but he would face it. If a small thought about having the opportunity to spend more time with Jungkook crossed his mind, he didn’t acknowledge it.

Jungkook was talking with the five students that had accepted the plan to go out together. Professor Han was late and, as far as he knew, Taehyung wasn’t coming. That had left him a little bit sad, he didn’t know why. Well, he knew, but he felt like he shouldn’t feel that way, so he tried to shut that part of his thoughts down.

Some time passed, Jungkook was having fun, when he looked at the door of the night club and saw Taehyung getting in. He had to blink a few times to believe he was seeing right, because that wasn’t simply Taehyung coming in. That was a very sexy Taehyung coming in.

Jungkook saw him turning around himself, looking for them in the low lighted place. Those pants should be considered a weapon. Jungkook shook his head after that thought crossed his mind, he had to stop that.

Taehyung finally saw them and came to the table the group was in. He greeted everyone and ended on a stool beside Jungkook.

Up this close Jungkook noticed the earrings he was using - something he always observed in others because he liked using them a lot too - and on Taehyung’s left ear he could see a small two-heart shaped anti-tragus, a long chain on the lobe, and a small round hoop on his upper-lobe that had 3 beads with the colors of the bi flag.

That didn’t mean exactly anything, but considering the scarf Taehyung had tied to his school bag, which looked a lot like the pride flag, Jungkook thought he could maybe assume something about it.

“I like your earrings.” He said, taking Taehyung by surprise.

“Hmm… Okay.” Taehyung raised an eyebrow.

“Sorry, that was weird.” Jungkook giggled.

“No… Eh… Yeah, it was.” He gave up on trying to deny it.

“But it’s the truth.” Jungkook giggled. “I think that by the number of earrings I use, that it’s obvious that I like the accessories.”

“Ok, I accept that.” Taehyung smiled and relaxed on his chair. “What did you like about mine?”

“The composition. The spark of colors.” Jungkook leaned back in his chair too. “And I think the smaller one has a meaning.”

“Hey, Taehyung? What do you want to drink? I’m going to refill mine.” One of his colleagues interrupted them.

“A glass of red wine, thanks.” He answered and turned back his attention to Jungkook. “I could say two of them have meanings. Can you guess the other? And what do you think the smaller means?”

“Two hearts are your two girls.” Taehyung nodded and Jungkook looked attentively at him. “The hoop with beads is the other meaningful one.”

“What do you think it means?” Taehyung didn’t know what had taken over him, but he couldn’t stop now.

Before Jungkook could answer, his wine was served and he took a sip, after he thanked his colleague.

“Adding it to the accessory you use in your bag, I could guess you’re a sympathizer or a queer.” Jungkook decided to take his shot.

“And you would be right. I’m bi.” Taehyung said, simply. “You?”

“I’m gay.”

Taehyung nodded, smiling.

“We always recognize each other.”

“If you say so… I don’t think I’m good at that. Unless I have, you know, clues. And even then, I’m not someone that likes to assume anything about anyone.” Jungkook explained.

“So you ask?”

“If I think I can and have an opening. But mostly I just go on with my life.” Jungkook shrugged, making Taehyung giggle.

After that, they drifted to lighter subjects and talked all night. The friendship between Taehyung and Jungkook was cemented that night, in the middle of a club, while everyone else was dancing and drinking, and they only had attention to each other.

~*~

A couple of months later, on a Saturday, Taehyung was working and the girls were in the gallery with him. They were painting on the second floor with Yoongi. Taehyung was closing a sale when he saw Jungkook walking in.

He finished his sale at the same time as Seokjin approached him and the client with a take-out bag in his hands. One of the services the restaurant part of the shop did. They said goodbye to their customer and Seokjin observed Taehyung observing the young guy looking at the art in exposition.

“Do you know him, Tae?” Seokjin asked quietly.

“ Why is he here?” He sounded a bit distressed.

“Who is he?”

“Jungkook.” Taehyung answered with a strangled voice.

“The PA?” Seokjin thought that would be good to watch and leaned against the counter.

“Yeah.”

“Oh! He is hot.”

“Hyung!” Taehyung averted his eyes from Jungkook for the first time to look astonished at his friend.

“What?” Seokjin winked at him. “I have eyes and my eyes tell me he is gorgeous and hot. Look at those thighs.”

“I can’t. I can’t.” Taehyung shook his head.

“Is he taken?” The seller denied it. “Is he a het? He doesn’t give me the vibe…”

“He is gay.”

“Oh…” Seokjin was paying very close attention to Taehyung. “You like him!”

“No, I don’t. I can’t.”

“Gay and single. And gorgeous. Smart, because you said it before yourself. And I can see muscles under those clothes, a lot of them, and you like it. Why can’t you like him?”

“I don’t have time or space in my life for a relationship. And this talk ends here before he can listen to anything.” Taehyung was deadly serious.

Seokjin nodded and straightened his posture. Jungkook was still far away from them.

“I disagree, but I won’t insist on the matter, don’t worry. It’s almost noon, I’m preparing the girls’ lunch.”

“Thank you, hyung.” Taehyung looked at him with his face composed.

“Good luck with your friend.” Seokjin said and went back to the restaurant.

Taehyung continued to observe Jungkook after the chef walked away. None of the sellers approached possible clients in the gallery unless the clients searched for them, so that was part of his job. The other motive was for him to calm himself, because he had denied what Seokjin said, but Taehyung had assumed to himself that some small feelings were indeed rising in his heart a couple of weeks ago.

Not that he would do anything about it, but he had acknowledged that they were there.

Jungkook knew exactly where he was and he had already spotted Taehyung, but he didn’t want to appear like he was eager to meet him, so he took his time seeing the art displayed in the shop, which wasn’t difficult because it was a delight to see everything. The collection was very well curated.

Then he calmly approached Taehyung.

“Hey, hyung.” He smiled at him.

“Hi, Jungkook.” Taehyung smiled back. “Did you like our exposition?”

“Yes. All pieces were well chosen. Who curated it?”

“My boss, Min Yoongi.”

“He has great taste.”

“Do you want any of them?” Taehyung was keeping his “salesman” act on.

“Maybe, but I haven’t decided yet. Do you have any favorites?” Jungkook tried to smile like he was flirting, but he knew he was bad at it.

“I’ll show you the ones that are still available.” Taehyung walked around the counter to join and guide Jungkook. “A few of them are sold, but some of our customers don’t mind leaving them in exposition for a while more.”

They walked around talking about the art pieces and that made both relax without them noticing. When they were going back to the counter, after Jungkook, in fact, had chosen a piece to take home, they heard rushing steps toward them.

Taehyung looked in the direction of the stairs just in time to crouch and hold both his girls.

“Girls, what did we talk about running in the gallery?”

“Uncle Yoongi said we could!” Seoyun answered.

“Oh.” He looked up and saw Yoongi nodding. “Well, if he said you can, I won’t be responsible if any accident happens.” He winked at his boss, making him laugh.

“We’re careful.” Hayun said.

“You better be or you’ll get Yoongi hyung in big trouble.” Taehyung winked at the girls this time and made them laugh too.

He got up and held the twins by their hands, turning back to Jungkook. Taehyung heard Yoongi approaching.

“This is my boss, Min Yoongi. Hyung, this is Jeon Jungkook. He loved your curation in exposition now.”

They bowed to each other.

“You were Taehyung’s PA in Digital Art, right?” Yoongi asked, remembering from where he knew the name.

“Yes.”

“I could talk to you about a few ideas I have...” Yoongi frowned a bit, thinking.

“It would be my pleasure.” Jungkook bowed slightly again. “Your selection is really great, Min Yoongi-ssi.”

“You can call me hyung.” Yoongi smirked. “You’re friends with Taehyungie, and I think I’ll like you.”

Jungkook nodded and was attracted back to Taehyung when he heard him talking.

“Do you remember Hayun?” He passed his hand on the girl’s long loose hair.

“Of course!” Jungkook smiled at the little girl and bowed. “I’m glad to see you in good health, Hayun-ssi.”

The girl giggled at being treated like that.

“And this is Seoyun.” Taehyung passed his other hand on the ponytailed hair of his daughter.

Jungkook bowed to her too.

“Seoyun-ssi.”

The little girl covered her mouth with her hands and giggled too. She pulled Taehyung down to whisper in his ear.

“This oppa is silly, daddy.”

Seoyun’s intention was for only Taehyung to listen to her, but she whispered a little too loudly and the whole group heard her, which made the men giggle. A little redness rose on Jungkook’s cheeks. Taehyung noticed that and felt his heart flutter. He cleared his throat.

“Girls, this is Jeon Jungkook, he was daddy’s professor during summer. Hayun-ah, it was him who sat behind us that day you went with me to class.”

“Sorry, Jungkook-ssi oppa.” Hayun said seriously.

Jungkook kneeled in front of her.

“Why are you sorry?” He asked gently.

“Because I don’t remember you well.”

“Oh, don’t worry. You weren’t feeling well, it’s okay. And you both can call me just oppa, if you want.” He said, looking and smiling at both of the girls.

“Thank you.” Hayun smiled back at him.

“You’re welcome. It’s very nice to meet you, Hayun and Seoyun.”

“Nice to meet you too, oppa.” They said together.

Jungkook continued smiling and got up again. Taehyung was totally endeared. That definitely wasn’t good for his heart.

Noticing that Taehyung was distracted, Yoongi decided to talk.

“Girls, let’s see if Jin hyung has lunch ready?”

“Oh.” Taehyung got startled. “Yes, Jin hyung must be ready. Go, girls, I’ll go soon.”

“Okay, daddy.”

Hayun and Seoyun held hands and skipped to the restaurant, followed by Yoongi, who looked back twice to see if Taehyung was talking with Jungkook again, but all he could see was two flustered and reddened faces. Yoongi shook his head, chuckling, he probably should tell about that to the others.

“Your girls are very sweet.” Jungkook said after they were alone again.

“They are the best.” Taehyung beamed.

“And very similar! How do people differentiate them?” Jungkook’s eyes were wide open.

That made Taehyung laugh loudly.

“I hear that all the time.” He laughed some more, before he breathed deeply to stop. “The most apparent tellings are that they always have their hair done differently and they always use different colors of clothes. Their decision since they were 3 and a half years old. Hayun and Seoyun are very adamant about their favorite colors. Hayun likes pastel colors and Seoyun likes bold ones.”

“Hayun is wearing light purple and Seoyun is wearing orange. And that time you took Hayun to class, she was wearing baby blue, I think?” Jungkook nodded.

“Yes. They are also developing their own tastes in style so I think soon they will be wearing different styles of clothes, but that isn’t a telling yet.” Taehyung smiled, finding it funny how Jungkook seemed to be taking mental notes on how to separate the girls. “The last time I took them to the hair salon they chose their hairstyles, so they now have different hair cuts.”

“Seoyun has bangs and Hayun hasn’t?” Jungkook tilted his head wondering if that was all.

“Yes, but Seoyun’s hair is way shorter. You didn’t notice because it’s tied up.” Taehyung explained. “Now, a telling that isn’t too obvious is that Seoyun’s eyes are light brown and Hayun’s are dark, almost black. Not everyone pays attention to that or remembers it. Hayun also has a mole on the tip of her nose, while Seoyun has one on her right eye line.”

“Like yours?”

Taehyung almost choked on his saliva at that question, taken by surprise.

“Ah… Yeah… Like mine.”

It seemed like time had stopped while they kept staring at each other. Taehyung felt like he was being pulled by the stars in Jungkook’s eyes. Jungkook felt like he could drown in the deepness of Taehyung’s.

“Hum… Excuse me?” Someone talked loudly after they cleared their throat.

Taehyung looked to his side and saw a customer. It took him a few seconds to realize what he was seeing when he got startled and shook his head.

“I-I’m sorry! How can I help you?”

“I want one of the small pieces.” The customer said, referring to small art pieces that were kept in a locked display.

“Sure.” Taehyung looked around and saw one of the other sales-staff. “Yongsun?” The saleswoman turned to see him and smiled, nodding. “Please, show the small pieces to our customer.”

“Of course.” She approached and took the customer with her.

Taehyung turned back to Jungkook.

“Sorry about that. Let me finish your purchase, you probably have something to do.”

“Actually, I don’t.” Jungkook said.

“You don’t.” Taehyung repeated, like a fool. He felt his face warming up.

“I don’t.” Jungkook was also feeling like a fool.

“Do you wanna have lunch here? I mean, with me and the girls? Or by yourself. You should try our restaurant, Jin hyung is a great cook.” Taehyung stopped talking before he could embarrass himself more than he had already done.

“I would lo- like that a lot.” Jungkook answered. “Have lunch with you. And your girls.”

Taehyung nodded and moved to finish Jungkook’s purchase. They both kept quiet while doing it. Then, Taehyung said to the other salespeople that he was going to take his lunchtime and guided Jungkook to the restaurant.

That night, Taehyung’s group of friends gathered at Jimin’s and Hoseok’s apartment to celebrate Jimin’s birthday. When he arrived with Hayun and Seoyun, Yoongi and Seokjin were already there. The girls ran around hugging everyone.

“Princesses?” Jimin called them. “Why don’t you go to watch a movie in our bedroom while we wait for Namjoon hyung to arrive to eat?”

“Why?” Seoyun asked.

“They want to have an adult conversation.” Hayun said to her sister, rolling her eyes.

The adults laughed, but no one denied it.

“Yes, Hayun-ah. Can we?” Jimin asked.

“Come on, Seoyunie.” She pulled her sister and they ran to Jimin’s bedroom.

Hoseok followed them to help the girls find a movie they could watch. Taehyung sat on the couch and waited. He knew what was going to happen and tried to get ready for it. Jimin sat by his side, and Taehyung was waiting to see him eager to ask things, but Jimin had a soft expression on and hugged him.

“Why are you being so soft?” Taehyung whispered to him.

“I beg your pardon, I am always soft.” Jimin faked indignantly.

“No, you’re not. And I know what we are going to talk about, I thought you would be more eager about it.” Taehyung wanted to laugh it out, but he couldn’t.

“I know you’re having some troubles about it, so I’m here to support you, not to stress you out.”

Jimin gave him a sweet smile, and Taehyung returned it, hugging him tighter for an instant. Hoseok came back at that moment.

“Hyungs told us about the visit you had today, TaeTae. I want to meet your Jungkook too.” He pouted.

“He is not mine, Hobi hyung.” Taehyung said quietly, making the others wonder if he was really opening his heart. “But we’re friends now, so I think you may meet in the future.”

“But you like him?” Yoongi decided to make sure.

“I do. I fought this for a while, because I don’t think I have space in my life for a new relationship. And I need to think a lot every time I put someone new in my girls’ lives. But I made peace with myself now. I don’t know if I’ll do something about it, but I like Jungkook.” Taehyung took a deep breath after he finished talking, to steady his fluttering heart.

“After what I saw today, I would say he likes you too.” Seokjin said. “And I like the way he was very flustered because he met the princesses and yet he dealt with it very well.”

“He did, didn’t he?” Taehyung asked, smiling a little.

“I liked the way he treated our Hayun and Seoyun.” Yoongi agreed.

At that moment, they heard the doorbell ring.

“Can we not talk about it with Namjoon hyung present? He is very close to Jungkook. I’m not ready for it.” Taehyung asked.

His friends all nodded vehemently and Jimin opened the door for the professor.

“Hello, Namjoon hyung! Come in!”

Namjoon entered and greeted everybody. Taehyung went to the bedroom to call the girls and took that little time to refocus and let thoughts about Jungkook in the corner of his mind.

The rest of the night was tranquil and no one touched on the matter they discussed earlier, as Taehyung had requested. By the end of it, Taehyung took two sleeping girls home, helped by Yoongi, who gave the family a ride and accompanied the father to his apartment, carrying one of the girls in his arms.

“Before I go,” Yoongi said after they had put the girls in their beds. “I just want to say that you can have a romantic relationship in your life, Taehyungie. Of all people, I’m sure you can deal with it greatly. But don’t rush yourself.”

“Thank you, hyung.” Taehyung was really touched by the support his friends always give him.

He said goodbye to Yoongi and went to sleep.

A couple of weeks later, Jungkook asked Taehyung on a date, and he accepted the invitation. Jungkook surprised him, taking Taehyung to an arcade, where they played in all of the machines. It was a light night, and they had so much fun that Taehyung went home very tired but so happy.

He only realized they hadn’t kissed when he was already in bed, after he checked on the twins and did his nightly routine. He also realized that if that had happened on any of his dates before, he would be very upset by now. But with Jungkook everything felt so natural that he didn’t mind, because they had enjoyed the date and talked a lot, which was important to know each other better before taking the next step.

After that, they had a few more dates, going to coffee shops after Taehyung’s meetings with Namjoon; a lunch date one day Jungkook visited the gallery again; and a proper movie-and-dinner date.

They kissed on the second date. And in all the others that followed.

In the beginning, Taehyung feared that Hayun and Seoyun would get upset at some point, but they were cheering for him, actually. They wanted their daddy to be happy and he always came back smiling after his dates so that was good - it was their words when he asked them, after his third date. Taehyung was so proud of how Hayun and Seoyun were smart and sweet.

Hayun and Seoyun had only one complaint about Taehyung’s dates: they wanted to meet Jungkook too and have a date with him, because he was nice and made their daddy happy.

That was how they ended up going to an amusement park date by the end of November, before Taehyung would take a week off to focus on finishing and presenting his final project and doing his last tests to conclude his course in college.

It was Sunday, after lunch. The girls were ready, Taehyung was ready and they were waiting for Jungkook to pick them up. Hayun had tied her hair with two braids with the help of her daddy. And Seoyun had a ponytail again. They were warmly dressed, because it was barely the beginning of winter, but Taehyung didn’t want them getting a cold before their birthday.

The doorbell rang and Taehyung went to answer it, stopping the twins from doing it themselves.

“Hi.” Jungkook said to him with a smile.

“Hi.” He smiled back and stepped back to give him room to enter.

“Hello, Hayun, Seoyun.” Jungkook talked with each girl. He had learned who was who very quickly.

“Hello, Jungkook oppa!” They said together.

Taehyung closed the door and observed the conversation going on while he finished the backpack he would take with him.

“Are you ready to go?”

“Yes!”

“Do you know where we are going?” Jungkook asked.

“Girls, put your shoes on.” Taehyung said after him.

Hayun and Seoyun crowded close to Jungkook, who had stood by the door with his shoes on. He tried to open some space for them, while the girls sat on the floor to put on their velcro sneakers.

“Do you want any help?” Jungkook asked, observing them.

“No, oppa. We can do this alone.” Seoyun answered.

“They have velcro, it’s easy, oppa.” Hayun said, raising one of her shoes for him to see better.

“Oh! I see! You’re smart.”

The twins giggled at that.

“I am trying to teach them to tie shoelaces, but it’s a work in progress yet.” Taehyung said and crouched behind his daughters to check their work. “Slow progress, but we will get there. Right, babies?”

“Yes, daddy!”

He got up again and took two coats for them.

“Step outside, Jungkook, we can go now and I don’t have space here.” He chuckled.

“Right, hyung.” Jungkook said, a little blush appearing on his cheeks.

He opened the door and stepped back into the hallway, opening space for the girls to step outside too, and, like that, Taehyung could put his own shoes on after he gave the coats to the girls. Taehyung got out of the apartment and closed the door behind him. He held Hayun’s and Seoyun’s hands and they were ready to go.

“Lead the way, Jungkook!”

Jungkook did just that. When they arrived on the street, he led the family to the subway.

“I thought of coming with my car, but I guessed we would have trouble parking closer to the park and the subway puts us inside it, so…”

“We are totally fine with riding the subway, Jungkook, don’t worry.” Taehyung assured him.

“I like the subway.” Seoyun said.

“I like the bus!” Hayun gave her opinion.

“Oh, girls, you didn’t answer Jungkook oppa before.” Taehyung meddled. “Do you know where we’re going?”

“Lotte World!” They answered together.

“That’s right.” Jungkook smiled widely. “Are you excited?”

“YES!”

The adults laughed and continued walking. Taehyung and Jungkook talked about other things, while Hayun and Seoyun talked between the two of them. It was a quick walk to the subway.

The station was a bit crowded, so Taehyung decided to hold both girls in his arms. He did that sometimes, in fear of losing the hold of their hands with so many people bumping into them. He stopped and picked Hayun up first. He was going to crouch for Seoyun to hold on to him, when Jungkook talked.

“I can carry Seoyun, if none of you mind it.” He turned to Seoyun. “Can I carry you, Seoyun?”

The little girl nodded and extended her arms to be picked up. Jungkook held her without difficulty and they continued on their way. Taehyung’s heart was going crazy inside his chest.

The drive on the subway was like that, with them holding the girls in their arms all the time. Until they got out inside Lotte World. Then, Hayun and Seoyun were put on the floor and held Taehyung’s and Jungkook’s hands. Taehyung didn’t feel comfortable letting them walk free, even knowing they would do their best to stay close to him, and that they were almost six. He just couldn’t do that.

“Where do you want to go first?” Jungkook crouched and asked the girls. When he received blank stares as an answer, he chuckled. “Look around and choose a ride to go. Do you like the carousel?” He pointed it to the girls.

“I want the carousel.” Hayun answered.

“What do you think, Seoyun-ah?” Taehyung asked, looking down at his other girl.

“Yes, me too!”

They went there and then in all other rides and toys that allowed almost 6-year-old girls to go in. By the end of the afternoon, they had ridden the Camelot Carousel about 5 times, and kept going back and forth into the Lotty’s Kidstoria part of the park, where Hayun and Seoyun could play freely while Taehyung and Jungkook watched them from afar.

Jungkook suggested that they could end the night in the ice skating rink, which made the girls laugh.

“What am I missing?” He looked between the family, feeling lost, especially after he noticed Taehyung blushing.

“Daddy is not good.” Hayun said, trying to hold her giggles.

“Uncle Jimin tries to teach him, but daddy fails.” Seoyun said, not hiding her laugh at all.

“Oh!” Jungkook widened his eyes at that.

“Are you good, oppa?” Hayun asked.

“I think so.” He nodded at her, after he recovered from his small shock. “I thought you had taught the girls after you showed me their video skating the other day.”

“That is Jimin and Jin hyung’s doing.” Taehyung said, embarrassed.

“Hmm… I think we should leave the skating rink for another day, then. It is too crowded today, anyway.” Jungkook was thoughtful.

“That means we will go out again?” Seoyun asked, excited.

“If you want to. I want it.” Jungkook said sincerely.

“I want to!” The twins said together.

Jungkook beamed.

They left Lotte World and went back to Taehyung’s neighborhood, where they found a restaurant to have dinner. The meal was peaceful, the girls were starting to show signs of tiredness, but they were still talking a lot.

Jungkook accompanied them home. This time he and Taehyung were walking side by side, with their hands intertwined. And Hayun and Seoyun were on each of their sides, the first holding Jungkook’s hand and the second Taehyung’s. The sidewalk was calm at that hour, so Taehyung decided that wasn’t a problem. If it was a rush hour, he would have put the girls in between them.

Jungkook waited in the living room while they did their nightly routine, then, when they were ready to go to bed, Taehyung let the girls go say goodnight to him. They hugged Jungkook at the same time and kissed his cheeks.

“Come on, babies.” Taehyung called them from the bedroom door.

“Jungkook oppa?”

“Yes, Hayun?”

“Are you daddy’s boyfriend?” She was smiling at him.

Jungkook was surprised by the question and quickly looked at Taehyung, then back at the girl waiting for his answer.

“I think you should ask your dad.”

Seoyun turned to Taehyung.

“Is Jungkook oppa your boyfriend, daddy?”

“Yes, he is.” Taehyung said and smiled at Jungkook when he looked at him with wide eyes.

That was the moment they defined their relationship. With the help of Taehyung’s girls. The twins went to sleep after that, satisfied with their day. Then, Taehyung and Jungkook enjoyed themselves for a while, finally alone.

~*~ Epilogue ~*~

Taehyung’s final presentation was delayed for a few days, after Namjoon notified him that professor Lee was coming back, because Taehyung wanted him there, now that his dear professor would be available to watch it.

That prevented him and the girls from going to Daegu for the twins’ birthday, so his parents came to spend a few days in Seoul. Nari also came from Japan.

On the day of Taehyung’s presentation, which was in the afternoon, Yoongi closed the gallery earlier, because he and Seokjin were going to watch it, along with Jimin and Hoseok. Jungkook was there too. As were Taehyung’s parents, his daughters, and Nari.

Taehyung was so nervous he couldn’t stop putting his hands in his pockets and taking them out over and over again. Hayun and Seoyun noticed, because children see more than adults think they do, and held his hands, kissing the top of them and circling their thumbs, like Taehyung did with them sometimes. Their gesture touched him and that helped center him before he went to face the professors.

He ended his presentation and received top grades, which meant he had concluded his course, as his father wanted. Taehyung could see the pride overflowing from his father’s eyes and felt warmth all over him.

After they celebrated for a bit in the university hall, Yoongi declared he had a surprise for Taehyung. Jimin jumped on him to blindfold him, making Hayun and Seoyun giggle at their father’s protests against it.

When his eyes were free again, Taehyung saw himself in the restaurant of the gallery, surrounded by his friends and family with a party going. He thanked Yoongi and Seokjin profusely. He knew that if he had different bosses, he wouldn’t have finished his course.

Taehyung took some time to thank Namjoon and professor Lee too. If Professor Lee hadn’t helped him all those years ago, Namjoon wouldn’t have been able to help Taehyung at the beginning of this year.

Jimin and Hoseok were beyond any words Taehyung could say to thank them for all their help all those years. And he didn’t have any word for his parents and Nari either. So Taehyung hugged each one of them tightly and tried to pass his love for them in those hugs.

After that, Taehyung sat in a corner to try to calm down. Jungkook came to his side and placed his hand on his back, saying nothing, just being there for him. Taehyung fell a bit more in love with him because of that.

Hayun and Seoyun came to him and put their hands on his knees, looking into Taehyung’s face.

“Daddy, are you sad?” Hayun asked, getting worried.

“No, Hayun-ah.” He answered softly.

“Why do you have tears in your eyes then, daddy?” It was Seoyun’s turn to ask.

“I’m just overwhelmed with love and happiness, Seoyun-ah. Can you both hug me?”

The girls didn’t say a thing. They climbed Taehyung’s legs, sitting on his lap, and hugged him as tightly and they could, burying their faces in his chest. Taehyung hugged them back, laying his head on top of theirs and letting his feelings run free in his heart.

Jungkook stood by their side and noticed they were being observed by Taehyung’s parents. He had talked with them briefly, but was almost overwhelmed by how welcoming they were with him. Taehyung’s mother had been especially happy to meet her son’s boyfriend.

After a while, Taehyung felt steady enough to finally enjoy his graduation party, combined with Hayun and Seoyun’s birthday party to the fullest.

~*~ End ~*~