Work Text:
The thing nobody tells you about dating after you have a child is that: it’s different. Beyond the fact that you have to actually care for the safety of your own child, there’s so many other different things. Jungkook can’t say he dated a lot before becoming a dad because he did become a dad pretty early. But the thing is, if he was to compare what he is currently having with Seokjin, with any other previous dating experience he had, it still would be very different.
They spend time together, they go on dates, they go on playdates with their children, and it feels so domestic. As if things were meant to be. Maybe that’s another thing that Jungkook finds a bit weird. He is used to a hard love, something he has to fight for, to bare himself raw to the bone in order to receive something back. But with Seokjin, things are easy. Seokjin listens. He also communicates. And that makes Jungkook feel so safe.
But then, there’s Taehyung. While Jungkook was a nice uncle he saw from time to time, that put his hair on pigtails, and he was nice. But now that Jungkook is constantly around, Taehyung is starting to hold his ground a little bit differently. He seems distant, prefers spending time at Hoseok’s house and everytime he is playing with Jimin, he just prefers not being under adult supervision. Especially when said adult is Jungkook. Also, it’s not that Taehyung disrespects him or anything, it’s just this aura of coldness that he seems to have for Jungkook and Jungkook only.
So when Jungkook watches as Yoongi takes a nap, one kid on each side of him, laying starfish style on the mattress in the middle of the living room, Jimin safely tucked on his side, small hands holding Yoongi’s t-shirt over his chest, as if he is afraid Yoongi would wake up and leave without him. Then there's Taehyung on the other side, head resting on Yoongi’s arm and holding only his pinky, Jungkook feels defeated.
He walks back into the kitchen and pours himself a glass of water. It is not enough, so he pours another. He is still mad, so he goes for the third one. That’s when Seokjin speaks up.
“If you’re feeling perched or have trouble breathing, I’d like to be informed so I can assist you with the right medical care until we get to the hospital.” Seokjin is still going through a bunch of files on the table.
“My mom says that the best remedy to a troublesome mind is water.” Jungkook explains and drinks the rest of his third cup. “Keeps your mouth shut, your body going, and your brain at ease.”
“So you decided to drown?” Seokjin asks, looking carefully at him. “With water from the fountain? When you live in Florida?” He cocks his head to the side. “I must tell you, that will take many, many glasses of water.”
Jungkook groans and puts his glass in the sink. “Seokjinnie hyung, stop. Your kid hates me and you’re here, making fun of me.”
Seokjin snorts. “Taehyung doesn’t hate you, Jungkook. We’ve been through this.” He waves his hand dismissively at the other. “If he did hate you, you would know. He's a capricorn.”
“Didn’t the girl that works at the reception desk of your lab tell you that last week? You don’t even believe in horoscopes!” Jungkook defends and throws himself on a chair, just like a spoiled kid.
“This is not a horoscope, this is the zodiac.” Seokjin points out and starts signing the papers he finished reading. “Get your facts straight, please.”
“Sure, professor.” Jungkook mocks. “But hyung, seriously, do you have any idea when the last time Taehyung even hugged me was?”
Seokjin finally puts the files down and looks at Jungkook before reaching for his hand. "Are you two fighting?"
"No." Jungkook doesn't even try to hide his pout.
"Is he being disrespectful? Is he pushing his boundaries?" Seokjin tries again.
"No, hyung. You know that." Jungkook sighs again. "But it's like, we don't click? Hyung, what if he never likes me?"
"Babe, listen." Seokjin brings their intertwined fingers to his lips and pecks Jungkook's knuckles. "I love Taehyung. I love Jimin. I love you." He looks outside the kitchen door and into the corridor. "Hell, I think I even love Yoongi." He snorts and looks back at Jungkook. "And we are together in this, babe. But we can't force Taehyung to feel comfortable. We can only offer him opportunities to flourish."
Jungkook, for what feels like the tenth time, sighs again. He should have another glass of water. "Hyung, it's been two years."
"I know, babe. I know." Seokjin caresses their hands. "But now we are living together, we are becoming a nice family, see?"
"I just want him to feel at home, hyung."
"And he does, my love. He does. You are the one who's uncomfortable." Seokjin points out and Jungkook pushes him lightly.
"I hope Jimin doesn't hug you before you leave."
It's Seokjin's time to gasp. "Why on Earth would you say that? Are you insane?" Jungkook laughs and Seokjin feels his heart melting. He is really in love with this man. "You're going to be fine, okay? Tae is used to these trips, he follows routines pretty well, and now he even has you and Jimin." He reassures the other. "It's going to be fine."
It's not fine. It's not fine from the get go. When Seokjin closes his suitcase, Taehyung stands by it. They have a small stare off until the kid frowns.
"You are going for a long time."
Seokjin hums. "Time is relative, my sweet carrot cake. When you sleep, it's goes like zoom," he makes a rocket with his hand, "and when you're waiting to go to the bathroom because you really need to pee and Jimin is taking a shower, it goes veeeeery slowly." Seokjin calmly explains.
Taehyung thinks about it for a second. "So, are you going in sleeping time or peeing time?"
Seokjin hums again and sits on the floor in front of his kid. "That's a very good question. Let's do it like this, I will go to work and bring back my analysis and then we can compare later, how about that? But then, you need to remember very well when the time changed and what you felt, okay? Jungkookie and Jiminie can help you with that."
Taehyung seems to remember the other people and his eyes fill with water. "Can you stay, dad? Just this once?" He whispers and climbs into Seokjin's lap.
Seokjin rocks them from side to side. "I can't, linguini. Dad needs to give some classes and get some new small things for the lab."
"But I will miss you… And who is going to check my ears after the shower" Taehyung babbles, pout in full action.
"Hmmm, we can't have dirty ears, can we now?" Seokjin kisses his kid's forehead. "I'll make a full list so Jungkookie will take care of you. Just as good as daddy, okay?"
Taehyung seems defeated, but nods anyway.
Jungkook watches Seokjin waving to them as he crosses the gate and feels panic start taking up space in the back of his mind. He has a list. Seokjin is great with lists. Jungkook is great at following Seokjin's lists.
So they hop back in the car and Jungkook drives them both to school. Jimin hugs him and kisses his cheek before pulling his backpack out of the car to wait for Taehyung.
Jungkook looks back and Taehyung is looking at him. "Are you okay, love?" He asks and pats Taehyung's hair, maybe they should get it trimmed.
Taehyung nods but also sighs. "Can you cut my vegetables for me tonight?"
"Sure can." Jungkook smiles. "And no cauliflower, because they smell nasty, right?"
Once again, Taehyung looks at him before nodding, sliding across the back seat and going towards Jimin. It's Jungkook's time to sigh.
"What did you do to make Taehyung like you?" Jungkook holds his phone between his ear and shoulder while mixing some baked vegetables for dinner on a tray.
Hoseok laughs on the other side. "Jungkookie, you're not looking at it from the right perspective. I don't need to educate the kid, he's not my son."
Jungkook starts serving rice into small bowls so it's not super hot when the kids get home - which might be in a few minutes from what Yoongi texted him. "I know, hyung. I know."
"I can say, I bet hyung says it too, even Namjoonie will, but if Taehyung didn't like you, you would know. That kid has no social filter, trust me. What's on that mind, you can see it on that face."
"Honey, I'm home." Yoongi announces from the door and Jungkook looks back just in time to see Taehyung running up the stairs with a frown. The panic in the back of his head sizzles louder, as if newly fueled again. Yoongi enters the kitchen and points to the phone, mouthing "is it hyung?"
"No, it's Hoseokie."
So the elder comes closer and says "Hoseokie, thanks for tutoring my neighbor's grandson! You're the best! I'll invite you and Namjoon for dinner!"
Hoseok laughs on the other side. "Okay, let me let you go and have dinner with your kids. But don't worry, okay?"
"I'll try. Thanks, hyung."
Jungkook puts the phone down and Yoongi's looking at him. "What happened?"
"I don't have good news to start your week without Seokjin hyung."
"Tell me they didn't get into a fight, hyung." Jungkook almost implores as Jimin walks down the stairs. Before he enters the kitchen, Yoongi raises one finger towards him and the other stops.
"What did I tell you, munchkin? That we would get you guys home, you would do what while I did what?"
"Entertain ourselves until daddy got dinner ready and that you need to talk adult boring stuff with daddy."
"Yup. Are you an adult?" Yoongi cocks a brow at him. "So, you have to entertain yourself elsewhere while I talk to your dad. Come give him his sugar and go shake your butt to the music you like in the living room."
Jimin laughs. "I don't shake my butt." He comes into the kitchen, hugs Jungkook and shakes his butt at Yoongi.
"That's it, baby! Shake what genetics gave you!" Jimin laughs again and runs to the living room. "I think I spend too much time with Seokjin hyung and I'm pretty sure that saying is not about genetics."
"Hyung, I need to know what happened to Taehyung." Jungkook urges him, still not completely out of the woods.
"Oh, yeah, so. I got them from school and the teacher asked me if I was picking up Taehyung today also because she would like to have a quick chat." Yoongi gives Jungkook a paper that he was sure was math work. And it's not good. "So, the teacher said Taehyung is getting into a bit of trouble with the new math they are studying. He adds numbers mostly well but it gets a bit harder when they try to solve problems that are more logical, you feel me?"
Jungkook looks at the small math problems. The stories about kids adding up candies and fruits. Taehyung can't interpret them. "Yeah, I feel you."
"You know the first year you did my taxes while you were still in college? I think he feels like that. I had the money, I just couldn't, for the life of me, understand how that worked. But then you came and saved me."
"And why is he mad?"
"Because he knows it's not good." Yoongi explains. "He is frustrated, Kooks. I don't have any kids, but maybe today's not a great day to push him, unlike Jimin, he seems very much in his head."
"Yeah… okay. I will think about what to do, thanks hyung. Are you staying for dinner?"
"No, I have a few deadlines coming and I need to be a trash panda to keep up with them, so I'll get hamburgers and soda on my way home."
"Don't let any other adult hear that." Jungkook warns him.
"Yeah, I told that to Seokjin hyung, he advised me not to, and then I said 'it's either that or cocaine' and I saw your mom in his eyes. I saw it, Jungkook. I was ready to square up and put up a fight while your way too big partner tried to take blood from my veins. But thankfully, I said it was a joke just fast enough."
"Yeah, pull this again and he will whip out a rubber torniquete from his pocket and you're history. He will be running tests with your blood personally, unlike my mom, who would take you to the clinic with the nice Korean ladies that compliment your eyes and smile." Jungkook mocks and Yoongi laughs before hugging him and walking away.
Jungkook hears as he passes by the living room and sings "Shake. That. Thing. Bada bada bada. Shake. That. Thing." And Jimin laughs.
He takes this as his opportunity to check on Taehyung, so Jungkook climbs the stairs and knocks on the door lightly before opening. Taehyung is sitting on the floor by his bed, coloring in one of his books. "Hey, kiddo. You good?"
Taehyung shrugs. "Just painting my book."
Jungkook sits by his side. "Coloring, baby."
"Coloring my book" Taehyung corrects himself.
"I made corn ribs." Jungkook offers and hands him a green pencil. "I know you love them."
"I love them" Taehyung takes the pencil and not even once, looks at Jungkook.
He colors in silence for a second. "Can I take a nap after dinner?"
Jungkook feels like ripping out of his own body with the will to say yes. Oh my God, he just wants to give this kid a bath, some warm food and hold him until he doesn't feel sad anymore. But he can't. So he tries his best. He runs his fingers through Taehyung's hair and messages his neck a bit. "Can't do that, baby. We gotta have dinner, take a look at what's for tomorrow at school. Then, we need to take a shower. But, we can watch some cartoons on the big bed, you, me and Jimin while we call Seokjinnie. How about that?"
Something clicks in Taehyung's mind so he stands up and brings a notebook to Jungkook. "Can you write something for me, please? In big letters, not daddy's notes letters, please."
Jungkook smiles. "Sure, tell your tale, professor Kim, the second."
"Day 1. Recess was sleeping time. Class was peeing time." He says and Jungkook writes it down just how Seokjin explained to him it would happen for their analysis.
"Done. Anything else?"
"No, thank you."
They look at each other and Jungkook thinks if he tried what he did back then, open his arms and ask for a hug… Would it work? Would it soothe Taehyung's feelings? Would it soothe his own? But instead, he asks:
"Are you ready for dinner?" With the best smile he can muster and Taehyung nods before turning around, putting the notebook back in its place and leaving the room. While Jungkook is still sitting on the floor with the coloring books.
Tummies filled, homework done and showers taken, they all sit on the big bed to talk to Seokjin.
"Hey, hyung. Look who I got here?" Jungkook says and turns his computer screen towards the kids.
"Hiiii, Seokjinnie!" Jimin greets and sends him kisses through the screen.
Seokjin eats them all across the country, smacking his lips back at Jimin, catching every and any kiss thrown his way. "Hmmm, I feel super strong now, I was missing those sweet cheeks." He comments and smiles. "Where's my baby?"
Jungkook fights the urge to answer and instead lets Taehyung crawl closer to the laptop. It's instant, the moment their eyes meet, Taehyung's lips start to wobble. "Hi, daddy."
"Oh no, what happened, baby?" Seokjin looks at Jungkook but the other just shakes his head.
"I'm a bit sad." Taehyung explains in a small voice and Jimin pats his back.
"Nobody likes math, Tae. It's very difficult." He tries to sooth his best friend the best way he can.
"Trouble at school, love? How about you snuggle up to Jungkookie, he has the best hugs, right Jimin?" Seokjin offers in a way to try and help.
Once again Taehyung looks at Jungkook as if he is afraid before shaking his head. "Daddy has the best hugs."
It's like a knife to Jungkook's heart. He would also like a Seokjinnie's hug right now.
"I promise you they are right up there with daddy's, baby. If you're sad, Jungkookie can give you a cuddle, and then when daddy is back, we can have even more."
"I can cuddle you too!" Jimin offers and intertwines their hands. "I will let you sleep on the cold part of my pillow."
Jungkook sighs and pats Taehyung's head again. "We will sort the cuddles, right Tae?"
"Yes, I guess." He mumbles. "But I miss you, daddy. I miss you lots."
"Daddy also misses you lots, baby." Seokjin looks worried from the kids to Jungkook but says nothing.
Two hours later, both kids are sleeping side by side on the big bed - Jungkook won't tell Seokjin and what you don't know, can't hurt you - he sits on the bathroom floor and calls his hyung.
Seokjin looks at him through the camera. "Are you gonna touch yourself? Do I need to get naked?"
Jungkook holds an unimpressed look until Seokjin shrugs. "I guess romance is dead. All that body and you keep your shirt on, lame. Very lame, Jungkookie."
"Hyung, I am going through a crisis, can you take me seriously for a second?" Jungkook implores while watching the love of his life through a too small screen.
"I know, love. I know. Your hugs are amazing, don't worry about it." Seokjin offers. "Tell me what happened and let's try to work this one out together."
It stirs something ugly inside of Jungkook's soul. Something bitter and misplaced. "I told you I couldn't do it, hyung." He whispers, without looking at the camera.
"Hey, Kookie, look at me, love."
"I am not one of the kids!" Jungkook grits through his teeth and Seokjin falls silent. The tears come fast to his eyes too. "I told you I couldn't do it, hyung. Now I am crying to my boyfriend across the country and I can't even make the kids happy."
Seokjin doesn't say anything, just looks at Jungkook and waits.
"Can we talk or do you still need to blame me for feeling anxious? Because I can let you talk a bit more." Seokjin fires back and Jungkook frowns. "Cut the frown, you know it doesn't work. I know you are not one of the kids, I am just trying to make the man that I love happy."
"Me too, hyung! But then… Hyung, what if I traumatize Taehyung? What if I do something that will totally mess him up?" The words seem to be connecting, from start to end, becoming just one big thing that refuses to leave Jungkook's body as he commands it to.
"Jesus, Jungkook. Listen to yourself, baby." Seokjin sounds actually worried now. "You're talking as if I left my kid with a monster. Take big breaths for me, baby."
Jungkook does as he is told and it helps him a little. He pulls his shirt up and dries his tears. That has Seokjin laughing. "I can't even catcall you when you show me your body if you're crying, Kookie. Give hyung something to work with, you tease."
"Stooooop." Even though the pout is there, Jungkook smiles. "Come back home, hyung. I think you're better at being a dad than I am."
"Never say that again. I am older, not better." Seokjin corrects him. "You're doing amazing and you know it. Taehyung is unique and if it goes on longer, we are all going to therapy together, okay?"
"Okay. I love you, Seokjinnie." Jungkook says and feels his chest tightening.
"Oh, I love you more, Jungkookie."
The second day goes on a bit better. No hiccups. But then Friday comes around.
There's a thing about having two kids: they could be cut from the same fabric and still would be 2 completely different complex pieces. Taehyung and Jimin are exactly that, they find themselves in the middle, but they couldn't be more different.
Jimin is so easy going, he thrives in chaos, likes the challenge. But also, he is so hard to settle down, he is always trying something new and, sometimes, all the feelings and adventures inside the still small body are too much. He can't listen, can't stop, can't obey. But it comes with being who he is. He is not a bad kid. He is a great, curious and gentle kid.
Taehyung has the same line of thought. He has those deep black eyes staring at the universe, trying to encapsulate everything around him. He is so gentle when doing things. But Taehyung comes from a different background. He is used to routine, to exact timings, to exact things. He is independent because Seokjin raised him to be, because their safety net of a family was different from Jungkook and Jimin's. Taehyung knows days and the passage of time, understands when things are supposed to happen and they aren't. And that's how Friday starts going downhill very fast.
Friday is Jungkook's day to pick them from school. So when Taehyung finds Hoseok waiting for them, it already feels wrong.
"Yah, you could at least fake it, hm?" Hoseok pokes Taehyung and gets his backpack. "Your new daddy is working late." He pushes just to see Taehyung blush. Oh, Jungkook has no idea what he is talking about.
Taehyung frowns at Hoseok and the elder laughs. "Stop it, tiger. Let's get your brother from soccer and head home."
Jungkook arrives home almost three hours later, with a whole pile of documents from a company going through a horrible bankruptcy. "Hey, I am home."
Namjoon pokes his head out of the kitchen and smiles. "Hey, Kooks. The kids just had dinner."
Jungkook hugs Namjoon and eyes the hamburgers on the table. "Thanks, hyung. I will handle it from here."
"No problem, Hoseok would have kept them, but he had a few classes." He explains but Jungkook just shakes his head.
As Namjoon leaves, he gets ready. Friday is pizza night. There's a storm coming. A small one, but a very angry one. He climbs the stairs to find both Jimin and Taehyung sitting side by side, playing with a few sensory toys Yoongi bought them. "Hey, guys."
Taehyung's eyes. They are Taehyung's fiercest characteristic. When Seokjin gets mad, he has those same eyes. They cut right through you. But Seokjin is an adult, he knows how to dose that. Taehyung, on the other hand, doesn't even try. "Where were you?"
Jungkook bends down and kisses Jimin's hair before doing the same to Taehyung. "Working late, I'm sorry." He explains. "Did you two eat?"
Jimin shrugs. "I did."
Jungkook looks at Taehyung and the other states back. "And you?"
Taehyung stares silently until he answers. "I'm not hungry."
Jungkook sighs. "Tae, you didn't eat it because it's not pizza?"
Taehyung's cheeks go crimson, as if he thought Jungkook wouldn't know that. "I am not hungry." He repeats.
But Jungkook had a long day. Too long. And he is tired. "Tae, let's go downstairs and then we can share a burger, me and you? How about that?"
Taehyung shakes his head and continues turning the toy in his hands. Jungkook sighs again and Taehyung looks at him.
Hoseok's voice sounds in his mind, almost mocking. "I don't need to educate him". It was what hyung said. But Jungkook needs to. He is the adult.
"Taehyung." The kid looks up at hearing his whole name, even Jimin looks up. "We are going down and we are going to eat. Am I clear?"
"But-" Jungkook shakes his head this time.
"No buts, Taehyung. Food is food, and you need to eat. I don't care if Friday is pizza day. We have good food on the table and that's what we are eating. I will stand up and walk to the kitchen. I hope to find you right behind me or else, we will need to eat and have a talk." Jungkook feels his insides turning as Taehyung looks at him in disbelief.
But he stands up and turns around. That's when he hears Jimin urging the other. "Go, Tae! Eat with dad or else you'll cry in time out. Go!"
Jungkook hears the footsteps right behind his and feels accomplished. Until he sits down to eat and looks at Taehyung. He looks miserable. He doesn't look mad or irritated, he looks miserable. As if someone crashed his soul.
Jungkook lets him sit by his side and opens a burger. Taehyung keeps looking at the ground. "Hey, burgers are not bad." Jungkook tries and Taehyung nods.
Oh, this won't do. Jungkook cuts a burger in half and puts on Taehyung's plate, a glass of grape juice right in front of it. He then opens his own burger and picks all the pickles from inside, before silently offering them to Taehyung. Does Jungkook love pickles? Yes. But so does Taehyung.
Taehyung grabs the pickles from the side of his plate with his fingers and puts inside his burger silently. He takes a small bite and looks at Jungkook.
"Good, right? Even better when we can eat together, right?" He tries and Taehyung's lips tremble.
"I miss my dad." He says, tears running down his face as he tries to take another bite of his food.
It crashes Jungkook's will. He rests his head against the table and sighs, again. "Me too. I miss your dad too."
Taehyung seems startled to hear that. But he presses his lips together, swallows his food and doesn't say anything else. Just cries over his burger filled with pickles.
Tonight, when Taehyung asks to talk to Seokjin, he grabs the phone and walks to the side of the couch. Away from Jimin and Jungkook.
Jimin lets Jungkook dry his hair almost all the way until he says: "it's okay, daddy. We can have more pickles next time."
Jungkook feels like crying too. So he just hugs his kid and smells the vanilla and strawberry aroma from his shampoo. They can have more pickles next time.
It's around midnight when Jungkook finally lets the weight of the world bend him. He sits on the floor, in front of the sink and opens a bottle of orange Fanta. The worst possible soda for your teeth. From his secret stash.
He is thinking about life when something catches his attention. Taehyung stands there, semi sleeping, at the kitchen door. He looks at Jungkook as if he had grown another head.
"Are you okay, buddy?" Jungkook offers and Taehyung walks over to him.
"Cuddles, daddy." Taehyung mumbles and Jungkook freezes as Taehyung climbs into his lap.
He hugs Taehyung as the other adjusts on his lap to find a comfortable position. "Hey, bud, it's Jungkookie."
"Mhmm, cuddle Jungkookie." Taehyung hugs Jungkook's neck and rests his head on the other's shoulder. He breathes calmly and Jungkook feels like if he moves, he is going to hell. So he stands there, barely breathing.
"You smell like candy." Taehyung says. "Can I have some?"
Jungkook looks at the bottle. "Just a tiny sip." He reaches for the bottle and offers it to Taehyung. He sits back and blinks a few times before reaching for the bottle and taking a sip.
He blinks fast and pulls his face away, half grimacing and half interested. "Slowly there, tiger." Jungkook cleans the side of Taehyung's mouth where soda drips a bit. "Sweet, right?"
"Too sweet." Taehyung keeps blinking as if he was electrified. "I want water, please."
Jungkook snorts and moves to stand up, but Taehyung clings to him. "Me too."
"Okay, you too." Jungkook holds him closer and stands up. It's been a while since Taehyung let Jungkook carry him. He serves the kid a glass of water and Taehyung downs it.
"Feeling better?" Jungkook puts the cup in the sink and Taehyung looks at him again. "Why are you sad, baby?"
"I ate your pickles…" Taehyung says, eyes once again filled with water, "and then you had no pickles! And I woke up, and you left! Because I ate your pickles and cried!"
It's Jungkook's turn to look at Taehyung. For how has Taehyung been holding things back? "I didn't leave, baby. I just came downstairs to clean, nothing else." He explains and Taehyung shakes his head.
"My mom left and now you too, I don't want you to leave, daddy." Taehyung spills the words as if they cut him. Thankfully for him, Jungkook is there to hold him. It cuts deeper inside of Jungkook, the idea that this kid has been so scared to love somebody because he is afraid they would leave him.
It destroys Jungkook. Taehyung is so fierce when defending himself and Seokjin. It's always him and his dad, best buds, against the world. But now there's this random guy and this random kid inside his life, changing things. Jungkook has never thought about leaving. The moment he saw what life could be, he vowed to stay. But he sees the problem. He never told Taehyung that.
His knees give up and Jungkook almost stumbles to the chair. He holds Taehyung impossibly close. "Oh my God, Tae, I am not leaving. Jimin is not leaving, baby. We are here with you, with Seokjinnie, right?" Jungkook reassures him, patting his back, rocking him lightly, trying to sooth both of them at the same time. "Dad is not leaving, Tae." He says it full of fear. He says it as a promise. He whispers it against Taehyung's hair. He repeats it as a mantra, trying to get it ingrained in his brain. Trying to chase away any fear left.
Jungkook is used to hard love. Fighting to be loved back. But Taehyung, small and sweet Taehyung, was fighting just as much. "Dad is not leaving, Taehyung. Dad loves you and your daddy. I am not going anywhere." He says it again as Taehyung calms down.
Seokjin arrives at the airport 6 days later. He looks tired and like he could use a nap. Jungkook is shaking in his boots, one kid on each side of his body as they wait for Seokjin to cross the gate.
When he pulls his suitcase through the door, Jungkook puts both kids on the ground and they are running towards the other. Seokjin is almost tackled to the ground as two small humans try to climb him, kiss his cheeks and get closer to him.
"Oh my God, I am never leaving you guys home again." He says as he squishes Taehyung's and Jimin's cheeks, kissing both of the boys before smelling them. "Oh my God, I have an addiction, I need my baby's smell to live, what's going on with me? Why do my babies smell so nice?" He keeps hugging them as the kids bathe in the attention.
"Hyung?" Jungkook calls as Seokjin bites Jimin's cheeks once again. "Hyung?"
"Hyung loves you too, Jungkook. I just can't bite your face in the middle of the airport, but I promise you I will bite you whole when we get home." Seokjin mocks and finally looks at Jungkook.
Jungkook, holding a small open box, with a nice golden ring inside, waiting for Seokjin to look at him. The elder stumbles and both Jimin and Taehyung say "woah" at the same time as they almost fall too. Seokjin looks from the box to Jungkook. And again.
"Hyung, I am not the best dad. I am not the best boyfriend either. But Seokjin, listen to me. I can't imagine my life without you and these kids. So, hyung, please never leave home again. Don't leave us. Spend the rest of your life by my side and I will gladly spend the rest of mine by yours." He says and people start stopping to look at them. "Marry me, hyung. Marry me so I can become a better person by your side. So we can raise better kids. So we can be a family all around and I can sleep and wake up next to you. Marry me."
Seokjin looks around and nods. "Yes. Okay. Yes, I'll marry you."