Work Text:
“Alright.” Taehyung wipes his hands on the dishtowel. “But you’re going to be the one to tell her. She’s already disappointed enough about not being able to go on the camping trip and she isn’t going to be happy about you leaving.”
Jungkook pulls the drain in the kitchen sink to release the water. “I know she isn't, but this just couldn’t be helped.” He looks up at Taehyung. “I promise I’ll get things taken care of quickly and be back in a few days.”
Taehyung says nothing. Just nods his head and lays the drying towel out flat on the counter.
“Tae?” Jungkook questions tentatively as he bends his neck lower and around to try to catch his eyes. “Baby, you’re upset too aren’t you?”
“No,” His voice sounds too high and his response too quick and sharp to be the truth.
“Really?” Jungkook puts his hands on Taehyung’s waist, but the tension and subtle resistance he finds there clue him in to the answer he already knows.
Taehyung twists just enough to remove himself from Jungkook’s gentle grasp. “Really,” he says even more unconvincing than the first time, “I’m not upset.”
And he isn’t. For the most part. Or at least he doesn’t want to be. He knows that everything that’s happened in the past few days – the series of events that has destroyed their much anticipated weekend - has been unavoidable.
The three of them have been planning all summer to camp and hike at Koke’e State Park during Chilseok. This weekend. Haneul had been looking so forward to it. They all had been, especially because they had begun to realize that she is very likely in the final years where she still wants to hang out with her parents. The baby and toddler years had flown by and now she would be entering her teen years. Jeongguk had been adamant and Taehyung had agreed, they don’t want to waste one moment of the precious time left with Haneul as a little girl before they have to adjust to parenting a teenager. However, a few days ago, she had started to carry a bit of a fever and was diagnosed with an inner ear infection. She had promised to take all of the antibiotic and begged them to reconsider cancelling and let them go if she was feeling better. Taehyung and Jungkook had agreed even though they didn’t expect she could get better in time.
And then the rain had started. Unlike in South Korea, where this marks the start of the rainy season, that isn’t the case Hawaii, but that didn’t stop the deluge. And the forecast had been less that hopeful. Rain was expected all weekend.
After much tearful conversation, they had told Haneul that it just wasn’t going to work out. Even in the unlikely event her ear infection completely healed, the rain had been enough of a reason to cancel for certain.
Cancelling had been upsetting. And considering pre-teen girls aren’t known for taking disappointment well, the house had been tense.
Now tonight with the news that Jeongguk will need to travel to Seoul over the next few days, the tension is reaching new heights.
“Really, Tae?” Jeongguk crosses his rejected arms and raises his eyebrows. “You forget, I know that voice. Why are you pretending that you aren’t upset?”
Taehyung doesn’t respond. Just continues wiping the already clean table. Somewhat angrily.
“You know this wasn’t my fault?” Jeongguk’s voice rises in irritation. “I was very clear with them that we’d be in Seoul during Chuseok in a few weeks and we would take care of things then, but their administrative assistant got it wrong and said Chilseok. I guess she isn’t Korean and thought it was the same day. At least someone caught the error so we didn’t just no-show. An unwelcome last-minute trip is better than having stood them up. If you want to go instead you can?”
Taehyung knows this isn’t Jeongguk’s fault. But his rational mind is battling with his emotions and he wants to be mad at someone. The problem is there isn’t anyone else except Jeongguk around to be mad at.
He tosses the paper towel into the trash and lets the lid slam down a little to hard. “No. I don’t want to go. And I don’t want you to have to go. We agreed that when the BTS days were over that we wouldn’t ever go back to being at everyone’s beck and call. We agreed we were going to have a family and we were going to put each other first.”
Jeongguk sighs wearily, “Yes, and all of that is still true. But come on, this is one damn weekend! And I don’t want to go. But I know you know this is important and we’ve invested so much time to get this project off the ground, this is one of the things we have been working so hard for. And it’s going to be good for us.” His voice softens. “Tae, you know I am just as upset about this as you are.”
Taehyung is torn. He stares at the man he loves standing in front of him in the kitchen. Arms hanging at his side. Eyes pleading. Taehyung knows from his body language that he is just as upset as he is. And even without that, he would still know. He knows Jeongguk. He knows what is important to both of them and he knows this is. And that Jeongguk is right.
But just as his irritation begins to wane, he remembers that Haneul has yet to be told. His irritation rises again just enough to be less visibly angry, but there is still enough there that he isn’t ready to do what knows he should. Pull Jeongguk into his arms and apologize for the way he had responded.
With a much calmer voice he concedes. “Yes, I know you’re just as upset as me.” He points his finger upwards to indicate he is referring to Haneul who is in her room. “But neither of us are as upset as what she is going to be.”
Jeongguk nods. “Yeah. My flight is tomorrow afternoon. I probably should just go tell her now.” He turns to exit the kitchen and then stops and turns back towards Taehyung.
“Any chance you want to come do this with me?”
Seeing their daughter disappointed has been one of the worst parts of parenting and Taehyung won’t make him go in there alone no matter how upset he is.
“Of course,” he says reassuringly as follows him out of the kitchen and up the stairs towards Haneul’s room.
She’s sitting with pencil in her hand and drawing pad on her lap and sheets of paper strewn all around her full-sized bed. Earlier in the day her fever had lowered enough that she wasn’t so uncomfortable. And Taehyung is glad to see she is sketching which is one of her favorite things to do.
When she notices they have entered her room she looks up from her sketch and gives that infectious smile that Taehyung believes could pull anyone from a bad mood.
“Hey little one,” Jeongguk says smiling as he approaches her bed. “Looks like you're feeling better.”
Taehyung’s heart melts every time Jeongguk calls her that. She is not so little anymore, but it reminds him of their first night as parents. They had cradled her on the space in the bed between them, marveling at how tiny her fingers were, and Jeongguk had said with conviction that she would always be their little girl no matter how big she got.
“I am! I am!” She puts her drawing pad aside. “Please think about it again. I feel better. We can still go camping!”
Taehyung knows that Jeongguk is about to give her even more unpleasant new, so he takes one for the team and gently reminds her that there is no way they can go camping in the torrential rain that has been pouring today and is expected to continue through the weekend. The camping trip is postponed for a few weeks at this point no matter what.
It’s as though she expects that would be the answer when she quickly changes the subject and starts to talk about what they had planned to do this weekend to replace the cancelled camping trip.
“I was thinking,” she looks back and forth between them, “when we have our Ghibli movie marathon this weekend, we can make a menu of all the foods from the movies and that’s what we can eat while we watch. Like we could have bacon and eggs for breakfast, and then rice balls, and ramen with ham…oh, oh, and then chocolate cake for dessert!”
She looks like she might vibrate out of the bed with anticipation. And Taehyung doesn’t envy Jeongguk at all for what he has to do next.
“About the weekend,” he starts, “you and Appa can still have the movie marathon if you want, I don’t mind, but I am going to have to fly to Seoul for the weekend for some work.”
The drop of her smile and simultaneous tearing up of her eyes happens instantly. “No, Appa! You promised me we’d have a movie marathon if I felt better since we can’t go camping!”
Jeongguk sits at the bottom of her bed and pats her leg. “I know I did, Haneul, but this is something that I just can’t get out of. I'll only be gone a few days and you can watch the movies without me or you can wait until I get back. I won’t be upset.”
“Well I will!” She counters angrily. “You both said it would be the three of us! Why don’t Appa and I just go with you to Seoul for the weekend.”
Taehyung had briefly considered that when Jeongguk gave him the news, but he knew it couldn’t happen. He shakes his head compassionately. “You can’t fly with an ear infection sweetie. And anyway we all three will be going to Seoul in a little over a month for Chuseok.”
“Then Appa’s trip can wait until then,” she reasons.
This time, Jeongguk takes his turn as being the bearer of bad news. “No, it can’t. And I hate it as much as you guys do, but I promise I will come back as quick as I can.”
The tears that had formed in her glossy eyes were now beginning to trail down her cheeks. Taehyung knows that look. It’s the one where she realizes that she is going to have to accept the disappointment and there really isn’t anything else that can be done.
A tiny sob escapes as she bends forward putting her face into her hands.
“Oh no, little one,” Jeongguk carefully removes her hands. “This isn’t as bad as it seems. It’s disappointing, but we'll do the movie marathon another time, and there is still the camping trip that Appa is rescheduling for some time in…”
“It is that bad,” she interrupts. “Everything is bad. My stupid ears, and the stupid work trip and the stupid rain that is never going to stop.”
Taehyung and Jeongguk had begun to notice the early signs of pre-teen angst around her last birthday, and so he isn’t surprised at her level of disappointed. It always seems nowadays that everything is either wonderful or terrible and it can literally change from one minute to the next.
Jeongguk turns and looks to Taehyung with sad eyes and his heart thinks it might break twice for the both of them. He nods toward Haneul as he rounds the end of the bed, tidies the sheets of paper into the pad’s folder and places it on the nightstand. He climbs in next to her and fluffs the pillow under his head. At the unspoken but understood suggestion, Jeongguk turns his body and scoots up on the other side of the bed and lays down on the pillow next to her. She lets herself slowly relax back into the bed, laying in his arms. Taehyung scoots closer to her and kisses the back her head as he drapes his arm over the blanket that covers her.
They lay there mostly in silence for a few minutes save for Haneul’s occasional sniffle as she stops crying and begins to settle heavily into their arms.
Taehyung says quietly, as he strokes her arm. “You don’t want the rain to end tonight, Sweetheart. Rain on the evening of Chilseok is good.”
She gives one loud sniff and rolls onto her back so she can look at him. “Why is it good?”
The funny thing is that he knows she already knows why. She’s heard this bedtime story a million times. It’s one of Jeongguk’s favorites and he knows that she probably knows it by heart. But she is their big girl now no matter how much they want to think of her as little. And Taehyung is guessing that she might think she is too old to ask for a bedtime story, but she isn’t going to turn one down if it’s offered.
He looks over her head to Jeongguk and knows immediately that he is thinking the same thing.
“Oh if it rains on the evening of Chilseok it means that Jingnyeo and Gyeonu have been reunited after a year of being apart. The rain is their tears of joy that fall from the sky because they’re so happy to be together again.”
“Why were they apart?” She wipes her eyes with the backs of her hands as her whole demeanor changes and she nestles contentedly between them.
Taehyung’s sure of it now. She is indirectly asking for a bedtime story. When she was little it had been the expected nightly ritual, but over the past few years, it had become more sporadic. Taehyung knows the story by heart as well, but it’s Jeongguk’s story. And so he nods slightly to let him know it’s his to tell tonight.
“Well you see the Sky King had a daughter named Jingnyeo. She was named that because she was a weaver. She weaved all the different colors of cloud you see in the sky. She was beautiful. And when the Sky King introduced her to the handsome Gyeonu, who was a herdsman, they immediately fell madly in love with each other and got married. Everything was wonderful at first. They spent all their time together and they hated to be apart.”
Taehyung can’t help but notice that Jeongguk’s eyes lift slightly to meet his own.
“But they were so enthralled with each other that they forgot about the things that the Sky King needed them to do. So she stopped weaving and the sky became gray with no color at all. And he stopped herding his cattle and they ran lose all over the skies. This made the King very angry and he decided to separate them in different parts of the sky. He put Jingnyeo in the West and Gyeonu in the East and between them was the Milky Way, a great celestial river that they could not cross. He did tell them they could meet once a year, which is right now, but they were even sadder because they could not reach each other across the Milky Way.”
“That’s terrible. They just wanted to be together Appa. That’s not too much to ask for.”
“No,” Jeongguk strokes her hair, “but sometimes even people who want to be together are forced to be apart.” He looks up at Taehyung and smiles softly. “Sometimes other people just don’t understand how much they love each other and how they always want to be together even though not everyone thinks it’s a good idea.”
“Then how do they see each other tonight?”
“You know the birds called magpies, well they are very intelligent. And being such smart birds, they know how important love is. In fact, they are birds that once they find the ones they love they stay mates their whole lives. That’s why it’s always good luck and joy to see two magpies, but seeing only one means sadness.”
“All the magpies around here must be single,” she grumbles.
Taehyung makes a weak attempt to hold in his laugh as Jeongguk does the same. Both smiles are wide now. And Taehyung wonders why he allowed himself to get so upset and why he gave him such a hard time about this trip.
“Anyway,” Jeongguk continues, “the lovers were so miserable to be apart and when their tears fell to earth the magpies felt sorry for them. And so all the magpies on earth flew high up into the sky and placed their outstretched wings side by side until they made a huge bridge. And that’s what they did tonight. The Herdsman and the Weaver ran across the magpie bridge to meet in the middle. And they are so happy that they are crying. And that’s why it’s raining.”
“And they are together right now?” The sleepiness is her voice is apparent.
“Yes,” Taehyung assures her. “And I just realized something fun we can do while we wait for Appa to get back. We can go outside over the next few nights with the telescope and look in the sky for the two stars Altair and Vega that get so close to each other at this time of year. They each are bright, but together they appear to be one brilliant star. People say it’s Jingnyeo and Gyeonu reunited in the sky.”
“And see, Haneul,” Jeongguk offers, “at least when we have to be apart, you, and your Appa and me, we aren’t separated by something as big as the Milky Way. We know we will be back together soon and we won’t have to wait a full year.”
“But what happens if it rains tomorrow?” She mumbles sluggishly.
“Ah,” Taehyung kisses her head and squeezes her, “it will rain tomorrow because the lovers will have to say goodbye to each other for another year. So tomorrow their tears of sadness will fall.”
“I think they should get to be together all the time,” It takes her so long to mumble the words that Taehyung is certain she will be asleep in seconds.
Jeongguk whose big brown eyes look as though they hold nothing but love, stares directly at Taehyung as he says, “I do too, little one.”
Taehyung shuts off the lamp by the bed and rests his hand back on Haneul. A familiar hand reaches out in the dark and rests on top of his. He turns his palms upwards and clasps it, giving it one tight squeeze that’s meant to say I love you and I’m sorry. Jeongguk responds with a squeeze that is meant to say I love you too, and I’ll be back as soon as I can.
They both rest back on the pillows, snuggling in closer to her lying between them. Taehyung doesn’t think he could feel more content than he is in this moment. After all their years together, he and Jeongguk are finally at the point that they are in charge of their lives and their futures. Gone are the days when they had to pretend that they weren't together. Gone are the days when their schedules were so crazy and packed so tightly with opportunities around the globe that sometimes took them far apart from each other.
He kisses Haneul’s head and inhales the familiar smell. The same smell he and Jeongguk had noticed the first night she laid between them on the bed when they had started to cry and then laughed at each other for crying as they realized that this was their little girl and they had made a family of their own. He thinks about how precious their time has been together. How once he could only dream that one day the life that he currently lives would become a reality. He wonders what comes next for them. He wonders how many more nights like this they will have with their little girl. And then he remembers that no matter what the future holds and no matter what changes occur in their lives, he and Jeongguk have always and will always have each other.