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The train was as crowded as ever. Seokjin wrapped his arm tighter around Jungkook as he elbowed his way closer to a handrail. He could feel Jungkook pulling at the collar of his shirt as the train swayed. He then felt a tug at the hem of his shirt that was definitely not Jungkook. Seokjin looked down to see a pale hand leading to a young man with blond hair staring up at him.
"Um, do you wanna sit?"
"What?"
"You can take my seat if you want to sit. I imagine your kid is pretty heavy. I'm not saying he's fat or anything! I just imagine carrying another human being must get tiring after awhile, ya know?" Seokjin giggled at the stranger's cute rambling.
"Yes, I would love to sit down if that's okay with you."
"I did offer." The stranger smiled at him as he got up to switch places. Seokjin moved Jungkook to his lap and stretched his arm for a bit. The walk from the daycare to the train station isn't long but it can get tiring carrying Jungkook the whole way, especially on cold days like today.
"Thank you."
"Yoongi."
"Pardon?"
"My name. It's Yoongi,"
"Oh. Thank you, Yoongi. I'm Seokjin and this little guy is Jungkook. Kookie~ say hi to this nice man for letting us sit." Jungkook looked away from his toy and up to Yoongi.
"Dank you." Jungkook smiled displaying his missing front teeth. Yoongi couldn't resist that cute face and reached down to pinch Jungkook's face.
"You are very welcome, Jungkookie."
*Beep* Next Stop at L Station *Beep*
"That's my stop." Seokjin felt a bit sad that this kind man was leaving. He almost felt like asking for Yoongi's number but stopped himself short. Just because he bumped into a gentleman on the train doesn't mean he should start shoving himself into said gentleman's life.
"Get home safely, Yoongi," Seokjin said instead. Yoongi waved bye and in the blink of an eye, was gone and replaced with another stranger. Seokjin spent the rest of the ride home listening to Jungkook babble on about his day at the daycare and how many new friends he's made. Soon, he'll be starting kindergarten and Seokjin will have more time to rest at home.
Alone.
*Beep* Next Stop at S Station *Beep*
But no time to fret. This was their stop and Seokjin had a nice chicken soup ready to be heated up for dinner waiting for them at home.
~~~~~~~~~~~~
It seemed like the train only got more and more crowded every passing day with the holidays coming up. Seokjin carried Jungkook as usual, too afraid he'll be stomped on. He squeezed himself next to the seats in case any of them emptied out. He felt a tug at the hem of his shirt and found himself face to face with Yoongi.
"We need to stop bumping into each other like this," Seokjin joked. Yoongi laughed and, without a word, got up from his seat. Seokjin graciously took it and looked up at Yoongi. For the first time, Seokjin took a good look at Yoongi. He was wearing loose jeans and a plaid shirt with a leather jacket. A beanie covered most of his eccentric hair. He looked back to Yoongi's to see him smirking.
"Like what you see?" Seokjin sputtered, an unfamiliar blush heating up his face. He resisted the urge to cover Jungkook's ears despite knowing nothing inappropriate was actually said. Seconds later, Yoongi burst into laughter again causing Seokjin to sit there baffled.
"Your face. You should have seen your face! It was like a tomato. Hahaha! I'm sorry. I was only pulling your leg. Again, sorry." Seokjin huffed mostly for show. He couldn't stay mad at Yoongi, not when he had such a sheepish expression on his face.
"Well I'm sorry for getting flustered. I'm not used to having those kind of comments thrown at me." Seokjin was blushing again. He can feel it.
"I'm sorry, I'm sorry. But I find that surprising. You got a really pretty face and a really cute kid. Women must flock to you like moths to a flame. Unless you're already...ya know." Yoongi waved his hand towards Seokjin's ring finger.
"Oh. Oh no. No to both those things. I don't like-" Seokjin stopped himself. Yoongi might seem kind but other than that he doesn't really know anything about him to be spilling out secrets like that. Yoongi tilted his head in confusion.
"Do I seem too nosy?"
"Um..."
"I would apologize but you seem like a really interesting guy. I can't help but want to get to know you." There Seokjin goes, blushing again. Jungkook decided to act up at that moment and start pulling at Seokjin for his attention.
"What's wrong, Kookie?"
"I have to go," Jungkook whined.
"Go? Go where?" Jungkook wiggled harder and whined some more. "Oh you have to go to the restroom! Can you hold it for just a liiiiittle bit longer? We still have a few more stops and then we can stop at a store or something-" Jungkook cried out louder in protest.
"I need to go NOW."
*Beep* Next Stop at L Station *Beep*
"Hey," Yoongi interrupted. "My stop is next. If you want, you can get off here to use the restroom and I can drive you guys the rest of the way back."
"Why ride the train if you already have a car?" Yoongi shrugged.
"Traffic. It's horrible in the mornings." Seokjin worried at his bottom lip. They barely knew one another and yet....Seokjin felt like trusting him. He really really wanted to trust him.
"Okay. If that's ok with you then yea."
"Hey, I offered remember?"
As soon as the train came to a stop, Yoongi led them out and into the convenience store right outside the exit.
"Kookie, can you go by yourself?"
"Daddy come too," Jungkook whined. He tugged at Seokjin's arm, tiny little eyebrows furrowed in determination. Seokjin sighed softly before letting himself get dragged into the restroom. Jungkook insisted on taking off his pants by himself because he's not a baby. However, Seokjin still had to lift him so that he could reach the sink to wash his hands. Coming out of the restroom, Seokjin half expected for Yoongi to have run off while they were gone. It's not like-
"Hey you're done! I hope you don't mind I bought some snacks for Jungkookie. I bet he's tired after such an exciting day."
"Oh. That's fine I can just put them in his lunchbox for tomorrow so he can eat them at snack time. Jungkook, what do we say?"
"Thank you, Mr. Yoonie!" Yoongi bent down and ruffled Jungkook's hair.
"He's just too cute." Seokjin mumbled in agreement. It was one of the reasons he had chosen Jungkook. He remembered how tiny two year old Jungkook was. Tiny and soft and so sweet. He was so shy the first time they had met and now...
"Let's get you guys home!" It wasn't until they reached Yoongi's car that another dilemma hit Seokjin.
"Booster seat. Jungkook needs to sit in a booster seat. He's only five and less than four feet tall."
"That is a problem. I don't want you to have to get back on the train it's half an hour until the next one comes by. Do you trust me?"
"I do." It came out easily. There was no hesitation. "Just please be extra careful. I could never forgive myself if-"
"Don't worry. I wouldn't forgive myself either if I hurt a hair on his chinny chin chin." Jungkook giggled at the silly nice man. Seokjin strapped Jungkook into the car and prayed to every deity that nothing happen. Just because he trusted Yoongi doesn't mean he trusted every driver out on the road.
"Just tap your address into the GPS. Do you live far from here?"
"I'm not too sure. I'm not really familiar with this area." The GPS beeps after Seokjin inputs the adress. "It says it'll take fifteen minutes to get there. Is that...is that far?"
"Nah, that's enough time to get to know each other and still make it back home for dinner time." Seokjin sighed in relief. "So you wanna start or should I?"
"Start?"
"Talking about ourselves!"
"What would you like to know?"
"Everything," Yoongi grinned mischievously. Seokjin groaned. He could feel that blush starting to come back. "I'll start off with something easy then. Do you work?"
"Yes. I work at a restaurant as a line cook. One day I hope to become a chef. Maybe even open up a restaurant of my own." Yoongi whistled.
"You can cook, too? Well aren't you Mr. Perfect. The only thing I can make without burning is ramen." Seokjin giggled at silly Yoongi. He was far from perfect.
"I can teach you some easy dishes next time!"
"So there will be a next time?" Yoongi's mischievous smile is back and so is Seokjin's war against his blushing cheeks.
"Yea. I mean, I'd really like for there to be a next time." They keep chatting for awhile and it isn't long before Jungkook is fast asleep in the back seat.
"Alright, my turn. What's the story behind Jungkook? There's no wife or girlfriend so how...?"
"He's adopted. I adopted him."
"By yourself?" Yoongi asked, surprise clear in his voice. "Not that I think you'd make a bad father or anything it's just a lot, I mean a whole other human being you have to look after..." Seokjin's stifled laughter interrupted Yoongi's rant.
"It's a long story so I'll save it for next time. But in summary: yes it is hard raising a kid on your own. There are plenty of moments where I want to pull my hair out, trust me. But, at the end of the day, when I see him curled up in bed, tucked in next to all his plushies, it's like my heart explodes from how much love I have for the little guy. I wouldn't trade that feeling for anything in the world." There was silence after Seokjin's speech. It was comfortable and nice to just sit there and absorb each other's presence. It's been awhile since Seokjin has felt this comfortable with someone.
"You know, the more time I spend with you, the more perfect you seem." Seokjin internally flailed in his seat at the compliment.
"I'm not- nowhere near perfect-"
"Oh would you look at that. Looks like we're already here." Seokjin shut up and turned around instead to wake Jungkook up.
"Wake up, Kookie. We're home." Jungkook mumbled while prying his eyes open.
"Home?"
"Yes, home. Don't forget to thank Mr. Yoongi for bringing us."
"Thank you Mr. Yoonie."
"You're welcome, Jungkookie. Be good and listen to your dad okay?" Jungkook let out a sound of agreement as Seokjin helped him out of the car.
"Thank you again for...everything."
"Here, can I see your cellphone for a bit?"
"Oh yea. Here." Seokjin unlocked his phone before passing it over to Yoongi. He watched him as he clicked away before handing it over.
"There. Now I have your number and you have mine. We should meet up sometime. I'd like to hear the rest of the story."
"I think I'd like that, too."
~~~~~~~~~~~~
They ended up meeting various times throughout the rest of the month without Seokjin ever getting to complete his story. It was two days before the New Years. Jungkook was out on a play date so Seokjin had texted Yoongi to meet up with him at a nearby bookstore. There was a cafe inside where they could just sit and talk. Conversations with Yoongi were always interesting. He was very kind and straightforward, always asking about Seokjin and Jungkook and actually looking interested in Seokjin's replies. It was almost perfect.
"But books are so boring. It's too many words."
"Well that is generally how you tell a story."
"Yea but there are other ways. Like acting it out or even music or dancing it out. But words?" Yoongi continued grumbling as Seokjin dragged him through the aisles of the bookstore in search of a new novel Namjoon, his coworker, had recommended to him. Seokjin knew by now how to tell when Yoongi was honestly upset or when he just complained to hear the sound of his own voice. Like right now.
"I already offered to buy you cake so hush and help me look for this wordy book."
"Why not bribe me with a home cooked meal instead?" Seokjin paused pulling out the book from the bookshelf. He looked at Yoongi to see if he was serious. "Jungkook is always saying he loves your food. I want to see what the big fuss is about." Seokjin smiled. He doesn't see why not. He has to prepare lunch anyway before he leaves to pick up Jungkook anyway.
"Sure, why not! But you'll have to come grocery shopping with me."
"That's fine by me. Now let's go pay for that book so we can head on out."
Seokjin wasn't planning on making some gourmet lunch so the trip to the grocery didn't take long. It wasn't until they were in the kitchen that Yoongi brought the story back up again.
"So you never did tell me how you and Jungkook got together."
"Can you pass me the tomatoes? And here I thought you'd forgotten all about that story." Seokjin chuckled.
""I don't know about you but I think things are becoming a little serious between us. I want to earnestly date you. Getting to know Jungkook and the story behind him...I think that's an important step. Don't you?" Seokjin felt his heart warm at Yoongi's words. There was no denying the attraction he felt towards Yoongi. However, he had Jungkook to think about now which was why he hadn't made any initiative to go past friendship and hearing Yoongi care about Jungkook as much as him.
"Um, it's hard to know where to begin. I was raised in foster care my whole life. Just moving from one house to another and never really having a 'family' or 'home'. As soon as I turned 18, I was forced to move out and have been working at the restaurant ever since. It's where I learned how to cook. At the time, I decided to spend my spare time helping out at the orphanage nearby. That's where I met him. Jeon Jungkook. He was so tiny, only two years old. I fell so hard for that cute face. I did some research, saved up some money in my savings account. I did that for half a year before finally filling out all the paperwork.That took almost the whole day, it just seemed to never end. After that, things just got harder. I was a single man. I had no friends or family for reference. Yoongi, I fought to have Jungkook for three long years. I went in and out of so many different officials offices and visited Jungkook as much as I could. Everyday I walked down to the adoption center, terrified that I would see a family there wanting to take Jungkook away. Three years and now he's finally got a home."
"With you."
"Yea. And you too if you were serious, before. I really do like you Yoongi but Jungkook, my son comes first."
"Of course, I understand. I only say what I mean. I'm not gonna lie, I've never given much thought to having kids. But if it's someone as cute as Jungkook and Mr. Perfect here to boot, well how can I say no to destiny." Seokjin snorted at the corniness. "So, Mr. Perfect. Will you be mine?" Seokjin laughed before leaning up to peck Yoongi's cheek.
"The answer is yes."