Work Text:
- first date
“Um, aren’t you going to be late?” Seokjin asks when he sticks his head into Taehyung’s room.
The digital clock on the night table indicates that he has all of four minutes to get to a park 30 minutes away, so yeah, he’s going to be late.
Silently, Seokjin is greatly enjoying all of the nervous energy emanating from his cousin; rather, it’s adorable to him to see Taehyung so excited and happy, truly happy, after a tumultuous couple of months.
“This isn’t going to work,” Taehyung mutters to himself, flinging a pair of wide-legged pants across the room. He attacks his dresser and yanks article after article of clothing off the rack.
And this is where Seokjin, loving older cousin and the only level-headed person in the apartment, steps in. “Stop,” he says softly, placing a calming hand on Taehyung’s shoulder. “This is Jimin we’re talking about. He’s seen you in your absolute worst state and he is not going to care if you spent hours putting together the right outfit. In fact, I think he’ll probably be a bit peeved that you made him wait over that.
Taehyung whines loudly like a child not having gotten his way. “It’s not wrong to want to look nice for him, though, hyung.”
“It’s not right to keep him waiting for you. He asked you out, if you’ve forgotten.”
Cheeks reddening immediately, the younger male can’t help but grin at the memory of them at the auditorium after his orchestra performance. “I haven’t. I just, this is really important to me, hyung. I don’t want him to look back on this and tell our kids, ‘Daddy looked awful on our first date.’ I want him to find me irresistible, like how I feel about him. You know he’s one of the few people who look better sweaty? How is that even possible?”
Seokjin rolls his eyes. It’s been a long time since he’s felt the flutter of the early stages of dating, and while he’s content with how comfortable and well, married, he feels to Yoongi, he can’t help but find it sweet to see the excited jitters in his beloved younger cousin. “Sweatiness aside, I can’t believe you’ve thought that far ahead. I haven’t even thought that far ahead.
Taehyung scoffs a little at that. “Well, it’s not like Yoongi-hyung is dad material to begin with, so I don’t blame you.”
“Don’t be mean. Yoongi knows how to deal with you and Jimin, so I’d say he’s pretty equipped to raise a child if that’s where life is going to take us. And besides, you are officially late for your first date, so what are you going to do?”
Pouting, Taehyung hands over a huge pile of clothing to Seokjin. “Please help me get dressed.”
“Gladly.” Seokjin smiles so broadly that Taehyung actually startles a little and takes a half-step back.
--
“You have got to be kidding me,” Jimin calls out when he sees Taehyung approaching him. “An hour?! Really?”
Taehyung has the gall to try to act cute while apologising. “I texted you that I’d be late, though.” He sidles up to Jimin who promptly shoves him towards a nearby tree.
The dancer whips out his phone and shows Taehyung their conversation. “See here? It says, ‘Gonna be a bit late!’ Over 45 minutes ago. What is your definition of ‘a little,’ Taetae?”
“You?” the taller male ventures before yelping and begging mercy when Jimin yells and pounces, growling about Taehyung being an inconsiderate asshole.
It takes them a long moment before either of them realise amidst the bro punching and the occasional savage tickle that they’re panting and pressed front-to-front up against a tree trunk.
“Um,” Taehyung says when he realises that he really, really wants to kiss Jimin. They haven’t even started their date yet. To be fair, he’s wanted to kiss Jimin for months now, so this isn’t a new revelation or anything.
Jimin pushes himself off and scowls. “I could have slept at least another half hour,” he complains under his breath, pointedly avoiding eye contact. It’s too late, though; Taehyung’s already noticed the dark circles underneath his best friend’s eyes.
A manic sort of grin overtakes his face and he moves a step closer to the dancer. “Did you lose sleep over this?” Taehyung breathes expectantly.
“No!” yells Jimin, but he’s doing that thing where he avoids eye contact because he’s a terrible liar.
Taehyung laughs and lunges for Jimin, caging the other male in his arms. “You’re adorable,” he whispers, despite how Jimin is struggling to break free because he’s still not over the fact that he had to wait for so long.
“You're a dick. I should have never asked you out,” Jimin mutters. He reaches out and pinches Taehyung hard, grinning victoriously when the taller male yelps in pain.
“I’m sorry, I’m sorry, Jiminie,” Taehyung whispers into the dancer’s ear. “I just wanted to look nice for you, that’s all. Forgive me?” He ventures to pull Jimin into a hug, albit gingerly since there’s a high possibility that he’ll get pinched or smacked again.
Jimin stills in his arms, though. “You know I don’t care about that kind of thing.”
“I know, but I do. And yeah, I shouldn’t have made you wait that long. I just, I got nervous, that’s all. I messed it all up, didn’t I?” Taehyung’s eyes widen as he feels Jimin’s arms finally reciprocate the hug.
“You’re lucky I like you so much,” Jimin whispers, punctuating the confession with a tight squeeze around Taehyung’s midsection. “Now come on, bumper cars and all that good stuff are waiting for us.”
Taehyung gasps mockingly. “Bumper cars? Ugh, a man after my own heart. Lead the way, cutie,” he says with a greasy wink as he reaches out to hold hands. Jimin swats his fingers away and breaks into a run that he knows Taehyung will eventually have difficulty with, but a little chasing never hurt anyone.
- first kiss
So their first date ends a lot like Jimin had joked back in the auditorium after Taehyung’s orchestral debut.
“Why are you still so shitty at this?” Taehyung grouses as their characters attempt to slice down a dozen or so minions. “You’ve been playing for like half a year and you’re still the same as the first day you started.”
Jimin’s character receives a fatal blow. “Hey, we just finished finals not to long ago. I haven’t properly played in-” he pauses, calculating days in his head.
“Two weeks. Two weeks does not make a person suddenly crap at this game, not that you were good to begin with,” Taehyung bites back, irritated at the impending prospect of losing.
Jimin slaps Taehyung on the knee. “You’re being a jerk.”
At that, Taehyung’s character also dies and the screen switches to “YOU LOSE” in all caps. Eyes narrowed, he turns to complain some more, but it’s Jimin’s downcast look that has him pushing his laptop aside to gather the dancer closer.
“Sorry,” Jimin apologises. “I know I’m not good at this like Kookie.” He lets Taehyung pull him into the taller male’s side.
“Hey, no, don’t apologise. I was totally being a jerk about that. You only started to play because I forced you to join Jungkookie and me. Jiminie, I’m sorry,” Taehyung murmurs into Jimin’s ear.
On any normal game night, they’d be swearing up a storm and being ruthless with their words, but tonight isn’t the night for that. While Jimin can give as good as he gets, there is a sensitive side to him that sulks sometimes, and now just happens to be one of those moments. Taehyung should have seen it coming and he pinches himself after recalling how Jimin refused to admit that he had lost sleep thinking about their first date.
Tentatively, Jimin twists so that his head is more level with Taehyung’s and he pauses for a brief moment before pressing dry lips to the other male’s cheek. “Apology accepted,” he says, watching with amusement at how round Taehyung’s eyes become at the contact.
“You-”
“Me what?”
Taehyung won’t admit aloud that he’s thought about their first kiss in a hundred different scenarios. He thought the Spiderman one was kind of cool, but there was no way he’d ever get Jimin to hang upside-down willingly. He’d thought about coolly approaching it, maybe backing Jimin up into a wall and saying some killer line like, “I’m gonna kiss you now” and have Jimin smile slyly before grabbing him close. This setting is none of those cool or completely clichéd first kiss scenes.
Like many instances in his life, Taehyung’s body makes the decision before his brain does, and that’s when he finds Jimin pinned beneath him, eyes curious but not afraid or put-off.
“Is this happening?” Taehyung whispers, face a good thirty or so centimetres from Jimin’s. His eyes flit back and forth between Jimin’s eyes and the dancer’s plump lips.
“Is what happening?” Jimin's eyes curve into playful crescents.
Taehyung gulps audibly, mesmerised by the unreal glossiness of his best friend’s lips. He shifts his weight to his knees and elbows, the latter that bracket Jimin’s shoulders. “Can I kiss you?” he breathes.
“No,” says Jimin before he grins and uses the rejection as distraction to turn them over so that he’s hovering over Taehyung instead. Unlike Taehyung’s more tentative approach, however, Jimin wastes no time leaving just a centimetre between his and Taehyung’s mouths. Unlike Taehyung, Jimin basically lays right on top Taehyung and he can feel the other male’s shaky breaths beneath him, the rapid heartbeat thumping beneath his ribcage.
“Are you –”
“I’m going to kiss you, if that’s okay,” Jimin murmurs, eyes narrowed to mere slits.
Taehyung no longer has words. He simply nods and allows his eyes to slide shut before he feels Jimin press a chaste kiss to his waiting lips. And that’s it. There’s no demanding swipe of a tongue seeking entrance into his mouth, no heated licks, nothing but a soft and fleeting press of lips; yet, Jimin is still on him. Taehyung cracks one eye open to see Jimin grinning from where he’s moved to sitting upright.
“That’s it? I thought we were going to, you know, really kiss,” Taehyung whines.
Jimin laughs. “I’m not that easy. You do realise that you were incredibly late for our first date, you ate most of my popcorn and my cotton candy at the amusement park, and you insulted me because of a stupid game that, hey, you’re not that great at yourself, yet you insist on playing with me.”
Taehyung frowns because he knows that Jimin is totally right. He’d made a mess of the day despite Jimin being the one to ask him out and plan an enjoyable date. “I didn’t know you had such a terrible time today. I know you planned to do stuff that I would enjoy and I was a jerk about it.”
At that, Jimin pitches forward and places warm palms against both of Taehyung’s cheeks. “I never have a bad time when I’m with you. I just want you to understand that you don’t need to do things like impress me with what you’re wearing. Although, I will take this opportunity to mention that I greatly appreciate what you have on. Those jeans are great on your ass, just so you know,” he says, removing one hand from Taehyung’s face to pat him on the hip lovingly.
“Seokjin-hyung dressed me.”
“I thought so! When would you ever think to pair those jeans with such a nice pullover? You live in your cut-up tees and those awful sandals.”
Taehyung smacks him in the side. “Our next date, I’ll come wearing both of those. You did say that you don’t care what I wear.”
“Who says I’ll go on another date with you?”
Growling, Taehyung surges up and grabs Jimin’s head with large hands and shows him what he means by a proper kiss.
- first anniversary
Their first anniversary is thankfully nothing like their first date. On the other hand, it does turn out to be a lot of other things that neither Taehyung nor Jimin consider to be ideal, but they’ve learned to expect nothing from any given situation; as well-meaning as either of them may be, something inevitably gets in the way.
This morning, it happens to be Seokjin and his mission to bake.
“Hyung, can you please not do this?” Taehyung begs. He’s on his knees in the kitchen, begging and pleading with Seokjin to just let it go.
Unfortunately for him, Seokjin is in the zone and makes a beeline for the eggs when Taehyung intercepts him, the younger receiving a shove for messing with the baking flow.
“Really, it’s not a big deal. Please don’t make this such a big deal.”
The older male proceeds to ignore Taehyung’s pleas until the batter is done, poured, and popped into the oven.
“It’s your first anniversary. I can’t not bake a cake,” Seokjin reasons. In his defense, he typically bakes for birthdays, too, so it’s not a stretch.
Taehyung’s hair is a mess – mostly from yanking at it in frustration when Seokjin pointedly ignored him in favour of measuring and mixing – and he’s due for a shower, but he’d woken up to the smell of vanilla in the air and had thought innocently that his cousin was merely baking on a whim. It wasn’t until he’d seen the magazine cut-out of a three-tier cake and the colourful splash of “Modernise Your Anniversary Cake” at the top of the page that he’d thrown himself to the floor in supplication to please just stop and why so many tiers.
And then he stops walking in pointless circles because Seokjin uses a key word: your.
“Hyung, you’re right. It’s my anniversary, so why are you making a cake for Jiminie and me?”
The older male fixes him with a soft smile. “Because we’re going to celebrate it together. That’s what family should do, right? Celebrate birthdays and anniversaries together.”
Taehyung will look back to this exact day and his facial muscles will remember precisely every position they pulled to show his extreme and utter shock at the idea of spending his anniversary with everyone else.
“No.”
“No?” asks Seokjin, one eyebrow raised. He’s got a spatula in his hand, but it might as well be a samurai sword if Taehyung’s concerned.
“No?” Taehyung repeats, although it comes out more like a squeaky question.
Seokjin shrugs. “Too bad. I invited everyone two days ago and they all said they’re coming. Dinner at the restaurant at 6. I told Jimin, though. I’m surprised you don’t know. Taehyungie, did you do that thing where you zone out and nod along even though your mind is somewhere else?”
Taehyung actually has to take a moment to think back to yesterday, just in case he and Jimin had some sort of lengthy conversation that he’d mentally checked out of, but he can’t remember. It’s also possible that he doesn’t remember remembering a conversation, if that even makes sense.
“See? You’re doing it now.”
“No, I’m trying to remember if I did that yesterday, but I can’t recall.” He scowls at Seokjin’s knowing smirk. “Anyway, why are you telling me today? What if I had plans? What if I made reservations for my anniversary?”
Seokjin laughs that laugh where he winds up slapping the table so hard that objects rattle and hop invariably to the closest edge.
Okay, so Taehyung’s not known for his planning skills, or foresight, in general.
--
“Why didn’t you tell me about tonight?” Taehyung asks, cornering Jimin just as the dancer is toeing off his shoes in the entrance.
Jimin rolls his eyes. “I did tell you, dummy. You did your space cadet thing, so I figured I’d just say it once and let Seokjin-hyung tell you today.”
Taehyung grabs the other male by the shoulders. “Why aren’t you as upset about this as me?”
“Because Seokjin-hyung is notoriously difficult to refuse, especially when he wants something, and he said something about an announcement, but wouldn’t tell me anything else.”
Taehyung hums thoughtfully, but nothing seems to jar his memory about anything out of the ordinary. That is, unless Seokjin was planning on selling the restaurant or opening up a chain, but his cousin had been his normal level of stressed as a restaurateur.
“Besides,” adds Jimin, “I think it’s kind of cute that he’s more excited about our anniversary than we are.”
Taehyung groans. “What is wrong with you?”
--
“We’re allowed to be a little late for our own anniversary party, right?”
Jimin gives him the side-eye in response.
It’s nearly 6:30 by the time they enter through the front doors to find the entire restaurant empty. On any given day of operation, Seokjin’s restaurant would at least be mostly full during dinner service.
“Excellent, we’re the first ones here,” Taehyung exclaims.
Irritated, Jimin yanks the taller male back for a moment. “We’re never the first ones anywhere, thanks to you. Also, I’m pretty sure I saw Hoseok-hyung’s head duck under the bar just as we came in, so they’re hiding. How have you never been like, kidnapped or something? You’re so unaware of your surroundings.”
Taehyung frowns at that. Truth be told, he was almost never alone his entire life. He was either with Seokjin or Jimin and the two together had kept him from making some grave mistakes in life, although, he did get into plenty of trouble with Jimin; the dancer just couldn’t say “no” to Taehyung’s whims all of the time.
The lights suddenly go off.
“Ha ha, very funny guys,” Taehyung says. He does, however, reach out for Jimin’s hand in the darkness of the dining hall.
A slight glow comes from the direction of the kitchen before its double doors open and candles on a gigantic cake emerge with Seokjin and Yoongi pushing it on a cart. It’s so much bigger than Taehyung imagined and he’s almost mortified by how much effort Seokjin put into his and Jimin’s first anniversary.
“Happy first anniversary, Taehyungie and Jiminie!” Seokjin yells.
The rest of them pop out from various places and a sheet holding up a bunch of balloons gets yanked to let them spill to the floor. A large mylar balloon drops down in front of them with red words that read, “Happy Anniversary” and Taehyung feels Jimin squeeze his hand at that.
--
Dinner is no joke with three courses and the enormous multi-tiered cake stowed in the corner.
Surprisingly, despite the posh atmosphere and classy regular menu, Seokjin makes their favourites, and it’s a huge surprise when they’re served burgers for the second course. Seokjin does remind them, though, that they’re Kobe beef burgers, so none of that plebeian BK stuff that Taehyung and Namjoon seem to like so much.
Taehyung still thinks it’s weird that he and Jimin are celebrating their anniversary with the rest of the group until the very end, after they’ve each polished off a large slice of cake.
“I don’t mean to take away from these two, but there’s a reason why I wanted you all here today even though this day is specifically for Taehyung and Jiminie. I said I wanted all of us to be together because family should celebrate things like birthdays and anniversaries, right?” He pauses, smiling when everyone nods. Yoongi joins him and winds an arm around Seokjin’s waist.
A beat passes until finally, they both break into big grins. “We’ve been approved for adoption.”
“I’m gonna be an uncle!” Taehyung whoops, scooping Seokjin and Yoongi into his arms.
Jimin all too happily pries his boyfriend off of the couple. “Congratulations.” He laughs when Yoongi looks relieved at being offered a handshake instead of another crushing and personal-space-invading hug.
“Girl or boy?” asks Hoseok.
Seokjin beams. “We think it’s a girl right now. Gorgeous little thing only about four months old, but there’s still a lot of paperwork.”
Yoongi brings out his phone and scrolls through until he finds a picture that he can’t help but smiling softly at. “Here,” he says, handing the device over as coolly as possible.
“She’s so sweet,” Hoseok coos. “Look at those cheeks. I just wanna bite them.”
“Please don’t,” Yoongi deadpans.
Jungkook grabs the phone and his thumb accidentally shifts the picture to the next one. He grins and keeps flipping, finding another ten or so incriminatingly adorable baby pictures on Yoongi’s phone, much to the music producer’s chagrin.
“Is it okay if we head out and celebrate on our own?” Taehyung asks Seokjin quietly. Everyone’s too busy laughing at how comical it looks for Yoongi jumping up to try and grab his phone as Jungkook discovers a whole slew of pictures of the child.
Seokjin nods. “Yeah. Sorry we kind of stole the end from you, but we heard back from the agency this week, and you know, you guys are all pretty busy, so I didn’t know if we’d find another day to–”
Taehyung grabs his cousin into a warm hug. “I get it. I get why you wanted to celebrate all of this together. Thanks, hyung.”
The two of them slip out quietly with just a quick wave to the rest of their friends. As they’re walking the five or six blocks back to Jimin’s apartment, Taehyung has a sudden thought and stops right there and then in the middle of the street.
“What?” asks Jimin.
“I’m going to be an uncle. Holy crap, Seokjin-hyung is going to be a dad. Or wait, mom? What about Yoongi-hyung?!”
The dancer rolls his eyes and presses on, tugging at Taehyung’s hand as the taller male rambles on about scheming to spoil the child rotten. “TaeTae, I’m pretty sure they’re more freaked out about the idea of becoming parents than you are. Also, the quicker we go, the quicker we can celebrate.”
- enough with the firsts
Jungkook had bet that they’d make it three years.
“And look at us, five years and counting, sucker,” Taehyung says, hooking an arm around Jimin.
The seven of them are seated at Seokjin’s fancy restaurant in a private room – he was the one who urged them all to celebrate milestones as a family, blood or not.
“I knew you’d make it,” Seokjin says helpfully, or not, depending on whose perspective. He grins at Jungkook who merely shrugs and scarfs down the starter bread.
Jimin clears his throat before standing. “I’d like to say a few words to my lovely TaeTae.”
Hoseok grabs Namjoon’s hand excitedly, whispering, “He’s gonna propose.”
Jimin chooses to ignore Hoseok and continues. “Five years ago, I asked that dummy out and he not only made me wait for an hour, he also stole food from me and made fun of me while we were gaming. That was our first date.”
“You suck at games, Jimin-hyung,” Jungkook heckles with a grin. Seokjin reaches over and smacks the younger boy on the back of the head and motions for Jimin to continue.
“But here we are, five years later, celebrating with you guys in Seokjin-hyung’s fancy restaurant. I just wanted to thank you all for supporting us and loving us. Happy anniversary, TaeTae.”
Hoseok and Seokjin look suspiciously teary-eyed, and Taehyung already has tear-tracks running down both cheeks even though Jimin hasn’t really said much, but perhaps it’s the molten look in his eyes, one that speaks of love and devotion that only Taehyung can see and understand. Seokjin reaches out and threads his fingers through his cousin’s – moral support and all – as Taehyung sniffles and tries to get it together to make their big announcement.
“Babe, you okay?” Jimin whispers, leaning down to press a soft kiss to Taehyung’s temple. “I can tell them if you want, or do you want some more time?”
Taehyung shakes his head and wipes the last of his tears away. Sure, he’d imagined him and Jimin slow-running off into the sunset of life, hands tightly clasped and sharing a giggle. He’d never imagined the reality of it all – being in a communicative, supportive, and loving relationship for the long haul – would be so overwhelming when faced with the next big decision in their collective life as a couple. Yes, perhaps he envisioned him and Jimin growing old together, but Taehyung had sort of skipped forward and left out the meat of their lives together, and today is sort of the start of that very important middle part.
Standing, Taehyung reaches out for Jimin’s hand and clears his throat, not trusting his voice just yet. “Uh, sorry about that,” he says sheepishly. “Jiminie and I have a pretty big announcement and we want you to be the first to know. Well, okay, I mean, Seokjin-hyung already knows –” he rambles before Jimin squeezes his hand to remind him to stay focused.
“We bought a place together,” he finally says, leaning in to touch his head to Jimin’s.
Seokjin grins when Yoongi complains about being kept out of the loop. Hoseok and Namjoon get up to congratulate the couple, and Jungkook invites himself over to be the first guest, of course, for gaming night.
“We haven’t moved in yet, but everything is signed and paid for. We’ll have a housewarming when it’s all ready, but just, we thought today would be a good day to tell you since it’s all finalised,” Jimin explains.
Hoseok throws an arm around both Taehyung and Jimin. “Welcome to the dreary world of being a true adult: paying for a mortgage. First came love, so when are marriage and baby coming?”
Jimin rolls his eyes. “I could ask you and Namjoon-hyung the same.”
“Hey, we’re engaged!” Namjoon yells defensively. No one bothers to call out, “and have been for three years.”
“I’m waiting for my ring, Jiminie,” Taehyung says with a wink, wiggling the fingers of his left hand.
“Then you’re going to be waiting for a long time. As I recall, I asked you out and asked you to move in with me. Oh, and I suggested we buy our own place. Your turn to step it up, TaeTae. Weren’t you the one in love with me first?” Jimin jokes back. He doesn’t mean any of it out of pettiness – he was rather happy to do all of the things he’d mentioned previously and he’d ask Taehyung to marry him if that was where they were headed. They’d just locked themselves into a mortgage for the next fifteen-ish years, so talking about marriage could definitely wait.
Taehyung opens his mouth and Seokjin claps his hand over it. “Guys, food is about to be served, so let’s have a toast to Taehyungie and Jiminie for their first huge purchase."
--
Giddily drunk and full on good food, Taehyung stumbles over the threshold of their soon-to-be-former apartment and promptly trips on his own haphazardly strewn sneakers in the foyer.
“And this is why I told you to put them away. I should just let you fall on your face,” Jimin chides after catching Taehyung moments away from face-planting into the wood flooring.
Taehyung giggles. “Thanks for preventing me from ruining the one good thing about me.”
Jimin frowns and hauls the other male into the living room before depositing him onto the couch. “I’d love you even if you were ugly, you know.”
“I know,” Taehyung replies. “I was just being needy. Come and cuddle with me. I love my cousin and all, but I hate that we had to celebrate our milestone anniversary with everyone. Talk about a buzzkill,” he complains after settling comfortably into Jimin’s side.
“Well, it means a lot for Seokjin-hyung to be with family on important occasions. I get what you mean, though. It kind of felt like just a normal dinner with all of us.”
Taehyung hums contentedly. “Good thing we bought a place, otherwise we’d forget our fifth anniversary.”
Jimin flicks him on the forehead. “You can barely remember a handful of birthdays.”
“Hey, I know Kahyun’s!”
“You only remember Kahyun’s because it’s a week before yours. And because I always remember to write it on our wall calendars. What are you going to remember about our anniversaries?” Jimin chuckles at the memory of Taehyung looking at the calendar in the hallway and realising with great horror that he’d have all of one day to go toy shopping for Seokjin and Yoongi’s daughter during the last-minute Christmas rush.
“Okay, but I also know Seokjin-hyung’s. And yours. Isn’t that good enough?”
Jimin won’t point out that it’s not hard to remember Seokjin’s since he and Taehyung both have birthdays in December, and that it took Taehyung until the end of university – after having been best friends for the better part of a decade – to remember Jimin’s birthday. “It’s good enough, dummy. Happy anniversary, TaeTae.”
“Happy anniversary, Jiminie. Now let’s go to bed and celebrate,” he says, eyebrows waggling.
Jimin grins and hauls Taehyung into his arms, kissing him senseless.
--
They’ll think about this night years later and laugh at how crude they were, with Taehyung mumbling endearments in the post-coital afterglow, when he’d let it slip that if they were married, they’d also get to have wedding anniversary sex. Jimin had rolled his eyes that time – it’s not like their love life was suffering and they didn’t need another date to remember, but then Taehyung had fixed him with a serious stare, proposed right there and then, and Jimin had burst into unexpected tears, nodding furiously.
- seven-year itch
Seven years ago and it would have been like any ordinary Saturday morning for Taehyung and Jimin: cartoons on the TV, both of them squished at one end of Seokjin’s couch, and snacking on cereal straight out of the box. Only, it would be more like mid-afternoon when either of them deigned to roll out of bed simply because it was the weekend, and they would have likely been alone. Seokjin only had enough patience to wake them up the first five times before he had to leave for the restaurant. Today, however, it’s a similar picture, but one in which a certain four-year-old is seated comfortably in Taehyung’s lap, the very same child who’d insisted as soon as the pair arrived at Seokjin’s place that they needed to watch ‘Tonari no Totoro.’
“Uncle Taetae, can I have my own Totoro?” asks Kahyun. She looks up at him with cereal crumbs all over her mouth and he can’t help but coo at her before reaching over to grab one of the many packets of wet tissues to clean up her face.
Jimin answers instead. “If you’re a good girl, Kahyunnie, he might come visit.” He ruffles her chin-length hair and settles back against Taehyung’s side just as Totoro comes to stand beside Satsuki and Mei waiting for their dad at the bus stop.
Kahyun nods eagerly. “I’m gonna be a good girl,” she says resolutely.
It’s at that point when Seokjin, with his superhuman hearing, pops into the living room. “Does that mean you’ll eat your veggies?” He smiles brightly, ‘#1 dad’ apron on while stirring something in a large metal bowl.
All three of them on the couch frown and Taehyung leans down to whisper, “Veggies are gross, right?” in Kahyun’s ear, making the child giggle while Jimin watches the two of them with a sappy smile.
“Please refrain from being a bad influence on my child. It’s your fault that she’s obsessed with Totoro, Taehyung,” says Seokjin, pointing to his daughter clad in Totoro-print pajamas. “Also, how is it that both of you are awake and dressed on a Saturday morning before 9AM? In my house, might I add.”
At least neither of them are in their usual ratty sleep tees and boxers. They’d also taken the time to wash up before showing up unannounced, but perhaps it’s the fact that they live right down the hallway and that they are currently lacking in edible food. Jimin yawns and stretches. “We came for the pancakes.” Between him and Taehyung, he was always the one who just couldn’t lie to Seokjin about anything.
“Ah, so you only came for the food. Not because you feel guilty for skipping out on Friday dinner again, and not because you want to visit your favourite niece. I see,” Seokjin says in his classic guilt-inducing, mom-style voice.
Taehyung clasps Kahyun tightly to his chest. “I came for her! I missed my favourite girl,” he exclaims, pressing kisses to the girl’s hair and cheeks.
“But mostly, he came for pancakes,” Jimin adds with a cheeky smile.
“I knew I heard excessive noise,” comes Yoongi’s sleep-raspy voice from the hallway. His hair is a mess and he’s still wearing pajamas, but it’s his house and he’ll be damned if he has to make himself more presentable to his least most-favourite house invaders.
“Papa!” Kahyun yells, scrambling out of Taehyung’s lap and running headfirst into Yoongi’s legs before raising both arms up to be carried.
Yoongi grins, leaning down and picking up the girl to settle on his hip. “Morning, sweetheart,” he mumbles, nuzzling her cheek before they disappear into the kitchen.
Taehyung pretends to vomit and Jimin bursts into laughter.
“Morning, sweetheart,” Taehyung says in an attempt to mimic Yoongi’s gruff morning voice.
“Be honest: you’re just making fun of Yoongi-hyung because you’re jealous,” says Jimin.
Taehyung freezes at that comment. They might have talked about it once or twice before, way back when Seokjin and Yoongi first adopted Kahyun, but it was more like, ‘Babies are cute. It’d be nice to have one,’ as though they were discussing the merits of getting a pet together. It wasn’t until their first joint babysitting mission involving 8-month-old Kahyun, a sudden high fever, and both of them flipping out and calling their entire group of friends that they realised a human child is nowhere near the same level as taking care of a pet. Another time, they were both drunk and celebrating their fifth anniversary when Taehyung had slurred against his lips and fixed him with his most serious stare, proposing that they should just get married and maybe have kids.
“What are you really saying?” Taehyung asks lowly. It’s dangerous territory, mostly because it was only in recent years that they figured out how to survive together, and they still lived only a handful of doors away from Seokjin and Yoongi in case things happened, like running out of food, or one of them breaking an appliance that Yoongi had an uncanny knack for being able to fix.
Jimin shrugs, making a show of being nonchalant. Taehyung has seen every single expression from his husband to know that the dancer is anything but. “Might be nice for Kahyun to have a cousin to grow up with. Or you know, our kid to have an older cousin to look up to,” he reasons calmly.
Taehyung lets an inhuman shriek burst forward as he draws Jimin into his arms, nuzzling his nose against the dancer’s. “You’re asking me to have kids with you?” Taehyung breathes against Jimin’s lips. “You seriously want us to have kids?”
“Only if you want them, too,” Jimin replies, smiling gently.
Taehyung presses a chaste kiss to Jimin’s lips before pulling back, nodding enthusiastically. “Yeah, I do. I really do.”
This time, Seokjin’s leaning against the doorway with Yoongi by his side and Kahyun standing in front of them.
“Uncle TaeTae and Uncle Jiminie gonna have a baby?” she asks, looking up at her parents.
At that, Taehyung turns around and opens his arms for a hug from his favourite niece. “Yeah, baby girl. Uncle TaeTae and Uncle Jiminie are going to try for a baby.”