Chapter Text
The girl with the pigtails dug the heels of her sandals into the grassy ground, bringing the swing to a halt. Taehyung noticed from the corner of his eye that the boy patting away in the sandbox next to him was also observing the girl's departure from the swing-set with keen interest.
Suddenly, the boy's patting stopped.
He stood up.
Dusted his pants.
Stepped out of the sandbox.
And headed towards the swing.
Taehyung had been waiting patiently to have a go on the swing. And this kid thought he could just walk over and claim it when Taehyung had been waiting for longer? Did this dumb kid not know how playground rules worked?
Well if he did not, then Taehyung was going to teach him.
He tumbled hurriedly after the boy and quickly overtook him.
The boy seemed to have sensed Taehyung's intention behind his rapid strides towards the swing. Soon, Taehyung saw the boy jog past him.
Oh No He Didn't.
Taehyung sprinted after the boy who increased his pace upon hearing Taehyung's loud footfalls.
Hah! The boy was smaller and shorter. Taehyung with his longer, nine year-old legs would race him in no tim-
Oh no! The smaller, shorter boy had already reached the newly vacated swing! He had almost settled himself on the seat when a panting Taehyung reached and yanked the swing towards himself and away from the boy's bottom.
"M-my turn!" Taehyung said as scarily as he could while he gasped for breath.
The little boy looked up at him with wide, round eyes but didn't relent.
"No, it's my turn. I reached here first!" He jerked the swing back out of Taehyung's grasp and sat firmly on it.
"I was waiting for it longer!" Taehyung shouted.
The boy ignored Taehyung and kicked off the ground lightly to set the swing in motion. How dare he!
"Yah! Face me like a real man!" Taehyung challenged, remembering what Hyunjae hyung had told him about real men being strong and fighting for what they wanted. A sangnamja.
The boy paid no heed and began swinging his legs more vigorously to gain more momentum.
Well, he clearly wasn't a Real Man, but Teahyung sure as hell was. Before the boy could gain any real height on the swing, Taehyung grabbed the metal chains that kept the swing suspended and began jostling it hard with all his might.
The boy almost slipped off. "Wh-what are you doing?" the boy tried to demand, but his voice wobbled in fright.
"Get off the swing!"
"Bu-but I beat you for it fair and square!"
The gall this dumb kid had!
"Oh yeah?" Teahyung asked pulling as nasty a face as he could. "Now I'll beat you fair and square." With that he harshly pried the boy’s fingers off the chains and pushed him off the swing with all the strength he could muster.
The shocked boy fell off the swing and landed on his chest on the grass. "You-you're so m-mean!" the boy accused after he quickly stood up.
Taehyung noted with satisfaction the tears that had gathered at the corners of the boys eyes. "I'm a real man! Come and fight me when you're a real man and not a cry baby!" Taehyung jeered.
The boy gave a loud sob, turned around and fled from the playground.
Wow, the kid could run quite fast.
~~~
"Had fun at the playground today, Taetae?"
"Yes, appa!" Taehyung chirped. "Today was the best!"
"It was that good, huh? You've even eaten all your vegetables without complaining," his father smiled at him. "How come nothing this exciting happened when we went together? What was so special about today? Maybe I should come with you-"
"No appa! The playground’s just downstairs! And kids smaller and shorter than me come alone. I’m SO old now. In fact, today I became a real man!" Taehyung proclaimed proudly.
"Oh?" His father's lips quirked amusedly.
Taehyung knew his appa was not taking him seriously. "Yes! I pushed this dumb kid clean off the swing!" he said happily and began flexing his biceps to show his appa the source of his strength.
But his appa didn't look happy. His eyes were serious and his mouth did not open to say, "Ah! I'm proud of you, son!" like Taehyung had expected.
"Appa, you're making your not-nice face," Taehyung pointed out.
"Yes, Taehyung, because what you did was not nice."
"But Hyunjae hyung said real men are strong and fight for what they want and I wanted the swing!" Taehyung reasoned.
Taehyung's father pulled his chair closer and said, "Don't take what your mother's boyfriend says at face-value, okay?"
"What's face-value?"
Everything about this was so confusing to Taehyung.
"Uh... uh, it means that what he says has more meaning behind it."
“I don’t understand, appa.”
His father pulled him onto his lap. Taehyung would have protested, he was nine years old now, but his father seemed to be telling him some great life secret.
"What do you want to be when you grow up, Taetae?" his father asked gently.
"I want to be like appa!" Taehyung replied without skipping a beat. His appa was undoubtedly the Most Perfect Person in the whole world.
"Okay." His father ruffled his hair and gave him a quick smile and Taehyung breathed a sigh of relief. He liked it when his appa smiled. He looked so handsome.
"Next question. What words would you use to describe appa? You've learned adjectives at school, right?"
Taehyung nodded energetically. He did not need to think of an answer. The words flew out of his mouth. "Handsome!"
"Helpful!" Appa always helped ajhussi's and ahjumma's carry their bags, cross the roads and climb the stairs.
"Brave!" Appa would catch all the creepy-crawlies that would make Taehyung scream and run out of the room (he was only nine years old).
"Kind!" Appa never killed any of the creepy-crawlies he caught.
Taehyung looked at his father to see if he was impressed with his adjective skills. His father grinned, gave him a kiss on his forehead and then murmured seriously, "You didn't use the word "strong" to describe me."
Was his father upset? Taehyung looked worriedly into his eyes, but his father was surprisingly still grinning. "Have you ever seen me hit anyone, Taetae?"
His appa would never raise his hand against anyone. "No!" Taehyung gasped as realisation began dawning on him.
"So, I'm not a real man then?" his father questioned.
"Umm, uhh?" Taehyung was in a fix. His appa- his hero, his idol wasn't a sangnamja? Was that okay?
His father laughed at his confused face. "You don't need to be a sangnamja, son."
"I don't?"
"It's more important to be a real person. A good person."
"Then I can be like you?"
"I'm still trying to be a good person myself," his father said, pulling his cheeks affectionately. "How about we both try to be good people together?"
Taehyung was always One Hundred Percent Ready to do anything together with his father, "Yes, appa! What does a good person do?"
"For starters, he tries not to be selfish. He shares with others and does not hurt others for something he wants."
Taehyung nodded in agreement. He wanted to write all of this down with the brand new pen (not pencil!) that appa had bought him because he was nine years old now. But then he suddenly realised something!
"Appa, I hurt that boy in the playground!"
"You did, my boy."
"Oh no! How can I be a good person then? Is it too late?" Taehyung fretted.
His father ruffled his hair again, "Calm down, Taetae, it’s not too late. Good people apologise if they're wrong."
Apologise. Taehyung knew that word.
"So I should say sorry to the dumb kid?"
His father gave a small chuckle. "That's what you should do. But without the name-calling, son."
"Okay, let's go!"
"Right now?"
"Yes! I can't wait to be a good person like you, appa," Taehyung said and scrambled off his father's lap and began hopping about excitedly.
"Do you know where he lives?" his father asked, lips pulled apart in laughter at his son’s fervour.
"N-no," Taehyung stuttered, his enthusiasm dampening immediately.
"You can apologise the next time you see him at the playground, don't worry now," his father assured.
"But what if his bunny-face doesn't come because I was mean?"
"What did I say about the name-calling, Taehyung?" his father frowned
"No appa, I mean it in a good way. He's small and has jut-out-ey teeth. Looks cute, like a bunny!" Taehyung exclaimed
His father grew thoughtful. "Hmm, is he shorter than you, with black hair... and..."
"And a sizeable nose," Taehyung used the new word he had learned at school.
His father suppressed a smile, "Yes, a sizeable nose... I think he lives on the floor above. Sweet kid. I think he was collecting money for the dog shelter a couple of days ago and he was so polite-”
Taehyung did not wait for his father to complete his praise for the kid. He grabbed his father's hands and led him towards the door, determined to apologise and gain his father's approval like the dumb, no not dumb, kid had.
~~~
Taehyung was nervous. This was his first official apology to a stranger. What was he supposed to do to make it sound sincere?
Taehyung was looking for a friend around this new neighbourhood that his appa had moved into, and he would not mind it if it were the kid, even if he was obviously younger than his nine year-old self.
But what if the boy rejected his apology?
Should he offer him his turn on the swings?
Taehyung’s anxieties were cut short by the opening of the door before which he and his father stood.
“Yes?” a woman asked kindly.
Instinctively, Taehyung reached for his father’s hand and tried his best not to hide behind the man. The woman smiled so sweetly at Taehyung that it made him shy.
“Hello, good evening, my name is Min Yoongi, and I recently moved here,” his father bowed and introduced himself without a hitch. Taehyung had to learn how to do that.
“Oh!” The woman gasped. “You’re the new downstairs neighbour. I’m so sorry, Min Yoongi-ssi. I’ve been very busy. Otherwise, we would have welcomed you properly with chamchijeon or...”
“That’s perfectly alright. I haven’t been home much, been busy myself, so don’t worry about it,” his father easily comforted the woman who gave his father the same sweet smile that she had bestowed upon Taehyung earlier.
Taehyung decided he liked the woman’s smile. She could eye-smile like his appa.
“I’m Park Jimin. A bit late and improper, but welcome to the neighbourhood!” She threw her hands in the air in celebration and Taehyung could not help but giggle at her.
“Ah!” Taehyung felt his father jolt next to him. “This is my son Taehyung.”
“And I’m nine years old, ma’am” Taehyung told the woman, trying to be polite like his father.
“You’re so big!” the woman acknowledged with a tinkling laugh. “My son’s only seven years old. But you could be friends with each other?”
“Yes, ma’am,” Taehyung nodded.
“But first he has something to say to Jeongguk,” his father said.
The woman was surprised. “You know my son, Yoongi-ssi?”
“We had a brief interaction a few days ago,” his father replied. “If it isn’t too late, Taetae here would like to apologise to Jeongguk.”
The woman grew even more surprised, but she obliged their request. “It isn’t bed-time for another half an hour. Please come in,” she waved the father-son duo inside the house.
The television was on when they entered the room and the kid, Jeongguk’s, mother called out, “Jeonggukie, someone’s here to see you.”
From where he stood, Taehyung could see a lump moving on the stuffed sofa.
“To see me?” Round eyes peeked from the edge of the velvety armrest.
“Oh.”
The boy stopped moving as soon as he saw Taehyung.
Taehyung saw nervousness creep on Jeongguk’s face and he felt so so terrible that he had caused this. He promised himself he would never do that again. He felt his father give him a supportive squeeze with the hand he still had not let go of.
Taehyung freed his hand, gulped and stepped forwards. He could not tell who was more scared- Jeongguk or him.