NOT SO GOOD BOY

Episode 54

"I'm home!" Jimin yelled into the house.

Both Jungkook and him had walked home from their little playground date, completely freezing and spent from the hours of messing around with their friends outside. They both took off their shoes in the entrance way, and Jungkook couldn't help but smile as he heard Jimin's parents yell a warm "welcome home" from the kitchen.

He didn't know Jimin's parents that much, mostly because every time he was over, they just walked up to Jimin's room without much conversation, but from the things Jimin had told him about them and from the short snippets of their interactions he had got to see, the Parks truly felt like a new home to him, away from his father and the constant feeling that he was intruding when with Yoongi and Taehyung.

"Aigoo, Jungkook was it?" Chaeyoung, Jimin's mother, said as she walked out of the kitchen with a large plate of Japchae in hands. "Are you joining us for dinner?"

Jungkook looked down at Jimin briefly, as if asking for permission, but Jimin had already grabbed ahold of his wrist and was pulling him inside to their living room.

Jaesung, Jimin's father, was already sitting down, crossed legged at their short table, a true feast sprawled out in front of him. His mother had cooked a plethora of side dishes, from Japchae to home made kimchi and stew, and he was busy grilling pork belly on their small grill.

"Go wash your hands boys, we'll be eating soon," he said, motioning to them to leave before Jungkook even had the time to introduce himself.

They both shuffled to the kitchen, crossing paths with Chaeyoung who took yet another dish to the living room.

"Why did your parents cook so much?" Jungkook asked with a slight chuckle as they stood side by side at the sink.

"It's my dad's birthday today."

"Boys! Dinner is getting cold!"

"Come one," Jimin smiled as he pulled Jungkook to the living room again.

Both of them sat side by side, across Jimin's parents and in front of a delicious meal. Jungkook was first struck with stress as he faced both of Jimin's elders head on, right in front of him. It somehow felt like he was about to ask them for their blessing and then get water splashed in his face in return. But as he looked down, he was completely amazed at the amount of food on the table.

And he watched silently, as the family chit chatted and asked each other about their day, Jimin's mother taking his bowl and filling it with rice fresh out of the steaming cooker, then piling up different flavours with aromas that melted together into what Jungkook imagined what a home smelt like.

He looked around the living room slowly, noticing the wall next to him, with a large window facing the street in it's centre and dozens of picture frames surrounding it. They ranged from marriage pictures, to class photos of Jimin, the opening of Jaesung's dojo and winning pictures of both Jaesung and Jimin.

On the doorframe on the other side of the table, that led to the entryway, were little indents made into the wood, each a number ranging from one to seventeen. He chuckled, feeling his insides tightening in wistfulness and envy.

"Jungkook-ah... Jungkook-ah?" Chaeyoung called, snapping him out of his daze. "Pass me your bowl."

He nodded, quickly fumbling to get his chopsticks off his bowl and hand it over to her. His heart was getting tighter as he watched her scoop the rice into his bowl with a gentle smile still etched on her features, doing his best to blink away the tears.

"Thank you for the food," they all said before digging into their meals.

Jungkook picked up a piece of pork belly, about to take a bite before Jaesung stopped him.

"Eyy, is this how you eat pork belly?" He asked, already taking a piece of lettuce and piling meat and sauce onto it. "Listen son, this is how you eat pork belly."

And with that, he pinched the lettuce together into a small wrap and showed it to Jungkook proudly, leaning over the table to feed it to him.

"Ahh," he said, urging Jungkook to take a bite.

Jungkook sighed shakily, opening his mouth and letting Jaesung place the small bundle between his lips. He chewed slowly, eyes meeting the expectant ones of Jimin's father, nodding up to him as he awaited the validation that this was in fact, the best way to eat pork belly.

But Jungkook couldn't help but look down at his bowl, eyes clouding with tears as he sniffled softly.

"Jungkook-ah?" Chaeyoung said softly, leaning over the table in an attempt to catch his gaze. "Is everything alright?"

Her voice replayed in his mind, the gentle utterance of his name:

"Jungkook-ah"

And then he heard Jaesung's, with his proud and assertive:

"son"

"It's-" He whispered, choking down on a sob. "It's just really good."

His voice cracked as he placed his chopsticks down and wiped away a tear that had made it's way past his lashes. He felt Jimin's gentle hand on his thigh, caressing him reassuringly as he leaned closer to him. He sniffled one last time, looking up to the worried eyes of Jimin's parents.

"Thank you," he smiled through his tears. "Thank you so much."

The Parks all chuckled, a sigh of relief loosening the atmosphere.

"Well geez, I knew my wraps were good but they've never brought anyone to tears before," Jaesung joked.

"Oh my god dad, shut up."

***

"Kookie," Jimin called, both of them standing side by side in front of the sink, hands clad in pink gloves as they did the dishes.

"Mhm."

"What kind of relationship do you have with your parents?" he asked.

There was a short pause, only the sound of Jungkook scrubbing the plate clean at the distant buzz of the television remaining.

"It's pretty bad," he said. "My dad is an alcoholic who's obsessed with MMA and my mom works abroad."

"Are they divorced?" Jimin asked.

"Mhm, my dad has full custody of me, but all he wants is for me to become an MMA champion and bring him lots of medals and lots of money." Jungkook said, "And my mom doesn't want anything to do with me or my dad. I just hated it there, that's why I live with Taehyung and Yoongi now."

The plate in Jimin's hands slipped, crashing into the sink and splashing water on the both of them.

"Yoo...gi?"

Jungkook turned to him, surprised at his uncalled for reaction.

"Mhm, Yoongi. Taehyung's brother."

A/N:

Again how the fuxk did you guys make this story jump by 10k reads in a week wtf??

How did this story get catapulted to the #13 on jikook whaaaat??

thank you guys so muuuuch!!