Wheels Have Each Other

45. Breakdown

"Omoooo, so cuuuteee!! He looked so huge in all those pics and videos!!"

"Huh?" Taehyung smacked his sister's head, "what do you mean by that?!"

"That he is so tiiiinyyyy!!" Taeyeon exclaimed without even smacking her brother back. She was just mesmerized by her nephew, who was still with Hoseok. 

"Taeyeon-ssi," Jeongguk mumbled while Taehyung walked over to talk to Hoseok. Taeyeon snapped her attention to Jeongguk immediately. "Yes?" she asked. "Save your enthusiasm for when we leave here, please," Jeongguk said and that was when Taeyeon's smile fell and she noticed the thick tension between Jeongguk, Hoseok and Yoongi. 

She opened her mouth and closed it a couple of times before giving him a sharp nod. "Right. Of course," she said, "and you can drop the honorifics, oppa, I don't mind it."

At that, Jeongguk gave her a small smile and a nod, making her lose herself in a daze once again. Her brother's husband was so handsome and his smile made her lose her mind, because oh god, when had she ever seen him smile voluntarily?!

"Yah!! Stop staring at my husband and come here!!" she heard Taehyung exclaim and rolled her eyes. "Don't make it sound so wrong!!" she exclaimed back, but walked over to him and Hoseok nonetheless, her arms already outstretched for her nephew. 

"Careful. He tends to jump when he gets excited," Hoseok said as he handed Dohyeon over to Taeyeon, who chuckled and nodded and then walked back over to Jeongguk, who was waiting for Taehyung by the car. 

The second Dohyeon looked at Jeongugk, he broke into a huge grin, making Jeongguk smile back at him sadly, taking his tiny hand into his huge one and waving it a little. "Hello to you too, little man," he said and Dohyeon babbled something back to him in return, making Taeyeon coo at the two of them.

When Taehyung finished talking to Hoseok, he walked back to Jeongguk and patted his shoulder, pushing him slightly towards Hoseok. Jeongguk's eyes widened as he stumbled forward, but Hoseok just rolled his eyes and pulled Jeongguk into a tight hug. 

"Ouch, ouch, it hurts!!" Jeongguk exclaimed, forgetting all about the awkwardness between them a couple of seconds ago. He supposed physical pain erased every other emotion no matter what the situation was. 

"Right. You've got wounds on your back," Hoseok mumbled and let go of him. Jeongguk sighed and nodded without meeting Hoseok's eyes. 

"Look at me, Gguk," Hoseok said and Jeongguk looked up hesitantly, only to look away once again. "Ggukie," Hoseok called out again and this time, Jeongguk held his gaze. 

Hoseok searched his gaze for a few seconds before taking a deep breath. "Yoongs and I had a long talk. It wasn't your mistake, of course. We shouldn't have gotten mad at you for hiding what happened from us. You were just trying to keep yourself and your family safe. I hope we can let go of everything and move on. We've had enough for a hundred lifetimes, don't you think? Mainly you."

Jeongguk, who had been staring at Hoseok with rapidly tearing up eyes until then, broke down by the time Hoseok finished talking. Without minding any of his wounds, he crouched down and covered his face with his hands just in time for the first sob to break out. 

Hoseok kneeled in front of him and patted his shoulder twice hesitantly before letting go of everything and wrapping his arms around him, albeit awkwardly due to their position. 

Taeyeon had already gone into the car along with Dohyeon to give Jeongguk and his friend some privacy, but Taehyung, who had stayed outside the car to make sure nothing went wrong, rushed to his husband the second he realized that his husband had lost it.