tell me the way home | taekook

o n e

Jungkook wakes up to the sound of very familiar laughter and giggles, accompanied by some poking on his cheek. He grunts and turns over, reaching forward to cage the suspect in his arms. "Appa! No! Let go!" Yeonjun yells, giggling as he tries to break free from his father's grasp. But Jungkook is a lot stronger than most guys because he works out a lot, so he is definitely stronger than his four-year-old son.

He tightens his grip around the little boy before opening his eyes to finally look at Yeonjun's face, smiling immediately as soon as their gazes meet. His son is the most beautiful child in the whole world, and no one is allowed to say otherwise. Jungkook would very willingly join a fight to win this argument. "Why are you awake so early? Didn't Appa tell you that you need more sleep so you'll grow taller and stronger? Didn't you say that you want to have muscles like Appa does? You won't have them if you don't sleep properly," he scolds the little boy playfully, and Yeonjun answers with a pout that he knows Jungkook has always been weak for.

"But Appa, I'm hungry! I want breakfast. You have to go to work too!" Yeonjun complains, clinging onto his father with a pout because he hates being scolded even if it's just a joke.

Jungkook chuckles and kisses Yeonjun on the forehead. He lifts Yeonjun from the bed, earning a loud shriek of excitement from the little boy because he likes being carried even if his uncles always tease him that he's too old for this. His father always picks him up whenever he wants to, and he loves his father a lot. "Come on. You need to eat so you'll grow as tall as Appa," Jungkook says with a giggle, carrying Yeonjun out of the bedroom and towards the kitchen so he could prepare breakfast for the two of them.

Jungkook likes to think that he raised Yeonjun well. He's very polite and kind, and Jungkook is proud to say that his son is smart and responsible for his age. It's probably partly due to how he was raised by Jungkook alone, making him a little more matured compared to kids his age, but that doesn't mean that Jungkook doesn't allow Yeonjun to have fun. He's usually very busy with work because he has to earn money to pay for their expenses and put food on the table at the very least. But he does spend all of his free time with Yeonjun. He takes Yeonjun to the park to play with other kids, to eat outside together, to watch movies, and take long walks just for the sake of quality time. Jungkook likes to think that he's done well as a single parent.

Jungkook loves Yeonjun a lot. He's the only light in Jungkook's life. He makes Jungkook happy, makes him feel like he's done well, and gives him a reason to live. Jungkook doesn't know where he'll be if he doesn't have Yeonjun. If Jungkook doesn't have the responsibility to take care of Yeonjun and make sure that he grows up to be a wonderful person, then Jungkook doesn't know what would have driven him to continue moving forward.

Jungkook loves Yeonjun a lot, even if it sometimes hurts to see the boy's face because it reminds Jungkook of things that he's trying so hard to forget – Yeonjun reminds Jungkook of Taehyung.

Of course, it makes sense that Yeonjun would look like Taehyung since he's his other biological father. And sometimes, when Jungkook misses Taehyung, he would hold Yeonjun so tightly in his arms and remind himself that it's okay because he didn't completely lose him. Because what's inside his arms is a part of Taehyung, in the form of a child who was the result of their love for each other. And at those times, Jungkook would feel better. At those times, missing Taehyung hurts less.

But there are also times when seeing Yeonjun makes Jungkook's heart ache a little because he is reminded of what he had lost. He is reminded that he raised Yeonjun all alone, without another father to call his own. And Yeonjun deserves better than this small and shabby apartment, with only Jungkook by his side. If Yeonjun was with Taehyung, Jungkook knows that he would be living a better life. Not only that, but he would also know his other father – maybe then, he would've been happier. At these moments, missing Taehyung hurts even more.