tell me the way home | taekook

s i x

"I really want to meet your son soon. I bet he looks cute just like you," Taehyung teases through the phone, making Jungkook chuckle. Taehyung and his flattery.

"Yeonjun is staying with my friends when I'm at work so you never see him with me. It's not really a good idea to bring a child to my workplace. There is a lot of dangerous equipment around and I tend to be pretty busy while I'm at work anyway."

"He must miss you a lot. Don't you have day-offs?" Yeonjun shifts against Jungkook's chest, his chubby cheek seemingly expanding even more with how much he's pressed against Jungkook. Yeonjun is already four years old but he still loves sleeping next to his father. It's mostly because he does have trouble sleeping, but Jungkook thinks Yeonjun misses him a lot too because he's always at work so he doesn't want to be separated from his father when sleeping.

"I do. I take Yeonjun to eat outside and we go to the cinema sometimes too, the park, the garden, everywhere he wants to go to. I'm doing my best to make him happy despite the situation."

"It must have been hard to raise him alone."

"Yeah," Jungkook answers, guilt weighing on his chest. "It was. But he makes me happy so I hope I can be a good father for him too."

"I'm sure you are," Taehyung answers, and although Jungkook can't see him, he knows that Taehyung is smiling softly right now based on the tone of his voice. "You're doing everything for him. I'm sure he loves you. I just know that you're a good dad, Jungkookie. You've always been an amazing person. You, of all people, would know how to treat him, how to make him happy."

Hearing those words coming from Taehyung feel so reassuring. All of these years, he thought that he's been lacking something, that he couldn't raise Yeonjun well all alone. But hearing this now, Taehyung reassuring him that he's a good father, Jungkook feels like he can finally believe it. "Thank you," he answers, a stupidly huge grin etched on his face. "Would you want to meet him this weekend? The day after tomorrow?" Jungkook doesn't know if it is a good idea to let the two meet now, but he feels the need to. Yeonjun deserves to meet his other father. And Taehyung... Taehyung deserves to meet his own son – even if he doesn't know it yet.

"I'd love to!" Taehyung exclaims, and Jungkook giggles at how excited he sounds. Taehyung has always loved kids. Maybe he'll love Yeonjun too just as much as Jungkook loves his son.

"Okay, then I'll introduce you two to each other. Yeonie would be so happy to meet you."

Taehyung proceeds to rant about how he'll have to do a shopping spree tomorrow to buy lots of toys for Yeonjun. He keeps on asking adorable questions like what Yeonjun's favorite food is, what about his favorite drink? Favorite color? Does he like robots? Or cars? Or plushies? Does he like drawing as Jungkook does? What about coloring books? New clothes? New shoes?

Taehyung rambles on and on about how excited he is to meet Yeonjun, how he would be the best uncle ever and Yeonjun would love him. Jungkook had to hold himself back from telling Taehyung that he knows that he would be the best dad for Yeonjun too.

♦

Things don't always go as planned.

Jungkook has been preparing himself for Yeonjun to meet Taehyung the next day. He's still feeling a bit composed since he still has a whole day of doing his normal routine at work and not worrying about whatever the hell will happen tomorrow when Taehyung finally realizes just how close Yeonjun is to him.

Jungkook is so reassured because he can just panic tomorrow morning on their way to the meeting place. Not now. He doesn't have to panic now.

That is what he thought.

Because as he walks out of the studio after filming an ad, with Taehyung walking beside him and telling jokes that never fail to make Jungkook laugh, he hears a very familiar voice getting louder and louder every millisecond that passes by.

"Appa!" It's Yeonjun.

It's Yeonjun who's currently running towards him with open arms and a huge grin on his adorable face, showing off the missing tooth at the front, a sight Jungkook is incredibly fond of. Jungkook is flabbergasted, worried about how Yeonjun even got here, but it all made sense when he saw Seokjin walking behind Yeonjun. Right, Seokjin does take Yeonjun to the studio whenever he gets to leave the clinic early.

Jungkook momentarily forgets all of his worries as he crouches down to take Yeonjun in his arms, hugging the little boy and lifting him up because he loves being carried. Yeonjun giggles and wraps his arms around Jungkook's neck, happy to see his father after a whole day without him.

"Appa, I missed you. Can we eat? I'm hungry. I want to eat lots of chicken," he says with a pout, showing off those puppy eyes he knows Jungkook can never say no to.

"Didn't Appa tell you to eat lots of vegetables?"

"But they taste bad!" Yeonjun complains, swinging his feet slightly to show his determination.

"I've been trying to convince him to stop eating sweets but Namjoon and Yoongi spoiled him a lot," Seokjin says with a chuckle, ruffling Yeonjun's hair playfully and earning a whine from the boy. "I see you've got company, Kookie." Seokjin gives Taehyung a glance, and that's when Jungkook realized that Taehyung is, indeed, still right next to him, currently preoccupied with looking at Yeonjun with confused eyes. He's staring at Yeonjun's face as if he's trying to dissect something.

"Uh, yeah, Jin-hyung, this is Taehyung. Taehyung, that's Jin-hyung. He's one of my friends who help me take care of Yeonie." Taehyung looks so lost. He probably didn't even understand what Jungkook was saying because his mind is still too busy trying to connect everything.

Jungkook is sure that Taehyung saw Yeonjun's face.

And now, he's probably wondering why the hell Jungkook's son looks like a carbon copy of him – this is exactly how Taehyung looked like when he was a kid. There is no use in denying it from him if he dared to ask.

"That Taehyung, huh," Seokjin says in recognition. He grins and pats Jungkook on the shoulder. "I'm glad you're finally getting in touch with him. Did you tell him about Yeonjun already?"

Jungkook gulps and shakes his head.

"Tell me what?" Taehyung answers for the first time and Yeonjun turns to finally look at Taehyung with curious eyes. Jungkook sees how Taehyung's gaze noticeably softens as soon as his eyes meet Yeonjun's.

"Oh," Seokjin mutters, finally understanding the situation. "Well, this is awkward. I guess I'll leave you guys to talk."

Seokjin gives Jungkook an apologetic look, and Jungkook just gives him a smile and a wave as he leaves. It's not Seokjin's fault. Jungkook should've told Taehyung about this a long time ago.

"Appa, can we eat now?" Yeonjun asks again, still pouting and holding onto his neck. "I'm hungry," he repeats, and Jungkook just smiles and presses a kiss on his forehead.

"Sure, sweetheart. Let's eat with my friend, okay?" he says, gesturing to Taehyung.

"Okay," Yeonjun answers.

Jungkook turns to Taehyung, nervous eyes meeting his. "Do you have time now?"

"Yeah," Taehyung answers rigidly. "I think we need to talk about a lot of things right now."