Destined

Meeting the Parents

Taehyung's PoV

Let me tell you something. There is nothing, NOTHING, nothing in the world that prepares you enough to be confident about meeting your partner's parents. I've used Naver, I've asked Chim, I've replayed the entire imaginary scene inside my head a thousand times. Kook has calmed me down saying nothing can go wrong because his parents are really appreciative and accepting of us.

And still, I'm trembling inside as my boyfriend's house in Busan comes closer and closer. I think I'll faint as soon as the door opens. I'll make a fool of myself. I'll blabber. I'll say useless things and they'll hate me. I'll become Taetae. I wonder if my Tata Mic face will work.

Oh my god, I don't want to lose Jungkookie just because I'm an idiot!

"Kook"

"Can't turn the car around and go back to Seoul now Tae"

"Oh"

"Baby its gonna be alright"

"Easy for you to say. They're your parents. They love you by default. Everyone loves you. You're Jeon Jungkook."

"Tae"

"Okay"

We're here. Kook's house. The place where my bunny grew up. Taking the turn that brings the house into view always warms my heart as imaginary scenes of little Jungkookie running around in this house flash in front of my eyes. Or the ones where I can imagine how some actual scenes have played out. Scenes that he's told me about.

Of course, all our parental homes have gotten upgraded through the years considering that we make quite a bit of money (duh! we pamper our folks to death). But the essence remains the same. This is our comfort zone...the place where we come back to our roots. The beginning of it all.

And today, Kookie has chosen to introduce me as his boyfriend to this world. Oh my god, I cannot breathe. Maybe he can stay here and I'll just quickly jog to Seoul and come back. You know, for some fresh air.

Shit. The door opened.

"Taehyung-ah! Why am I seeing you after soooo many months son? Come on now, give me a hug you!"

No wonder Kook comes from this woman. She melts all my nerves away with her warmth and enthusiasm. She knows me for so many years, and I've received a lot of love from her, even hints that I'm her favourite Bangtan Boy. Just the sight of Mrs. Jeon makes me so happy that my face turns up in my huge boxy smile as I run into her open arms.

"How've you been?"

I want to call her mom. We all call her mom. But today it feels so different. So different. So I avoid.

"I've been good son. Come on in. Come on in. I've made japchae for you."

This seems like a walk in the park. Stupid Tae. I worried myself sick for no reason. Who on earth would go the distance of making the favourite food of the person they'd hate because they're dating their son? Right? Right? Right. Phew. Let's go in. Got to meet the dad. My boyfriend's dad. Gulp. I take it back. This is not a walk in the park. Maybe if it's Jurassic Park. Yeah. Here goes nothing.

"Tae, Kook, there you are! Wait! Isn't that the name of your ship?? Ha ha ha ha ha! See what I did there? Did you get it? Did you get it?"

"Dad. You killed the joke completely. As usual. Only Jin hyung would laugh at this one."

He did kill the joke. But wait. If he's joking about our ship, that means he must be okay with it, no? Ohh. Kook already told me they're both okay with us. So why the fuck am I so worried? I am really not here to ask for Kook's hand in marriage. OMG. Calm down Kim Taehyung. It's barely been two months of dating. So what if you've loved him for years? Don't scare him away now. We got a long way to go.

Mr. Jeon, by the way, has pulled me into a bear hug. This is going well. This is definitely going well. Until there's a whisper against my ear.

"Do not hurt my little boy Tae. He's loved you for a really long time. We've seen him pine after you. And it wasn't easy. It took us a while to get used to the fact that our boy loves another boy. But now that you two are together, we're really happy for you. We are. And we love you. But please, please don't hurt our boy."

I've stopped breathing. No. Not because I'm scared. But because this is so overwhelming. This must be such a huge moment for his parents. And here I was making it all about me. Shit.

"Uhh. I want to say something to the two of you, alone."

Kookie's looking at me like I've lost it.