Taekook shortstory: Never give up on your dreams

Part 2

He and Jihoon had dinner, Hooni playing around till it was time for bed. Tae but his son to bed with a nice story. The small boy kissed the picture of his mother that was next to his bed. "Sleep tight angel momma" He remembered her a little bit, even after a year. Tae left some of her clothes in the closet of her and Taehoon's bedroom, leaving the room a lot like it was. Taehoon can tell him himself when he is ready to let go. Taehyung will not force him at all. Jihoon left after 9 to his own apartment, promising to take the afternoon shift with Hooni again and getting in touch with Lisa soon for a catch-up.

And so, a routine was formed, Tae dropping off his son, then work from 9 till 5, Taehoon at kindergarten till 2, Jihoon picking him up and either takes him to Tae's home, to Jihoon's apartment or his office, depending on his schedule. The two men always making sure that their priority is the little boy.

A month went by. Tae loved his job, got amazing feedback from everyone and even Jungkook popped in every now and then, complimenting the boy and making small talk. Tae, Jimin and Jin actually became friends and through them Tae got friendly with Yoongi, Hobi and Namjoon as well, and also Jungkook. All 7 of them started hanging out at lunch and Tae had 2 Friday dinners with them as well when Hoonie had a sleep over at Jihoon and Lisa, who became a big part of their lives again.

They had a beach party for Jungkook's 31st birthday, having a crazy day of fun and games and Tae could not keep his eyes of the muscled torso of a certain hot black-haired CEO. Catching himself staring too many times to count, causing tomato sickness to his face, hoping no-one saw anything. And oh, my goodness, when they played a game on the sand and Jungkook caught him around his waist, his legs just collapsed. He pulled Jungkook down with him by accident and just for second, their laughing faces were just a few centimetres apart, laughs stilled, black eyes staring into grey. In their own world, until Jin laughed at Namjoon falling face first into the sand, and the magic spell was broken. 

Jungkook pulled Tae up from the sand, Tae blushing a bit while getting the sand of their clothes. The rest of the night the two kept on glancing at the other, Tae blushing, Jungkook smirking. Tae had a dream filled sleep, Jungkook thinking about the ethereal boy, and he had to admit, he was beyond the "interested" state, he had a massive crush on the boy.

Lisa spent time with Tae, Jihoon and Taehoon over weekends, catching up with the friends that lost some contact after Jennie. Lisa and Jihoon as well trying to make him understand that he must follow his passion again, but Tae was deaf to their arguments, he made a promise to Jennie to look after Taehoonie, and that is his mission, to make the little boy as happy as he can.

Two months after Tae started at Jeon Corp an amazing opportunity came the company's way. The government wanted Jeon Corp to do all the posters, videos, and flyers for the youth month celebrations. Taehyung and Bogum were chosen to go out and take photos and videos of kids and teenagers doing what they do... sport, park, music... to use for the advertising of the youth month celebrations. The two got on really well and they relished the chance to be out of the office for a while.

On the 3rd day of them traveling all over to get the best shots, Tae and Bogum stopped at a popular skate park where some kids and young adults were skating. Tae pulled his cap lower over his eyes, walking with his hands in his jean pockets to the park, watching the skaters do their tricks on the boards, having a blast. His camera slinging from his shoulder. 

One of the skaters looked at the newcomers, his eyes going wide. "Holy crap-a-doodle! V! Is that you! Where the hell have you been man?!" Tae looked up, smiling widely at his friend Wooshik. Others at the park looked up at the shout, all running to the two men. "V! Oh wow! Haven't seen you in ages! Missed you dude!" Everyone was clapping Tae's shoulder and back, hugging him, while Bogum looked at them with realisation hitting. Tae had a huge smile on his face, he missed these guys. They were like a brotherhood of their own.

 "I am sorry about Jen, Tae, how is the little man doing?" "He is doing great, almost turning 4, can you believe it?" "Feels like yesterday when he was born and Jennie was so happy, wow, time flies. So, what brings you here V?" Wooshik asked. Tae explained about the photos and videos they want and of course all the skaters were eager to show off their skills, introducing Bogum to them all. Bogum just listened to everything, he knew who V was, just didn't know that Taehyung was in fact V. 

After getting amazing videos and photos, Wooshik bumped Tae's shoulder. "So, you wanna go?" nodding his head to the skatepark. Tae sighed, the longing in his heart was huge. Smiling he nodded, forgetting that Bogum was there with his video camera. Wooshik quickly gave his knee and elbow pads to Tae, who put them on, grabbing Wooshik's board. Teetering at the drop of the half pipe, with a huge smile, he stepped forward and he was off, skating, jumping, doing all sorts of tricks, and he felt alive for the first time in a year. A small crowd has gathered now already, after hearing the chants of "V!" All extreme sport enthusiasts and many normal people were aware of who V was, and now they see him skating first hand. Eunwoo was filming on his phone and Bogum on his video camera. Finally, Tae stopped at the top of the half pipe, the wide smile still on his face, eyes glistening in pure pleasure. "Wow, I missed this so much." Wooshik hugged him. "We also miss you V, training now is just not the same. And Jackson keeps on moping around, waiting for his star to come back" "Well, who knows what the future will bring, hey?" Tae said with a sad, soft smile. Talking some more with all his skater buddies, he finally left with Bogum to other hotspots. Bogum just kept quiet on the big revelation, trying not to make things awkward.

They stopped at the basketball court where Tae immediately greeted Mark Johnsen, an American that did outreach to the youth with sport. He played a quick game with them, enjoying doing all the things he loved to do before. Again, Bogum was capturing it all on video. Tae later took some pictures and they left.

Their last stop was the youth orchestra. Walking into the hall, Bogum saw Tae stop in front of a big photo of a beautiful girl, holding a violin. Walking closer, Bogum saw the name, Kim Jennie, dates below the name: 15/12/1997 – 30/08/2018. She was just 20 years old when she passed away. Kim, same surname as Taehyung, the other guys talked about Jen, can it be her? Although Kim was a quite common surname. 

They walked into the hall seeing the orchestra tuning their instruments. A youngish man turned around when he heard the doors. "Taehyung? Oh, my goodness, it is you! How are you? And Taehoonie?" Tae hugged the man back "We are doing good Kai, Hoonie is turning 4, in just 2 months. And he looks so much like Jen, and he has all her mannerisms as well, but his dad's vocabulary. Using big words already at his age." Both laughed at that. "Who is this with you?" "Kai, this is my colleague, Park Bogum, we are working on a project for Jeon Corp, the governments youth celebrations. Can we take photos and videos of you guys?" "Of course, we are happy to be part of that, for sure. Guys, get ready, we are playing for the youth now, so give your best!" The orchestra got ready and played, Bogum taking a video, Tae photos. Afterwards many of the musicians came down to talk to Tae, they all knew Jennie as she was part of the orchestra for years.

After leaving, the two went back to the office, Tae having a soft smile on his face the whole time. What a wonderful day.