Stuck With You [Taekook ff]

64 | Lay Down Some Roots

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Jungkook and Taehyung were still in Manhattan staying at the Airbnb in Koreatown. Jungkook sat in the dimly lit room, the weight of the revelation still sinking in. His mind was racing, filled with memories that now seemed more fragmented than ever.

He had grown up believing that his birth parents had been killed when he was just five years old. He now remembered the day as if it were yesterday—the gunshots, the terror, and the overwhelming sense of loss that had followed. Yet, here he was, confronted with the truth that they hadn't died at all. Chang-min and Areum, his birth parents, had been alive the entire time, hidden away while he grew up under the care of Lars and Sophie Crass, his loving adoptive parents.

The news had left Jungkook in a whirlwind of emotions. He didn't know how to feel. He was happy they were alive, of course—how could he not be? But the happiness was mixed with confusion, even anger. How could they have stayed away for so long? Why had they chosen to hide rather than come for him? Why couldn't he had gone into hiding with them? As he sat there, he couldn't shake the feeling that it felt he had just met them for the first time, even though they were his parents by blood and raised him for his first five years of life.

Jungkook tried to focus on the present, on the words of Yerin, the woman he had always known as his nanny but who, he had just learned, was actually his grandmother. Yerin had been forced into hiding as well, after receiving threats from someone who had discovered her true identity. All these years, she had been pretending to be a mere caretaker, all to keep Jungkook safe. His heart was full of gratitude but his mind was in the state of bewilderment. The wide range of feelings and emotions was all too much to process.

Taehyung sat beside him, his hand resting gently on Jungkook's shoulder. The warmth of his touch grounded him, reminding him that he wasn't alone in this. Jungkook rehearsed in his mind how he would explain everything to his boyfriend later. He needed to put the pieces together—everything Yerin, Chang-min, and Areum had revealed. Chang-min, his father, had apologized to all of them, his voice heavy with guilt. He blamed himself for the danger that had followed them for years, for the deaths of Lars and Sophie, the people who had raised Jungkook.

"I'm so sorry," Chang-min had said, his voice breaking. "Lars and Sophie were murdered because of me. Someone must have found out that they had access to the inheritance that was supposed to be mine. I think Lars was threatened before... and I fear that's why they were killed."

Jungkook had felt his heart tighten at those words. The grief of losing Lars and Sophie was still fresh, a wound that hadn't yet begun to heal. But what struck him most was when his mother, Areum, told him that it was okay to still see Lars and Sophie as his true parents.

"We're not here to take their place," she had said softly, her eyes filled with understanding. "They were our best friends, more like family. And they loved you sweetheart and raised you. You can love them as your parents without feeling guilty."