Pastel Palette ㅡ Taekook

fifty-one

"Hey, guk. Remember the time when we first met back at Busan? You were at kindergarten and I was like at my second grade, I think. You were trying so hard to climb up the monkey bars but your little chubby hands couldn't grip the bars tight enough, and you came falling down the sand bar, butt first," Jimin says and snickers at the fond memory. Jeongguk groans at this and messes with his hair. They were supposed to be sleeping but the midget beside him was still rambling about so many things from the past which led thim to this.

"Okay, enough, that was embarrassing," he comments, rolling around the bed so that he could shake the drowsy feeling off of him and stay awake 'til Jimin passes out on him first. The latter, on the other hand, could only laugh and he then nudges his foot on Jeongguk's side, tickling the younger.

"You were so cute, though. Your eyes were so big and big fat tears were rolling down your chubby cheeks. How did you grow up to be like... this?" He motions Jeongguk from top to bottom. "I couldn't even see a single fat in your body! You're all bulked up with muscles, and it's kind of scary, not gonna lie. You could get anyone you'd like, it's unfair!" And that was the cue to welcome you all to another episode of Jimin's daily rants in life wherein he keeps complaining as to why puberty 'hated' him instead of 'hitting' him.

"I have Taehyung now, though. I don't really want anyone else anymore," Jeongguk retorts, scrunching his nose in the process. At first, he really did not deem himself as someone who's more than capable of settling down with another. The thought of marriage is terrifying for him because having Storm and his job with him is more than enough, and that's that.

However, a certain blonde-haired male has become the greatest plot twist of his life and made him rethink all of his life choices; a beautiful human being whose smile is contagious enough to make the whole world smile with him.

"Do you have any plans on telling him about Storm's mother?" Jimin asks quietly, instantly regretting it the moment the question slipped out of his mouth. He really doesn't want to see Jeongguk's expression, but he must, just to make sure that the younger would not kill him on the spot. He sighs in relief when all he sees is the small frown on Jeongguk's face.

"I really didn't think about that one yet, hyung. I mean, it's been too long, you know? I almost forgot she existed somewhere back in time," Jeongguk answers, forcing a laugh out of himself. Jeongguk knows Jimin is starting to feel bad about bringing up this topic, so he takes time to pat Jimin on the cheeks before continuing, "When all else is settled, I promise to tell Taehyung everything. We're taking things slow as of now and I don't want to give him an extra emotional baggage for him to carry on his back."

"But, Guk, what if... what if she comes back for Storm? It's possible, right?"

"Not on my watch, hyung. She doesn't have a family to come back to anymore. She lost us the moment she walked out of the door and left us for her dreams. She left even before Storm could utter his very first word, which was 'daddy', by the way. She doesn't have a home in us. Not now, not ever. And if she does come back, I'll make sure that she returns empty handed to wherever she is right now."

Jeongguk didn't notice that he had been clenching his fists so hard. Jimin puts his own hands on top of it, and his thumb starts rubbing small circles on the younger's knuckles. He smiles a little when he felt the muscles relax under his touch.

"I always thought Storm would grow up with a complete family, you know, hyung? It was during college days when I laid my eyes on her. God, she was close to perfection. She made my heart skip a beat I could die in an instant. We were young and in love, and we didn't really think things through. We had Storm when we were just fresh graduates from college. We thought we had what it takes to become parents, we planned on building a life together. We were engaged! But, I didn't know where I did wrong, hyung... Everything just went down the drain a year after Storm was born," Jeongguk's shuts his eyes close, his fingers trembling and he feels like he could cry any moment from now.