FAMILY | on hold

fourteen✔

"Appa? You're home already?"

Seokjin's eyes are slightly red from crying after being insulted by who he thought was his friend, but seeing his sons puts a smile on his face. He could endure one of the worst days of his life but his sons take away all his pain. Even when he has nothing, he still has his boys. And that's more than enough because his boys are his whole universe. He can see the galaxies in their eyes.

"[Kor] Something came up last minute so they let me leave early. I brought some ice cream on the way," Seokjin says, a smile on his face.

Obviously Seokjin couldn't go straight home because he needed to cry. He doesn't like holding his emotions back but he also hates expressing them around others so he went for a walk and cried in a secluded area. He then went to buy some ice cream for his boys and bought a pack of 4 ice cream sandwiches that was on sale.

Eunho is first to notice his dad's slightly red eyes, which would have gone unnoticed if he wasn't actively searching for any signs of untruth. "[Kor] Appa, are you okay?" he whispers, gently resting his palm against Seokjin's cheek.

Seokjin's eyes flutter closed and he leans into Eunho's soft touch. "[Kor]I'm fine, baby."

"[Kor] Are you sure?"

Seokjin kisses Eunho's hand and smiles. "I'm sure," he says.

Eunho caresses Seokjin's cheek a little before giving him a kiss on the cheek.

"Gimme!" Taeyoung says as he grabs the box. He opens up the pack and takes out one ice cream sandwich.

"[Kor] Yah! Where are your manners?!" Seokjin yells in a playful tone.

Taeyoung takes another ice cream sandwich out and gives one to Seokjin before hugging him. "Thank you, appa. I love you."

"Aish. You only love me when I give you food, huh?" Seokjin jokes, and then a smile forms on his face. "But I love you too, Taeyoungie."

Taeyoung tugs on Seokjin's shirt so Seokjin bends down a little, knowing what his baby wants. Taeyoung kisses Seokjin's cheek and Seokjin smiles brightly as he straightens his back. He boops Taeyoung's nose in response, making Taeyoung giggle lightly.

Seokjin's gaze shifts to the board game that Taehyung brought for the kids and his heart clenches. He doesn't understand why Taehyung would do something so sweet one day only to be a jerk the next day. He doesn't even know what went wrong to make Taehyung act so cold and distant again. He was so sure that they were making progress.

Seokjin shakes the thoughts out of his head and decides to sit on the floor with his boys. He watches them play Monopoly while eating ice cream. Jaemin lays his head on Seokjin's lap while playing and Seokjin strokes Jaemin's hair soothingly. Seokjin watches until he's finished his ice cream and he then goes on the computer to check his bank accounts.

He logs onto his Commbank account and checks his transactions. The weekly rent has been deducted as usual since it's direct debit and Taehyung has deposited the rent money as per the agreement. However, there are two other deposits from Taehyung that catch his eye. The first one is $250 which was made on the same day as the rent deposit and it's got the description 'Living expenses'. The second one is $500 which was made today but there's no description.

Seokjin doesn't know what that $500 is for but whatever it is, he doesn't want to think about that. He'll just withdraw the money and return it to its rightful owner. At least then, Taehyung can't accuse him of working for nothing.

It makes him wonder—how is he supposed to go to work tomorrow after what happened earlier? He has had some awkward encounters with Taehyung but none of them come close to what happened today because that one in particular wasn't awkward; it was painful. It was clear that Taehyung has very little respect for Seokjin. It makes Seokjin want to quit the housekeeper job and work full-time at the restaurant but he can't put the boys' schooling at stake. He'll just act like nothing happened and go back to being formal with Taehyung. There's no other choice.