Help Needed /~/ Taekook

Chapter One

Jungkook's apartment isn't much. It's a small, two-bedroom, one-bath box that has little space. The people that hang around the area are typical drug dealers and people wanting a little extra money however there are a few people who are rather pleasant. Jungkook hates living here but its the only place he can afford and despite the poor living conditions, the rent is rather expensive. The landlord doesn't take care of his buildings as Jungkook has heard, he spends the money earned on other things. Jungkook couldn't move anywhere else has most of the apartments farther into the city are expensive and he wouldn't be able to take care of his kids and himself if he moved. The option of moving back home isn't on the table as the day he moved out, his father said he wasn't welcome back in. He made the mistake of trusting someone and at first, it was a great decision, his ex-fiance provided him with everything he and Hanbin could possibly need and want. They had everything and the luxuries blinded Jungkook and now he's paying the price. He doesn't have the time or money to go back and get his high school degree and it's not only him who is suffering from his mistakes. Nothing hurts more than having your child come home in tears because he's being bullied because he has to eat free school lunches and he doesn't have the things other kids have; to have your six-year-old wish he were born into another family.

"Hanbin, don't get in his face," Jungkook scolded, pushing his eldest son's head away from his youngest. Chanwoo attempted an escape by jumping off of Jungkook's lap but the brunette quickly grabbed the boy's shirt and pulled him back into his trap. The three-year-old started thrashing around, crying despite having a sore throat and Jungkook just sighed and pinned Chanwoo's arms beneath his legs.

"Chan!" Jungkook yelled, "stop! It's just medicine, it'll make you feel better."

Chanwoo shook his head and thrashed around on Jungkook's lap, throwing his legs up over Jungkook's arm and somehow managing to move his head opposite of Jungkook's torso. Hanbin stood across from them behind the table with his hands over his ears.

"D-Daddy, tell him t-to stop screaming!" Hanbin whined. He has a bit of a stutter which Jungkook is trying to get rid of by sending him to speech therapy offered and paid by the school. Screaming and yelling put him in a fearful state whether it's playful or not. Jungkook tries not to yell but sometimes it seems to be the only thing that works with Chanwoo as Hanbin is a rather obedient six-year-old and it only takes one simple order for the boy to obey. Whereas with Chanwoo it's different and the obstinate toddler is terrible at times. He's rather violent for his age and he even manages to pick on his older brother which Jungkook scolds him for but refrains from physical punishment as that's like fighting fire with fire.

"Chanwoo, please!" Jungkook pleaded, repositioning the screaming toddler. "BinBin, can you help me?"

Hanbin hesitated before nodding and walking towards his daddy and younger brother. Jungkook told him to hold the medicine cup and once Chanwoo is trapped to where he can't move at all to force the liquid in his mouth.

"It won't hurt him, we want him to feel better okay? This is the only way we can get him to take it without him spitting it out, okay?" Jungkook reassured his son as he held his other son's head back by his chin.

Hanbin leaned over and allowed the gross thick medicine to pour into Chanwoo's mouth which Jungkook had to force open and risk being bitten. He held Chanwoo's nose closed so the young lad had no other option but to swallow or spit it out to breathe.

"You better not spit it out, Chanwoo," Jungkook said. It took a while before the liquid disappeared and the toddler coughed as Jungkook released his head.

"Why d-did he d-do that?" Hanbin asked.

"Toddlers just don't like taking medicine," the older male said as he used the sleeves of his shirt to wipe Chanwoo's eyes and tears. He grabbed a baby wipe and cleaned the boy's face since some of the medicine spilt out onto his fat cheeks and around his mouth.

Jungkook sighed and looked at the time on his cable box which read 8:20 P.M. "BinBin, did you do your homework?"

"I-I have to w-write sentences for my spelling words," Hanbin answered, "but I did it."

"All of them?"

"Yes."

"You didn't need help?"

"I— no." Hanbin shook his head, pursing his lips in a thin line.

Jungkook stood up from the floor with a tired Chanwoo in his arm. The tot was breathing hard from his fight with his head rested on Jungkook's chest and his index finger hanging on his bottom lip.

"You sure, baby, can I read over them?" Jungkook asked. Hanbin makes decent grades yet Jungkook still feels as though he's failing as a parent by not being able to raise the grades from decent to at least good.

"Yeah I-I'm sure, the teacher goes o-over t-the words and tells u-us how to write them so it's okay," Hanbin said. "I-I-I can read Channie a bedtime story."

"I think I can—" Chanwoo was already forcing himself out of Jungkook arms. Jungkook put the chubby toddler on the floor and watched Hanbin grab the boy's hand. As they walked to their shared room, Hanbin leaned over and said, "you can p-pick the story t-tonight but I like If Y-You Give A M-Mouse A Cookie a-and I think y-you do too."

Jungkook smiled as he watched the duo disappear in their room before looking back at the time. He felt drained but he still had to clean, lay clothes out for Hanbin, and check over Hanbin's homework. Along with all that, he also wanted to search for more jobs on his old, slow laptop he managed to buy from some drug dealer wanting twenty bucks. He decided to check over the homework first since he'd rather fall asleep cleaning than doze off making sure his son understood the curriculum.

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Once he finished cleaning, he was completely lacking any energy. His feet throbbed and his eyes sagged but he wasn't going to bed yet. Jungkook flopped down on his couch and watched the loading circle go around and around before the home screen popped up. It was a cute picture of Hanbin and Chanwoo during Halloween, Hanbin dressed as Batman and Chanwoo as the Joker. The photo never ceased to make Jungkook smile. He clicked on his email where ZipRecruiter and many other job websites emailed him about sucky jobs every day but he still went through some in hopes of finding one that would at least get them out of this shitty apartment and/or live just a bit more comfortable.

He skipped ZipRecruiter and instead went to another email titled These Jobs Match Your Skills! The email provided him with 73 different jobs and as Jungkook scrolled through the first five he saw they all offered $18-20 annual salaries.

'This is shit' the brunette thought bitterly as he was able to close out before his eyes landed on another email which stated "we just found this job for you! Check it out!" Usually, his emails show the results which are 50+ but this email stated only one job.

He clicked on it and it brought him to a website labelled http//:Caretaker/children/homes.com. The job was offered by— Jungkook's eyes widened as large as saucers. Kim Taehyung, Korea's It-Man, Korea's visual: model, actor, and designer.

He read over the requirements which basically said he needed to know how to clean, cook, care for a child, and work daily for long hours. Jungkook can do all that. He looked for the annual income and he groaned when his eyes met $10K and he was about to click off but then right beside the number was daily or $3K hourly.

"Oh my God..." Jungkook said, rubbing his eyes to make sure it wasn't his sleep deprivation that was shitting him. It wasn't. The second best thing Jungkook saw on the job site was that only two people applied for the job since it was recently updated not too many hours ago. He quickly clicked on apply before filling out all his information.

'This is what I need. This is what we need' Jungkook thought as he clicked submit and the applicant number changed from two to three.

He didn't believe in God, but that night he fell asleep praying that he'd get the job. His kids needed this more than anything.

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Word Count: 1517