student of the year; taekook

6: alley fights

"hi".

jungkook smiled at the gentle man in front of him, enveloping him in a hug before taking his shoes off and stepping inside the apartment. the classic scent of pine and flowers filled the room and the boy couldn't help but grin at the newest addition of plants to the large collection.

it was a chilly sunday evening and jungkook was secretly in the "help" or southeast district for the second time, only alone this time. he wasn't supposed to be here, no one from his side of town comes here but someone very important lived here.

they had the same nose and the same eye shape; the doe eyed ones that namjoon always mentions. both of their faces had that honey tone hidden underneath and if you look closely, they both had that little mole underneath their bottom lip.

"it's nice to finally see you dad."

the older man squished his chubby cheeks lovingly and laughed at the way jungkook laughed through it before letting him go. they sat on his comfy green couch, a brown cat sat on the arm rest and got up to sit on jungkook's lap, and warm peppermint tea was served in to them in plain white tea cups.

now this, this was comfort at it's finest.

every friday jungkook visited his dad in the southeast, brought him food and some money, talked to each other about their days and sometimes he slept over before leaving the next morning. he always told his mother that he was at yoongi's or namjoon's for the night, they would cover for him all the time and never ask, thankfully.

these visits were his favorite part of the week, the only time when he wasn't the invisible son of jeon haneul or that one kid that's friends with min yoongi and kim namjoon. here, he's jungkook and doesn't need to think about prestige or social norms.

bomi, his father's cat, purrs in his lap and falls asleep easily with jungkook's gentle hands caressing his head and cheeks. the tea is calming and when jungkook looks into his father's eyes, he feels more at home than anywhere else he's ever been.

"100% in calculus?" joongki grins fully, laughing a little when his son's head shyly tips forward to hide the blush on his cheeks. "you got the highest score in the entire class and wrote the best paper on shakespeare in english. my son is a genius!" and in these little meetings, jungkook finally felt the fatherly pride wash over him and he basked in it, just a little taste of what his life could've been.

topics would shift from school. maybe jungkook would ask joongki to tell stories from his days as a gardener but most of the time the older would ask the questions, always saying that jungkook was more interesting than him.

"i'm just wondering when you'll bring a girl over," he pauses to take a sip of peppermint tea," or a boy. you won't be eighteen and young forever." the raven haired boy rolled his eyes playfully at this.

"after i get into college, then i'll find someone." this was always his excuse. truth be told, jungkook had no interest in dating anyone for a while now. the people at his school didn't interest him at all and they weren't interested in him, so no point in trying.

his dad scoffed. "live a little. you need some experience before college, trust me, i would know. college girls are wild." jungkook held a hand out to signal joongki to stop talking and he laughed again.

they talked some more, played with his cat and introduced the new plants. his father got up to go do something, leaving jungkook to take in his surroundings while he waited. it was pitch black outside, save for the few street lamps. sweet flowers scented the air from the little plant nursery on the balcony and jungkook felt warm from the tea and the cat on his lap. it was practically silent around this time of day and he basked in it.