honey | taekook

twenty-nine

"and it's out!"

jungkook hit refresh on his phone just to verify that his latest single really had been posted and shared to all his socials. a picture of him taken a month before graced the news of it, begging people to see past a tattered image and waltz into his new world.

tae gripped the boys hand reassuringly, staring sweetly at the sight in front of him.

after hours of cake and snacks and splatters of paint on carpet that he would clean tomorrow, sat four boys and a tiny toddler who was snoring just as gently as jungkook did. namjoon and jin claimed to be too old for the floor, figures curled up against each edge of the couch but hands intertwined.

the only two left awake were the newly reacquainted, in their own world.

"i'm not going to look at it or monitor it or make any comment on it! i am going to let it be entirely organic." jungkook spoke the words more to himself than to anybody else but tae nodded along anyways.

"i think that's a good plan."

"and whatever happens, it will be what it will be! fate or whatever, maybe i'm meant for the background now. i could do what namjoon does!" the younger boy was talking a mile a minute, his hands shifting nervously in his lap, ever so slightly bumping his daughter who only burrowed herself deeper into the pillow that she had sprawled over him.

"for not wanting to dwell, you're rambling!" taehyung held a grape up, filling his man's mouth with food as a distraction from the stress, "why don't you try to get some sleep? it's late- or early!"

both glanced out the oversized windows, the sun peeking over the edge of the city like a spotlight. jungkook had almost forgot what the sunrise looked like when it wasn't cascading over hills of natural foliage and instead, coating a city that was already booming. how desperately he wanted to walk around and be a part of it, "do you actually mind staying with jiwoo? i'd like to go for a walk around the city quick- before it gets too late in the day!"

"are you sure?" the older let his digits wrap around his boyfriend's wrist cautiously, nervous as he pondered if a morning stroll meant more than that.

"just a walk, okay?" jungkook let his lips fall onto tae's forehead, shifting his daughter to the lap of a person who she had grown fond of in a short period of time, "i'll be back within the hour!"

taehyung could only nod, hoping he was safe. hoping that he was making wise choices, good ones, that he knew what he was doing-

the fact of the matter was jungkook had survived years without him; he had to trust that.

the youngest slipped through the front door, a hooded black jacket covering his overgrown hair, shielding a majority of himself from anyone who might recognize him. he knew where he was headed- the address engraved in his mind, the one he had looked up just days before.

he had verified it with a mutual friend, and then verified it with the web, and then verified it with a source that he had to pay a lot of money too. he had checked and rechecked and mapped out the walk, shocked at how close park jimin lived to him.

had he known, maybe he'd gone sooner but, it wouldn't have been beneficial. the rage was too fresh, anger still clouding any point of rationality. the world was different now, brighter, the ground dusted in gold as he thought about the scene he had just left- it was beautiful and serene. it filled him with joy that was beyond what his life a year ago could even imagine.

and the thought of going home to it was enough to guide his hand to the door, pounding ever so slightly and waiting for the familiar shuffle of small feet on the other side. in a whirl of cotton candy pink, jimin's head popped out, as shocked as a deer in headlights to see the person in front of him that he never expected to catch a glance of again.