Viper

3

"In my time, I used to walk alone. You reached out with warm hands. They wrapped my fading, past dreams and warmed them up." ~ Miracle [Got7] 

"Smile, Yoongi, it won't kill you," Jin says, handing him an animal cracker.

"It might," Yoongi says grumpily, but he takes the cracker anyway.

Namjoon couldn't bother to focus on their bickering. Maisie was holding his hand and talking excitedly about how the lion was talking to her because it was roaring.

He didn't have the heart to crush her spirit.

They entered the aquarium section next, and Maisie's jaw just about dropped to the floor.

"Dolphins!" Maisie squeals, and Namjoon chuckles as she runs towards the tank.

The three elders stay back at a safe enough distance, talking amongst themselves but keeping an eye on her.

Maisie is enthralled with the dolphins. They're so pretty and she wants to jump in the tank with them.

A small pout forms on her face when she realizes she can't.

A dolphin swims down near her, and the pout is replaced with an open-mouthed look of amazement.

"It likes you."

Maisie flinches back with a shriek at the boy next to her, and the ravenette laughs so hard his curls fall in front of his eyes.

"I didn't mean to scare you," he giggles. He was probably 2 years older than she was.

"It's okay," she mumbles shyly. "Who are you?"

"I'm Jungkook," he smiles, and she sees the scar on his cheek stretch when he does so. She wonders how he got it. 

Did he get hit like her? She had a scar too. A big, ugly one that stretched over her back.

"I'm Maisie," she smiles back.

"Maisie," Jungkook tests the name of his tongue and grins. "I like it."

Maisie sits down on the bench in front of the tank and Jungkook sits beside her, his gaze caught on her face rather than the dolphins.

"How'd you get that bruise on your cheek?" he questions.

Maisie's face burns from embarrassment and she covers her cheek with her hand.

"You don't have to hide it," Jungkook frowns, taking her hand and putting it down. "Did you fall?"

Maisie weighs the question. She could lie, but wasn't lying bad? Maybe she should tell him the truth?

"It was from my f—"

"Maisie, honey," Namjoon says, scooping her up. "Time to go."

"But—"

Maisie slumps in defeat in Namjoon's arms and looks at Jungkook over Namjoon's shoulder, waving sadly with a pout on her lips.

Jungkook cocks his head to the side like a curious puppy. Maisie had a little freckle by her eye that was like a little heart.

He wishes he could have touched that little heart before she was taken away.

***

"I'm not babysitting!" Yoongi whisper shouts.

"Someone needs to watch Maisie!" Namjoon whisper shouts back. "I can't leave her here by herself."

"You're the parent!"

Namjoon groans as he pulls out a pistol from his safe and stuffs it into his holster. "Jin and Hobi are already in the car and this is my client, so I need you here. I'll pay you, alright?"

Yoongi pouts and squints his eyes. "What am I supposed to do with a child?"

"She's not a pet, Yoongs," Namjoon smiles amusingly. "You'll be fine."

When the pair walks downstairs, Namjoon heads towards Maisie and pauses her movie.

"Come here, sweetheart," Namjoon smiles, picking her up. "Sorry to cut your fun short at the zoo, but I gotta go to work real quick. Yoongi will be here to take care of you, okay?"

"Okay," Maisie pouts. "You're gonna take out a bad guy?"

"You betcha, honey," Namjoon winks. "I'll see you later."

"You're... you're going to come back, right?" she asks, eyes frightened as her fingers tighten on his shirt.

Namjoon smiles softly and pets the back of her hair. "'Course. I'll be back before you know it."

Namjoon sets her down and sends Yoongi a grateful look before walking out the door.

Yoongi groans as he locks the door behind Namjoon and then walks to the living room, staring at Maisie helplessly.

"I'll just, uh—yeah," Yoongi says awkwardly, pointing at the kitchen and walking away.

Yoongi sits at the dining table with his laptop, which he would usually be using to hack someone or cut security cameras.

But instead, he's looking up what to do with a 6 year-old.

"How to entertain a six year-old," he mumbles to himself, clicking on a link.

Several things pop up, like watching movies or teaching them to cook. Yoongi scrolls through all of them boredly before he gets an idea.

"Have you ever played Mario Kart?" Yoongi asks as he walks back into the living room.

Maisie shakes her head and Yoongi grins.

"Perfect," he smirks.

***

"How?" Yoongi blinks, staring at the second place title. "How did you beat me?"

"I don't know," Maisie giggles. "I like this game!"

"Whatever," Yoongi sniffles. "I was going easy on you. Don't expect me to be nice this round."

Maisie pouts at him before picking her remote up again, and somehow they end up playing twelve rounds full of laughter and trying to cheat by getting in the other person's way.

"Hey!" Maisie exclaims when Yoongi places a hand in front of her eyes.

Yoongi laughs as he races across the finish line, and he wasn't expecting Maisie to pounce on him and start tickling him.

"H-hey!" he laughs, squirming. "You little devil."

Maisie shrieks and pops up with a giggle, running away. The house was filled with laughter as they ran around until Yoongi caught her and threw her onto the couch, tickling her.

"No!" she squeals, wiggling around as she laughs.

"Say I'm the best at Mario Kart!"

"Never!" she shouts, but then his tickling got worse. "Okay, okay! You're the best!"

Yoongi chuckles as he takes his hands away. "Alright, kid, let's get ready for bed."

When she had finished her night routine, Yoongi tucked her into bed and sat on the mattress next to her.

"Thank you for taking care of me, Uncle Yoongi," she says softly, looking up at him with sleepy eyes.

Yoongi freezes.

Uncle Yoongi?

Why was his heart feeling funny?

He coughs and hits his chest. Why isn't the warm feeling going away?

"Sure, kid," he says, strained, as he stands and leaves the room.

Uncle Yoongi.

"God," he mutters, rolling his eyes as he walks away.

And maybe—maybe—he smiled a little bit.