𝐀𝐑𝐂𝐇𝐈𝐕𝐄 𝐎𝐅 𝐎𝐔𝐑 𝐎𝐖𝐍 𝐅𝐈𝐂𝐒 | 𝐊- 𝐏𝐎𝐏

𝖼𝗁𝖺𝗉𝗍𝖾𝗋 𝗈𝗇𝖾 𝗁𝗎𝗇𝖽𝗋𝖾𝖽 𝗍𝗐𝖾𝗇𝗍𝗒 𝖿𝗈𝗎𝗋

Chapter 5: A Plan

Taehyung wakes up, squinting at the light streaming in through his bedroom windows. He had forgotten to close the curtains last night. In fact, he forgot to get ready for bed and now lays, stiff and confused, fully clothed with his phone still in his hands. He lifts the screen up to see her picture and he smiles realizing he must have drifted off to sleep staring at her. With a little effort, he pulls himself up to sit on the edge of the bed and closes the image to see the time on his home screen. It's not yet 9:00am. He knows the delivery to the school won't take place until the following day, but he's eager to reach out, to connect, and to get started on the rest of his life.

His phone rings and he sees Namjoon's image appear. He looks at it confused, but at least it isn't Jungkook calling to warn him off again. He answers tentatively.

"Hello Hyung, good morning."

"Hello TaeTae. How are you today?"Namjoon's voice is lively and animated.

"I'm good, good. What are you doing up so early?" He rubs his eyes and yawns a little.

"Early? don't you know when you have kids you wake up at the crack of dawn?" He laughs and Taehyung smiles.

"No, but I hope to," he says almost to himself but Namjoon picks up on it. "Why are you calling Hyung?"

"I wanted to know if you'd like to come over to ours today for lunch. Sujin is making Japchae and I know you love her recipe." Taehyung thinks about it. It's always nice to be with Namjoon and his family. He had hoped to go to the preschool today, but, he has no gifts to bring yet, and maybe it's a good idea to schedule an appointment first.

"Sure Namjoon, I'd love to come, what time?"

"Noon? Would that work?" Tae looks at the schedule on his phone, which for once, is completely open.

"Yes, thank you, and please thank Sujin for me too." He hangs up and puts a note into his schedule for lunch at Namjoon's, then adds a reminder; 'call the school to schedule appointment to visit.' The reminder is unnecessary as he's thinking of little else this morning. He gets up to go shower and get ready for the day.

***

Namjoon hangs up the phone from Taehyung and turns to his wife who has come into the kitchen with their son on her hip. The little boy stretches out his arms towards his father, struggling to reach him and Namjoon smiles and takes the boy onto his lap.

"Good morning Sunghoon, did you sleep well?" He nuzzles his nose against the boys cheek causing him to giggle and squirm.

"No, Hyunjae woke me up too many times in the night. I'm sleepy." Namjoon's wife looks at him frowning.

"She did have a rough night, hopefully she will nap better at lunch time."

"Oh, Sujin, I invited Taehyung over for lunch. I told him you would make Japchae for him." She shoots him a look as if to warn him he shouldn't make plans for her, he makes an apologetic face and smiles, his dimples showing.

"Sorry, I should have talked to you first, but he's having a little bit of an issue right now, missing his family, and figuring out what he wants in life." She shakes her head knowingly.

"What he needs is a wife. Once he has a family of his own he will feel more settled," she says, oddly repeating exactly what Taehyung's own mother had told him. Namjoon nods, letting Sunghoon slip down from his lap to play with a toy on the kitchen floor.

"Yes, that's the thing. He's found some girl from a news story and he's decided that's the girl he's going to marry." His wife looks up from the food she is preparing for her son and looks at Namjoon confused.

"You mean, like the reporter?" Namjoon shakes his head.

"No, there was a story about a preschool teacher in Seongbuk-gu, she's teaching the children art and they were interviewing her and Jungkook said he pointed at the screen and said 'that's the girl I'm going to marry." His wife smirks and shakes her head.

"Oh he won't mean that. He doesn't even know her. It's just infatuation." She turns back to her meal preparation.

"Well, if we can do anything to help him feel that he still has a family, right here, that might help him to move on." She nods, understanding. She knows that Namjoon has always been a good friend, almost a father-like figure, wise and caring, to all of them over the years, and now to their own children.

***

Taehyung finishes getting ready for the day, and his lunch with Namjoon's family. He sits down in a comfortable chair overlooking the river and looks down at his phone and the number on the website for the school. He clears his throat, and presses the icon to call. He straightens his hair as the phone line rings a few times before it is answered by a sweet, quiet voice of an older woman. In that moment he realizes that he doesn't know exactly what to say, or how to begin this conversion. He stammers a little.

"Yes, hello? Good morning. My name- I- I saw your school on the news yesterday and I would like to know if I can help." The voice on the other end of the line brightens.

"Oh yes, that's very kind of you. Any donations can be made through our school website, there is a link to follow if you want to contribute to our building fund, or the art supply fund. Do you know which you would prefer to give to?" the voice asks. He shakes his head.

"No, I mean, I would like to try to do both. But, I want to come and visit the school, maybe today?"

"We don't allow visitors to come into the building without an appointment I'm afraid." He nods, expecting this.

"I thought that might be the case." He's realizing there is another way to handle this call. "How about if I have someone on my staff reach out to you and schedule an appointment, for another day, and we can see about getting your building fixed and your supply closet filled." He hears a short gasp on the other end of the phone as the woman must now realize he's more than just a casual donor.

"Yes, that would be wonderful, Mr?"

"Kim, Mr. Kim. I would love to see the school in person, and meet the staff. I think you're doing such meaningful work. You will be contacted very soon," he says, confident and feeling happier.

"Thank you, we hope to meet with you soon." The woman hangs up and Taehyung grins broadly, realizing he's made a good first impression, at least with the person in the office. He frowns when he realized he should have taken the woman's name, she may be the owner. He picks up his phone immediately and dials the band's manager at the office.

"Sejin-hyung, It's Taehyung. I need you to do me a favor..."