FAMILY | on hold

four✔

Two things that Taehyung has noticed is that Jaemin talks about his dad a lot and his dad has also worked various jobs in the past. In a way, he can relate to Jaemin. He used to talk about Baekhyun all the time with every single person he met. He remembers when some of his classmates made fun of him once because they thought Baekhyun was just an imaginary person. 

"He said he wanted to try out makeup but the stuff is really expensive and it takes a lot of time, effort, patience, and practice," Jaemin says. He then turns around and walks over to Taehyung as a way to say he's ready to leave.

"What does your dad do now?" Taehyung asks, quite intrigued. He leads Jaemin out of the studio.

"He's a cook at a Korean restaurant," Jaemin says, following Taehyung out. "It's his longest job. He's been working there for over five years now. He makes the best food."

Five years is quite a long time but at the same time it's not. If that's Jaemin's dad's longest job then he either had commitment issues or worked multiple jobs at once. Whichever it is, that guy's resumé must be looking real good.

"Are you close with your dad?" Taehyung asks out of curiosity.

"Yep. He's really easy to talk to. Sometimes I feel like I'm talking to my best friend when I'm telling him my problems. He always listens and he never invalidates my feelings. He's usually the first person I go to for advice," Jaemin says. He loves his dad so much that he always smiles just by thinking of him. "He's really understanding."

Just hearing the way Jaemin talks about his dad makes Taehyung miss Baekhyun even more (if that's even possible) because Baekhyun used to be Taehyung's best friend and shoulder to cry on. Taehyung always shared his feelings, thoughts, worries, secrets, ideas, and basically anything and everything with Baekhyun. If there's one person who knows Taehyung more than he knows himself, then it's Baekhyun.

"You've got a great dad, kid," Taehyung says, not knowing how else to respond.

Jaemin smiles, missing his dad already. "Yeah. He's the best." 

It makes Taehyung happy to know his students have good families but it also makes him sad because he never had that experience. His father was a monster and his mother was a two-faced witch. He feels like he wouldn't have turned out the way he did if he had better parents. His parents were so bad to him that there was a point when he unintentionally started calling his own brother 'abeoji'. 

Taehyung pushes the thoughts to the back of his mind and shows Jaemin around the school until Jaemin has seen everything. He then checks the time and notices that there are only about ten minutes left until the bell. He checks Jaemin's timetable and takes Jaemin to the first class. The teacher is already in the classroom so he introduces Jaemin and the teacher to each other. He leaves once he's sure that Jaemin is comfortable and in good hands.

-

Taehyung's typing away on his laptop in his bedroom as he responds to emails related to school matters. He has an almost empty glass of somewhat weak alcohol beside him and he refills it every time there's only a gulp's amount left. He has lost count of the amount of times he has had to refill this but he has a very high alcohol tolerance so he isn't experiencing any of the side effects (yet).

He decides to take a break as he heads downstairs and rummages the fridge for something to eat. He finds some leftovers from yesterday and he heats that up in the microwave. He's glad Kriti didn't make anymore soup because it makes him sick. She always makes soup when she's lazy to cook. When she's really lazy, she makes him a Continental's Cup-a-Soup.