Unpunished/Vkook ff

Chapter 44: Fatherhood

"I need to tell you something." He tilted his head a little. "I'm going to visit him today, on my own. Tomorrow's Monday again, and if I don't do it now, I'll have to wait another week."

"Are you going to...?"

"I will, and it'll be more than one bomb to drop. I want to explain to Dad everything, I have to, and there's so much he needs to know, not as my father, as the one who'd been listening to me for years with the trust I didn't deserve," I said.

"I get it." Jungkook put a hand on my shoulder. "You can tell him everything. Do it, Tae."

Father, let me confess my sins.

I forced myself to step into the residential care house, passing through the lobby, looking around at the seated wheelchairs and the small bar of snacks placed right at the entrance. What I thought was a terrifying sight turned into tiny sparks of laughter. The ones living there seemed to have fun within the sandy-brown walls, joking with one another, inviting in the workers.

I continued wandering around the hallways. Each wall was covered with different-colored wooden doors, a decorated handmade sign on them. Maybe, one of the doors belonged to Father.

"Excuse me, young man, you seem a bit lost." A woman with a red ponytail and white labcoat tabbed on my back. "Need help?"

I replied positively. "I'm here to visit somebody."

"Naturally." She giggled. "Your name?"

"Taehyung Kim," I replied.

"Oh! I know who you're after, the poor man's been waiting..."

She led me into a big room full of tables. For a moment, I forgot the place was partly a hospital; the flowery curtains on the warm-colored walls had almost convinced somebody invited me into their home.

Yet as the dwellers were comfortable with their remaining there, content even, I was uneasy. It was a sight of walking talking disfigured bodies. their faces were off, their speech was off, and their movements were off.

"Mr. Kim's having lunch," the lady said. She pointed further ahead, and the distress had disappeared.

With one shaking hand, he was able to bring a spoon to his mouth and feed himself. My lips curled up on their own. The nurse sitting next to him was looking down at her phone, only eyeing the man from time to time, concluding her assistance was unnecessary.

"Mr. Kim!" She pushed me forward. "You have guests!"

"Do you have to be violent?!"

"Your father had to wait long enough for him to be talking about nothing but you, so don't just stand there," she said. "Move!"

He gazed up at me, surprised, before mumbling something to his caretaker. "Yes, of course." The caretaker got up and walked away.

"Hey, Dad..."

He pointed at the chair next to him. "P-please... Take a seat, son."

Watching him eat, I took a deep breath. "I've been following your progress, I really have, they've said you're making a remarkable recovery, I'm glad," I began. "But, I won't lie to you, I'd been trying to put this off for a while."

Father put down the napkin, grabbed his wheels, drove himself away from the table, and around it clumsily. The nurse noticed, and he lifted an arm, showing her she could stay with her coworkers.

He brought us to a blue door and pointed at a small sack tied to his wheelchair, inside of which was the key.

"Sit on my b-bed," he said once I let us in. "There's s-something... you wanted to t-tell me, yeah?" He grinned.

"You got me," I admitted with a nervous laugh. After a loud sigh, I was ready to talk some more. "I've never realized how much you mean to me until I thought I'd lost you, there were so many things I'd done wrong, so many things I'd lied about, and the idea of never having the chance to tell you what they were... It scared me."

He took my hand in his two and gave it a weak squeeze. "Go on." His smile remained warm.

"Now I know, you listen, you have been all this time, and when I couldn't face you then... I know I must now."

"To the point, p-please," he begged.

"Do you remember all the calls you used to get from parents back in the day, complaining I'd hurt my peers? I always denied it, and you always took my side," I said.

"That's what... a father should d-do," he told me.

"It wasn't. I was a monster, a stupid bully." A tear rolled down my face. "My actions had driven an amazing person to attempt suicide."

"I-I'm... I-I'm s-sorry... I-I should have—"

"Not your fault, Dad, it's all me. He's fine now." I wiped that tear away. "His best friend was the one I'd been picking on the most, the naive rich kid. You must remember his parents. They didn't leave you alone."

"The Jeons," he murmured.

"Yes, them. The guy who's visited you at the hospital..."

"Jeon Jungkook... So i-it was him, I'd recognized the s-speech patterns and manners. His mother's a brilliant auth-thor," he said.

"Yes, she is, and her son... Do you remember how he used to be?" I asked.

He nodded. "A short, skinny boy. Everyone said he was a p-prodigy child."

I started playing with my fingers. "That boy is the man I lost my virginity to."

"Taehyung..."

"Err, well, other than getting a boyfriend I'm also about to finish school as one of the three top students and—"

"Taehyungie, s-slow down," I heard him. "You have a boyfriend?"

I lowered my head, silent.

"T-that explains a lot..." He laughed. The light returned to my face. "D-do you treat e-each other well? Are y-you happy?"

My Kookie was right all along.

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