Help Needed /~/ Taekook

Chapter Thirty-Nine

He held his hands out as if he were trying to approach a rabid animal. His heart was crushing underneath the realization that Hanbin was scared of him. Had Hanbin always been scared of him? Or was he developing something else now? There was so much Jungkook didn't know about his own son now and it's not like he could ask Dr. Young since Hanbin tended to just sit there and do nothing. Thought Dr. Young has stated his worry towards some of the things he drew.

Jungkook managed to get close enough to him to reach out and touch his arm. Hanbin made a move to move away from him but Jungkook quickly grabbed his arm and pulled him into a tight embrace. Tears broke from their hold as he fell so his back was against the wall while holding Hanbin close to him as the boy fought against him. Jungkook didn't know that he was really making it worse, but he wasn't educated on mental illnesses or phobias.

Hanbin dung his heels into Jungkook's leg and he received scratches and slaps. Hanbin tried to bite him as well. Jungkook repeated over and over again that he wasn't going to hurt him, but Hanbin continued to throw his fit, going as far as to releasing a blood-curdling scream that made Jungkook think he was actually hurting the seven-year-old. Jungkook released him and Hanbin ran towards the other side of the room. He could hear Chanwoo's faint crying from being woken up, but he found himself unable to move.

"Hanbin..." He said weakly, "I'm going to help you, you'll get the help that I can't give you."

---

It was that morning when Jungkook finally noticed how tired Hanbin looked. His sudden realization only made him feel worse: what kind of parent didn't notice something so obvious? The seven-year-old had dark circles around his eyes and he always looked so...just tired and dull. He looked as though he truly was suffering from something and Jungkook genuinely didn't know how to help him. Was he getting any sleep? What was keeping him up at night? Jungkook made sure to keep the lights on, he made sure Hanbin was as comfortable as possible. Or was it the trauma that was causing him to look so terrible?

He allowed himself to think a little bit more about the option of sending Hanbin to the institute before finally deciding to call Dr. Young and informed the man about his decision.

"Thank you," Jungkook said before hanging up the phone. He sighed and closed his eyes as he leaned against the counter.

He just got off the phone with Dr. Young. He told the psychologist that he had thought about what they discussed the day before and that he finally concluded that he had to send Hanbin to get the help he needed. Dr. Young thanked him for his consideration and promised Jungkook that Hanbin would receive the utmost care. Dr. Young explained that he would send all of Hanbin's information to the hospital and all Jungkook had to do with fill out a bunch of papers and be able to drive to Busan and fill out even more papers at the hospital.

Hanbin was going to receive top-notch help, yet why does Jungkook feel so terrible?

A tear pushed its way between his closed eyelids and landed atop his shaking hand. He was doing so well and suddenly he was spiralling back to the way he used to be.

Some people were destined for success. Like Taehyung: he was born into success and despite the hardships he faced, he was always so successful. And some people are destined to fail; no matter how hard they try to pick themselves up and succeed, they will always fail. Like Jungkook. No matter what he does, something always goes wrong.

He imagined what it would be like if he had listened to his parents and stopped dating Minsun. He would probably be graduating from a university now and his son would be okay. Right? Or would the same thing happen even if they stopped dating? He also wouldn't have Chanwoo and Jungkook couldn't imagine his life without that little boy; he couldn't imagine his life without both kids. He probably wouldn't have met Taehyung either and that man was beyond amazing.