The Taste Of Ink | Taekook | ENG

9. CRASH & BURN

“I-I don't want to...” gasped the little one, still crying.

“Little tiger, everything will be fine. Nothing will happen to you.”

“J-Jae wants with dad...” the boy continued to cry, sniffling.

“Jae, Daddy can't stay with you today. When you come back from kindergarden, we'll watch The Lion King together, hm?” he said gently, carefully wiping the tears from his son's cheek with his thumb.

“J-Jae doesn't want to go to kindelgalten...” he cried again.

Hearing his son's words, Taehyung sighed loudly and nervously ran a hand through his fiery red, still slightly tousled hair, then looked at Jeongguk apologetically. Brunet approached them and stood next to them, leaning his hip against the kitchen cabinets. His slim, athletic body, as usual, was decorated with some expensive suit in which he looked incredibly beautiful.

“Sorry,” the tattoo artist said quickly, glancing at him. “I think we have a little crisis today...”

“What's happening?” Jeon asked carefully.

“I do not know. Usually he likes going to kindergarden. Jae is a very cheerful child, he rarely cries and likes his friends in kindergarden, but today he keeps denying and crying that he doesn't want to go,” he explained in a clearly worried voice. “I do not know. Maybe it's because of what happened recently. He got really scared and maybe he is afraid now. I don't want to force him, but I can't stay with him today. I have a full day session and cannot cancel it. I fucking need this money. Today I'm collecting the car from the repair and I have to pay the bill. Namjoon's father is charging me at cost, but I still don't have enough free cash,” he said resigned, looking at his son, who was still flooding with tears.

Jeongguk said nothing but only approached Jaesung. He stood in front of the little one, then smiled gently at him.

“Hello, little tiger,” he greeted, and the little one just sobbed, still crying. “How about staying with me today? Your daddy has to go to work, but I can stay with you and we can play, hm?” he said softly.

The little boy blinked his large, red-crying eyes a few times, then nodded his head vigorously.

“Y-yeas... J-Jae w-wants...” he choked out. “Jae w-wants with Googie.”

Jeon looked at the tattoo artist and smiled at him.

"Is that alright with you?" he asked.

"Gguk... I can't ask you to do this. You have your life and your responsibilities. You can not go to work to look after my son."

"Tae, it's not a problem. I have a few contracts and agreements to go through today. All I need is a laptop and I'll get it. Jae is going to eat or watch a fairy tale and I will look at it. He got scared on Friday, it makes no sense to force him to go to kindergarden, if it is not necessary. I can really take care of him. It's not a problem..." he explained.

"Gguk, you are my... friend," he said carefully, a little hesitating at the last word. But now there was no time to consider what their relationship actually was, and what title he should actually give him. "Not a babysitter. I can't use you like that," he finished.

"You said yourself Yoongi took care of Jae's sometimes," Jeon interjected.

"But that's different. You are…" He paused for a moment, not knowing how to put it into words. "You just found out about Jae, I don't want to use you. You've already done so much for me..."

Brunet without thinking reached out and grabbed his hand.

"Tae, you're not using me. If anything, it is this little tiger who is crying his eyes out now, he joked. "Look at him. He needs to stay with someone today who will make him feel safe. And that's really no problem, huh?"