present day
"dadda..." a mumble makes jungkook smile, glancing over his bare shoulder towards the bedroom door from where a little body waddles to him, letting him know that she's still sleepy. the toddler stumbles over a toy car, landing on her knees and palms pressed on the floor, resulting into a pout on her tinted lips.
"get up, get up," jungkook turns to face the child, chuckling when she shakes her head, letting out a cranky cry early in the morning. her tiny arms extend towards him, making him sigh and turn off the stove, wiping his hands off before going to the crying toddler.
"don't cry, baby." he pats her back, holding her in his arms and walks back to the kitchen. "look we have riri's favourite strawberries here. do you wanna eat it?" he says, holding a strawberry cut into half in front of his daughter who nods, forgetting about being hurt and takes the fruit from his hand, putting it in her mouth at once.
"daddy," aera rests her head on his shoulder, hugging him loosely while he prepares her milk and breakfast. "riri having bad dweam... daddy don' leaving me..."
"yes my love, daddy's not leaving his princess." jungkook smiles, pecking her lips softly and hugs her back, "do we need to scold the bad dreams for scaring my baby?"
"mm-hmm," she nods, making the father chuckle. he sits her on the dining table, bringing his own breakfast and aera's before sitting on the chair in front of her.
"daddy and riri matching!" she laughs, pointing at his grey sweatpants that look similar to her shorts, both sitting with naked upper bodies, making jungkook laugh as well.
"yeah, what color is this?"
"color..." aera stops, staring at her pants and shakes her head, not knowing grey yet as jungkook didn't realise it was in the spectrum and she needs to be familiar with it too, which wasn't the case despite the color being too common in his apartment. the only colors he had taught his daughter and she recognised were pink, red, blue, yellow and basic ones like that.
"it's grey," he says, "say it."
"gay"
"no, grey."
"daddy!" aera giggles, clapping her hands.
"alright, say grey."
"no, daddy!" she cackles loudly, leaning towards him as her hands reach out to grab his cheeks, "daddy!"
"okay, fine." he smiles, making her sit properly and gives her the sippy cup filled with her baby powdered milk. aera suckles out the milk, sitting quietly, leaning on his free arm, frequently moving her leg to kick his hand and end up laughing when jungkook would pretend to huff and scrunch his face up at her.
things had started getting better thanks to the support from his hyung and noona. he wouldn't imagine raising a child and be this close without jimin and his wife's help. the two had constantly been there and assured jungkook that whatever happens he can always talk to them. the first five months jungkook took to learn and know everything about babies, living with the couple and watching them take care of his daughter.
by the sixth month he had gained some confidence, saying that he would manage on his own then. he moved out without much difficulty only to come back panicking with the six months old baby crying like there's no tomorrow. when haewon asked what had happened, he said he was trying to feed her but she wouldn't drink the milk and started crying. that was the time he realised he should check the temperature of the milk before giving it to the baby.
to avoid hurting his daughter anymore he dropped the idea of moving out for a few more days and got a diary and a pen, sitting and noting down every little detail that jimin and haewon would tell him. by the time aera turned eight months old and jungkook felt like he could handle her now, he expressed his wish of moving out again, gaining the couple's best wishes and an emergency contact list from the brother which was valid 24/7.
that was the final time he moved out. however the calls to jimin even at midnight never lessened. he still remembers ringing his hyung at three in the morning when aera suddenly started crying out of nowhere, bringing tears for him too. having no other option jimin showed up in half an hour, checking the baby and realised it was a fever. jungkook had spent the rest of the time thinking what he did wrong to get the poor baby sick which the elder brother noticed and assured the young father that it was normal for kids to get sick during their vaccinations.
the next call jungkook made wasn't a worried or troubled one, but still he was crying on the phone when haewon answered. sobbing, he told the girl aera just mumbled 'dada' for the first time and he felt like he would die of happiness. jimin's words repeated in his mind and he couldn't wait to live all those said moments with his baby.
a month before her first birthday, she had started walking and would babble out gibberish all day long, the most common word being 'dadda'. the next she learnt was to point at herself whenever jungkook asked who was his baby, she would laugh loudly and toddle to him as he would open his arms, kneeling down in front of her. it was around those days when he knew aera was the best he ever did and needed nothing more. jimin was right: being a father is a blessing, and jungkook was blessed with aera.
he never went back to that awful life between clubs, drinking and hooking up, instead he formed a new one like in disney movies where everything is beautiful and life appears perfect with their loved ones. he made one of that kind with his daughter, getting all the things he and his baby needed, promising himself to give her the best life possible even though being a single father brought him and aera some sympathetic looks in public. with each day passing he found himself just getting closer to his daughter and loving her more than yesterday.
now it was about time aera has turned three two months ago and today is the day she will be attending her first day in preschool as jimin said she should start going to school for a while to help her with the separation anxiety for the elder remembered struggling with jiwon to send him to school when he was four.
jungkook sighs deeply, staring at his daughter sitting on the bed as she's busy observing her attire that was required for the preschool, unaware of what's coming for her today. white cotton shorts and a yellow t-shirt along with a bow tie secured on her neck under the collar of the t-shirt. he grabs the comb, fixing her hair again and does them into a small pigtail on top of her head, leaving some free strands to fall on her head.
"my little girl looks so pretty," he smiles, crouching in front of the bed as he takes her feet and pulls her to the edge, making her wear the tiny black shoes. "there, riri's ready."
"ready!" aera giggles, standing up on the bed and raises her hands out, "daddy catch, okay?" she says and jungkook nods, opening his arms as he sits down on the carpet. the toddler smiles widely, jumping from the bed straight into his arms, breaking into a fit of laughter when the father catches her and brings her in his lap, blowing a bunch of ticklish raspberries over the fabric of her t-shirt.
"riri is growing up, it's your first day of school already..." he says, more to himself as he still tries to convince himself that she will stay away from him, out of home with a bunch of strangers for three hours straight.
"riri big girl," the daughter says, standing up from his lap and pulls his hand, telling him to get up as well. jungkook smiles at her, calming himself down as he takes his phone that just started ringing. holding his daughter's hand they head downstairs and he gives her the little yellow bag which is more like a pooh bear plushie just with a zipper on top of it's head.
"yes hyung, i know." he sighs, glancing at aera one last to make sure she's ready with everything and grabs the keys of his car. a range rover because aera saw it in a movie with jiwon who's always had a tremendous love for cars and expressed their wish of wanting to go for a drive in the very said car. in two days jungkook had the car parked in front of the house, ready to take the kids out for a long drive.
again jimin said he was wasting money, but jungkook said he was saving money. saving in form of his daughter and nephew's smiles.
he buckles aera in the booster seat, earning an instant whine from her as a reminder that she doesn't like being tied like this. she squirms in her place moving her arms and legs, hitting the father and almost scratching his face, making him hiss and back off.
"what? you need to sit in your seat, princess."
"no... i sit there," she points at the shotgun and before jungkook could protest, a little part of him didn't let him, knowing she'd be crying once she comes to know he's going to drop her off to an unknown place alone. so he finds himself nodding at the request and helps her get rid of the straps from the booster seat.
he hops on the driver's seat and glances at his daughter, standing on the front seat beside him, looking happy as she's staring outside the window, waving at the neighbour's labrador who she named 'kitty' when she was two.
"bye-bye kitty!"
"sit down, aera." jungkook says, holding her tiny waist and gently pulls her down, making her sit and buckles the seat belt on her which nonetheless makes no difference. he ignites the engine, glancing at her and drives off, deciding not to speed off too much.
"we going to daddy?" aera asks as she sits facing him.
"you mean uncle jimin?" he sighs at the habit his daughter has developed on hearing jiwon refering to jimin as daddy and haewon mamma, making aera believe that she's supposed to say the same. even when jungkook corrects her she'd forget it the next time and continue calling them daddy and mamma. they never complained, instead always laughed saying it's adorable when she say it so cutely.
"yes," she nods, "uncle chimin b'inging chocolate for riri."
"ah so you want chocolates not your uncle huh?"
"both!" the toddler cackles mischievously, getting up on the seat again and stumbles a little, but manages to hold onto the seat for support, also jungkook's one hand instantly goes on her back to prevent her from falling. she holds his arm while his large encircles the side of her waist, shaking his head when she tries to climb over to him.
jungkook stops the car at the signal which aera quickly uses for her task and giggles once she's successfully sitting on his lap. he chuckles softly, leaning down and kisses her cheek, making her sit properly as he keeps his one arm under her, keeping her from falling and busy driving with the other hand.
he stops the car a few meters away from the school gate and turns the engine off, bringing his daughter to sit facing him and smiles, "now listen, riri's going school today. so she's to be a good girl alright?"
"school?" aera tilts her head, frowning at him and jungkook nods, pointing outside where several other kids are seen with their parents going inside the main gate.
"there are other kids going too, you can be friends with them. you wanted friends right?"
"mm" she nods, too consumed watching little kids around her age, going to school, some smiling, some crying when the parents are leaving.
"if you wanna go to the toilet or you want something, tell your teacher okay?" he says, earning another nod from the his toddler, making him smile softly. he opens the door getting out first then carries her in his arms and takes a deep breath, "now let's go. i know my baby will be a good girl."
aera's eyes watch the people with curiosity as jungkook enters the school gate, hearing a lot of buzz, kids laughing, playing and some crying. a lady approaches them with a smile, greeting jungkook with a bow that he returns too and looks at his daughter, "aera, this is your teacher, miss lana." he says, "say hello to her."
"hello..." the toddler mumbles, sticking to jungkook. the smile from the morning now vanishing gradually.
"hello aera." the lady smiles at her, "such an adorable daughter you have, mr jeon."
"ah thanks," jungkook smiles, glancing at aera who doesn't look that happy and comfortable. "miss lana will take you to your class okay?" he says and places her down on her feet, earning a instant whine from the child as she sticks close to him.
"what happened, sweetheart?" jungkook asks softly, hugging her back, crouching in front of her and rubs her back, "don't you wanna go to school? see, there are so many kids here. they'll be my baby's friends."
"no, dadda..."
"yes, my love. dadda will come back in a while and take you home. then we'll go and see uncle jimin and get a lot chocolates for riri and jiwon oppa. is that okay?"
aera nods slowly and jungkook smiles, pulling away from the hug and pats her cheek, pecking her lips softly, "good girl, my baby is so strong. now go with miss lana."
"shall we go?" the teacher says, crouching near the girl and holds her hand out, "we have a lot of toys in the class. do you like them?"
"car..." aera mumbles.
"oh we have cars too, which one do you like?" miss lana says, gradually taking aera's hand and stands up.
"daddy's car," the toddler says, "my daddy has big car,"
jungkook chuckles at the answer, getting a feeling that he might have to get another one today if aera's teacher showed her a new car to lure her interest. aera probably realises her daddy isn't coming with her when she turns to look back, seeing him still standing near the gate and waving at her. tears pool her eyes, taking a quick step in his direction only to be stopped by her teacher who smiles softly, starting another conversation to keep her mind diverted.
but still she cries with tears rolling down her chubby cheeks, staring at jungkook, struggling to get away from miss lana and run back to her safe place. jungkook's smile slowly dies and tears brim his eyes too, staring at aera crying and wanting to come to him.
the day from the hospital when he first saw her and cried his eyes out flashes before his eyes. how different are these two situations. back then he couldn't stand having her in his arms, and now he can't seem to let go.
he clears his throat, blinking away the tears as miss lana disappears inside the building with his daughter crying. he turns on his heels, taking slow steps towards the car, his heart aching and wishing for aera's little steps to come running behind him and hug his legs tightly. then he would pick her up and shower her face with kisses until she's smiling again and say, "smile, daddy is here."
his phone pulls him out of the imagination bubble, making him sigh as he realises it's his hyung again. he answers the call and takes a deep breath, "did you drop her off?" jimin asks.
"yeah, just now." jungkook says, "why is it so hard, hyung? i feel like i shouldn't leave her alone here. i mean, she's not used to being away from me, how will she stay here with so many new faces? and that too for three hours?! can you believe it? three hours! that is so cruel!"
"aish!" jimin sighs deeply on the line, "i'm sure you cried more than aera did."
"please, i'm dying right now. i'm coming, please make a nice coffee..." jungkook shakes his head, starting the car after convincing himself that aera isn't coming back any sooner than 12 in the noon when he would come back to pick her up.
"just relax, she'll be fine. it's for her own good. you won't stay by her side when she actually starts going to school which is longer than just three hours. so it's gonna help her for future, don't worry too much."
"hm yeah, you're right. but i'm still coming, please make a coffee."
"you brat"
"oh, by the way, she was asking about you. so you have to come with me to go pick her up at 12."
"really?" jimin chuckles, "alright, what did she say though?"
"that she wants to see 'cause you get her chocolates."
"wow, she's really your daughter." the elder says, making jungkook laugh, "but because it's aera, i wouldn't mind."
"are you making the coffee? i'm almost there." jungkook says, focusing more on the street as he stops, letting the kittens pass and then drives away with a smile as aera's smiling face reminds him of how she would've forced him to stop by to meet the baby cats.
"you can make it when you arrive. i'm not moving a muscle for you." jimin scoffs, "oh and get some cup noodles on the way. i feel lazy to cook when haewon isn't here."
"ah right, noona and jiwon are in incheon." jungkook nods, pulling over in front of the building and parks the car at the side as he recalls how the elder girl had said it's been pretty long since she visited her family and so this time jimin suggested she should go as jiwon too missed his grandparents.
"so how about i treat you some nice food?" he offers his hyung.
"today?"
"no, till the day noona comes back. there's no real way i can pay you back for the things you've done for me, but at least i can show off my cooking skills for the time being." he smiles, "now open the door."
"you're here already?" jimin sounds shocked and soon opens the door, hanging up as he smiles at the younger who greets him with a hug. "y'know you don't have to do anything for me, especially to 'pay' me back, jungkook. i'm the hyung and it's my job to make sure my brother is doing fine. i'm happy doing stuff for you, even though i scold you sometimes, but that's different."
"sometimes?" jungkook shakes his head, sitting on the couch and jimin rolls his eyes.
"for once i thought you were actually being considerate. but y'know what? you'll cook for the whole month and all i'm gonna do is play with aera. suit yourself."
"i don't have a problem with that." the younger shrugs, "coffee?"
"sure," jimin nods, flopping back on the couch and turns on the tv, "there are pop corns in the second cabinet above the microw-"
"found it!"
"get it here."
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"hello," a boy says on noticing the girl next to him has been sobbing ever since she arrived. "i'm daehan, what's yo' name?"
aera looks at him, sniffing softly as she answers, "aera..."
"oh why you cwying? are you missing yo- yo' mom?"
"no, daddy," aera rubs her eyes, taking a proper look at the boy now who nods his head and steps forward to give her a hug.
"don't cwy okay? i'm be yo' fwend." he smiles, holding out his hand which makes the girl smile a little and nod in response, shaking his hand. "do you wan' color wid me?"
"mm-hmm," aera nods, pulling out her coloring book that jungkook got her a few days back and points at the disney characters, "le's color in dis?"
"wow, i like disney!" daehan chirps, smiling widely along with aera who laughs as well.
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"she was crying a lot hyung. what if she's missing me too much? or what if someone is bullying her? what if-"
"bro calm down, aera is a smart child. she'll have a good day, stop stressing out so much." jimin sighs, passing the pop corns to the brother who sighs as well and takes a fistful of it, putting it in his bowl, earning a glare from jimin. "i was offering one or two or fine even three out generosity! not all of it!"
"i'll be cooking for you and you can't even share some pop corns?"
"i've raised you, that is more than the cooking you'll do."
"you're saying as if you're a hundred years older than me."
"five," jimin rolls his eyes, "and that is enough. i was already twenty when you were still to make it to high school."
jungkook gasps turning to elder brother and bursts out laughing, "you're turning thirty in two months! how old!"
"shut up," the brother scoffs, standing up and dusts his hands, munching off his last few pop corns and grabs a shirt, throwing the keys towards jungkook, "it's 11:30, we should head out now."
"ah right! my little baby must be waiting!" jungkook jumps on his feet, wiping off his hands quickly, putting on his shoes and hums for his hyung to get ready faster as they wouldn't want to keep aera waiting even for a minute.
"ah this car," jimin shakes his head, glancing at the range rover. "jiwon kept bugging me to get it too."
"range rover? but you already have one."
"he likes white better." jimin sighs.
"paint it." jungkook laughs, starting the car once they're both sitting in. "jiwon's great. he knows exactly what quality is. you're worried for nothing hyung, the other day i heard them when they were playing together, aera and jiwon. he was telling her how we work so hard and all to get them nice gifts and chocolates and new cars. i was feeling so proud hearing it from him."
jimin smiles amusedly, glancing at jungkook who keeps his eyes on the street, smiling as well, "really? jiwon said that? i can't believe it."
"he did. i tell you hyung, he's such a sweet child. whenever he comes over, he's like uncle should i help you, should i take riri to the park, should i feed her now. he's adorable and so responsible despite being just six himself."
"he's really caring with aera." jimin nods, "even now when he calls he'd ask if i saw her or not. and if she's missing her jiwon oppa."
"ah jiwon oppa, don't even ask." jungkook laughs, "she asks about him at least ten times a day."
"i hope they get along like this in future too." jimin says, making jungkook smile as he nods. "hey stop by that store."
jungkook glances at him and pulls over in front of the convenience store. jimin walks out and returns in merely ten minutes with a bag of snacks, but mainly chocolates that he knows aera likes.
the next stop is the school, seeing the little children running out from their classes with wide smiles as they get to see their parents now. jungkook looks around, trying to spot his little one which is when jimin taps his shoulder, pointing at the side where a few kids are standing, one of them being aera.
she's talking to this boy and a girl, all three laughing when she said something. jungkook smiles in relief on knowing she had fun and made some friends on her first day.
"your first day was terrible." jimin says, "the teacher said you cried the first hour and then cried again because some kid took your crayons."
"you don't have to say it." jungkook gives a straight face, making jimin crack up.
aera waves at her friends and turns around holding miss lana's hand who guides her towards jungkook. as a very expected reaction, she gasps, smiling widely on seeing him kneeling on the ground with his arms open for her. the toddler runs to him, giggling happily and kisses his cheek.
"daddy!"
"hey, my baby." jungkook smiles, kissing her cheek and carries her up with him, "did you have fun in school?"
aera nods, almost going to answer him with a heavy detailing in her broken language skills but stops midway on spotting jimin smiling at her. "daddy!" she squeals, leaning towards him, making him chuckle as he takes her from jungkook and kisses her cheek.
"hey champ, did you miss me?" jimin says before jungkook could correct her and tell her he's the uncle not daddy.
"yes!" aera nods, still hugging him tightly, "where jiwon oppa and mamma?"
"auntie, aera." jungkook sighs, noticing her frequent slipping of tongue.
"it's alright," jimin chuckles, looking at the little girl, "we don't mind our baby calling us anything she likes, right champ?"
"mm-hmm," she nods again, giving jimin a high five. "my- my chocolate daddy?"
"ah yes, we've got riri a lot of chocolates. let's go, it's in the car." jimin says, placing her down on her feet and holds her hand, heading to the car. jungkook hops in the driver's and jimin in passenger's with aera on his lap, telling them about how she enjoyed coloring snow white and the seven dwarfs with her friends and even sang twinkle twinkle little star.
"daddy," she stops to look at jungkook, earning glance, "peepee,"
"oh... right now?" he asks, making the toddler nod. "uh it's kinda hard, the traffic doesn't seem like it'll clear for a while."
"is there a toilet or something here?" jimin says looking around and finds a shop at the side of the street but reaching there is a problem when they're stuck between cars.
"can you hold it? we'll reach in twenty minutes max if this starts moving." jungkook says.
"no, toileetttt!" aera frowns at him.
"do you have diapers?" jimin asks looking at jungkook, "i mean she uses them still?"
"yeah at night sometimes, but i don't think i have it in the car."
"do you want me check at the back?"
jungkook shrugs, not sure about having the diapers available right now. he honks again, but nothing happens, making him sigh deeply seeing his daughter pouting at him, trying her best not to pee in the car and ruin her clothes and jimin's as she's on his lap.
"hyung," jungkook says, "put her down."
jimin sighs, nodding and makes her stand in front of him, between his legs and keeps holding her hands as she's still playing with the rings on his fingers.
"do you have extra pants or something?"
"no," jungkook shakes his head, staring at the toddler looking much relaxed now. she glances at him and giggles, giving a thumbs which manages to make the brothers laugh. "i do have tissues though. come at the back" the father sighs deeply, opening the door a little and sits at the back while jimin goes to the driver's seat and aera climbs to the backseat, leaving wet imprints on the seat and flooring of the car.
jimin chuckles, seeing aera kicking her legs and laughing, laying on the seat while jungkook's wiping off her lower body clean. she stands up when he's done and climbs on his lap, squealing out of playfulness, grabbing her father's hair and cackling against his cheek. jungkook laughs at the excited state of the toddler and leans back, his large hands placed on her back to keep her from falling.
"daddy wuv you" she giggles and jungkook smiles fondly.
"daddy loves you more." he whispers, pecking her lips and hugs her securely, "my child,"
the traffic clears and jimin drives home, while the laughter ceases at the back. on glancing at the father daughter duo, he realises aera fell asleep and jungkook is making her lay properly in his arms, smiling warmly at the little child as if he was holding his entire world.
"you were right hyung. everything you said that day was right." he says softly, "i'm so happy to have aera. y'know people say she's a mistake. i mean, yeah, i didn't want a child and wasn't ready when we had aera. but as of now i'm sure of one thing, if she's a mistake, then i can say she's the most beautiful mistake i ever made... my daughter completes me."
jimin smiles proudly at the younger brother who looks calm and contented with his words and with his life, having such a beautiful reason to wake up everyday, to end up smiling even when he's having hard time, to hug someone when he's feeling alone, to have someone who trusts him blindly and believes every word leaving his mouth. because now he's not just jeon jungkook. he's a best friend, a bodyguard, a superhero, a prince charming, an ideal man and an ideal person to someone. he is a father now.
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a/n- how was the chapter? did you like it?
i have two questions for you, please try to answer them for me..
1. out of the three parts, which side of jungkook's character did you like the most?
2. which character in the story did you find the most captivating? (ignore kook for a sec, cuz he was the main character)
i really enjoyed writing this series, it was like a great adventure y'know from making jungkook a cocky playboy who doesn't care about the girls he's been with, then the other side of him which just his close people know how he's so fragile and loving with his hyung, noona and his nephew, then making him regret everything and be suffocated due to the guilt, and at last the little efforts of him to be comfortable with his baby becoming successful and he grows so close with aera that he finds himself struggling at thought of her being away from him while she attends preschool.
i tried to give this series all kinds of touches from a careless cocky boy in his early twenties, to a family man, the sibling bond, jungkook and his noona's bond and the father-daughter bond. i hope i didn't fail at showing any of those.
vote if you liked the chapter, comment and please answer. i'd love to know your views. take care 💖
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