let's goooo! spam this chapter with your comments, let's see if we can cross 100? we've done it before so it shouldn't be that hard ;) plus it's gonna be a long chapter with fluff and some emotional content, so you can comment all you want. and yeah, enjoy reading! ❤️
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"there, my princess is ready for school," jaehyun smiles at the daughter, patting her side as he's done dressing her up and takes a moment to admire her little body, still clad with cutesy baby fat on the cheeks, arms, legs and a little on the stomach, making her look absolutely adorable in his eyes.
he pulls the toddler between his arms, giving her a warm hug and kisses her soft cheek, "my riri is already growing up," his voice hushes out with happiness as aera just giggles at him, touching his cheek unaware of what's waiting for her today.
"jae did you ge-" eunmi enters the room, wearing her bathrobe as she just stepped out of the shower. her lips stretch into a smile at the sight of their daughter dressed in her tiny school uniform which is a pair of white cotton shorts and a yellow t-shirt. a white scarf is secured around the coller of the t-shirt, which is probably interesting enough to pool her attention in it over anything else.
"my baby," the mother cooes, hugging aera right away and pecks her lips, "my little baby looks so beautiful,"
"you' so b'utiful, mamma," aera grins, making eunmi chuckle as she nods, glancing at jaehyun.
"of course, both my girls are the most beautiful," he says with a fond smile, hugging both his wife and daughter at once, getting a playful laugh from aera as she jumps on the bed, wanting to be carried. jaehyun picks her up in his arms, gesturing eunmi that she can get dressed and he'll be downstairs.
"jae, could you please see kook's ready and give him his breakfast?" eunmi's voice follows jaehyun in the middle of the stairs and he sighs softly, glancing at aera who just giggles.
"yeah, don't worry," he replies, going to the kitchen and sees jimin preparing cereals for himself. he's ready for the day, dressed in a pair of skinny blue jeans with a plain white tee tucked inside and a denim jacket over it, the sleeves rolled up to expose his arms.
"good morning dad," the boy smiles, sitting on the chair and glances at his sister who jumps in excitement, already telling jaehyun to put her down so she can go to jimin. the brother chuckles, shifting the jug aside from the table, making space for his toddler sister to sit.
"morning, champ," jaehyun ruffles his hair, sitting aera on the table and looks around, "where's kook?"
"hey, good morning, angel," he says to aera, not bothering to answer the father as he's already calling for jungkook, walking to the living room.
"jungkook-ah? come have your breakfa- are you serious?" jaehyun exasperates on catching the boy implanted on the couch, eyes fixed on the television where ash is in the middle of a battle. "aren't you supposed to get ready?" the father crosses his arms, approaching the boy who's just sitting in his black school shorts and the shirt yet to be buttoned.
"yes," jungkook nods, quickly buttoning up his shirt and tucks it in the pants, although his eyes remain pinned on the tv.
"aish! come in the kitchen, have your breakfast,"
"no, dad, here," jungkook looks at the father who shakes his head, sighing at the boy, "please?"
"don't be like that, buddy. your hyung is ready for school and even aera's ready. you don't want her to think that kookie's a bad boy, do you?"
"dad, i'm not a little boy. stop saying things like that," jungkook sighs, putting on his socks and shoes. turning off the tv., the boy follows his father to the kitchen, smiling at the sight of aera in her school uniform.
"hey, riri," he approaches her quickly, leaning on the table near her and pokes her cheek with his index finger, "you look cute,"
"t'ank you," aera chimes then opens her mouth again for jimin to feed her another spoon of his cereals.
"you'll have cereals?" jaehyun asks and jungkook shakes his head, "pancakes? waffles?"
"no, just milk," jungkook says.
"you should eat something, kook," jimin says, "even riri's eating. have some cereals if not anything else,"
"no... i don't wanna eat," jungkook sits beside jimin, "i feel like throwing up if i eat,"
"are you not feeling well?" jaehyun touches the boy's forehead, frowning in confusion as he didn't sense any fever. he pats jungkook's head, grabbing an apple, a few strawberries, blueberries and kiwi, cutting them into small pieces and puts it a bowl.
jungkook nods at that, picking up a fork and takes the bowl of fruits without throwing a fit. jimin stands up, wiping his mouth and puts his bowl in the sink, turning to face the father, "i'll get going, bye. you guys are going to take some time, i see,"
jaehyun chuckles, glancing at the younger kids who are busy sharing the fruits, none of them eating as jungkook has started narrating the pokemon episode that he was just watching to his sister who doesn't even know all the characters but nods and responds to his talks as though she's understanding everything.
"till what time do you have classes today?" jaehyun asks and jimin glances at his phone, opening the schedule and hums.
"12:30, why?"
"nothing, just me and your mom are free today. so i was thinking of going out for lunch. aera's school will be done by 12 - 12:30 too, and we can take kook early today,"
"he'll be happy to get out," jimin laughs and so does the father, nodding in agreement.
"so yeah, we'll pick you up from your school,"
"cool," jimin nods, taking his bag and waves at his father and siblings, "bye, see you later!"
"hyung! wait," jungkook pushes the bowl of his fruits away, jogging over to jimin and pulls him down to whisper into his ear, "don't forget the chocolates,"
"it was just that one day, kook. i don't get chocolates from people all the time," jimin sighs and jaehyun arches up a brow, 'the valentine's chocolates' jimin mouths to the father, making him laugh at how adorable jungkook's request was.
"you do," jungkook pouts, "mark hyung told me. they give you chocolates,"
"no, he was just kidding," jimin shakes his head, "okay, fine, i'll get you some if i get,"
"yes!" jungkook smiles, giving a quick hug to the brother and goes back to his seat, continuing eating the fruits. jimin sighs deeply, walking out of the house, replaying the day from last week when he got a bunch of chocolates and roses from girls in his school, wanting him to be their valentine. although jimin didn't say yes to any of them, he did atleast get an ample amount of sweets to make his younger siblings happy.
"are you both ready?" eunmi walks into the kitchen and jungkook smiles at her, showing her the bowl of fruits his dad gave him. "aren't you having anything else?"
"milk," jungkook says, "banana milk,"
"okay," she sighs, taking out two containers of the milk and straws with it, "you can have one right now, and take the other one to school,"
"okayyy," jungkook sing songs, nodding at that and quickly inserts the straw in one of the containers while aera looks at her mother, waiting for her own milk.
"daddy's getting your milk," eunmi smiles at the toddler as she notices her eyes on her and fixes her hair roughly with her hand. "oh jungkook, do you wanna go out today after school?" she asks turning to the younger son who nods instantly.
"where?"
"wherever you want. me and dad are not going to office today. so we can go out and have fun,"
"really? that's awesome! let's go to the amusement park, please! there's a new ride there— my friend went there and he was telling me that it's amazing," the boys gushes, staring between the parents with excited eyes.
"alright," jaehyun smiles, "amusement park it is then," jungkook cheers, standing up from his chair and hugs jaehyun's waist, then eunmi.
"riri wan' huggy! gi'mme huggy koo!" aera shifts to the edge of the table, opening her arms desperately. her eyes pinned on her brother who's hugging everyone except her.
"yeah, come," jungkook grins at the sister, giving her a hug as well. jaehyun hands the sippy cup filled with sweet milk to aera and tells jungkook to sit as well, finish his fruits and milk. "it's be gon' be so fun today. i can't wait to come back from school! mom, dad, i'll take riri to all the rides with me and hyungie okay? she'll enjoy it, right?"
"she's too small for those, buddy," jaehyun chuckles, "riri will go in the rides which are meant for little kids,"
"no, i'll hold her hand. she won't be scared then," jungkook smiles confidently and the mother ruffles his hair, smiling at the boy.
"that would be great, baby. but they don't allow babies in the big rides. it's for their safety, and y'know riri's—"
"a baby," jungkook nods, glancing at his sister and pouts, resting his chin on aera's leg as she stares back at him, "grow up quickly, so we can go on the rides together. it's fun, y'know? you'll love it," he says, and aera nods at his words, suckling milk out of her sippy cup.
"i' d'inking milk, and den i' g'ow up quickly,"
"yeah, right. i drink milk too, because i have to grow up and be eighteen,"
"what?" the parents laugh.
"yeah, hyungie said it's fun being eighteen,"
"aish!" eunmi shakes her head, glancing at jaehyun who smirks, covering his mouth as he tries to supress his laughter. "hyungie told you that?" he asks the young boy, "what did he say?"
"that it's fun. he gets to do everything he wants. and you said that too,"
"jae!" eunmi turns to her husband who laughs loudly now, "what have you been teaching my little boy?"
"that we impress girls and then—"
"hush, that's all," jaehyun stops the son from speaking any further and leans down to match his height, "mamma doesn't need to know the secret of us boys, yeah?"
jungkook glances at eunmi who's giving a displeased look to jaehyun and pushes him away, wrapping her arms around the son. she sighs softly, kissing the boy's head and pats his back, "don't listen to any weird things daddy tells you, okay? you just stay as cute and innocent as you are right now. my little baby,"
"i'm not a little baby," jungkook states.
"why not?" eunmi pouts at the boy, who stared at her for a moment before shaking his head and smiles, "what?"
"you're so pretty, mom. i love you,"
"aw, see, this is what i mean," she chuckles, hugging jungkook tightly and kisses his cheek, "my baby kook,"
"when will i become a big boy?"
"you'll become a big boy when..." the mother thinks for a while and ruffles jungkook's hair, "when you can get ready by yourself, eat without forgetting and take care of yourself like your hyungie. acceptable?"
"hm," jungkook nods, "i don't wanna do that, let it be,"
jaehyun shakes his head at the boy, walking to the daughter who holds out her cup for him. he smiles as he realises that she has finished the milk already while jungkook is still distracted by every little thing, especially his mother who wouldn't stop babying him.
"you don't wanna be a big boy?" eunmi asks with a minor laugh.
"i want to," jungkook nods, "but i don't wanna do all the work. what if i get married and then my wife can take care of me?"
"why don't you get a babysitter for yourself then?"
"relax, honey," jaehyun chuckles at eunmi's sarcastic reply to the son, "he's still young. he doesn't know, it's fine,"
"you can teach him how to impress girls, but not about what's actually right?" eunmi scoffs at her husband and looks at jungkook, "wives are not supposed to be your caretaker, baby. you marry someone because you love them and you wanna spend the rest of your life with them. it's not because you're bored or you want someone to look after you. those who think like that are assho— stupid. they're stupid,"
"okay," jungkook grins, "i won't do that,"
"good," eunmi smiles at him, "always remember this kook, you wanna become a big boy— a man as you call it. you'll be a man the day you learn how to respect others, especially women, treat them right,"
"yeah, my teacher said we should not hit girls,"
"you should not hit anyone,"
"uhm yeah, but guys fight each other... have you not seen them mom?"
"they're just stupid. i'm not telling you to let anyone do you wrong— in fact, you're my son, and really kook, i've told this to jimin too, never ever take shit from people. if y'know they're wrong, and they punch you once, you should punch them thrice,"
"wow," jungkook laughs, "you're cool. my friends' moms are all boring,"
"they're not boring," she chuckles, "everyone's different. they might as well think that jungkook's mom is weird. who teaches their kids to fight?"
"you don't tell me to fight. it's only when someone's being bad, right?"
"exactly!" eunmi gives jungkook a high-five, "now enough talking or you'll be late for school,"
"i don't wanna go. let's go to the amusement park right now,"
"you don't want jiminie to join us?" the mother hands him the half filled bottle of banana milk and puts the full one in jungkook's school bag before making him wear it on his back.
jaehyun stands aera on the chair, patting her bottom, checking the diaper that he insisted on letting her wear as it's just her first day in play school and she might not be very comfortable going to the toilet all by herself— or with a stranger as the school has caretakers for toddlers. he glances at her face, "do you wanna use the toilet?" aera shakes her head and the father smiles, holding her hand as she jumps down and takes jungkook's hand, heading outside with confidence that the parents know won't last more than half-an-hour from now.
jungkook sits in the backseat next to aera's booster seat and struggles to strap her properly in the seat, until eunmi comes and helps the kids. she takes the passenger seat beside jaehyun in the driver's, and smiles softly at her kids through the rear mirror.
"remember kook's first day?" she hushes out softly and jaehyun smiles.
"yeah, the boy wouldn't let go of you," he chuckles.
"mm-hmm," eunmi nods, her gaze gradually falling to her lap as she sighs, "aera won't have much trouble letting go of me,"
"hey, why are you saying that?"
"i don't know," she shakes her head, "she loves us of course, but she won't be much bothered if we're not around,"
jaehyun falls silent, knowing that eunmi was right. aera had grown acquainted to not having her parents around her often as they would go to the office early in the morning and come home late at times, or even leave the house entirely for buisness trips. the parents were happy seeing their daughter, and even jungkook, being happy when they returned from europe three days ago, but they also knew that they won't throw a fit if the parents suddenly announce another trip for no matter how long.
if jaehyun told the children that they'll leave right now due to work, jungkook won't be surprised, aera (despite being just three-year-old) won't cry for her mamma and daddy to stay, and jimin won't say a word either. moreover the boy would assure the parents that he'll take care himself and his younger siblings here.
"why are we not like other families?" eunmi leans back, staring out of the window.
jaehyun glances at her from the side, placing his hand on hers and squeezes it gently, "work and money costs a lot," he sighs, "and we kinda asked for it,"
"yeah, it's only our fault that our kids aren't that close to us,"
"i feel bad for jimin the most," jaehyun admits, "he has to do everything we are supposed to do, and he never says anything,"
"hm, i hate our work, jae. i wish i could just drop everything and stay with my kids— and you could have a normal middle class job instead of this. people might think we have everything, but look at us, we have to literally plan if we can see our kids or not. a lot of times you had to choose work over kids— we chose a million more dollars with buisness deals than spending one day with our children,"
"everyone does that, eunmi. don't think too much. we do come home when we have time,"
"that's not right," eunmi sighs, shaking her head and rubs the tears off her eyes, "i just wanna have some days with you, with jimin, jungkook and aera. jae, don't you wanna live like normal people— keeping work aside and doing stuff for your children's happiness rather than money?"
"i want to, of course i do. but you know it too how costly our each day is. we take an off for one day and there goes millions,"
"but won't you be happy with your family?"
"yeah but..."
"it's okay," eunmi looks away from him, "maybe we have some differences on priorities,"
"aish, don't think like that, sweetheart. i didn't mean it in a wrong way. i love you and our kids more than anything, y'know it,"
"i know it, yeah, you love us a lot. but you love your work and your money more,"
"no—"
"mom," jungkook speaks softly, his expression not as happy as it was when they took off from home. eunmi forces up a smile for him and jungkook points out of the window, "we had to turn right... my school is not this way,"
"ah y-yeah, right," jaehyun chuckles nervously, glancing around as he didn't notice when he drove past the signal.
"koo, we go to my school," aera says, speaking to jungkook and the boy glances at the parents.
"can i go later after riri?" jungkook asks, "i want to see her off on her first day,"
"okay, sure," jaehyun agrees right away and eunmi smiles at the boy.
"i'll go with you," jungkook turns to aera with a smile, "you don't have to be scared okay? koo's gonna be there with you," aera hums with a nod, shaking hands with the brother.
jaehyun soon pulls up in front of the primary school where aera's got enrolled in the playgroup. they step out and aera stands on the ground after being freed from the booster seat. jungkook holds her hand securely, following the parents to the front gate where a lot of kids and parents are already present. some kids are crying, some are laughing and playing with their friends, while aera looks curious among them, staring at the people with her shining, doe eyes.
"ri, you'll go there and they'll teach you rhymes and a,b,c," jungkook tells her, heading inside the main gate, then points at the playground, "and you'll get to play there with your classmates. it'll be fun, okay?"
"koo, comin' wid me..." aera mumbles, hugging jungkook from the side and the parents watch them with soft eyes.
"i can't come here," jungkook states, crouching down to meet his sister's height and pecks her lips, "you'll be fine, ri, i promise. you drank milk at home, that's gonna make you strong,"
"riri wan' go wid you..."
"i'm sorry, i can't take you with me," he hugs aera and pats her back, "don't cry okay? jiminie hyung— oppa, will get us chocolates later. and we're also going to the amusement park today. if you cry you'll get tired and then you won't be able to have fun with us. so don't cry okay?"
aera nods, rubbing her eyes and pulls away from the hug. jungkook smiles at aera softly and fixes her clothes like jimin does and kisses her lips, "this is from me," he says, then gives another kiss, "and this is from jiminie oppa. we'll tell him how brave our riri is. so go to school and be a strong girl okay?"
"mm," aera nods, looking at the others and then at parents. she raises up her arms, "huggy..." jaehyun smiles at her, carrying her quickly and kisses her cheeks. then so does eunmi.
"my little baby, don't be scared okay?" eunmi says.
"don't worry, our princess is very strong," jaehyun smiles.
"yes," jungkook holds aera's hand, kissing her hand and grins, "she's jimin hyungie's brave baby, right aera?"
"i' st'ong like koo and chminie oppa,"
"yeah, so let's go, your teacher will take you to class," jungkook says and jaehyun puts her down, shaking hands with the lady who's aera's teacher. the woman smiles at aera, holding her hand which the toddler hesitates first and hides behind jungkook, pouting with the intensity of a cry.
"ri, don't cry," jungkook says, hugging her back quickly, "i'll come with mom and dad to take you home, okay? you wanna see me later, right?"
aera nods and the brother kisses her forehead, "then go with your teacher. me and jiminie oppa will get chocolates for you,"
"i mish you,"
"i'll miss you too," jungkook nods, "so let's do one thing, when you miss me in class, you close your eyes and imagine me. then i'll give a you hug, okay?"
"magine..?"
"means you think of me,"
"aw, your kids are adorable, mr and mrs jeon," the teacher says with a fond smile, getting nods from the couple. eunmi has tears in her eyes as she watches jungkook trying to convince his sister to go to the school while her and jaehyun— the parents— are standing quietly as if they're not even needed there.
aera finally agrees to go as jungkook smiles at her and kisses her yet again, giving one last hug before sending her towards the teacher. aera stares at jungkook, who gestures her to smile and waves at her, to which she waves back weakly and walks away with the teacher. jungkook sighs softly, rubbing his eyes and turns to the parents, "let's go now, i'm late," he says.
tears drop from eunmi's eyes as she quickly hugs the boy, not saying anything and just stays like that for a moment, "don't go today," she hushes out after a while, "we'll go home— just stay with mamma today?"
jungkook gulps down the lump in his throat, nodding his head quietly, even though he desperately wanted to go to school and meet jimin in lunch, hug him tightly and cry to him about how something feels off.
•••
12:12 pm
"hyungie," jungkook whispers to himself, spotting jimin between the other high school kids and turns to his mother, tugging on her hand, "i'll go and call hyung okay?" he says before running off to jimin and grabs his hand, pulling him to the side.
"woah! what's up?" jimin arches up his brows, "is this for chocola— hey... kook, are you okay?" he asks with a concerned frown as jungkook says nothing and hugs jimin tightly.
"hyung..." jungkook's voice breaks, tears dropping from his eyes that he has been holding ever since he heard their parents talking in the car.
"yeah, why are you crying? did someone say something to you?"
"no," the boy sobs, "mom and dad..."
"what about them? did dad say anything?"
jungkook shakes his head, pulling away slowly and rubs his eyes, "mom is not happy... she said she wants to stay with us but they have work. and then she asked dad if he would be happy with us instead of making money. and he didn't pick us, hyung... mom said we all are not close. even when riri went to school she kept hugging to me, not mom or dad. all the other kids were crying for their mom or dad but our riri wanted me to go with her... mom was upset and she kept hugging me later, she was crying... she didn't even let me go to school today. i was with her the whole time..." jungkook explains, sniffling softly and breaks into sob, "i wanted to come to school, because i'd see you in lunch... but i couldn't say no to mom. she wanted me to stay with her today. i feel so weird hyungie..."
jimin nods slowly, hugging the boy and rubs his back, moving back inside the building and takes jungkook to the washroom. jungkook never lets go of jimin's hand and stands wherever jimin stops, realising they're in the boys' washroom. the elder brother wipes the tears from jungkook's cheeks and opens his bag, pulling out chocolate like jungkook had asked him to get in the morning, "eat this," he says to the younger boy, "and don't worry about anything. mom must be stressed about office, that's why she did all that. you don't have to feel weird about anything, hm?"
jungkook nods slowly, taking a bite of the chocolate and looks at jimin, "i was scared..."
"i know," jimin sighs softly, hugging the boy, "everything's okay. i'll talk to mom and dad if you want,"
jungkook thinks for a while, shaking his head and hugs jimin back, "no..." he hushes out.
"alright then, now don't be worried. you told me what happened and that's all good. now it's my job to deal with it," jimin smiles at him and soaks his handkerchief with water from one corner, wiping the tear stains from the younger brother's face and fixes his messy hair, "there, now you look better,"
"thanks hyungie," jungkook smiles in return, "you're the best,"
"i know right?" jimin grins, heading out of the washroom and throws his arm around the younger brother, "now tell me, did aera cry going to school?"
"a little, yeah, but then i told her not to cry and be a strong girl. and— oh i promised her that we'll get chocolates for her when we go to take her. do you have more chocolates?"
"no, but we can get some on the way,"
"yeah, that's fine too,"
jungkook hums to a song, not minding anything anymore as his hand is curled into the fabric of jimin's sleeve, following the elder outside towards their parents. jimin glances at the boy, sighing softly in relief for he knows jungkook is fine now that he has jimin with him. although what bugs jimin is that the parents acted like that in front of jungkook, despite being aware that jungkook was sensitive to all these things.
the boys settle in the backseat and the parents in the front, "how was your day, jim?" jaehyun asks with a smile, igniting the engine and drives out into the street.
"it was fine," jimin answers, "what did you guys do? kook said he didn't go to school today,"
"yeah, we just had a day off, watched a movie and took a nap together," eunmi smiles at the sons and jungkook nods to confirm her words.
"oh great," jimin nods, looking out of the window as they reach a bakery and sweets store, "dad, would you stop here please?"
"sure, do you wanna get something?" jaehyun pulls up in front of the store and jungkook hops out quickly, making jimin laugh at him.
"do you even have money? where are you going alone?" he points out and jungkook opens the door from jimin's side, taking the brother's bag and digs in for some change. he finds what he wants, sending a mischievous grin to the elder boy and disappears inside the store. "you'll have to return me this money!" jimin says, getting a laugh from the father.
"your card's alright, isn't it?" he asks and jimin nods, "cool, and what about kook? does he need one too?"
"no," jimin frowns at the father, "he just turned thirteen, dad. he doesn't need a credit card,"
"yeah, but still. he won't bother you about money if he has his own card,"
"don't worry about that," jimin states, "i'll let you know when he should actually have a card,"
"alright," jaehyun nods, scrolling through his phone by the time jungkook returns with a small carry bag which probably contains chocolates and candies for himself and aera.
when they reach aera's school, the brothers stare at the mostly empty gates with scrunched eyebrows. the parents don't look that bothered, but jimin is quick to ask, "why is it so empty here? what time does ri's school gets over?"
"12," the father and jimin glances at his watch which shows it's almost 12:45. "are you serious? it was her first day, she must've been nervous and scared and yet you're late to pick her up?"
"it's not that late, jim. we decided to take you first since kook had promised aera that you both will be here to take her back," jaehyun says.
"i didn't know it was over at the twelve. i thought we had time— mom and dad looked cool, so..." jungkook says, chewing on the inside of his mouth as he stares at the building, devoid of much motion unlike what he saw in the morning, "she must be scared..."
"let's go," jimin shakes his head, leaving his bag in the car and jogs inside. the parents sigh at the boys, following them in and see one of the teachers (probably) leading them into a classroom.
"mr and mrs jeon, you took quite long," the teacher smiles a little at the parents, gesturing her hand towards the door, nodding at them as a sign that they can go in. jimin steps in first, sighing softly at the sight of aera sitting on a little chair in one of the round colorful tables, scribbling her new crayons on a piece of paper. there are a few weird shapes of play dough sitting next to the box of crayons.
"aera," jungkook calls, approaching her quickly and sits on the chair next to her.
"koo," the toddler stares at him for a moment, then finds jimin behind him.
the eldest smiles, crouching near her chair and opens his arms for her, "hey," he whispers softly. aera slips down from her chair, pouting as her eyes too, fill with tears, breaking into a sob as soon as she hugs jimin tightly. "shh, oppa's here. do you know how much we missed our little princess?" jimin speaks in a tender voice, rubbing the crying sister's back.
"oppa..." aera sobs in his shoulder, having her tiny arms secured around jimin's neck and face buried in between.
"yes, who made my princess cry, hm? tell me, do we need to fight someone?"
the teacher chuckles at the heartwarming sight, "they seem close," she says, getting a nod from the mother, "aera's an adorable kid. she was playing with everyone and made a few friends too, and surpringly she wasn't even crying when nobody came to take her. she's really strong for her age,"
"yeah, we're sorry for being late," eunmi says, "we... we got caught up with some work,"
"no problem," the teacher nods hesitantly, glancing at aera who's calm now as jungkook gives her the bag of chocolates and opens one to let her eat right now. jimin stands up, holding aera's small bag in his hand and bows at the teacher. jungkook notices and bows too urgently, not wanting to come off as disrespectful, making the teacher chuckle.
"bye, aera, have a good day," she smiles, patting the toddler's head, getting a wave in return and smile from the little girl.
in the car, jimin lets aera sit on his lap as she unzips her bag excitedly and shows him her drawing book, "oppa look, riri making flower," she giggles, pointing at her poor drawing skills on the paper, making jungkook scrunch his nose for he certainly can't make out it's a flower.
"that... is a flower?"
"it's beautiful," jimin says, eyeing jungkook to say the same and the boys nods.
"yeah, it's a nice flower, ri. where did you see that?"
"in uhm— yesterday," aera says, "i was playing and we see a pwetty flower an-and puppy!"
"really? where?" jimin asks.
"ga'den,"
"oh, that's cool, so you drew that flower?" aera nods to the question and closes her book, pulling out her lunch box now and gives it to jimin. the brother shakes it a little, frowning as it still feels heavy, "you didn't eat your lunch?"
"i' said— i said i' eating wid you..."
"ri, you've to eat with your friends in lunch okay?" jimin says, putting the drawing book and bag aside as he opens the micky mouse lid and picks up the little sandwich meant for her lunch, "eat it now,"
aera opens her mouth quickly, probably hungry from morning, and takes a bite of the sandwich. jungkook watches her eat, licking his own lips which jimin notices and offers the boy one of the two sandwiches left. "koo, i sit dere," aera moves to jungkook, sitting beside him to watch outside from the window.
"jimin," eunmi calls softly, glancing back at the eldest son who hums in response, waiting for her to say something further. the mother however goes silent, her eyes wandering to jungkook and aera cuddled in the seat, both eating sandwiches between frequent little talks and giggles.
"mom, is anything wrong?" jimin asks and eunmi flinches out of her thoughts.
jimin sighs softly, pulling out his earpods, connecting it to his phone and hands them to jungkook, nodding for him to jam to some music while they're yet to reach the amusement park. the boy grins, taking the phone as well and plays on a song of his choice, giving one of the ear piece to aera and putting on one in his ear.
"kook, told me you were upset about something?" jimin asks, making sure the younger brother isn't listening and waits for an answer from the mother.
"no, i'm fine," eunmi forces up a smile, "just felt like spending some time with him, that's all,"
jimin nods slowly, leaning forward on his seat and gives her a hug, "we love you okay?" he hushes out, "don't feel bad about anything. and don't get me wrong, but please avoid bringing all this up in front of kook, he's young but not that young to not understand something's off. he gets worried about it,"
"i... yeah, i'll pay attention to that," eunmi looks down, "i'm sorry. i feel so stupid, jimin... it's really overwhelming— everything. i've gotta learn parenting from you. you're the best thing ever happened to me, you know that?"
"you don't need to learn anything from me or anyone," jimin says, "you raised me pretty fine,"
"my child," eunmi ruffles jimin's hair, kissing his cheek, "jimin, promise me one thing,"
"hm?"
eunmi hesitates at first, taking a deep breath as she exchanges a glance with jaehyun, before looking at jimin again, "i know we're not that close to kook and aera, but you are, and i can see how much they love you and admire you, jimin. me and your dad trust you more than ourselves with both of them, we know you'll always be with them and be their support through everything. and if possible, jimin, do us a favour and never let them hate us okay? i know we're not the best parents out there, but we still love all three of you. i don't want my kids to hate me..."
"they love you, mom," jimin says, "please don't think like that, okay? i promise, mom, dad, jungkook and aera will never hate you, ever. stop worrying yourself over this and just keep trusting me. you know i love them both more than anything,"
"we know," eunmi smiles through teary eyes and so does jaehyun, giving a thankful smile to the son.
•••
10 years later
"koo, are you in there?"
jungkook jumps in his chair, breaking out of his trance, not noticing when a tear dropped from his eye into the polaroid picture in his hand. he puts it in the pocket of his pants, rubbing his eyes and takes a deep breath, "jesus christ..." his lips mumble, standing up to open the door and sees aera holding a bag of mcdonalds, grinning at him widely.
"hi, were you sleeping?" she asks.
"no, just working," he grumbles, ruffling his hair with his hand and sits back on the chair, pulling aera in his lap and hugs her tightly, "i missed you, little kookie,"
"really? i just came back from school," she giggles.
"yeah, and we just met in the morning," he hushes out, resting his chin on aera's shoulder and hums in disapproval when she touches the mouse of the computer, clicking here and there on the file he hasn't saved yet.
"what did you do in school?" he asks.
"i kept a fake lizard in chunghee's notebook. she almost cried," aera laughs, making jungkook chuckles as well, "that's all the fun part. because jimin oppa scolded me in the car,"
"why?"
"i didn't eat my lunch,"
jungkook smiles at that, not in the mood to scold her for the action. instead he tilts his head, leaving a long smooch on her cheek, "when are you gonna stop doing that, hm?" he says and aera shakes her head, leaning against him. something in his chest warms up to the point where his eyes fill with tears, remembering the same habit of aera ever since her first day of school when she would refuse eating without her brothers.
then his brother's words to their parents replay in his head— the words he heard unfortunately despite the music blasting in his one ear that day. he feels sorry for jimin, never having the courage to tell the elder that he actually heard all of it and remembers it by heart, the promise jimin made to their parents and the worry latching his voice speaking of jungkook.
"koo, what happened? why are you crying?" aera asks, peeking at the brother's face. he clears his throat quickly, shaking his head and blinks his eyes a few times, hoping to get rid of the tears. "are you okay?" she asks softly, her smile now replaced by a worried look.
"yeah," he nods with a forced smile, lips quivering with the weight of the untold words that he never knew could actually build up all these years and turn into something that's a mixture of guilt, regret, mistakes, frustration, anger and little bit of hatred.
"why are you crying?" aera asks again.
"i'm not," he says, taking a deep breath, "do you wanna go out for a drive? let's go get some fresh air," he stands up quickly, taking aera's hand without waiting for an answer and rubs his eyes to clear the vision.
"hey, kook— you're going somewhere?" jimin's voice interrupts on the way, as he approaches with a jacket in his hand and shakes his head on spotting aera, "take your jacket. it's cold outside. why do you have to—"
"thank you," aera mumbles, stepping near jimin and wears it instantly, "oppa, koo's crying," she sneaks in a whisper to jimin, making him frown as he glances at jungkook, nodding slowly on seeing the doe eyes hiding behind the bangs, appearing a little red and brimmed with warm tears.
"where are you guys going?"
"drive," jungkook answers.
"she hasn't eaten anything. so make sure you feed her something on the way,"
"yeah, don't worry," jungkook nods, not saying much as he watches jimin taking a step forward and pats his shoulder, giving a gentle squeeze.
"cool, go on then, call me if there's anything. i'll be with the boys,"
jungkook nods slowly as jimin smiles at him and aera, about to walk away when something from inside jungkook speaks up and he stops the elder brother, "hyung," the uneasiness builds in his throat, blocking further words. so his hand fishes out the picture from his pocket— the picture they took that day in the amusement park with aera in jungkook's uncomfortable hold, yet grinning in excitement, jimin doing a peace sign, eunmi smiling with aera's cotton candy in her hand while jaehyun had his arms wrapped around the family.
jungkook glances at the picture, giving it to jimin and gulps down the lump in his throat as he faces aera, "i- i'll just go alone for now. you stay here, i'm sorry,"
"what— but—"
"i'll take you out tomorrow," jungkook hushes out, letting go of aera's hand while she just watches hin with confused eyes.
"is he mad at me?" she looks up at jimin, earning a soft smile from him as he shakes his head and wraps his arm around aera, leaning down to kiss the top of her head, "why did he leave me then? i thought we were going out for a drive,"
"it's okay, you can go with him again later,"
"why is he upset, oppa? and what is that picture?" aera asks, taking a look at the polaroid in jimin's hand, frowning as it's just a family picture, "is he missing mamma?"
"you can say that," jimin nods, "y'know aera, kook didn't really have a stable relationship with mom and dad, and it bugged him at times—"
"that's why he doesn't like them? because they were bad..." aera hushes out.
"no, sweetheart. they weren't bad," jimin cups her cheek, pressing a kiss on her forehead that lingers a little longer than usual, "they loved us a lot," he whispers softly into her hair, rubbing her back slowly.
"i don't know, oppa. koo never talks about them like you do, and he doesn't even have one picture of them. it's like they never existed for him... and well, for me too. only you seem to know them a lot and love them," aera mumbles, "i like mamma and daddy because you like them. but sometimes i see koo upset, and you scold him for that, so then i don't like them,"
"it's okay. don't think about it," jimin assures, "let's go, we've to go live right now and you can have your lunch?"
"mm-hmm," aera nods, going with him and eats a fry from her bag of meals, "when will koo come back?"
"when he's feeling a bit better,"
"when?"
"you can call him after a while, okay?"
"yeah, i'll tell him that i love him, so i'm not mad because he didn't take me with him,"
"okay," jimin chuckles.
"and i'll tell him not to be upset. he looks so cute when he's smiling and playing with me,"
"yeah, that would be nice,"
"and also i'll tell him tha—"
"you can tell him everything you want when you talk to him. but for now, let's go, the other oppas are waiting,"
"oh yeah," aera giggles, running ahead and sticks out her tongue at jimin, making him chuckle as he just shakes his head, following with his fond eyes watching her grinning as she's playful like usual.
she stumbles upon her undone laces which jimin just noticed and sighs, "tie your laces properly and don't run—"
"no, walking is boring," aera grins, taking a few steps away from jimin so he won't catch her and runs away.
"aish! careful, aera!"
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a/n- hash! it was a lOOOng chapter but i hope you guys enjoyed it. (you did right?) 😭🤝✨
i have question as a writer of this book, and i'd be really thankful if you could answer this honestly for me,
what are you thoughts about (1) the parents, (2) jungkook and aera's opinions about them and (3) jimin's relationship with them?
please do try to answer them with you understanding about their relationship in the story, i'm really curious and want to see how you guys take them in the story as a reader.
okay so, that's all for now. thank you for your precious time and ofc love you a lot! ❤️❤️❤️ take care, good night, see you. it's almost 12:30 at midnight here. what time is it for you at your place?
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