Long chapter ahead. I hope the story is keeping you guys intrigued. Are you cuties liking the continuous updates or should I update with some intervals? Anyways let's move on with this chapter.
It was a pleasant Saturday evening and Taehyung planned to spend some time with Jimin. He'd been busy the whole week with the upcoming construction plan meetings and was also a little upset with his abrupt meeting with Jungkook. Meeting Jimin and Yoongi would lift his mood, he thought.
He rang the Min's doorbell and waited for someone to answer the door. Dressed in blue jeans and white shirt with sleeves rolled up to his elbows, Taehyung looked relaxed and casual unlike every time in formals. He had not considered calling Jimin to let him know about his visit because he did not want them, especially Jimin to get hyper and be over hospitable.
Now, even after a couple of minutes when no one answered the door he was skeptical if he'd get to meet them. Just when Taehyung had given up and turned to leave, Jimin answered the door. He was talking or rather gossiping nineteen to dozen over the phone and was so involved in the conversation that he did not even realize that it was Taehyung at the door. He simply opened the door and turned away, the phone stuck between his ear and shoulder while one of his hand was busy filing the nails of the other.
Taehyung stood there fighting a smile and wondering 'What do they have so much to talk about?.' Instead of going in he chose to wait for Jimin to notice him so he leaned on the wall with his arms crossed across his chest.
"...And this he has been saying since last year!" Jimin quipped into the phone when he turned away after absentmindedly glancing just once at the visitor.
He stopped talking and slowly turned around to check if he actually saw Taehyung or was it just his look alike standing at the doorway? He gaped at him for a second and covered his mouth with his hand.
"Listen, I'll talk to you later, I've a guest," Jimin said and hung up the call.
He quickly hurried towards Taehyung who was chuckling at Jimin's reactions."Oh My God! Mr. Kim Taehyung at my doorstep?", He squealed.
"What a surprise!!" He said and hugged him.
Taehyung returned his hug and walked into the house with his hand around jimin's shoulder and asked, "Why? Am I not welcome?"
"Of course you are!! Just that Mr.Kim visits never us voluntarily without being invited 100 times and without either of us pleading to see you. So naturally it's a surprise isn't it?" Jimin continued cheerfully.
"Okay! I give up", Taehyung said throwing his hands up and shook his head.
He settled down on the couch and Jimin planted himself besides him. He indeed looked very happy to see Taehyung and that could be understood from his beaming smile.
"So what brings his highness here?" Jimin interrogated playfully and narrowed his eyes.
"Stop it Chim!"
"Okay I'm sorry...by the way Yoongi is in the playground across the street playing with kids", Jimin informed.
"Oh is it?"
"Yup!"
"Then I think I'll catch up with him there", he said and rose to leave.
"Won't you stay for some coffee?" Jimin asked and followed Taehyung who had almost reached the door to exit.
"Next time!" Taehyung winked and disappeared into the elevator before it shut.
***
Playground
Taehyung wandered about in the ground and spotted Yoongi playing football with Yoonmin, Soobin and other kids. It was an amazing sight for sure to see children playing. He was impressed to see Yoongi be a kid himself when he was with the other kids. He gelled with the children and bonded with them as a friend and Taehyung loved this. Whenever he looked at Jimin's family, somewhere deep within his heart he always wished to have a family of his own but destiny had something else in store for him. He dismissed those thoughts and headed straight towards the boys. Yoongi saw Taehyung and waved at him. Taehyung jogged towards him and was quickly by his side.
"Taehyung! Surprised to see you here man!" Yoongi greeted merrily.
"What is with both of you, husbands?" Taehyung asked. "I mean both of you seem to be surprised to see me?"
Yoongi smiled and casually commented, "It's just that we don't get to see you often...so. Anyway why don't you join us?."
"Nah! You guys carry on; I'll sit there and wait for you to finish the game."
"You're sure?"
"Yes!"
"Okay!" Yoongi said and joined the kids to complete the game, meanwhile Taehyung went and sat by himself on the bench enjoying the view in front of him. His eyes ran through the ground and spotted Chanyeol at the far end of the ground playing cricket with the other boys. A warm smile spread on Taehyung's face on seeing him playing happily. He waited to catch his attention but he was too engrossed in the play to notice him. He noticed a lot of parents in the ground actively playing with the children, mostly the fathers with the boys. After a couple of minutes Taehyung too got busy with a call while his eyes stayed on Yoongi playing with the other kids.
***
"Hey guys let's have the one on one competition today." announced a small boy holding a long rope in his hand.
Chanyeol and the other boys stopped the play as they were diverted by this boy who announced.
"What one on one competition?" asked Chanyeol.
"You forgot? Last time we all agreed to play a game of tug of war with one partner in each team, Remember?" the boy explained with curiosity.
The other boys immediately cheered and jumped with joy as they recollected their agreement to play the game.
"Oh yes! I remember", said Joshua, a cute, plump boy who sounded thrilled with the challenge. Secretly, he wanted to defeat his neighbor Chanyeol who was always in good books of everyone.
"Come on then! Let's go towards the centre of the ground", the boy said and sprinted towards his father who was standing with other gentlemen.
Joshua looked at Chanyeol's sulking face and teased, "What happened Chanyeol? Won't you play? Or is this going to be the first game you are going to lose without playing?" and started laughing loudly.
"Ayy Joshua, he won't play! Where is his partner? His papa is not around then who will play with Chanyeol?" irked jun, another kid who envied Chanyeol of his popularity and joined hands with Joshua and teased him.
Chanyeol gave a fierce look to the two and walked away with his head hung low. Though he was a kid, he never lost his calm unlike his peers when annoyed and never indulged in any verbal or physical fight with anyone, even when he was teased or bullied by his friends. With a heavy heart, the boy simply walked away without any traces of defeat or anger on his face, but definitely with longing and helplessness in his eyes. He took small steps towards the exit of the ground.
****
"How about Taehyung and Chanyeol in one team?" Taehyung asked chirpily.
Chanyeol's eyes flew to see the source of the encouraging voice and found Taehyung wink at him. He was leaning against the wall with his hands stuffed in his pockets. He had overheard the kids' conversation and felt bad to see Chanyeol so sad and disheartened. He wanted to cheer him up and so quietly followed him.
A big smile appeared on Chanyeol's face and he happily ran to him, "Hey! How are you? And how come you are here?"
Taehyung knelt down to reach his height and held his shoulders gently as he spoke, "I'm good! I was here to see Yoonmin's dad and saw you. So how are you?"
Chanyeol looked very happy to see Taehyung, though they had met only a couple of times, the boy had taken a strong liking for him and answered, "Oh that's nice! I'm good too."
The uproar of sudden cheering and clapping diverted Chanyeol's attention. He looked at his friends with a yearning desire who were all now playing the game and enjoying while he was unable to participate along with them. His innocent eyes saw the smiles of his friends, even from a distance and went moist. There was no jealousy in them, but they were just wishful to be a part of them and play with them like they all did with their fathers.
Taehyung looked in the direction where Chanyeol's eyes were fixed and turned back to look at him. He read his expressions carefully and then said once again, "Chanyeol and Taehyung can also play as a team."
"Really?", Chanyeol's eyes lit up and he confirmed gleefully, and looked back again at his friends who were jumping with joy.
Taehyung smiled and ruffled his hair lovingly and said, "Of course! Let's go!!" and lifted Chanyeol and began to walk towards the cheering crowd.
****
"Hey Joshua, how about a game with us?", Chanyeol spoke loudly in a confident voice. Joshua turned to look at Chanyeol who stood with both his hands on his hips and head held high, along with him there stood a man who had protectively kept his hands on Chanyeol's shoulder. Joshua gulped in fear and turned to his father,a cheerful young man.
"Why not son?", Joshua's father said and walked past joshua towards Chanyeol and Taehyung with an extended arm to shake hands with Taehyung. He introduced himself and said, "Hello, I'm Myung hong, Joshua's father"
Taehyung shook his hands warmly and smiling at the over enthusiastic Mr.hong he said,"I am Kim Taehyung! Chanyeol's..."
"Friend!", Chanyeol completed his sentence and looked up at Taehyung who smiled back and said, "Yes, Chanyeol's friend."
"And my friend too", Yoongi added and winked at Chanyeol showing a thumbs up.
"Very nice yoongi hyung, your friend is our friend! Welcome Taehyung hyung." Myung said and took initiative to introduce Taehyung to the others along with Yoongi.
Chanyeol glared at joshua who feared and hid behind his father unable to face Chanyeol. He was not sure if he would want to compete with Chanyeol, after all Chanyeol won everything he participated in. He looked around to see if he could escape and try to avoid this game with Chanyeol.
"Come on joshua! You can do it!" Jun whispered in Joshua's ears. He looked at Chanyeol and said, "You have a great chance to win against Chanyeol today."
Joshua faked a smile and tried to appear confident, but trembled within with just the thought of playing against Chanyeol. He tugged at his father's shirt and said, "Papa lets go home, I'm tired."
"Oh wait bubba, one last game with Chanyeol and his friend Taehyung and then we will go", Myung coaxed joshua and invited Taehyung and Chanyeol to come and join the game.
****
The play area was cleared and both the teams had taken their places. The crowd divided to cheer the teams, Yoongi and Yoonmin cheered Chanyeol and Taehyung while jun and his elder brother cheered joshua and his father. The rope lay on the ground, a red scarf tied on it dividing the rope for the two teams. Chanyeol stood in front standing close to the boundary with Taehyung standing close behind him. The teams mutually agreed and picked up the rope and held it. Taehyung securely stood behind Chanyeol, promptly holding the rope tight. Joshua and his father took their positions and waited for the whistle to blow that would announce the beginning of the game.
Jun's brother blew the whistle and announced to begin the game - Tug of war. Both the teams began to pull the rope with all the strength. Chanyeol in comparison to joshua was a petite boy for his age, but his willpower was much stronger than that of joshua, who had mentally given up to Chanyeol. Taehyung too pulled with all his strength, he turned towards his right so that he could pull the rope with his left hand.
"Come on yeol", yoonmin clapped encouragingly while Jun cheered, "Hey joshua, you can do it."
Joshua and his father managed to pull Chanyeol and Taehyung almost closer to the boundary not once, but thrice, one strong pull and they would win the game but Chanyeol and Taehyung managed to put up a fight to last a while more. Joshua's eyes met Chanyeol's he feared the glare and tremble when he saw his fierce eyes. The rope began to slip from his sweaty hands and without realizing Joshua's grip gave way and both joshua and his father were pulled into Chanyeol's boundary.
The game ended and Yoongi rushed to lift Chanyeol and put him on his shoulder. Taehyung beamed with pride as he won Chanyeol and him the game. More than winning, Taehyung was happy that Chanyeol could participate and play like his other friends and did not have to kill his little wish.
"Oh wow Taehyung hyung, you were so good", Myung congratulated Taehyung. He thanked him humbly but his eyes were glued on Chanyeol whose happiness had no bounds. All his friends were back to cheering him and congratulating him.
Even Jun whisked through the crowd and congratulated Chanyeol. Chanyeol looked around to find Taehyung. Amidst the celebrations, he spotted Taehyung standing far away looking at him, he swiftly ran to him and threw his arms around his waist and hugged him. Taehyung embraced Chanyeol and lifted him once again and kissed him on his forehead.
"Thank you taetae uncle! You are the best!" Chanyeol said happily.
"You are most welcome my boy" Taehyung said and put him down once again as his friends were waiting for him to continue their game. He saw Chanyeol sprinting away happily with his other friends swaying and jumping in excitement, animatedly explain how he won the game to his other friends. Taehyung was delighted that he was able to bring this smile on his face.
Soon Yoongi and Taehyung were engaged in talking when they heard Chanyeol shout loudly. Everyone rushed to see what made Chanyeol shout. Joshua, in agitation had pushed Chanyeol strongly and shoved him. Chanyeol fell with a thud and on his face and his head hit a big stone.
Taehyung panicked and rushed towards Chanyeol. He knelt and picked up Chanyeol who lay lifelessly in his arms. He was unconscious and bleeding. "Chanyeol, open your eyes baby" Taehyung said in a tensed voice. "Chanyeol!", Taehyung called again and hit his cheeks but Chanyeol did not respond.
Joshua got scared and ran away and did not stop even after his father called out loudly. Myung looked very disappointed, "Hyung I'm sorry on his behalf, these children...", he muttered apologetically.
"Let's just take him to the hospital first." Yoongi interrupted
Taehyung quickly scooped Chanyeol up in his arms and ran towards his car. Yoongi and he rushed him to the nearest hospital along with Myung who followed them in his car and all the while prayed for the child's health.
****
After a couple of knocks Mrs Park opened the door and was shocked to see Chanyeol being carried by some unknown man. "Chanyeol!", she squealed in shock. "What...What happened to my son?" she stammered as Taehyung slowly walked into the house, led by Yoongi and gently put him down on the bed in his room.
Both walked out of the room and Yoongi gently held Mrs.Park's shoulder and made her sit. "Aunty please don't worry and please sit down", he urged her to sit and not to panic. Taehyung sat on the couch beside and tried to calm her down too.
"Chanyeol just fell down while playing with the children on the ground, we took him to the doctor, he has got a single stitch on the forehead, but...but he is fine now", yoongi comforted her and continued in a calm tone, "Doctor has given him an injection and he will be sleeping for a couple of hours. Don't worry aunty, he is fine now."
"Thank You son!", Mrs.Park mumbled.
'Thanks to my friend, Taehyung, we rushed him to the doctor and trust me he is fine." Yoongi then introduced Taehyung to Mrs.Park , who smiled lightly and thanked Taehyung once again.
After about 20 minutes, Mrs.Park calmed down a little though she looked worried she managed to bring them both a glass of water each. She set the tray on the table and said, Chanyeol's grandfather has gone to meet his friend and Jungkook is not at home, thank you son, what would I do alone in this situation?"
Taehyung smiled at her and said politely, "Aunty, you either stop calling me son or stop thanking me." Mrs. Park melted and immediately broke into a warm smile. While Yoongi narrated the entire incident, Taehyung's eyes skimmed around the house. He found a picture on the wall, which he kept looking at it when Mrs.Park announced, "That's Bogum, my son." She took a breath and continued, "He passed away four years back."
"Oh! I'm...I'm sorry!", Taehyung apologized and looked away and his eyes then rested on another picture of Jungkook and Chanyeol on the table. "Jungkook has brought up my Chanyeol all alone", Mrs. Park's voice sounded in background as Taehyung continued to look at Jungkook and Chanyeol's smiling picture as if trying to comprehend something.
'Four years? Jungkook got married to Bogum in 2019 and he passed away the same year? Then Chanyeol...' Taehyung thought to himself.
"Shall we leave Taehyung", Yoongi's voice interrupted Taehyung's thoughts.
"Huh?"
"Shall we leave?"
"Yes, lets...lets leave." Taehyung said and stood up. He bowed a bit to Mrs.Park . "Son, wait till Jungkook comes, he will definitely want to thank you."
"No aunty, it's really ok, and please tell Jungkook not to worry", Yoongi said and both of them left.
*****
Taehyung was on his way home in his car after a brief goodbye to Yoongi. He was pondering over Mrs.Park's words, 'He passed away four years back...'
He recollected his conversation with Yoongi at Yoonmin's party. 'The little boy lost his father when he was just a year old. He doesn't even know his father is no more.'
"There is definitely something more to this..." he muttered to himself and drove in silence.
So what do you guys think about this?
Are you liking the way story is going?
Saranghe 💜