[Hoseok] Hey baby!
[Hoseok] Im in Brazil! Can u believe it?
[Hoseok] Brazil!!
How are you feeling?
[Hoseok] Its really hot here
[Hoseok] Like really hot
How was your flight?
[Hoseok] It was good!!
[Hoseok] Really long ㅋㅋ
[Hoseok] But it was good!!!
[Hoseok] I miss u already!
Be careful with what you eat
[Hoseok] I just said I miss you!!
I know
[Hoseok] Ur not going to say u miss me back? ㅠㅠ
[Hoseok] ㅠㅠㅠㅠㅠㅠㅠ
[Hoseok] Yoongiiiiii ㅠㅠㅠㅠㅠ
I miss you too
[Hoseok] ㅋㅋㅋㅋ
[Hoseok] We have practice in an hour
[Hoseok] Can u believe it??
[Hoseok] We just arrived but we r going to a studio
[Hoseok] And its basically straight to practice
[Hoseok] It was such a long flight
[Hoseok] ㅠㅠ
You should be careful
[Hoseok] I will! ㅋㅋ
[Hoseok] What about you?
[Hoseok] Have you eaten?
[Hoseok] Dont skip meals bc Im not there
[Hoseok] I will make Jimin tell Officer Jeon to spy on u!!
I'm eating just fine
[Hoseok] U better not be lying to me!! ㅋㅋ
I'm not
[Hoseok] Were going to our hotel now!!
[Hoseok] I'll ttyl!! -3-
"Is...Is Min...smiling?" Jackson whispers to Jungkook, and the officer looks up to find his partner indeed grinning as he types into his phone.
"Must be Hoseok."
"It's creepy. Seeing Min smiling is like...I dunno, seeing a cat bark. It's so unnatural, but you can't help be fascinated by it, you know?"
"...You need to get laid."
"Who says I'm not getting laid?"
Jungkook stares silently at Jackson.
"Man, fuck you."
-
Namjoon runs a fingertip against the cold glass in front of him and then makes a slight face at the droplets of water which have collected on his skin. He wipes it away on the table just in time to hear his name being called out sharply.
"Namjoon, are you listening to me?"
The officer looks up and just studies her face. Harin hasn't aged much. There are no worry lines or any visible sign of aging, and the only real change he sees is how her eyes have an added depth to them. She looks like a woman who's in love. Who has her life in order. Her new husband must be taking good care of her, and the notion somehow makes Namjoon feel more at ease.
She may have broken his and Taehyung's heart, but he doesn't want her to lead a miserable life. No. If anything, he wants her to not regret the decision she's made to leave them. It couldn't have been easy for her to abandon her son, so he hopes that her decision is worth it. If not, it would mean that Taehyung had to be raised without a mother for nothing.
"I'm listening," Namjoon answers lowly, shifting into a more comfortable position in his chair.
"As I was saying, my husband is a lawyer at the biggest law firm in Korea. We will be able to take good care of him. Send him to study abroad if Taehyung wants. He will receive the best education he can possibly get, and I will be there to take care of him whenever you're out working late."
Namjoon says nothing as he listens to the words. Seokjin and he agreed that speaking to her is the only way to sort the issue, so Namjoon agreed to talk to her one-on-one to see what she wanted. However, he hadn't been ready to listen to her wanting custody over he son, years after having nothing to do with him.
"You know he's better off with two parents, Namjoon."
"...Do you know what it feels like to watch your own son stand up and walk for the first time?" the officer begins slowly, staring at the glass in front of him again. He remembers the moment with distinct clarity. He remembers being mesmerizing by the way his son wobbled over towards him, his tiny feet carrying him little by little.
"What are you-"
"To see him fall down and cry for the first time. To see your son crying endless because he's sick."
"...."
"Do you know what it feels like to see your son go to school for the first time? To listen to him talk about the first friend he's ever made. To listen to his teacher say all these horrible things about your son that makes you lose sleep over thinking about what you've done wrong as a parent?"
"...."
"To want nothing more than to be able to protect your son. To see him happy. To always be by his side no matter what, so that he knows I love him no matter what. Do you know what any of those things feel like?"
"I-"
"You don't. And now you're telling me you want Taehyung back." Namjoon's voice is slow and calculated. He should be feeling angry, but he can't bring himself to even yell at her. He's just...sad.
"Taehyung deserves a real family, Namjoon."
"You abandoned him.," the officer states matter-of-factly, looking up to meet her eyes. Harin purses her lips before leaning foward against the table dividing them.
"You didn't give me any other choice!"
"You had a choice. Taehyung or your new husband. You chose that man over your own son."
"We weren't even in love anymore, Namjoon."
"But that didn't give you the right to just leave Taehyung."
"You weren't going to give him up, and you know it."
"Cut the shit, Harin," Namjoon hisses, finally getting aggravated enough. He understands her need to see her son, but he will not stand for her using their relationship as an excuse for abandoning their son. "You leaving me for him, that I came to understand and accept. And honestly, I couldn't care less that you've married someone else, because we're over. We've been over. But you. You wanted nothing to do with Taehyung. You wanted nothing to do with any of your past before running off with your new love interest, and that. That, right there, is on you."
"Fine, you can hate me all you want, but-"
"Why can't you understand that this isn't about us?"
"Still doesn't change the fact that Taehyung is better off with us, Namjoon. We have all the resources to take good care of him. He needs a mother."
"You mean, he needed a mother. Not anymore."
"Kim Namjoon, you're not thinking rationally!"
"The answer is still no."
"Do you honestly think that you alone can give him everything he needs? One day, Taehyung is going to grow up and need tutoring and chances to study abroad and go on trips around the world. He's going to need a good connection to get him good internship and land him a good job and-"
"Are you listening to youself?"
"You know you can't provide him those things. You can't hold your own son back just because you're feeling bitter that-"
"I'm not bitter. You really think I'm still not over you?" Namjoon scoffs, finding her accusation utterly ridiculous. Only if she knew how happy he is with Seokjin.
"Then you should really start thinking more rationally and think about what is the best for Taehyung if you love him so much."
"...."
"I do care about Taehyung. I'm his mother. He needs more than just you."
"Taehyung already has more than me," the officer begins, unable to stand listening to her bullshit anymore. Harin thinks that he hasn't move on a single step since their falling apart. She thinks that he's stuck in that time, still mourning the death of their relationship, and Namjoon wants to almost laugh at the notion. It's been months since he's even thought about her. All the cracks in his life were now filled with the warmth Seokjin provided.
"Who?" Harin asks, narrowing her eyes, and Namjoon doesn't miss the suspicion and disbelief in them.
"That's none of your business."
"The teacher?"
"I said, it's none of your business," Namjoon growls, unwilling to share any more than what he has said already.
"How is a teacher going to help you, Namjoon? The moment Taehyung graduates from elementary school-"
"It's. None. Of. Your. Business. Now, I'm going to walk away, and we're never going to see each other again. You're not going to come to me, or Mr.Kim. This is finished. Done. Stay out of Taehyung's life."
Namjoon walks out, wishing that he felt as sure as he sounded.
-
About half an hour left of his shift, Jungkook receives a phonecall from Jimin saying that he won't be going home till later. When the officer asks why, the smaller man answers that he's currently at Carat Hospital waiting for Wonwoo to finish receiving the treatment he needs.
"Wait, what? What treatment?"
[I think Wonwoo might've broken his wrist or something. He's talking to a doc.]
"Oh...what happened?" Jungkook asks with a frown. A fractured or broken bone is not something that's unheard of when it comes to police academy. There have been plenty of cases of students becoming perhaps too excited about sparring, and even some even managed to break a bone in the middle of training (he himself has accidentally broken his sparring partner's pinky while horsing around).
[Umm, he fell from something during one of our training exercises.]
"...OK. Well, do you need anything?"
[I think we'll be fine. I'm just going to make sure he can get home alright before I head back home.]
"Right. Let me know if you need anything."
[I wi- oh, he's out. I'll text you later, Kookie.]
"Alright. You be careful."
-
Jimin doesn't have to ask Wonwoo about the diagnosis, because as soon as the skinny man is out the door, he can see the thick cast around his right wrist.
"Oh shit...it's broken?" Jimin asks as he shoves his phone back into his pocket. Wonwoo scratches his head with a sheepish grin, and it's a fairly solid enough answer for the other man.
"Yeah...I guess I'm stuck with this for a while," Wonwoo replies, glancing down at the thick cast before swinging his arm around a bit and frowning at the weight.
"Wonwoo, I'm so sor-"
"Jimin. It's not your fault."
"...."