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❝ bond is stronger than blood. ❞
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THE AROMA WAS INTENSE as it filled the kitchen and entire downstairs area of the home, a swirl of spices and cooked chicken that made everyone a lot more hungry. there was already sides set up on the large wooden dining table, everything from mashed potatoes to noodles and a bowl of dumplings that had already been dug into considerably.
taehyung sat across the table from the kid, watching as he inhaled the ramen that he made for him. "so what's your name?" he asked the boy, seeing how some liquid dripped on his chin from the noodles. he wiped it with the back of his hand instead of the napkin taehyung gave him earlier.
"eli." he said. taehyung nodded, but the sound of a pot hitting the ground caught his attention now. he had left the two of them in the kitchen for only a few minutes. "i'll be right back." he said to the kid, eli.
"what did you guys do." taehyung walked through the arched opening connecting the dining room and kitchen. yoongi stood there with a pot and hoseok was empty handed. the lid was on the ground between them. the taller of the two pointed to the other male.
yoongi narrowed his eyes at him and hoseok just laughed loud like usual. "i'll go help jin at the grill." he said before running out of the kitchen to leave the two alone now. yoongi picked up he lid to the pot and faced the stove again. "it's interesting how you go to buy gravy and come back with a kid." he said. "how old is he anyways."
"ten." taehyung said, leaning against the counter and watching the older stir the thick brown sauce. there was a lot, considering the amount of grown men they had to feed. he was still wondering where one of those men had gone off too.
that question was answered soon, a front door swinging open and a loud yell following. that was jimin, his voice drowning out the music playing throughout the house and mildly scaring those inside. he did that every time but it was still hard to prepare for. "there you guys are." taehyung said, making his way around the kitchen island to greet the two. "hey, sorry." jungkook said, kissing his fiancés mouth quickly before continuing to carry the beer.
"i got beer." taehyung said.
"we got more." jimin said, "we're going to get shitfaced tonight." he looked excited for it.
"maybe not tonight." the brunette started to say, thinking about the small child that was sitting in the dining room and already helping himself to another scoop of mashed potatoes.
jungkooks eyebrows furrowed for a moment, "why not-" he didn't get to consider why they should care how much people drank, until he walked further into the house and could see the dining room table and the kid sitting there. he blinked, wondering if he was imagining it or not, but no. the boy was really sitting there in his home and looking quite content.
"how the hell." he started to say, seeing how the kid looked up at him and just smiled. he was wearing the same thing as before, the same tanktop and jeans with boots, a black beanie covering his head.
taehyung came up behind the taller male and smiled, "i found a stray puppy today. he was sweet and hungry." he said. jungkook narrowed his eyes at the kid and felt taehyung pinch his back lightly. "i'm going to change, you be nice." he said to the younger, kissing his cheek and running up the stairs to put on something else that he didn't wear to work earlier that day.
jungkook walked up to the dining room table and stood behind the chair where taehyung had previously been. "so you're gay too." it was the first thing eli said.
"and you're still an asshole." jungkook said. he had spoken right when his best friend walked in, and jimin gasped at what he said to the child. "woah dude." jimin said, smacking his arm and sitting down at the end of the table. "what's you're name cutie." he said.
"eli." the boy said, taking another scoop of mashed potatoes. jungkook saw how much kid was eating, considering his small size he probably didn't get the chance too often. "is there any more gravy?" he asked.
at that point yoongi had just been about the leave the kitchen, looking so done right then. "no. that was the last of four jars." he would know, he was the one making and cleaning up every time the kid seemed to inhale it down. eli frowned, but he picked up his bowl and started to lick the sides to get every bit that was left.
"i'm going to say hi to the others," jungkook said, "don't let him eat the table."
jimin nodded and watched his friend leave to the back, probably to the patio where the others were by the grill. yoongi had sat down too, helping himself too a little barbecue chicken. "so where are your parents?" jimin asked, watching the kid eat up, only pausing to answer.
"none of your damn business." he said. that lisp was so clear, but less cute with the chosen words used. jimins eyebrows rose at that and leaned back in his seat. eli put the bowl back on the table, no longer licking from it. "so, what are you all gay or something." he asked.
"yes." jimin said. "now i could have said it's none of your damn business, but i'm a nice person." he added. yoongi ate in silence, but he did look between the two as they talked, wondering which would win, attitude or sass.
"were you born gay." eli asked next.
the blonde sighed and shook his head, "no, god made me gay because i said shitty things to adults as a kid." jimin won a laugh from yoongi sitting down at the end of the table. he smiled at that, but eli didn't seem as amused.
"do you think you're funny." the kid said. he was playing with the fork now, scraping thin lines in a bit of potatoes that fell on the surface of the table. "i know i'm funny." jimin said, but he took one look at the kid and he suddenly seemed smaller than before. "i knew i was gay when i was about your age, i found these guys eventually when my parents didn't like how i turned out."
it must have been that slight seriousness that had eli looking up again, just to make eye contact for a second before turning his gaze back down to his lap. there was a small stain there on his thigh he never got to clean, the size of a dime. "three weeks. my mom left three weeks ago, probably to put her head in some strange mans lap while me dad works out of town to afford a new home for us." it was give and take, jimin said a little something more personal so the kid did too. he always dealt back what he was received. most of the time it was shit.
"you've been alone for three weeks?" jimin was shocked at that, he figured maybe a couple days but nothing more. the city wasn't the nicest, especially for a kid to be out like that trying to make it on his own while the mother seemed to forget she even was one. "well kid, life isn't easy." jimin told him.
eli narrowed his eyes a bit, "it is for you. you guys steal what you can't have." he said.
the two adults choked and their heads whipped to the kid, his words making them freeze. jimin blinked and tried to keep a neutral face even though he already fucked that up. he was also trying to recall if he said something and accidentally slipped. eli just rolled his eyes, "the pissy tall one has been to jail before and there's no way any of you killed someone. you're too gay." he said. "of course you steal. plus your reaction confirmed it."
for a ten year old he was pretty smart, maybe it was the streets that taught him that, or common sense and deducing skills. either way jimin didn't know how to respond to that, especially since it wasn't a question and more of a direct call out.
it was taehyung that broke the silence, coming down the stairs in his new outfit. it looked like pajamas, a pair of cotton pants and a simple t-shirt. the pink silk robe that reached the floor and the glass of bubbly in his hand is what made it all look so extra. "did you guys start watching love island yet?" taehyung asked, jumping down the last few steps.
"jesus christ you're gay." eli said, staring at the male once again.
taehyung smiled and put his hand on his hip in a subtle pose. "thank you." he said.
they all seemed to come at the same time, the stomachs grumbling and promises of food being the thing to call their names. hoseok and namjoon walked in from the back patio. "hey jimin," hoseok said to the short boy, "jin just finished making burgers, you want one?"
eli pushed his seat back with a loud scrape, hoping down and walking over in his timberlands. he looked up at the taller male, "i do." he said, "come on, take me."
it was the first time hoseok talked to the boy, raising his eyebrows but smiling none the less. "well okay," he placed both hands on eli's shoulders to guide him to the back patio, looking back at the others, "first kid i met that's a top."
the rest of them had migrated to the living room, sitting on one of the couches to find the show. taehyung turned off the music playing now that they'd be watching something. "so what's the tea on the toddler." namjoon asked.
jimin made a face and patted the mans thigh, "please don't say tea again." he told him.
taehyung sighed and sat down on the couch too, squished between jimin and yoongi. "i ran into him walking back to my car. the kid was starving and i felt bad." he explained what he knew, which was practically nothing. all he really learned was that he wouldn't get anything out of the kid unless he felt like sharing. jimin nodded, "he told me he's been alone for three weeks. but that's it." he said.
"i'm going to ask about his mom again." taehyung said, but kept his voice quiet since the show was started. it was the start of the new season they were binging and they really wanted to at least get five episodes in.
they were so quiet now, deeply invested in the people on the screen. it was much different from the dynamic on the outside patio, considering the empty liquor bottles and the rising flames on the grill that then messing around more.
"how do you like your burger kid." jin asked, flipping one of the patties and laughing when hoseok got a kick out of the rising flames. "on my plate." eli said. he was sitting on one of the patio chairs, boots dangling and eyes waiting patiently for a burger to appear in front of him. jungkook glanced over at him, bringing the beer bottle to his lips and taking a long swig.
"watch out jin, that kids gonna give you a run for your money." hoseok said. he was holding two plates, one for him and the other for the boy. jin put a patty on each bun and glared at his friend. "i'm unbothered." he claimed.
hoseok sat down beside the kid, sliding the paper plate over with a grin. "here you go." he said, then paid more attention to his own and what he wanted to put on it.
"so kook," jin said while he started to clean the grill and put the rest of the patties on a plate for whoever wants. "when are you going to tell taehyung about going to yeosu." he asked. jungkook had told them once he came outside. of course he put down a couple beers first to help with the nerves. he was really considering this and knew he'd have to tell his fiancé.
eli's eyes looked up at the mention of the city, wondering if it would be considered eavesdropping since he technically wasn't in the conversation but they still carried on having it in front of it. jungkook didn't think anything of it, partly because they were only discussing possibilities. "i'm not sure yet," he said, "first i have to talk to him about that one over there." he looked at the kid now, who continued eating his burger. "if he doesn't start talking about his mom we'll just call child services."
that reminded him that he needed to go in and talk to taehyung, considering the child was now at their house and that probably meant they couldn't send him back out into the night. he pushed his back off the wall and headed for the door, pushing it open with his elbow since he still held his beer. "hey tae," jungkook whispered to get his attention over the tv.
which worked, and he was soon getting up to meet the ravenette. "what are we doing with the kid." jungkook asked.
taehyung was chewing on his bottom lip, and he shrugged. "let me see if i can get his moms phone number again, or his dads." he said. jungkook nodded and the two headed back to the patio, the ravenettes hand on his back while they walked.
the only weird thing was the lack of everyone there, especially when it was just the adults. "dude, where did he go." jungkook saw the empty chair and half eaten burger. both jin and hoseok looked at each other and while one shrugged the younger one pointed at the other. "good fucking job." jungkook said to the two of them, "never become baby sitters."
hoseok spoke with a mouthful of burger, "it's not my fucking fault. not my kid." he defended himself, and jin just nodded along using that response as well for himself.
taehyung sighed and couldn't help but look out into their backyard, knowing very well the kid wasn't there and probably long gone. he tried to tell himself that at least the boy ate, at least he had a full tummy for the night and hopefully that's would last until he managed another one. it wasn't enough though, because taehyung still felt bad and continued to do so until the night was over and his was laying in bed with the raven haired male.
"what are you thinking about?" jungkook asked. he could see there was something on the boys mind, and he climbed into bed after shutting off their bedroom light. taehyung scooted closer to him once he was laying down and comfortable, an arm around the brunettes shoulders to pull him in even closer. "where do you think eli is sleeping tonight?" he asked.
jungkook shrugged, "i don't know, but with the game that kid has, probably in some suite at a hotel." he said. he knew the older was concerned, and he felt bad for not being able to do anything about it.
all he could do was hold him close and kiss the top of his head before they fell asleep. taehyung laid there and for a second felt bad that he had these nice things to enjoy, the warmth of someone beside him and the soft bed they laid on under a roof that wouldn't crumble.
that night when taehyung closed his eyes, he hoped that eli would be able to sleep well too, whenever he was.
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