74
Third Person Pov
Taehyung walked... walked with the grocery bag tugging at one wrist and the tiny baby girl resting against his chest, her warm cheek pressed to his cardigan.
His mind was a mess of thoughts and disbelief.
There had to be something fundamentally wrong with him stepping out of his house.
Every time he dared to go outside, the universe seemed determined to throw a new curse at him.
Sometimes he innocently tried to help someone.
.. and ended up stabbing a man. Sometimes he was just walking home.
.. and somehow got chased by gangsters through three narrow lanes.
Other days, random dogs decided he was their personal enemy and barked like he stole their entire bloodline.
And one time... one time he simply wanted fresh air and just fell off a bridge. ..
And today?
He just wanted groceries.
But no. The universe said here, take a whole baby instead.
He sighed so deeply that even the baby in his arms shifted a little.
He glanced down at her small, bundled, her eyelashes like tiny wisps resting on her cheeks and exhaled again.
Her breathing was steady, soft, trusting.
Too trusting. She had no idea the stranger holding her was already panicking about everything from diapers to fugitives lurking in alleyways.
He adjusted his hold on her and stepped into the quiet corridor leading to his apartment. At least she wasn't crying. Small mercies.
When he reached his door, he gently lowered the grocery bag, careful not to jostle the sleeping baby.
His fingers fumbled a little as he pulled the key from his pocket of all the days to be trembling.
He slid the key into the lock, turning it with a soft click.
The sound felt too loud in the stillness of the morning.
He opened the door slowly, almost cautiously, as if afraid even the air inside might wake her.
The warm familiarity of home washed over him... but instead of relief, his chest tightened.
Taehyung stepped inside quietly, holding the little girl even closer, praying she wouldn't wake up and start screaming the roof down.
And yet, despite the chaos and the panic, something inside him softened as he stood there at the doorway.
Everything was a mess. His life was ridiculous.
But the tiny weight in his arms... wasn't.
Taehyung stared at the baby as he sat on the couch, his back sinking into the old cushions, morning light spilling through the curtains. She looked unreal in his arms. So small. So fragile. Her lashes tiny fans on her cheeks, her pink mouth parted softly as she breathed against his chest.
He had held Gyubin like this once but this felt different. Unexpected. Sudden. Like the universe had dropped a new heartbeat into his hands.
Her tiny fingers curled tighter into his cardigan as if claiming him.
Taehyung felt something inside him melt.
He traced a feather-light circle on her cheek, mesmerized by how soft she was.
"Oh, baby..." he whispered, voice trembling with a tenderness he didn't know he had left. He poked her cheek lightly, a helpless smile stretching his lips.
Then he leaned down, pressing a gentle kiss to her chubby cheek.
"So cute..." he murmured with a dazed grin, his heart so full it almost ached.
A door creaked softly.
Tiny dragging footsteps followed... soft pats of bare feet against the wooden floor.
Gyubin emerged, hairless head gleaming in the light, bunny plushie dangling from one tiny hand. His eyes were still puffy from last night's tears and this morning's sleep. He rubbed his nose with the back of his hand, looking like he had just wandered out of a dream.
And then he saw the couch.
Saw Taehyung.
Saw the baby.
He froze so hard Taehyung swore he heard his brain stop.
"Appa..." Gyubin whispered, his voice a confused squeak.
Taehyung turned slowly, like he'd been caught committing a crime.
"Uh... Binnie..."
Gyubin walked closer with tiny cautious steps, not leaving the bunny plushie. He stopped right in front of the couch, eyes wide as saucers.
He pointed at the baby with the most dramatic expression ever.
"Appa... what is this?" he asked, dead serious.
Taehyung bit his lip to stop a laugh.
"She's a baby, sweetheart. Not even one year old."
Gyubin blinked. Then blinked again, as if trying to compute that information.
He leaned forward, hesitant yet curious, and Taehyung guided his hand gently.
Gyubin poked the baby's cheek with one finger.
His mouth opened in awe.
"Appa... she's... soft..." he whispered like he had discovered a secret of the universe.
Taehyung chuckled softly.
Then Gyubin's expression changed completely... serious, analytical, concentrating.
"Appa..." he asked, voice tiny but earnest, "Is she ours?"
Taehyung's breath caught.
Before he could answer....
"Did you birth her?" Gyubin asked casually.
Taehyung nearly choked on the air, his face turning red.
"W-WHAT? No! No, baby, I-I can't give birth, I'm a man!" Taehyung whispered harshly, horrified, face red.
Gyubin blinked slowly, staring at him with the most judgmental kid expression. "So... then how is she here?"
Taehyung sighed, shoulders slumping.
"Binnie... I found her. She was crying. And I..." He looked at the baby in his arms. "...I couldn't leave her."
Gyubin stared at the baby again, lips parted in surprise.
Then, without warning, he climbed up on the couch, scooting close until his thigh touched Taehyung's.
He placed his bunny plushie gently near the baby's tiny leg, like offering her his most precious thing.
Taehyung's heart shattered into a million soft pieces.
Gyubin leaned his head on Taehyung's shoulder. "Appa..." he whispered, voice trembling with innocence,
"If she doesn't have anyone... can we be her anyone?"
Taehyung inhaled sharply.
Gyubin looked up at him... soft, hopeful eyes, the kind that only children had.
"Can she... stay with us?" Gyubin asked quietly.
"I can share my blanket. And... and my bunny sometimes... if she's sad. Only sometimes though." he said with seriousness... his grip tighening on his bunny.
Taehyung's throat tightened so much he couldn't speak. He gently kissed the top of Gyubin's head, then looked down at the baby girl sleeping peacefully in his arms.
He swallowed hard, voice cracking.
"We'll take care of her... together," Taehyung whispered.
Gyubin nodded seriously and scooted even closer, placing a tiny hand on the baby's feet protectively.
"Appa..." he added in a small voice,
"I think... she likes you."
Taehyung let out a shaky breath.
"Oh, Binnie... I hope she does."
And for the first time since yesterday...
his heart didn't feel so alone.
Then the baby woke slowly, her tiny body shifting against Taehyung's chest before her eyes fluttered open.
Taehyung felt the movement and instinctively stilled, his breath catching as those big, round doe eyes blinked up at him. She looked soft and delicate and confused, like she was trying to make sense of a world she didn't recognize.
Gyubin, still holding his bunny plushie tightly to his chest, leaned forward until their faces were almost level with hers. His eyes were wide and curious, mirroring the baby's. He blinked once.
She blinked back.
Gyubin blinked again, slower this time testing if she was really copying him.
She copied him again.
Taehyung's lips curved helplessly. He bit back a laugh because he didn't want to startle her, but the sight of his son communicating with a baby through blinks alone was so pure, so unintentionally funny, that his heart warmed in a way he hadn't felt in ages.
The baby's gaze drifted to Gyubin's finger, which hovered uncertainly near her cheek. Gyubin gulped as if preparing himself for a grand mission. Carefully, nervously, he extended it just a little more, the tip trembling.
And the baby responded almost instantly... reaching up with her tiny hand, curling her impossibly small fingers around his.
"Appa..." Gyubin breathed, the words trembling with awe, "Appa she held my finger..."
Taehyung nodded softly, a smile stretching across his tired face.
"She did, Binnie."
Gyubin looked like the universe had personally chosen him for something important. His smile wobbled, his eyes shimmering with pride.
But just as that moment settled warmly in the room, the baby's expression shifted. Her brows knit together, her lips trembled, and her little eyes filled with moisture. Taehyung watched the transformation with the familiarity of someone who had raised a baby before.
And then she burst into a full wail.
"Waaaaah....."
The sound echoed inside the tiny living room.
Gyubin jumped, eyes widening in panic.
"A-Appa she's leaking!! She's leaking from her eyes!! Appa.... do something-"
He shook his bunny plushie helplessly, pointing at the baby as if she were a malfunctioning machine.
Taehyung finally let out the laugh he had been holding. It slipped out softly, warm and real, the first genuine laugh he had released since... everything fell apart. He shifted the baby against his shoulder, rubbing her back gently.
"She's hungry, sweetheart" he explained in that calm tone Gyubin had always found reassuring.
Gyubin paused, absorbing the information, then slowly nodded.
"Oh..."
He thought for a moment before his eyes lit up in the most innocent way.
"...Can I bring her my favorite cookies?"
Taehyung's laugh grew full and breathy, his shoulders shaking. It felt so unfamiliar so healing to laugh like that.
"No, sweetheart," he said warmly, gently bouncing the baby as she continued her soft sniffles. "She's still small. She needs milk, not cookies."
Gyubin nodded with exaggerated seriousness, as if he had just been given a piece of sacred knowledge.
Taehyung carried the baby to the kitchen, balancing her securely with one arm while rummaging through the grocery bags with the other.
Her cries continued tiny desperate sounds that squeezed his heart and sped up his movements.
He poured the powdered formula into the baby bottle and headed to warm the milk. Gyubin stayed glued to his side, standing close as if proximity alone could help. His eyes never left the baby, watching her every frown, every sniffle.
When she stuck her tiny fist into her mouth out of hunger, Gyubin gasped loudly.
"Appa! She's eating her hand! She's really hungry."
Taehyung chuckled, leaning down to kiss the baby's forehead.
"I know, Binnie. Just a few more seconds."
Gyubin continued watching her with protective worry, whispering soft, clumsy reassurances.
"It's okay, baby... don't cry... Appa is making milk... and I'm here too..."
Taehyung swallowed hard at the tenderness in his son's voice. That was the thing about Gyubin.... his heart was bigger than anything Taehyung had ever seen. Even after everything he'd gone through, even with all the pain he carried silently, he still loved easily, purely.
The milk warmed.
Taehyung tested the heat on his wrist before lifting the bottle to her lips.
The transformation was instant.
She latched onto it fiercely, drinking fast and desperately, her small hands clutching at Taehyung's cardigan as if afraid he might disappear.
Gyubin sighed in pure relief, placing a hand over his little chest.
"Appa... she was really really starving... we saved her."
Taehyung looked at both of them. Gyubin standing there with bright eyes, the baby drinking hungrily against his chest and something inside him softened painfully.
A fragile warmth. A fragile peace.
A fragile family he never asked for but suddenly wanted to protect with everything he had.
"Yes, Binnie," he whispered, voice thick with emotion he tried to hide.
"We did."
.
.
.
The CEO sat slumped on the leather couch, the morning light spilling into the living room but doing nothing to brighten the man who occupied it.
Jungkook's legs were propped lazily on the table in front of him, posture careless, but his expression.
.. hollow. He leaned back, eyes fixed on the empty space ahead of him, though it felt like his soul wasn't even in the room.
His skull throbbed from last night's alcohol, a deep buzz pulsing behind his eyes.
But he didn't flinch, didn't wince. Physical pain meant nothing to Jeon Jungkook-not today.
Not when the emotional ache in his chest was sharper than any hangover could ever be.
He lifted a hand to his mouth, dragging it down his face as he exhaled slowly, his shoulders tight with exhaustion.
After a long moment, his gaze drifted toward the glass doors that opened into his yard.
That yard.
His breath hitched.
The peonies were almost dead drooping, pale, fragile shadows of what they once were. He stared at them, unmoving, feeling something sharp twist inside him.
Those weren't just flowers.
Those were Taehyung's peonies.
The same flowers Taehyung used to kneel beside with that soft, gentle smile the smile Jungkook pretended he didn't love seeing but secretly admired like a fool.
Taehyung's hands touching the soil with such care, brushing dirt off his knees, looking back at Jungkook with shining eyes as if he was proud simply for making a flower bloom.
Jungkook blinked.
And for a single fragile second, he saw it saw them.
Taehyung kneeling again, sunlight hitting his hair like gold. Daisy kitten tumbling around, chasing butterflies in the corner. Gyubin toddling after the cat with his tiny hands reaching forward, giggling, his beanie slipping off.
A family.
His family.
The only warmth his cold mansion had ever known.
The only softness he had allowed inside himself.
Gone. All of it vanished in a blink... just like Taehyung's fading silhouette.
Jungkook's jaw clenched, Adam's apple bobbing tightly as he swallowed. Something inside him cracked again, the same invisible crack that had been splitting wider every hour Taehyung wasn't under his roof.
Slowly, almost mechanically, Jungkook rose from the couch. His body felt heavier than usual, dragged down by memories and a kind of longing he had no right to feel but couldn't push away.
He stepped into the yard, barefoot on the cold floor, not caring about the chill biting at his skin. The moment he reached the flowerbed, he paused, staring at the wilted petals like they were his own lungs failing to breathe.
Without thinking, he reached for the watering can lying beside the stones. It was dusty from neglect.... Taehyung hadn't been here to use it, and Jungkook had never bothered to pick it up before.
Not until now.
He filled it with water, then knelt down beside the flowers. His breath came out uneven as he tilted the can gently and let the water fall in slow streams, soaking the dry soil.
"You can't die..." he muttered, voice raw, low, breaking in the middle.
His fingers tightened around the handle.
"You can't leave too."
The whisper wasn't meant for the flowers. It was meant for everything he was afraid to lose. Everything he already had.
As the water seeped into the earth, Jungkook bowed his head over the peonies.... not dramatically, just the quiet posture of a man who was filled with grief
He stayed there for a long moment, watering not just flowers, but the last remaining piece of Taehyung in this house.
The only piece that hadn't walked away from him.
And then Jungkook's eyes caught something under the wooden bench Taehyung's gardening gloves.
He stilled.
For a long moment, he didn't move... just stared.
Those gloves had always annoyed him. Taehyung would spend hours gardening like a stubborn little old man, humming, dirt on his cheeks, a smooth way of avoding Jungkook's presence.
Now the sight of them made Jungkook's chest tighten in a way he didn't show on his face.
He walked over slowly, stooping down with a controlled breath as he picked them up. The gloves were small... soft... shaped by Taehyung's hands. Jungkook turned them over in his palm, expression detached but his jaw clenched.
As if these stupid gloves were Taehyung himself.
After a beat, Jungkook slid his hand inside one glove.
Smooth motion. No hesitation.
The fabric was warm from the sun, but in his mind, he felt Taehyung.
Taehyung's fingers.
Taehyung's warmth.
He didn't smile. He didn't cry.
He just exhaled once, quietly, like something inside him had been pulled a little too tight.
Jungkook lowered himself onto the grass not collapsing, just lying back with a kind of exhausted finality. One arm behind his head, the other resting on his chest with the gloved hand. His face remained calm, almost blank, but his eyes were heavy... distant.
He stared at the sky.
"Taehyung..." he murmured, not in desperation, but as if the name lived permanently on his tongue.
A statement. A truth.
His fingers flexed inside the glove, slowly interlocking with the empty spaces as if matching Taehyung's hand-quietly.
His body was still. His breathing steady.
But the yearning sat in him like a deep, steady burn he didn't try to hide or soothe.
Jungkook lay there on the grass for almost an hour.
Not moving. Not dozing off.
Just... existing with that glove on his hand, the scent of earth in the air, the echo of memories pressed against his ribs.
If anyone saw him, they'd think he was simply resting.
Only he knew he was memorizing the feeling.... Taehyung's presence woven into the garden like a ghost he wished would touch him again.
The sun crawled higher. Birds shifted branches. A breeze passed over him, stirring the grass around his shoulders.
Still, Jungkook didn't stir.
His face stayed calm, as if he were carved from something immovable.
But his fingers inside the glove tapped the fabric softly... almost like he was tracing Taehyung's knuckles.
After nearly an hour, he finally inhaled deeply and sat up. Just a deliberate rise, his expression settling back into that familiar CEO neutrality.
But his steps... were different.
He stood in the middle of the yard, surveying the garden like it was something sacred.
And then he moved...slow, methodical, purposeful.
The CEO who never touched anything delicate lifted a fallen pot and dusted off the soil gently with his thumb.
He trimmed the dead tips of the peonies with more care than he'd ever shown a person.
He fixed the bamboo stick that Taehyung had tied last month, carefully tightening the knot the way he'd seen Taehyung do it... slow, soft, almost tender.
Jungkook didn't rush.
He didn't frown.
He didn't complain.
He just kept recreating Taehyung's touch everywhere his hands went.
He brushed soil away from the pathway Taehyung used to walk barefoot on.
He straightened the little sign Gyubin had painted that said "Appa's Flowers."
He even picked out weeds with his bare hands, thumb rubbing the leaves carefully so he didn't accidentally pull out Taehyung's plants.
There was a silence around him
not empty, but filled with someone who wasn't there.
Anyone watching would have never believed this was Jeon Jungkook
the man who barked orders, who never bent, who never softened.
But here he was... moving through Taehyung's garden with the gentleness of someone trying not to break a ghost.
And throughout it all, he didn't say a word. Not a single sound.
Except, once.... barely audible, under his breath as he fixed a fragile white flower Taehyung used to admire:
"...You left everything behind," he murmured, voice steady but low.
"And I'm still here... holding the pieces."
Then he continued gardening.
Quiet. Controlled.
Yearning without ever falling apart.
The garden wasn't empty.
It was full of Taehyung.
And Jungkook treated it exactly like that.
"...I'm trying," he murmured.
"Even if you're not here, I'm trying."
.
.
.
Ironic, painfully ironic almost... while the CEO's mansion was drowning in silence and darkness, Taehyung's small rented home felt like it breathed warmth on its own.
The light poured in gently, touching the wooden floorboards, making even the old furniture look softer. The sound of quiet rustling came from Gyubin, who sat on the couch with his bunny plushie tucked under one arm. His big eyes followed Taehyung wherever he moved.
The landlady arrived with her usual steady knock. When Taehyung opened the door with the baby on his shoulder, her brows lifted immediately.
"Ah... child, whose baby is this?"
Her voice wasn't harsh... just concerned, curious, and already bracing for answers.
Taehyung invited her inside, shifting the baby in his arms as he explained everything.
How the woman ran to him, how desperate she was, how she begged him to protect the baby.
The grandmother sat slowly, absorbing the entire story. She wasn't convinced. No sane landlady would be.
She didn't speak for a long moment, as if measuring Taehyung's heart instead of his words. She had lived a long life enough to read people by the way their eyes trembled when they spoke.
Finally, she let out a deep sigh.
"You should inform the police... This is not small trouble. A mother giving away her child-something very dangerous is happening."
Taehyung swallowed, eyes falling to the baby's tiny face pressed against his chest.
"I know... I will. I'll figure out how," he said quietly.
He didn't add what he felt inside.... fear.
Fear of what would happen if the men who were chasing that mother found this home.
The landlady studied him for another moment before extending her arms.
"Come. Give her to me for a bit. Let me see her."
Taehyung gently passed the baby, and instantly the little girl's eyes fluttered open. Round. Curious. Innocent.
She stared at the landlady's wrinkled face as if mesmerized.
Then the grandmother..m despite her stiff joints leaned in and made a puffy-cheek expression, crossing her eyes playfully.
The baby blinked once... then broke into a soft smile.
Gyubin beamed in delight. "Appa she laughed..." he exclaimed, his voice squeaky with excitement.
Taehyung's lips curved .
"She likes her already."
The grandmother chuckled, bouncing the baby lightly on her knee.
"Babies always like me. Maybe I look like a friendly old sunflower."
Gyubin padded closer.
He stood right in front of the grandmother, staring at the baby with pure fascination. The baby blinked at him too and reached her tiny hand toward his cheek.
Gyubin froze, then giggled when her fingers brushed his skin.
"Appa... she touched me again," he said, astonished.
Taehyung smiled softly at the scene before turning back to the kitchen counter. He washed apples... slicing them into neat cubes for Gyubin.
Every few seconds, Gyubin glanced back at him, as if seeking reassurance that Taehyung wasn't going anywhere.
The grandmother played peek-a-boo with the baby, her laughter filling the room.
"You see, your appa brought you into a house full of love," she said to the tiny girl, as if speaking to a granddaughter she suddenly felt responsible for.
Warmth filled the house, not just from the morning sun, but from the soft, unexpected feeling that despite the chaos outside, something gentle had chosen to rest inside these four walls.
Taehyung placed the bowl of fruits in front of Gyubin, smoothing his son's head lovingly. Gyubin leaned into his touch, cheeks stuffed with apple pieces, still staring at the baby.
The grandmother glanced at Taehyung, her eyes softening with something close to affection.
"You are a good person," she said quietly. "Too good for the troubles the world keeps throwing at you."
Taehyung lowered his gaze, the compliment hitting deeper than she knew.
In that small, sunlit home with an eight-year-old hunched over fruits, a baby giggling on a grandmother's lap, and a tired young man watching them with fond smile
But still... even with the baby's soft giggles filling the room and Gyubin humming under his breath while chewing fruit, Taehyung's mind wandered almost against his will.
Wandered back to him.
Jungkook's face, sharp and cruelly beautiful.
Those eyes... black, focused, always burning through him as if peeling away every lie, every shield.
The memory of his touch ghosted over Taehyung's arms like a brand, and the warmth of those hands made his breath hitch despite himself.
A shiver crawled under his skin, raising goosebumps he immediately tried to suppress. His fingers tightened on the edge of the couch, knuckles turning pale as he tried to steady his breathing.
It didn't matter how far he ran.
It didn't matter how hard he fought the thoughts.
Jungkook's presence clung to him like smoke... something invisible yet impossible to escape.
The way Jungkook held him
the way his breath hit Taehyung's ear...
the low rasp of his voice whispering things Taehyung had no right to crave.
It clawed at him now, strangling him from the inside.
Taehyung shut his eyes and shook his head quickly, desperate to clear the image before it swallowed him whole.
He took in a shaky breath, one hand flying up to press against his racing heart as if he could force it to slow down.
Not now. Not when he had two children depending on him.
But the goosebumps refused to leave, prickling along his spine like an unspoken truth he didn't want to face.
The grandmother glanced over her shoulder, her voice cutting into his spiraling thoughts.
"Taehyung-ah, are you alright? Your face looks pale."
Taehyung swallowed hard, forcing a smile that didn't quite reach his eyes.
"Y-yes. Just a little... tired."
Gyubin didn't look up, but his small fingers drifted toward Taehyung's cardigan, gripping the fabric as if sensing the shift in his appa's breath.
The baby cooed, unaware of the storm twisting quietly in the young man's chest.
And Taehyung caught between warmth in front of him and the ghost of Jungkook behind him breathed shakily again, praying his heart would stop remembering what it wanted.