Archive of Our Own

Jimin felt the stares.

No matter where he went, he always noticed how complete strangers would turn to look at him.

Sometimes he wondered what they were thinking, but to be honest, he already knew.

He had heard it all before.

He was too young.

He didn’t make enough money.

He had too many tattoos covering his arm. (Jimin never understood how tattoos determined his parenting abilities, though.)

The way heads would snap in his direction whenever someone caught the little girl holding Jimin’s hand call him ‘daddy.’

Daddy? Had they heard it correctly? Was that boy a father? Unbelievable. How ashamed would his parents be?

The disgusted looks on their faces made Jimin lower his head and quicken his pace. He sometimes truly despised the society they lived in. He loved his little baby girl with all his heart. He had ever since that one day the mother had called him and had told him that something ‘terrible’ had happened. But not for a single moment had he ever thought it had been even close to ‘terrible.’

He still remembered the moment he got to hold his daughter for the first time. In the hospital, on the second floor, at three in the morning. And still, in Jimin’s opinion, it had by far been the most beautiful moment in his life.

Nari might have been an accident, an unintentional result from a drunken night, but he never felt regret over giving the girl life. The mother, on the other hand, had a different opinion on this. And so, after many nights spent crying, screaming and lying awake, they made the decision that Jimin was going to care for their child.

They weren’t in love, and they had never been. They knew from the start they would never be a family. There weren’t going to be home videos from Nari’s first birthday party with both mom and dad. There weren’t going to be pictures on the wall of some annual beach holiday. Jimin was going to be the one lecturing her about periods and comforting her after her first heartbreak and telling her how all boys were assholes.

But that was still far away.

Jimin smiled as he looked at the four year old struggling to put her shoes on. They were a family of two. Jimin and Nari. Living in their small apartment above a restaurant in the middle of Seoul. Barely getting by, but somehow making it work.

‘Baby, let me help you with that.’

‘I can do it myself.’

‘I bet you can, but that shoe belongs on your other foot, sweetheart.’

‘Oh, oops,’ the little girl giggled as Jimin kneeled down in front of her, helping her put her shoes on.

‘Is your coat still in the living room?’

‘I don’t want to wear my coat.’

‘You’ll catch a cold if you don’t. I’ll get it.’

Jimin came back with the pink jacket, handing it to the girl.

‘Why don’t you wear a coat, then?’

‘Because I don’t get colds.’

Nari gasped, using her tiny hands to cover her mouth, ‘dad, you just lied!’

Jimin shook his head as he opened the front door, ‘no, I didn’t.’

‘You had a cold last week! And grandma told me you’re not allowed to lie.’

‘Did she?’ Jimin thought about his mother, who would watch Nari when he was at work, three days a week. He was so grateful towards his parents, who cared for Nari like she was their own daughter. He held the door open for the girl, who was already halfway down the stairs when Jimin had finally managed to successfully lock the front door.

‘Dad, hurry up, or the swings will be taken again!’

He quickly caught up with Nari. ‘Slow down, princess, I’m sure they won’t be.’

He grabbed Nari’s hand when they entered the busy street. The playground was a few blocks away and Jimin kind of regretted not putting a coat on, the cold air hitting him. Nari pointed at his obvious goose bumps and giggled.

-

Yoongi was sitting up in his bed. Being a songwriter definitely had its pros. Being able to work at home, during the day, at night, basically whenever he felt like it. Everything was okay with his company as long as he made the deadline and attended their weekly meetings.

He looked at the big tree next to the slide in front of his apartment building. The leaves were turning yellow-ish, and some had already fallen down. The empty swings slowly moved in the wind.

Next to the empty playground, was a road. Commuters were on their way to work, cars were spewing toxic gasses into the air and even the occasional biker passed by. Yoongi took a sip of his coffee, staring at the notebook in his lap.

The words weren’t really coming to him today like they normally would. He switched his gaze back to his window, noticing that two people had entered the playground.

He smiled when he noticed who it were. The same boy and little girl he had seen there many, many times now.

For some reason, Yoongi found them to be very intriguing.

The boy was a walking contradiction. His face was soft. He possessed an eye smile that made Yoongi weak in the knees even from meters away, looking at him trough his bedroom window. But the boy’s body was a different story. He was short, but Yoongi could tell by his thighs and arms that his muscles made up for the lack of height. But most importantly, his right arm was like a canvas, filled with art made by a needle. The ink had stained the boy’s skin many times, and the result was clearly visible. Yoongi kind of wished he could take a closer look at the tattoos, but so far, he had never gotten the chance to do so.

And then there was always a little girl with the boy. Was it his neighbor? His cousin? Sister? She excitedly ran around, her giggles and squeals even audible for Yoongi inside his apartment.

He pulled his knees up, resting his chin on top of them. He noticed the boy talking to the little girl, supporting his words with hand gestures. Seconds later Yoongi saw him crossing the busy road, disappearing into the convenience store on the other side, leaving the girl all alone in the playground. She didn’t mind, though, Yoongi soon discovered. He watched her attempt to climb the slide, and Yoongi was amused by her determination to get up the play set.

He noticed the door of the small store opening again, the boy standing there, holding a small package in his hand. He yelled something at the girl who was almost on top of the slide. The boy folded his arms in front of his chest, not looking too pleased. Yoongi watched as the boy started to walk up the street. His eyes widened when he noticed the boy  stopping in the middle of the road, pointing at something.

Did he really not see the car coming from his left? The vehicle was literally coming right at him? Yoongi wanted to scream for the boy to get his ass out of there right fucking now. Hell, if he had been down there he would have personally pushed him out of the way. But it was no use, and there was nothing Yoongi could do, besides silently watching.  He wanted to look away so badly and spare himself from what he was about to see. The loud honk sounding moments later confirming Yoongi’s suspicion.

Yoongi immediately kicked the sheets off, almost throwing his coffee over his beloved bed in the process. Within seconds he was out of his front door, rushing down the stairs.

-

‘Nari?’

‘Yeah?’

‘Shall I get cookies for us?’ Jimin smiled at the little girl as he lifted her off the swing. ‘The princess ones, the ones grandma always gets you?’

Nari’s eyes lit up, excitedly nodding, a loud, ‘yes!’ escaping her mouth.

‘Alright, I’ll be at the store for a minute. You’re a big girl, right?’ Jimin ran a hand trough Nari’s dark hair, ‘can you stay here for a bit? Don’t climb on anything until I’m back, okay? I don’t want you to get hurt.’

The girl dramatically sighed, ‘yes, dad.’

Jimin nodded, starting to walk towards the road. He instantly found the right aisle once he entered the store, finding himself in front of the cash register to pay moments later.

‘Damn it,’ Jimin silently cursed under his breath when he walked outside again.

‘Park Nari! What did I tell you?’

The little girl looked up at her dad in shock when she noticed she had been caught attempting to climb the slide. Jimin started to cross the road, and Nari figured she should get down. Suddenly the little girl noticed how high of the ground she actually was, fear taking her over. ‘Daddy, I’m scared!’

One of the first things you learn as a toddler, is to be careful when you cross a road. First look to your left, then to your right, and when there are no cars coming, you cross.

And you never, ever, stand still in the middle of a busy road.

If only Jimin had remembered that lesson when he stopped in his tracks, ‘baby, stop moving, wait there, I’ll get you down!’

The car smashed into his side just when the last word had escaped his mouth.

Yoongi rushed onto the playground, all traffic had stopped now that the boy was lying in front of the car, the owner of the vehicle already dialing the alarm number. Yoongi looked at the girl, who was still halfway across the slide, heartbreaking cries filling Yoongi’s ears.

‘Daddy!’

Yoongi gasped in shock, that girl was.. the boy’s daughter?

Instinctively, he walked up to her, grabbing her small body and putting her back on the ground. Yoongi was functioning on auto pilot. He didn’t turn around to look at the crowd that was starting to form on the street. Instead he looked at the little girl, tears rushing down her face.

‘Don’t look there,’ Yoongi whispered to her, making sure her back was facing the scene.

The girl didn’t respond, using her small hands to wipe her cheeks, ‘my dad, I want my dad.’

‘Dad is busy right now,’ Yoongi noticed the little girl turning her head, ‘look at me.’

 It came out harsher than Yoongi had intended. He had never been the best with children, but the fact that he seemed to be the only one bothering to comfort the little girl, made Yoongi sick to his stomach. He had to be there for her right now, he had to.

‘I’m Yoongi,’ he tried to distract the girl, ‘what’s your name.’

‘Nari,’ it was barely audible, the girl chocking on her tears.

‘That’s a beautiful name,’ Yoongi weakly smiled, peeking over the girl’s shoulder. He couldn’t see exactly what was going on due to all the people that had stopped to look.

‘Don’t cry, dad is going to be okay, just stay calm, alright?’

The girl nodded, but started crying even louder when the high pitched sound of sirens approaching filled her ears. Yoongi noticed the fear spreading across the girl’s face.

‘Does that sound scare you?’

The girl nodded in response.

Yoongi pulled her a little closer, using his hands to cover her ears.

Yes, Yoongi was a total stranger to the girl. But her dad was possibly  dying a few meters away from her right now. The harsh reality was absolutely heartbreaking. This little girl could very probably be losing her dad at that very moment. The thought brought tears to Yoongi’s eyes, but he quickly blinked them away. The sirens stopped and Yoongi figured the ambulance had arrived. He felt a bit relieved that there was professional medical help.

He so desperately hoped they hadn’t been too late.

‘Nari? We’ve got to go there now, I’ll be with you, okay?’ Yoongi knew he couldn’t keep Nari at the playground, she had to go with her dad. He grabbed her small hand and led her trough the crowd. He caught a glimpse of the boy’s seemingly unconscious body.

It sent a cold shiver down his spine.

He walked up to a paramedic who was standing next to the ambulance, talking into a small device. ‘Excuse me.’

The woman looked up, putting the thing down, ‘yes?’

‘This is his daughter,’ Yoongi gestured towards the girl next to him. ‘She was at the playground with him.’

The woman nodded, taking the little girl from Yoongi’s hand, ‘and you are?’

‘Just a passerby, I saw it happening,’ Yoongi responded, ignoring the suspicious look the woman gave him.

At that moment Nari started crying for her dad again, giving Yoongi an opportunity to escape into the crowd. He let his tears run freely once he made it back to his apartment, dragging his suddenly exhausted body up the stairs. He hated crying, he really did, but he couldn’t believe what he had just witnessed.

When he looked through his bedroom window the ambulance was gone and traffic was starting up again.

The playground now painfully empty. Only the swings still moved in the wind.

-

The following week Yoongi watched the playground remain in the same state it had been for as long as he had lived there. But the absence of the boy and little girl was painfully noticeable.

Slowly, another week passed by, and Yoongi still hadn’t seen them. He spent a little more time staring out of his window than usual.

After three weeks, Yoongi came to his conclusion. The boy hadn’t made it. The incident had been fatal. He worried about Nari, because he had never seen the girl in the playground with anyone besides her dad. He just hoped she was being taken care of. Yoongi told himself that if he had known when the funeral had been, he would have definitely stopped by to pay his respect.

-

It was a gloomy Thursday morning. Yoongi was about to leave for his weekly meeting. He was early, but he figured Namjoon, who was in charge of their songwriting team and meetings, wouldn’t mind. There was a new boy group days away from debuting, and they still needed one more song for their debut album. Yoongi had complained so many times already that the company, ‘should get their shit together.’ But it always came down to the last minute, causing lots of stress for the songwriting team. Coming up with decent lyrics was already difficult, let alone getting them approved.  

He readjusted his snapback in front of the mirror and put his leather jacket on. He grabbed his phone and keys, making his way down the stairs. He was going to take the underground today, already looking forward to the short walk to the station. He hadn’t left his house in three days and was in desperate need of some fresh air. The moment he stepped outside, though, he felt as if all the oxygen was being taken away from him.

He saw a very familiar girl in a pink coat running up to the playground, followed by a woman and a boy supporting himself with crutches.

He was alive?

Yoongi stared at them in disbelief, standing frozen in place. He cursed at himself for being so obvious and wanted to turn around, but Nari had already noticed him.

‘Dad, dad!’ she ran back to boy with the crutches, tugging at his sleeve, ‘daddy, it’s him!’

Oh god, Yoongi thought, she told him about me.

Yoongi saw the boy leaning towards Nari, telling her something Yoongi wasn’t able to hear and placing a kiss on top of her head. Moments later the girl ran into the playground, followed by the woman. The boy was slowly coming Yoongi’s way.

Wait.

Shit.

The boy was coming his way.

Yoongi tried to act casual and like he hadn’t just been staring at them, but desperately failed, awkwardly rubbing his elbows. It was probably rude to turn away now, wasn’t it? Yeah, it was. He bit down on his bottom lip, remaining where he stood.

‘Hi,’ the boy smiled, still some meters away, struggling to keep his balance. Yoongi quickly came back to his senses and figured that since he was the one with perfectly fine legs, he should walk up to him.

‘Correct me if I’m wrong, but did you comfort my daughter when I had that accident?’

Yoongi nodded, a shy ‘yes’ escaping his lips.

‘Thank you so much,’ the boy’s smile was big and genuine. It made Yoongi smile a little as well.

‘It’s okay, I saw her all alone on that playground, it was just a human thing to do.’

‘No, seriously, thank you.’

Now that Yoongi had the boy in front of him, he noticed the distinct similarities between him and the girl. Same chubby cheeks, same brown eyes. He still found it hard to believe, though, that the kid he was talking to had made the other kid.

‘It was nothing, I saw it happening and yeah,’ Yoongi scratched the back of his neck. ‘I couldn’t just leave her halfway up the slide while her,’ Yoongi paused for a second, ‘dad was possibly dying.’

Yoongi noticed that the boy’s arms were slightly shaking and his knuckles were turning white around the handles.

‘You want to sit down?’ Yoongi asked,  the boy quickly nodding in response.

Yoongi followed him to the bench on the side of the playground, leaving an appropriate distance between him and the boy as they sat down.

‘I’m Jimin, by the way,’ the boy weakly smiled, ‘and as you know Nari is my daughter, and the woman with her is my mother.’

‘I figured,’ Yoongi tucked his hands in the pockets of his jacket and looked at Nari and the woman, who were walking towards the swings. ‘I’m Yoongi.’

Jimin nodded, placing his crutches beside him against the bench, ‘you said you saw it happening?’

‘Yes, I was looking out of my bedroom window and saw you stopping in the middle of the street.’ Yoongi slowly turned to Jimin, ‘please don’t tell me you did that on purpose.’

Jimin stared back at him, a shocked expression on his face, making Yoongi regret his words immediately.

‘No, I would never.’

Yoongi quickly looked away, feelings his cheeks heat up because that had been literally the stupidest thing to say, ‘sorry, I shouldn’t have said that.’

‘No, no, I almost made my daughter witness her father’s death, the only one who should be sorry is me.’ Jimin buried his face in his hands, ‘god, I’m the worst dad ever.’

‘That’s not true.’

Jimin looked up from his hands in confusion, ‘how do you know?’

‘I,’ Yoongi hesitated slightly, ‘I live next to the playground, I’ve seen you guys here before. You don’t look like a bad dad to me at all. I never made the connection of you being her dad, though.’

Jimin opened his mouth to respond, but was interrupted by Nari, who ran up to him. ‘Dad, dad! Can he come play with me and grandma?’

It took Yoongi some seconds to realize that with ‘he,’ the girl had meant him.

‘Baby, dad has already bothered him for long enough.’ Jimin sent an apologetic smile Yoongi’s way, ‘I’m sorry for interrupting whatever you were doing, you were obviously on your way to something.’

Yoongi suddenly remembered his meeting. ‘No, it’s okay. What do you want to do, Nari?’ Yoongi was surprised with himself as well when the words left his lips. But he didn’t regret them for a single second when he noticed the big smile appearing on the girl’s face.

Namjoon could wait for five minutes.

‘Can we play tag?’

Yoongi sighed, mentally preparing himself for all the running he was about to do.

The girl squealed in excitement when Yoongi stood up, using her small hands to grab Yoongi’s arm, yelling a ‘bye dad!’ at Jimin.

Jimin smiled at the sight of Yoongi chasing Nari around the sandbox. He was relieved Nari finally got to go to the playground again and get her energy out. It would still take some time for Jimin’s body to fully heal. His injuries weren’t too serious, but serious enough for him to not be able to take Nari to the playground alone. If she fell and got hurt, there was little he could do.

‘You know him?’ Jimin was pulled back to reality by his mother, who placed a hand on his shoulder.

‘Just met him. He’s the guy who stayed with Nari during the accident.’

‘That’s him?’

Jimin nodded.

‘It seems like Nari likes him.’

Nari’s high pitched giggles filled the playground as she ran after the black haired boy and Jimin nodded, ‘yeah, I think she does.’

He sighed, turning to look at the road. When he saw all the cars drive by it somehow made him nervous.

‘Don’t beat yourself up over the accident, sweetie.’

His mother’s voice was soft and filled with pity. Jimin sighed, he didn’t want his mother to pity him. The accident had completely been his fault. He had been only one step away from traumatizing his little girl for life. If the car would’ve have hit him with a bit more speed, Jimin would’ve been two meters underground by now.

‘He’s good with Nari,’ Jimin’s mother spoke up, attempting to lighten the mood.

‘He is.’

‘Why don’t you ask him if he can watch her when the two of you go here?’

‘Mom, you can’t ask stuff like that from random strangers.’

‘It was just an idea. You can’t go here by yourself for the upcoming weeks, and me and dad won’t be able to tag along every time.’ She ran a hand trough her son’s hair, ‘Nari loves this playground.’

‘Yeah, yeah, I know she does.’

His mother sent another promising look Jimin’s way as she walked back to Nari and Yoongi. She said a few words to the boy and Yoongi smiled back at the woman before making his return to the bench.

Yoongi took his snapback off, shook his head, and placed it back on. ‘She’s a wild one.’

‘Like her dad.’

Yoongi laughed at the comment and Jimin felt his cheeks heat up when he realized what he had just said. ‘I didn’t mean it that way!’

‘It’s okay, but I gotta go to my meeting now, I’m already a bit late. Take good care of yourself and Nari.’     

‘Wait,’ Jimin stopped Yoongi just when he wanted to turn around.

‘I know this is way too much to ask, and it’s totally fine if you don’t want to but..’

‘But?’

‘But, you know, Nari adores this playground. And now with my leg and everything I can’t really go here with her. Because if she falls or something I can’t help her up.’

Yoongi noticed how Jimin’s cheeks were turning an even brighter shade of pink.

‘And since you live so close by, would you mind watching her? I’ll be there as well, of course. And it doesn’t have to be long, ten minutes is enough. But just so she can run around and get her energy out. You know how children are, wait, no you don’t.’ Jimin was stumbling over his words at this point, furiously blushing,  ‘sorry I’m rambling.’

Yoongi noticed how nervous Jimin had suddenly become, and to be honest, he found it kind of cute.

‘Yeah, sure, no problem.’

Jimin’s eyes widened, ‘wait what, really?’

‘It would give me an excuse to go outside more often,’ Yoongi bit his lip, ‘some fresh air would probably be good for me.’

‘Seriously, you don’t have to, don’t feel pressured.’

‘No, it’s okay,’ Yoongi chuckled, ‘just throw rocks at my window or something and I’ll come out.’

‘You want me to throw rocks at your window?’

Yoongi shook his head, laughing at Jimin’s shocked face, ‘apartment 3B, just ring the bell. There’s a small hall with mailboxes and stuff. On the wall are buttons and if you press the one with ‘Min Yoongi’ next to it, I’ll come down. If I’m home, that is. But I’m home a lot.’

Jimin smiled, ‘thank you so much, Nari will be very happy.’ His head was still a bit red and the color had spread to his neck, but Jimin didn’t really care. ‘Now go to your meeting, you can blame me for being late if your boss scolds you.’

‘Jimin, right?’

Jimin nodded.

‘I’ll make sure to blame you, Jimin,’ Yoongi teasingly winked as he walked away.

Yoongi didn’t realize it until he had exited the street.

Oh.

Shit.

Had he just been flirtatious towards a single dad?

Really?

Meeting. Namjoon. Songwriting for a rookie group. He needed to focus. He quickened his pace, the station already coming into view.

-

When a ringing noise sounded through Yoongi’s apartment he didn’t bother to move from the couch.

Until he remembered the conversation he had had with Jimin two days ago.

A series of ‘fucks’ escaping Yoongi’s mouth as he ran through his apartment, looking for his Air Jordans and a coat.

He stumbled down the stairs, wondering why he had ever agreed on doing this. He was basically being a babysitter for the girl, without being paid.

But on the other hand, it felt good to do something for someone else. He knew it would make Nari happy, and if Nari was happy, Jimin would probably be happy as well. And knowing that he helped them out by just doing this one little thing, made the minutes spent in the cold worth it.

Jimin was already sitting on the bench when Yoongi stepped outside. The crutches placed horizontally on his lap, Nari impatiently waiting for Yoongi next to him.

She ran towards the black haired boy the moment he entered the playground, wrapping her small arms around Yoongi’s upper leg, looking up at him with her big brown eyes.

‘Hi, Nari,’ Yoongi smiled down at the little girl, ruffling her hair.

He heard Jimin sigh in the background. ‘Nari, get of off him, it’s not polite to hug people’s legs.’

‘But dad,’ Nari whined as she slowly started to pull on Yoongi’s leg, trying to get him into the direction of the slide.

‘No, ‘but dads’, let go of his leg.’

The girl obeyed and untangled her arms from Yoongi’s leg, running towards the slide.

‘Great parenting,’ Yoongi shook his head, laughing at Jimin’s accomplished grin.

‘I know, I’ve had some practice.’

Yoongi walked towards the slide, helping the girl up. After having spent some minutes at the slide, Nari decided she wanted to go into the sandbox, giving Yoongi an opportunity to sit with Jimin.

‘Hi,’ he weakly smiled as Jimin moved his crutches out of the way a little, creating some space for Yoongi to sit.

‘Thank you again for doing this,’ Jimin looked at his daughter who enthusiastically played with the sand.

‘Stop thanking me, it’s okay. How’s your leg and everything doing?’

‘Okay, I don’t rest enough, though. But at home it’s just Nari and me, so I have to do everything on my own. And that gets hard sometimes when you temporarily only have one functioning leg.’

Yoongi silently nodded. Jimin couldn’t be much younger than him, and he was raising a child all by himself. Only for that he already respected Jimin a lot.

‘But I don’t want to bother you with it.’

‘No, you’re not bothering me. If we’re going to continue this I need to get to know you a little, right?’ Yoongi nervously played with the bracelet on his wrist.

‘Dad, Yoongi, look at my sand castle!’

Both looked at the three bumps of sand, which were carefully lined up next to each other, the one in the middle slightly bigger than the two beside it. ‘It’s beautiful!’ Jimin yelled back, giving the girl a thumbs up.

‘How old is she?’

‘Nari? She just turned four.’

‘So she was born when you were..?’

‘Eighteen.’

‘Damn,’ Yoongi whispered. ‘Jimin?’

‘Yeah?’

‘Don’t ever tell yourself you’re a bad dad ever again. What you’re doing is something not a lot of people our age are capable of. Don’t be too hard on yourself.’

At that moment Nari came running back to them, ‘Yoongi, can I go on the swing?’

Yoongi turned to Jimin, ‘can she?’

‘Of course she can.’

Jimin watched as Yoongi got up, Nari immediately dragging him towards the swing set. She sure wasn’t shy with strangers. He liked to believe the girl got that from him.

Jimin picked his crutches up, slipping his arms trough the holes and curling his fingers around the handles. He carefully made his way over  to the swing set as well. Happiness filling his heart when he noticed the big smile on his daughter’s face.

-

Jimin sighed as he looked at the boy next to him. Yoongi was biting on the end of a pencil, phone in his hand, notebook on his lap. Jimin felt bad about distracting Yoongi from work. It also hadn’t been the first time Yoongi had sat next to him, still working. But the boy had insisted on coming to the playground with him and Nari today. He only had to figure the bridge part out, and he still had an hour until his meeting.  He could, ‘get it done here as well.’

Yoongi’s words hadn’t put Jimin at ease, though, and he felt even worse when Nari fell and loud cries started to sound throughout the playground.

Jimin wanted to get up, but the stinging pain in his lower leg reminded him why Yoongi was there in the first place.

‘I’ll get her,’ Yoongi quickly put his phone and notebook down.

Jimin watched as Yoongi walked over to the swings, which Nari had attempted to climb on her own. The boy talked to her, picking her up seconds later. He carried the still crying girl towards the bench an put her back on the ground when they were almost there. She immediately ran to Jimin, who reached out to pick her up, placing the girl on his lap.

‘Nari, what did you do?’

‘I,’ the girl used her palm to wipe the tears off her cheeks, ‘I fell.’

‘Where does it hurt?’

‘Here,’ Nari shoved her elbow into Jimin’s face, who quickly moved his head back. He placed a soft kiss on her hurting arm, ‘better?’

‘No.’

Jimin rolled his eyes at Yoongi when the boy let out a soft chuckle.

Nari wrapped her arms around her father’s neck, laying her head on his chest, ‘I want to go home.’

‘Nari, we just got here.’

The girl started crying again and Jimin rubbed her back in attempt to calm her down.

‘She always gets like this when she’s tired.’ Jimin sighed, ‘I let her stay up with me until one last night and I obviously shouldn’t have.’

Yoongi shook his head but didn’t say anything, picking his notebook up again.

Jimin stared at the empty playground as Nari cried into his chest

When Nari was a baby, he used to sing her to sleep. He would sing the same lullaby his mother sang to him when he was little.

Jimin stroked the girl’s dark hair, opening his mouth and carefully letting the first few words escape his lips. Nari stopped crying and Jimin gently rocked her back and forth. His lips curled into a relieved smile when he noticed her breathing becoming more even. By the end of the lullaby, Nari had pretty much fallen asleep.

‘Why did you never tell me?’ Yoongi was staring at Jimin in disbelief.

Jimin laughed, ‘tell you what?’

‘That you could sing? Fuck, Jimin. Why did you keep this from me.’

‘Don’t say fuck around her.’

‘She’s asleep I can say fuck all I want, and I’m mad at you for not telling me. So now you’ll have to make up by,’ Yoongi unlocked his phone and practically threw his notebook at Jimin, ‘helping me out.’

He turned an instrumental on, nodding at the notebook in Jimin’s hand.

‘Sing it.’

‘Wait, what? No,’ Jimin’s cheeks flushed a bright pink, ‘I can’t sing.’

‘I just heard you sing. Do it again.’

‘But..’

‘Just do whatever you feel sounds right on top of the melody. You can read the words right?’

Jimin murmured something back in protest, but Yoongi did not give in. A satisfied smile appearing on the boy’s face when Jimin sang the first two lines, randomly hitting some notes. The black haired boy nodded his head to the beat, using his hands to signal for Jimin to slow down.

 Jimin didn’t exactly feel comfortable singing, but the encouraging looks Yoongi continued to sent his way helped.

‘Do that again!’

Jimin immediately got quiet, ‘sorry, what?’

‘That note, I’m not even going to try to reenact it, but do what you just did.’

‘Like the,’ Jimin tried his best to produce something  similar to the sound he had just made. He let out a nervous chuckle, but Yoongi’s concentrated face told him the boy was being dead serious.

‘Yes!’ Yoongi’s normally low voice sounded much higher and was filled with excitement, making Jimin laugh in between his attempts to sing.

He wasn’t sure why he suddenly felt so warm inside.

 It could’ve been because Nari was sleeping on his lap. But something told Jimin it had to do with the fact that Yoongi had his eyes fixated on him, smiling a little.

‘That’s it!’ Yoongi suddenly yelled, grabbing the notebook out of Jimin’s hand. ‘I got it! Jimin, you’re a lifesaver!’

Before Jimin could process what was happening, he felt two hands cupping his face, a pair of soft lips meeting his already heated cheek.

Yoongi murmured a quick thank you before standing up.

‘Yoongi? Wait, where are you going?’ Jimin’s loud voice accidentally woke Nari up.

‘Meeting! I figured the bridge out! Fuck yes!’ Yoongi yelled back. He had already exited the playground.

‘Don’t say fuck, she’s awake!’

‘Yeah, yeah,’ Yoongi’s voice was barely audible due to the distance between them.

Nari sat up on Jimin’s lap, placing her hands against his chest. ‘Why is your face so red, dad?’

Jimin nervously smiled, still feeling  Yoongi’s touch burn against his skin. He deeply exhaled, running a hand trough his hair.

‘Nothing, sweetheart. Let’s go home.’

-

Yoongi wasn’t sure why he still tagged along even when Jimin’s leg had healed enough.

He figured it was probably because Jimin listened to him. Yoongi loved his job, and to be honest, his company wasn’t all that bad. But you see, the entertainment business is a business where people like to be heard and love to talk, especially about themselves. And yes, maybe Yoongi was one of those people. But it was nice to let it all out sometimes. Even when he whined and complained about his co-workers, Jimin would still nod and try to give him advice. He had so much patience, not only when it came to Nari, but also especially when it came to Yoongi.

After Jimin had spent some time in the sandbox with Nari, he walked over to Yoongi who was sitting on the edge of the slide. Jimin lowered his body, sitting on the ground opposite the boy, crossing his legs.

‘You’re okay?’

‘Yeah, I’m just tired.’

‘Don’t lie, Yoongi. If you want to go home and sleep, it’s okay.’

‘No, I’m fine, honestly.’

Jimin wanted to respond but was interrupted by Nari, ‘dad, Yoongi, can I go on the swing?’

Yoongi tilted his head, readjusting the blue beanie on his head. ‘Who’s gonna go?’

‘The both of us,’ Jimin smirked. He grabbed Yoongi’s hand and pulled him up, leading the boy to the swing set.

‘Sit.’

‘What?’

‘Sit down on the damn swing, Min Yoongi.’

‘Do I even have a choice?’

‘No.’

Yoongi sighed and sat down on the thing. ‘You’re lucky the swings are my favorite.’

Jimin chuckled and helped Nari get on the swing next to Yoongi.

When Yoongi felt two hands on his back he almost stumbled forward.

‘Jimin, what on earth are you doing?’

‘What you’re supposed to do when someone’s on a swing. Now relax and fly.’

‘Fly?’ Yoongi couldn’t even properly bring the word out, Jimin pushing him with so much force it caused Yoongi to scream. Seconds later Jimin’s hands met his back again, and Yoongi could hear the boy laugh as he pushed him forward.

God, he loved the sound of Jimin’s laugh. It was warm, comforting. Something he had gotten used to.

‘Daddy, I want to go just as high!’

‘I’ll make you go almost as high, alright?’

Yoongi almost felt disappointed when he didn’t feel Jimin’s hands on his back when he swung back.

He closed his eyes. He hadn’t been on a swing set for so long, memories of his childhood slowly coming back to him.

A weird sensation spread trough Yoongi’s body when he felt Jimin’s hands against his back again. He dragged his fingers down Yoongi’s spine, his fingertips lingering on the material of his jacket just a little too long.

They continued like that for a while, Jimin switching between pushing Yoongi and Nari, the little girl giggling and squealing in excitement while Yoongi let out the occasional cry, causing Jimin to burst into laughter.

After some minutes Yoongi thought he felt raindrops, but figured he was just imagining it. Nevertheless, it started to poor seconds later, the rain harshly hitting the skin of his face.

‘Ah, seriously,’ Jimin groaned, covering his hair with his hands, but it was no use.

‘Come,’ Yoongi jumped off the swing, nodding towards his apartment building, ‘let’s go inside.’

Jimin weakly smiled as he lifted Nari of the swing and grabbed her hand, the three of them running towards the entrance of the building.

‘Fucking rain,’ Yoongi murmured as he took the wet beanie of his head.

Jimin didn’t even bother to complain about his swearing, following the boy inside. Even though he had known Yoongi for some time now, he had never been inside his apartment.   

They climbed the stairs as Nari talked about a drawing she had made earlier that day, but Jimin wasn’t really listening; had his eyes on Yoongi instead.

‘It’s a bit of a mess,’ Yoongi shyly admitted when he opened his front door, letting Jimin and Nari walk in first. Jimin’s eyes widened once he walked into the boy’s apartment. The white walls, the glass dining table, the black couch. It wasn’t much bigger than Jimin’s, but the apartment gave of the vibe that Yoongi definitely had his shit together.

‘You call this a mess?’

Yoongi quickly threw some clothes off the couch and snatched an empty carton of his coffee table. ‘Normally it’s cleaner, I swear,’ Yoongi weakly smiled as he took his jacket off. He caught himself staring at Jimin’s arm when the boy pulled his slightly wet hoodie over his head. He only wore a muscle tee underneath, granting Yoongi a great view of the boy’s tattoos. He cursed under his breath when Jimin’s eyes met his. Yoongi quickly turned around.

The boy had a fucking child. He had already crossed a line when he got overwhelmed and had kissed Jimin’s cheek two weeks ago. He needed to take an appropriate distance, but unfortunately for him, taking distance from Jimin turned out to be much harder for Yoongi than he had expected.

They spent the rest of the afternoon watching TV and ordered takeout around dinner time.

Even when it got dark outside, the rain didn’t stop. In fact, it only got worse.

When Nari passed out on the couch around 9:30, Jimin and Yoongi looked at each other.

‘Want to sleep over?’

‘You’re okay with that?’

‘Yes sure. There’s one small problem, though.’

Jimin raised an eyebrow, ‘and that is?’

‘Nari’s got the couch, and I only have one bed. Don’t worry it’s big, if you’re uncomfortable I’ll sleep on the floor on a few blankets or something.’

Jimin laughed, shaking his head, ‘of course you’re not sleeping on the floor! It’s fine, I’d love to try out your bed.’

Yoongi wanted to wipe the stupid grin off Jimin’s face, but he restrained himself, ‘I’ll get Nari a blanket.’

-

It was strange to have someone next to him. He could clearly see Jimin’s outlines once his eyes were used to the darkness of his bedroom. The streetlight next to the window shed just enough light into the room for Yoongi to notice that Jimin had his eyes opened as well. His chest slowly falling and rising as he stared at the ceiling.

‘Yoongi?’

‘Yeah?’

‘What was going on earlier today? Don’t tell me you were fine.’

‘I was.’

Jimin turned to his side, finding Yoongi’s eyes. ‘Don’t do this. You weren’t fine.’

‘I had a fight with my father this morning, that is all.’

‘What was it about?’

Yoongi wasn’t sure if Jimin was being straight up curious, or if he really cared. But by now Yoongi should’ve known that Jimin was actually worried about him.

He wanted to tell Jimin the reason why his father would yell at him and tell him horrible things, but he figured it might scare Jimin away. Especially now they were sharing a bed, together, it would make the situation ten times worse. Jimin would be disgusted.

 ‘Yoongi? Are you okay? You don’t have to tell me.’

God, he hated the sad look in Jimin’s eyes and how the boy shuffled a little closer with every word.

‘My dad doesn’t support my lifestyle, and doesn’t accept me as a person.’

Jimin stayed quiet, waiting for Yoongi to continue, and after some silence he did, but not before slightly hesitating first.

‘He wants me to work for his company, but ever since I was young, I knew I wanted to work in the music industry. So he’s, well, very disappointed about that. And even though he knows this is my dream, and I’m happy right now, he still tries to take it away from me.’ Yoongi rolled onto his other side, making Jimin face his back.

‘And he doesn’t accept me because..’

His sexuality wasn’t a secret. It shouldn’t necessarily have been a secret in the first place.

‘I like guys. I’ll never give him the grandchildren he so badly wants. He hates me for it, says I bring shame to the family.’

Yoongi closed his eyes, getting ready to feel Jimin’s weight being lifted off the bed. He was waiting for the boy to storm out of his bedroom. But none of that happened. Instead, Yoongi felt a hand on his shoulder, pulling him back. Within seconds Yoongi was facing Jimin again.

‘I, I’m into guys as well.’ The whisper coming from the younger’s lips sent a shiver down Yoongi’s spine.

‘But you have Nari?’

Jimin nodded, ‘I do, but it’s just. I like who I like, sometimes I like girls, sometimes I like boys.’ He opened his arms, ‘come here.’

‘What?’ Yoongi was still staring at Jimin, not sure what to do.

‘You need a hug, I can tell. Thank you for telling me, that was brave of you.’

Yoongi murmured something inaudible in protest before giving in and rolling over to Jimin, who let out a satisfied sigh and wrapped his arms around the boy.

He felt his heartbeat speed up now that Jimin’s body was pressed against his back. Jimin’s breath tickled his neck and Yoongi noticed he had a great view of the boy’s tattooed arm.

‘Jimin?’

‘Yeah?’

‘Why do you have tattoos? I mean, they look good on you, but you know. Your face is like that and then your arm is like this.’

Jimin laughed at Yoongi’s words, stretching his arm out. ‘I got my first one when I was about seventeen. Behind my parents back, in some really sketchy tattoo shop in an alley. I was really looking for myself at the time. I was confused about my sexuality, what I wanted in life. I wanted to rebel against my parents, so what better way to do that then to ink in your skin?’ Jimin turned his arm a little, ‘it didn’t trigger the reaction I hoped, they were like, whatever it’s your body.’

Jimin let out a chuckle at the memory.

‘I got most of them after I officially broke everything off with Nari’s mother. We weren’t really together in the first place, but we attempted to raise Nari together for the first couple of months. Which didn’t work and I got full custody.’ Jimin shook his head, wrapping his arm around Yoongi’s waist again.

‘She absolutely hated tattoos, and to be honest, I got most of them to piss her off. I was so mad at her for not wanting to give us as a family a try, I wanted that for Nari so bad.’ He sighed, ‘I don’t regret my tattoos but it was a bit stupid, tattoos aren’t cheap.’ He pushed himself back a little, ‘I only got one more after that period.’

Yoongi turned around and watched as Jimin lifted the sheets and pulled his shirt up a little, revealing the side of his ribcage. There was a small delicate lily flower on it.

The way Jimin proudly smiled at him made Yoongi feel warm inside.

‘I got this one for Nari. Her name means lily flower.’

Yoongi carefully brought his hand up to Jimin’s exposed skin, running his index finger over the flower. He looked up to meet Jimin’s eyes, ‘it’s beautiful.’

‘It’s my favorite.’

Jimin pulled Yoongi closer, who was surprised with the amount of affection Jimin was showing.  But he didn’t mind at all. Jimin was warm and his skin felt soft, the way his body curled up against Yoongi’s somehow felt right.

The boy buried his face in Yoongi’s chest. ‘You don’t mind this, do you?’

‘No,’ Yoongi whispered back, ‘I like it.’

‘Yoongi,’ Jimin murmured against Yoongi’s shirt, ‘you know how I said I liked whoever I liked?’

‘Yes?’

‘Right now, I think I like you.’

-

‘Jimin? What are you doing here?’

Yoongi stared at the boy in confusion. Normally, Jimin would wait in the small hall downstairs, or he would already be on the playground. He hadn’t showed up at his front door ever before.

‘And where’s Nari?’

Jimin grinned at Yoongi, the mischievous look in the boy’s eyes telling Yoongi he was definitely up to something.

‘She’s with my parents. You’re coming with me.’

Yoongi ran a hand trough his messy hair. He still had his sweatpants on from the nap he just woke up from. It had been some days since Jimin and Nari had slept over. And to be honest, Yoongi hadn’t stopped thinking about Jimin ever since. He knew he felt the same way about the boy now standing in front of him, but a part of Yoongi refused to believe that Jimin had meant his words.

‘Just give me a minute to change.’

‘Hurry up, we still have to walk there and we’ve only got twenty minutes left.’

‘Walk where?’ Yoongi yelled from his bedroom as Jimin impatiently waited in the doorframe, the same grin still on his face.

‘You’ll see.’

‘You’re still not telling me where we’re going, are you?’

Yoongi sighed as walked beside Jimin, pulling his hood over his head.

‘We’re almost there, don’t worry.’

Jimin quickened his pace after they turned a corner. The brown haired boy stopped in front of a building, looking at Yoongi. ‘I’ve got an appointment at five.’

It took Yoongi some time to read the huge banner on the window. An ‘are you serious Jimin,’ escaping his lips when he realized what Jimin was about to do.

‘Tattoos are expensive, are you sure you want to do this?’

‘It’s going to be a special one, trust me. I thought it trough.’ He grabbed Yoongi’s hand, ‘I want you there with me. You’re not afraid of needles, are you?’

‘No, but-’ Yoongi wasn’t able to finish his sentence due to Jimin dragging him inside, smiling brightly at the heavily tattooed guy behind the counter. ‘Hi, I have an appointment to get a small piece done.’

‘Park Jimin?’

Jimin nodded in response.

‘Alright, come with me. Your boyfriend can tag along.’

Jimin quickly let go of Yoongi’s hand, mouthing a quick ‘sorry’ before the two of them followed the guy into another room.

Yoongi sat on a chair in the corner and silently watched as Jimin and they guy talked the design over. Jimin pulled his shirt over his head  moments later, smirking in Yoongi’s direction before lying down on his side, causing Yoongi to shake his head and hide his red cheeks in his hands. He hated the effect Jimin started to have on him. But on the other hand, he kind of liked it as well. Actually, he liked it a lot; hadn’t felt anything close to butterflies in a long time, and it was a really good feeling to have that back.  

While the needle injected black ink into Jimin’s tan skin, the boy talked to the tattoo artist. Yoongi didn’t listen to their conversation, being too distracted by the way a black line started to appear above the lily flower. He stood up to take a closer look, but Jimin told him, ‘he wasn’t allowed to look until it was done.’

Yoongi groaned  and sat down again.

Jimin let out a giggle, but his face whitened in pain moments later.

‘You’re okay?’ the guy pulled the needle away from Jimin’s skin, giving the boy a worried look.

‘Yeah.’

‘It’s almost done, hang in there.’

Jimin clenched his fists, knuckles turning white as he impatiently waited for the guy to finish.

‘All done,’ the guy smiled as he started to clean the needle, ‘go check it out in the mirror.’

Jimin sighed in relieve as he got up, walking over to the huge mirror. He gasped, an ‘oh my god’ escaping his lips as he stared at his own reflection.

‘It’s perfect! Thank you so much.’

The guy slipped his gloves off and threw them in the bin next to the table, ‘you’re welcome.’

‘Would you mind leaving us alone for a minute?’ Jimin awkwardly turned to the guy, who much to his relieve got up.

Yoongi got out of his chair the moment the guy closed the door behind him.

‘I’m finally allowed to look?’

‘Yes, get your ass over here.’

Yoongi walked over to Jimin, taking his time to look at the boy. Jimin was so goddamn beautiful. He let out a sigh, way too beautiful for someone as unlovable as Yoongi.

‘It’s a swing,’ Jimin searched for Yoongi’s eyes in the mirror. ‘There’s a bit of a story behind it.’

He turned around so he could face Yoongi, ‘Nari’s favorite place in the world is without a doubt that playground. And your favorite thing about the playground is the swing set.’

He grabbed Yoongi’s hand, searching for some form of support now he was going to share something he hadn’t ever shared before. The fact that he was about to let himself be so vulnerable in front of Yoongi scared him, but he knew he could trust him.

‘And I came to the conclusion that without that damn playground I would have never been as happy as I am now. Because without that playground I would never have met you.’

Jimin silently cursed under his breath when he felt tears forming behind his eyelids. The first one escaped soon after.

Yoongi brought his free hand up to Jimin’s face, cupping the boy’s cheek and using his thumb to wipe some tears away.

‘Go on,’ Yoongi’s voice was nothing but a mere whisper, ‘it’s okay, go on.’

Jimin stared at the ground, not being able to find the courage to look into Yoongi’s eyes.

‘I was always so worried about what people thought of me and Nari. I used to be so extremely aware of all the things that were wrong with me.’

Yoongi stayed silent, slightly squeezing Jimin’s hand to encourage the boy to continue.

‘And when I got into that accident it felt like a sign. A sign that it should’ve all ended right there.’

‘Jimin, please, you shouldn’t ever think that way.’

Jimin looked up, ‘but then I found you.’

At this point Yoongi felt tears stinging behind his own eyelids as well.

‘And when I woke up next to you some days ago, I realized that you hadn’t only made Nari happy by agreeing to sit next to me on that bench. You made me incredibly happy as well.’

Yoongi let the hand that was cupping Jimin’s cheek slide down to the boy’s neck.

‘You make me so happy, Yoongi.’

Less than a second later Yoongi gently pressed his lips against Jimin’s, who immediately pulled him closer.

It was natural, felt natural. Somehow it felt so incredibly right.

The tears were still rolling down Jimin’s cheeks and his newly tattooed skin burned, but none of that mattered to him.

All that mattered was the fact that Jimin had Yoongi, and Yoongi had Jimin.

And Jimin figured that besides that time he got to hold his newborn daughter for the first time in the hospital, on the second floor, at three in the morning.

This might just be the most beautiful moment in his life.