Archive of Our Own

“Fuck, so good, Tae…”

Taehyung sobs, clinging to him as Jungkook fucks into him roughly, making the headboard bang against the wall. Probably not the best idea to be making so much noise but it’s hard to hold back when it’s been a while (okay, three days) since they’ve had sex.

Besides, the sound of the headboard banging against the wall is nothing compared to the noises that are coming out of his husband. Taehyung is moaning at every thrust, sobbing in pleasure, garbled words spilling out of him. “Yes, Jungkook, yes - ngh, your cock feels so fucking good - ooh, right there, baby, right fucking there－”

It’s no wonder he doesn’t hear the door open.

“Fuck, come on, cum for me, baby,” Jungkook growls, eliciting another broken sob from Taehyung as he thrusts into his tight heat. “Cum for－”

“Daddy? Why are you hurting Papa?”

Jungkook immediately stills inside Taehyung and they both exchange panicked looks before slowly turning to see their five-year-old daughter standing by the door to their bedroom, a horrified look on her face.

Jungkook’s mind goes completely blank. None of the parenting books he had read had given any advice on what to do in this scenario.

Taehyung pats him gently on the chest, signaling for Jungkook to get off of him before untangling himself from the sheets and getting out of bed.

“No, no, baby girl,” he soothes, reaching for his robe and slipping it on, hoisting Eunji into his arms. “Daddy wasn’t hurting me. I’m alright, see?”

She nods warily but when her eyes stray to Jungkook, there’s a faint look of accusation in them and he feels a sharp stab of guilt in his chest.

“What are you doing out of bed, sweetie?” Taehyung says, kissing the top of her head. “Did you have a bad dream?”

“No…I woke up…I heard noises…”

Another stab of guilt. Jesus, what were they being so loud for? Jungkook is sure that waking your daughter up in the middle of the night by having headboard-banging sex with your husband doesn’t exactly qualify you for Parent of the Year.

“Okay, baby…let’s get you back to bed.” Taehyung carries Eunji out of the room, casting a significant look over his shoulder, indicating that Jungkook should follow.

He gets out of bed, hunting around for a pair of sweatpants in the dark, pulling them on with slightly-shaking hands. Did we just scar our child for life?

He certainly hopes not. As much as he would like to spare Eunji from any traumatic experiences as well as any future therapy sessions, he doesn’t think that abstaining from sex with Taehyung is a possibility.

They’re usually pretty careful. In the nearly five years they’ve had Eunji, she’s never walked in on them until now. Which were pretty good odds, considering their sex life was still as robust and frequent as ever, minus the occasional dry spell when their lives got busy and hectic.

You’re justifying it to yourself, Jungkook mentally scolds himself. You just had your five-year-old daughter walk in on you and you’re trying to justify it to yourself.

It’s bad enough she walked in on them. But Eunji had actually thought he was harming Taehyung…

Making him feel worse, he receives another punch in the gut when he makes his way to Eunji’s bedroom and overhears her say, “Papa…are you sure Daddy wasn’t hurting you?”

“No, baby, Daddy wasn’t hurting me.” Taehyung is sitting on the edge of Eunji’s bed where she’s tucked in, holding her stuffed tiger, Hobbes, close to her chest. Jungkook stops and leans against the doorway, shoving his hands in the pockets of his sweatpants. He’s afraid that if he tries to move closer, she’ll scream at him to get out.

“What were you guys doing?” Her eyes are big in her face and she glances cautiously at Jungkook before her gaze flits away, earning him one of the shittiest feelings ever.

“We were…” Taehyung hesitates, exchanging glances with Jungkook before turning back to Eunji and giving her a reassuring smile. “Me and Daddy were making love.”

“Oh.” Eunji’s adorable little face scrunches up in puzzlement. “What’s that?”

“Well, it’s…um…” Taehyung is blushing slightly and Jungkook finds himself just as curious as their daughter to hear Taehyung’s answer. Only his curiosity stems from wondering how on earth his husband is going to explain that he and Jungkook fuck like bunnies in a way that’s age-appropriate for a five-year-old.

“Well, you know how your daddy and I kiss each other? And hold hands?”

Eunji nods, still staring at Taehyung with wide eyes.

“Well, we do that to express our affection and our love for each other and…making love is just another way for us to do that.”

“Oh.” A pause. “How does it work?”

Despite stewing in a turmoil of parental guilt, Jungkook has to bite the inside of his cheek to keep himself from laughing. Their daughter was nothing if not curious. About everything.

Taehyung gives a slight cough which Jungkook is certain is meant to hide a snort of laughter. “You’re a little young to know all the details, pumpkin,” he says, reaching out and brushing a lock of hair away from her face. “But it involves kissing and touching and holding each other close and…other things. Nice things. Things that only grown-ups do,” he adds hastily.

A pout forms on Eunji’s face. “Why can’t I do it too?”

“Because it’s just for me and Daddy, sweetheart. Just like our date nights.”

“Okay…” Looking slightly mollified, she allows Taehyung to kiss her on the forehead and then kiss Hobbes on his fuzzy face because, as she always insisted Hobbes wants kisses too!

“Love you, baby girl,” Taehyung says, getting up from her bed. “Try to go back to sleep soon, okay?”

“Love you too, Papa. I will.”

Steeling himself, Jungkook goes into the room and sits down in the spot Taehyung had just vacated. Eunji regards him solemnly with her big brown eyes and while the look of accusation is gone, she still looks a little wary.

“Sorry we woke you up, baby girl,” Jungkook says softly. “Me and your papa didn’t mean to.”

“It’s okay…” She fiddles with one of Hobbes’s raggedy ears. “Is making love always so noisy?”

“Er…sometimes it can be. But we’ll be quieter from now on, I promise. And baby,” he continues, feeling his chest tighten, “you know I would never hurt your papa, right? Never ever?”

She nods but she still doesn’t look all the way convinced. For whatever reason, Eunji was fiercely protective of Taehyung. Jungkook supposes she gets it from him. And he can imagine how betrayed she would feel if she thought Jungkook was actually hurting him.

Eunji wordlessly holds out Hobbes to him so he can bestow a kiss on her beloved stuffed animal and it’s this gesture that lets him know that he’s mostly forgiven. So he gives Hobbes a kiss and then leans in to kiss Eunji on the cheek but decides to do his Bugs Bunny impression instead.

“Eh…what’s up, Doc?” he says, pulling his lips back to expose his bunny teeth, making obnoxious nibbling noises close to her ear, giving her a tickle.

“Daddeeee…” She giggles, turning her face away, and the tightness in Jungkook’s chest loosens a little. He was still capable of making her laugh and that was enough for him.

But the guilt still lingers as he and Taehyung make their way back to their bedroom, Eunji’s words echoing in his head.

“Daddy? Why are you hurting Papa?”

Did his daughter really think he was capable of such a thing? What was it about him that could make her think something like that?

He sits down on the edge of the bed, brooding over what had happened as Taehyung closes the door behind them and leans back against it.

“Well,” he says, sighing a little. “I didn’t think we’d have to teach her about the birds and the bees this early but I think we did okay, all things considered.” Then he shoots Jungkook a sultry glance, starting to slowly undo the tie on his robe. “So…you wanna hurt me some more?”

“It’s not funny, Tae!” Jungkook snaps.

“Babe, wha－”

“She thought I was hurting you.” Jungkook’s throat constricts as he rubs his thumb over his wedding ring. “If she could think I was capable of that, what else does she think I’m capable of?”

“Oh, sweetie.” Taehyung comes over and kneels down in front of him, gently taking Jungkook’s hands in his own. “Listen to me. The only reason she thought that is because she didn’t have any other context for what she was seeing. She’s only heard those sorts of noises in fight scenes in cartoons and stuff. It doesn’t have anything to do with you.”

“But－”

“Shush. No buts. If it had been the other way around, say if I had been on top of you or something, she probably would have thought that I was hurting you. But now she knows that wasn’t the case.” He gives Jungkook a reassuring smile, squeezing his hands. “That little girl loves you, to the moon and back. She knows in her heart that you wouldn’t hurt me. Or her.” He shrugs. “She just heard some weird noises, saw something she hadn’t seen before and she got a little scared, that’s all.”

“I guess…” A reluctant smile tugs at his lips. “Great explanation, by the way. I’m surprised you didn’t tell her that we were wrestling.”

Taehyung huffs a laugh. “I considered it. But at the same time, I don’t want her growing up thinking sex is something shameful or that it can’t be talked about. I want her to have a healthy attitude about it.”

“Yeah, me too,” Jungkook says. “But no boys until she’s twenty-five.”

Taehyung grins up at him. “Of course. But if she ends up liking girls…”

“...she can date them when she’s twenty,” Jungkook says, finishing what was now an old inside joke between them.

Taehyung laughs and then gets up, straddling Jungkook’s lap and looping his arms around his neck. “You’re a wonderful father, my love,” he says, kissing Jungkook’s temple. “And the best husband anyone could ask for.”

“No, that’s you,” Jungkook says, leaning up to kiss him. Then kisses him again, more hungrily this time.

“Mmm…you wanna wrestle?” Taehyung breathes as their kisses become hotter, wetter.

“Yeah,” Jungkook murmurs, slipping Taehyung’s robe off his shoulders. “But quietly.”

***

It was a cliché as old as parenthood itself, but Jungkook’s entire life had changed the day they brought Eunji home from the adoption center. In fact, his entire life had changed the moment he first held Eunji in his arms. Six months old, gazing up at him with those enormously round eyes, Jungkook’s heart felt like it was melting into a puddle of goo. He and Taehyung had spent a good ten or fifteen minutes just cooing over her until the adoption agent cleared her throat impatiently and reminded them they still had to sign the final set of papers before they could take her home.

Heading back to their apartment with Eunji tucked into her car seat in the back, Jungkook had never driven so cautiously in his entire life, going ten miles under the speed limit, flinching every time another car passed him.

“Why does everybody have to drive so fucking fast?” he muttered through clenched teeth. “Can’t they see the fucking ‘Baby on Board’ sign?”

“Language,” Taehyung gently admonished him, craning around in his seat to gaze at Eunji. “We have little ears listening now.”

When they got her home, they just sat on the couch together and cuddled her, marveling over her little hands, her tiny toes. She gurgled at them happily, waving her arms at them and Jungkook felt the exact same feeling he had experienced on the day he married Taehyung: like his heart was expanding, blooming inside his chest with unconditional love. The number of people he would gladly give his life for had just increased to two.

“Oh my god, I love her,” Taehyung had whispered as Eunji wrapped a small hand around his finger. “I am just so, so in love with her.”

“Me too,” Jungkook said, his throat thick with emotion. “I don’t want her to grow up. I want her to stay exactly the same way forever.”

“Boy, do I have some disappointing news for you about babies,” Taehyung joked. “They tend to get bigger.” He lowered his voice to an ominous whisper. “I’ve even heard rumors that they grow to be…” he gulped theatrically, “…teenagers.”

“Oh no…”

But grow she did and so rapidly that Jungkook felt like he could hardly keep up. Before he knew it, she was crawling and just as he was getting used to that, she was standing up. And just as he was getting used to that, she started walking and he and Taehyung would constantly have to drop what they were doing to give chase when their daughter decided she was going to go on her own solo adventures around the supermarket or the playground.

Jungkook loved that about her though, her curiosity, her adventurous spirit. The world seemed completely new to him because it was completely new to her and he loved watching her personality take shape.  As early as three, she developed a love of animals, pointing out every single dog they passed when they went to the park (“Papa, Daddy, look! Puppy!”), and always requesting animal stories at bedtime, everything from And Tango Makes Three to Stellaluna. That was the year they gave her Hobbes as one of her Christmas gifts and, even though she had a small army of stuffed animals lining her bed, the tiger usurped all the others and became her favorite. (“Maybe she’ll become a vet,” Taehyung had speculated. “Yeah! Or a biologist or something.” Jungkook replied. “I could see her studying animals in the wild. Like Jane Goodall!”)

Jungkook longed to give his daughter a puppy of her own, especially since during Eunji’s fourth Christmas, she had requested one in her letter to Santa. Taehyung had bit his lip and blinked back tears when they read it together, looking over the list scrawled in purple crayon.

“Oh no, she wants a puppy…” Taehyung said in a hushed voice. “She’ll be so disappointed…”

“Yeah…” Jungkook sighed, looking over the list, which also included a toy unicorn, a Hot Wheels set, and some new books. “But maybe we can get her a puppy one day…”

“Yeah…”

Their apartment building had a strict ‘no pets’ policy so getting a puppy while they still lived there was out of the question. They had been putting money away for a house and were close to being able to afford a down payment, closer now than ever before seeing as they had both gotten good promotions at their jobs over the last couple of years. Taehyung was now Deputy Chief Librarian at the public library where he worked, one of the youngest ever; and Jungkook was now in charge of the entire IT department at the video game company he had been working at ever since he graduated from college, steadily moving up the ladder throughout his career.

The only problem was that he was fucking miserable at his job.

He had only come to realize it more and more over the last couple of years how much he hated it there. He hated his domineering, micro-managing boss; he hated the stupid office politics that had employees backstabbing and trying to one-up each other with alarming regularity; and, with his promotion, he hated the longer hours he was forced to put in, hours that kept him away from his family, feeling like he hardly got to see Taehyung and Eunji during the week at all. He counted the hours until the weekend and dreaded Monday mornings, dreaded every day he had to get up and go to work.

That was when an idea started to percolate in his head, something that had been swimming around his subconscious ever since he was a teenager, something he had even mentioned to Taehyung a few times over the years but never actually actively pursued.

He wanted to design his own video game. Being an avid gamer since he was in high school, it only seemed natural that his mind would entertain ideas of creating his own one day, even if it was only a thought experiment, a sort of what if daydreaming thing. What if there was a video game with this sort of concept? What if there was a game with these sorts of mechanics? Wouldn’t that be cool?

But his practicality had won over his creativity and he had pursued a safer career. Breaking into the business wasn’t easy and there was so much competition out there. Besides, Jungkook had already won the life lottery by marrying the love of his life and starting a family with him. There was no need for him to get greedy and pursue his dream career as well.

But his vague ideas started to solidify into one concept, an idea for a game inspired by his daughter and her love for animals. It would be part Shadow of the Colossus, part The Last Guardian, featuring a young female protagonist traveling through a fantasy world, coming across different mythical creatures and, instead of killing them, saving them from different perils.

He started to jot down notes in a small notebook when he was bored at work, mapping out the various levels, doodling little sketches of the different creatures, outlining the story from beginning to end. Even as he worked on it, he still wasn’t serious about making it. He told himself it was just something to do to maintain his sanity at work.

But the idea wouldn’t go away and he kept filling the notebook with more and more plans for the game. It wasn’t until it was three-quarters of the way full that he finally showed it to Taehyung.

They had just put Eunji to bed and were snuggled into their own, their arms around each other, exchanging lazy kisses and playing footsie under the sheets. It wasn’t really meant to lead to anything but more often than not, it did. But that night, Jungkook pulled away before things got too heated, his heart pounding with anticipation. “Can I show you something?”

Taehyung grinned at him, sneaking another kiss onto his lips. “I’m sure it’s nothing I haven’t seen before,” he purred, trailing his hand down Jungkook’s chest to the waistband of his sweatpants, “but yeah, go ahead, show me…”

“My god, do you have to turn everything into an innuendo?”

“Me?” Taehyung gave a squeal of indignation and went to kick him under the sheets but Jungkook was already scrambling out of bed, laughing as he headed for his work bag and digging his notebook out of the side pocket.

Taehyung sat up, watching him curiously. “Oh, you were actually being serious. I thought you were trying to come on to me.”

“That’s usually the case,” Jungkook quipped, sliding back into bed beside him. Then he bit his lip, handing Taehyung the notebook. “But yeah, I, uh, wanted to show you this.”

“What is it?” Taehyung flipped open the notebook, reaching for his reading glasses on the bedside table. (Reading glasses that he had complained about getting because they made him feel “old” but Jungkook thought looked incredibly cute on him.)

“It’s just some notes I’ve been jotting down,” Jungkook said, leaning over Taehyung’s shoulder. “See, I’ve had this idea for this game…”

And then, before he could put his thoughts in order, the entire concept was spilling out of him as Taehyung paged through the notebook, telling his husband about his inspirations, the world of the game, the mechanics, the different creatures, and giving him an outline of the story from the beginning all the way to the ending. (Well, almost. He wanted to keep the climax as a surprise.)

Jungkook talked for so long, his voice went hoarse by the end of his long-winded explanation.

Taehyung was looking at a drawing of one of the fantasy creatures in his notebook, a massive tiger with rainbow stripes. “Kookie,” he said in a hushed voice, finally turning to face him. “You have to make this.”

“Really?” Jungkook felt himself flush, partly from embarrassment, partly from pleasure. “I mean, you like the idea of it?”

“Honey, I love it,” Taehyung said, staring at him in awe. “If a game like this was announced next week, I’d want to buy it. I’d pre-order it, I’d be so excited for it.” He turned back to the notebook, slowly turning through the pages. “God, the amount of detail you have for it already is incredible…”

“I can’t stop thinking about it,” Jungkook confessed. “I’ve been making notes on it at work for the past few weeks any time I get a spare moment.”

“Have you thought about showing it to your boss?”

“Well…” Jungkook had thought about presenting the idea to his boss, maybe ask for a meeting with the game developers who already worked there. But the thought of handing it over for other people to work on, where he probably would have no say over the final product…he didn’t like the thought of his idea being stolen from him and being turned into something unrecognizable. The company he worked for tended to churn out first-person shooters and fighter games. Knowing their brand, Jungkook figured they’d just take his concept and turn it into another monster hunter game.

“I don’t know if it’s the right fit for the company,” he said. “And…”

“And you don’t want to give those assholes you work for an idea this good.” Taehyung was well aware of Jungkook’s frustration at his job. “Could you work on it by yourself? Like, at home?”

“Technically, I could,” Jungkook said slowly. “I would just need to get some game development software for my computer…”

“Then you should do that,” Taehyung said, as if it were the simplest thing in the world. “And I’ll see what we have at the library for game development books and bring them home.”

With his husband’s enthusiastic support, Jungkook didn’t see how he could not follow through and start trying to transform his game idea into reality. True to his word, Taehyung brought home every book on game development he could find and Jungkook studied them religiously as if they were sacred texts. He downloaded game development software onto his computer, a program that he knew back-to-front already because it was the same software his company used. He knew how to code, had a working knowledge of graphic design and rendering so he had all the tools and the know-how－the only thing he was lacking was time.

Jungkook was still putting in long hours at his job and he refused to let his game take priority over time with his family. Weekends were for taking Eunji to the park or to bookstores or to see her grandparents or her Uncle Jimin and Uncle Yoongi. So he was squeezing in maybe an hour or two a week to work on the game and at the rate he was going, it would take him ten years just to finish a demo. But he kept plugging away at it, even sacrificing some quality time with Taehyung in the evenings to work on it before going to bed. Seeing as he had moved his computer into their bedroom when they brought Eunji home, he was at least still in the same room as his husband while he worked on it, sitting at his desk while Taehyung lounged in bed, reading. Guilt tugged at him every time and he would have happily abandoned working on his game to go fuck his husband silly (especially when Taehyung was wearing his reading glasses) except that Taehyung insisted that he work on it.

“I want to be able to play it someday, Kookie,” he would say. “I’ve already got it pre-ordered, remember?” And then he would smile that heart-melting smile and Jungkook would rededicate himself to the game. It was easy knowing that his husband was such a huge fan of a game he had never even played but there were dark moments, when Jungkook considered the insignificant progress he had made, and he wondered if he’d ever be able to actually share the game with Taehyung.

It was on a night when Jungkook was working on a tricky bit of code that he realized how much of an angel his husband was.

Taehyung had gotten out of bed and come up behind him while Jungkook was sitting at his desk, looping his arms around his neck and resting his cheek on the top of Jungkook’s head. “Mmm…how’s it going, sweetie?”

“It’s going,” Jungkook replied, tilting his head back so Taehyung could give him an upside-down kiss, Spiderman-style. Then he sighed. “Slowly but slowly.”

Taehyung hummed and then came around the chair to plonk himself in Jungkook’s lap, giving him a steady look. “How long do you think it would take you to finish it if it was the only thing you were working on?” he asked. “Like, if this was your job?”

Jungkook slipped his arms around his husband’s waist, frowning slightly as he considered the question. “Dunno…a year maybe?” he said. “Year and a half at the most? But I’d have to be working on it for at least seven or eight hours a day－”

“Well,” Taehyung said, his voice deceptively light. “I’ve been doing some calculations and－”

“No.” Jungkook was already shaking his head, knowing what his husband was going to say. “We’re not doing that.”

“Why not?”

“No, Tae.” He scowled at his computer screen, at the unfinished lines of code. “I’m not putting that burden on you. Or on Eunji.”

“Would you at least listen to my idea before you say no?” Taehyung placed a hand on Jungkook’s cheek, making Jungkook look at him. “I’ve given it a lot of thought and I think there’s a way for us to make this work.”

“Okay,” Jungkook said reluctantly. “I’m listening.” He was still planning on refusing but he figured he could at least humor Taehyung.

“Say you quit your job,” Taehyung said. “A job I know that you are miserable at. Say you work on this instead.” He nodded at the computer screen. “I think if you got a part-time job, like as a delivery driver or something, we’d be fine. We might have to scrimp a little, shop for some things second-hand but I don’t think we’d have to dip into our savings at all. And we could still be setting aside some money every month for Eunji’s college fund.”

Jungkook shook his head, hating how much the idea appealed to him. “It’s too risky,” he said. “Even if I finished the game, there’s no guarantee I’d be able to sell it somewhere. Or make it work as an indie game. And my job isn’t that bad－”

Taehyung actually let out a snort of laughter. “Sweetie, you hate your job. So much that I’m surprised you haven’t rage quit already.”

Jungkook grimaced. It was true that his job was soul-crushing and unfulfilling and every day he had to go there was like stepping over the threshold of Hell but still…there were worse things than having a shitty job.

Like being a burden on your family.

“It doesn’t matter if I hate my job,” Jungkook said, looking up at Taehyung. “It matters that you and Eunji are happy. And secure. I’m not sacrificing my family’s comfort for some silly pipe-dream－”

“You mean the family that you hardly get to see during the week?” Taehyung’s tone was gentle, devoid of blame, but his words contained a very harsh truth. How many dinners had he missed because he was forced to put in overtime? How many date nights had he postponed with Taehyung because, guess what, his boss wanted him to come in on yet another Saturday? If things continued like this, he wouldn’t be able to spend any quality time with Taehyung or Eunji until his daughter’s high school graduation. But still…

“What if it doesn’t work though?” he said quietly, giving voice to his main insecurity. “What if I spend all of this time and effort on this thing and nothing comes of it?”

“That’s always a chance you take when you try something new,” Taehyung said, running a soothing hand through Jungkook’s hair. “No matter what it is. And I don’t think nothing will come of it. Worse case scenario, you find another job in your field but this time with game development experience, other skills. That’s not nothing.”

“Yeah, but－”

“Look,” Taehyung said, tapping him on the nose. “What example would you rather set for our daughter? That you should stay in a job that makes you miserable just because the money’s good? Because it offers security? Or would you rather teach her to go after what she wants, to pursue what she’s passionate about?”

“Well, of course I want that for Eunji but－”

“Stop with the excuses.” Taehyung poked him in the chest, glaring at him. “I’m trying to tell you that your idea is good. It’s really good. And if I have to continue to see you walk through our front door every evening with a look on your face like you’ve been forced to torture puppies all day, I swear I’ll find a way to get you fired.” His expression softened as he cupped Jungkook’s cheek, stroking his thumb over his skin. “Don’t let your dreams die, my love,” he whispered. “Not while there’s still the possibility of making them come true.”

Jungkook gazed up at his husband, his heart swelling with a fierce kind of love, one that made him want to shout to the heavens and fall to his knees and weep at the same time. How was it that he deserved this man? What had he ever done in his life to earn Taehyung’s love?

But that was the thing about a love like the one they shared. It made Jungkook want to be worthy of it.

So he quit his job. And got to work.

It wasn’t easy. Hell, it was terrifying quitting his job and dedicating his days to something that wasn’t bringing in any income, something that was so risky it was clinically insane to even attempt to do something like this. But with his husband’s unwavering support and belief in Jungkook’s ability, there was no way he wasn’t going to at least try to make it work. Somehow.

And there were benefits to being a stay-at-home husband and father. He got to actually spend time with Eunji and Taehyung in the mornings instead of rushing out the door to work, leaving them with nothing more than a hasty hug and kiss goodbye. Now he could linger over breakfast with them, braid Eunji’s hair if she requested it, make lunches for his husband and daughter (peanut butter and jelly sandwiches for Eunji, lettuce wraps for Taehyung). He got to walk Eunji to school with Taehyung and be there to pick her up afterward instead of her having to go to daycare. And he loved playing househusband to Taehyung, having dinner ready for him when he got home from the library and taking over all of the cleaning, something they had usually tried to split before.

“I don’t expect you to do all of the chores just because you’re at home, Kookie,” Taehyung had said to him, sounding slightly exasperated.

“Tae, I’m the one at home, so I do the cleaning,” Jungkook had retorted. “You’re the main breadwinner right now so I am not letting you lift a finger.”

“But－”

“Shush. No buts.”

Jungkook did have a couple of side hustles to help Taehyung with the bills－he signed up as a driver for Uber and Skip the Dishes, delivering food to people and people to places. And he advertised his computer knowledge, online and in a flyer Taehyung put up in the library, offering his tech services to anyone who might need them－students taking their first computer courses, or seniors struggling with how to work an iPad. It was something he had done in his college years to make money, his own little side business, and it still proved to be a fairly lucrative side gig even now.

But his video game was still his main focus. He woke up at the crack of dawn to get a few hours of work in before breakfast, being as quiet as possible so as not to disturb his husband. And then after taking Eunji to school and seeing Taehyung off to work, Jungkook would get another couple of hours in, take a break, dedicate himself to one of his side hustles in the afternoon before going to pick up Eunji and then the rest of the day was spent with his family until the evening where he would get in another hour or two before bed. So, all in all, he was getting in a good seven or eight hours every day and the game was really starting to flourish. Six months in, he already had several finished levels for the game and, if they weren’t exactly polished, they were at least playable. Every time he finished one, he would have Taehyung sit in his lap and play the level all the way through and then his husband would provide feedback.

“Stay away from my fucking tiger, you fucking assholes.”

One night they are doing this very thing, Taehyung sitting on Jungkook’s lap as he plays through the level with the rainbow-striped tiger, where the protagonist has to save him from a gang of morally-corrupt poachers. As he has with all of the mythical creatures, Taehyung has gone ahead and gotten himself emotionally attached to the tiger, swearing a blue streak as he intimidates the poachers with a combination of magic spells.

“I swear to god, you even think about touching him, I will gut you, motherfucker.”

Which wasn’t actually possible, seeing as there wasn’t any actual killing in the game. Jungkook hadn’t wanted a game that was supposed to be dedicated to his daughter filled with blood and guts but that doesn’t stop his husband from treating each antagonist as his sworn enemy, aggressively protecting the creatures from harm, going into full Papa Bear mode as he fights to save them. In a previous level which had involved leading a herd of winged horses through a perilous thunderstorm, Taehyung had kept restarting the level every time he lost so much as a single horse to a zigzagging thunderbolt, only satisfied once he had seen all of the horses through the storm.

Taehyung’s emotional attachment to the game is definitely gratifying for Jungkook to see, hoping it meant that anyone who might play it in the future would feel that same sense of connection. Still, he feels a bit of trepidation when he thinks of what the final level involves, how his husband will react. He still hasn’t told Taehyung how the game ends.

“There we go.” Taehyung makes quick work of the final poacher, sending him running off in a whirl of magic and then he leans back against Jungkook’s chest in anticipation of the cut scene.

“Oh, he’s so beautiful,” Taehyung croons as the tiger approaches the girl, lowering his massive striped head to touch his forehead to hers in a gesture of thanks.

“You say that about all of the creatures,” Jungkook reminds him.

“Yeah, but I love him especially, he reminds me of Hobbes…”

Jungkook chuckles softly, resting his chin on Taehyung’s shoulder. “Yeah, I had to fit him in somewhere…” They watch as the small black cat that accompanies the girl winds its way around the tiger’s front paws, looking up at him with curious green eyes.

“I love that you put the cat in here,” Taehyung says, smiling at the screen. “I think he’s a really good addition to the game…makes me feel less alone when I’m playing it.”

“I owe that dumb cat a lot,” Jungkook grumbles. “Least I could do was make an honorary pixel version of him.”

“Yeah…” Taehyung says thoughtfully, rubbing Jungkook’s arm. “God, that was such a weird day, wasn’t it?”

That was putting it mildly. Only a few months ago, they had all woken up on what had seemed like a typical Monday morning but right from the get-go the day had just seemed…off. For one thing, Eunji, who usually couldn’t wait to get to school, was being unusually fussy, dragging her feet and pouting. As a result, they were running late, the three of them half-jogging down the sidewalk, Taehyung and Jungkook on either side of Eunji, leading her by the hand. As they hurried along, Jungkook was acutely aware of a strange prickling feeling at the back of his neck, like Pop Rocks under his skin.

They had just gotten to the crosswalk leading to the school when Eunji piped up, “Papa! Daddy! Kitty!” Jungkook looked round to see a fluffy black cat following them, its green eyes fixed on Eunji.

“Baby, we don’t have time to pet the kitty right now.” Jungkook turned away, stabbing impatiently at the button for the crosswalk light.

“Oh, a couple of pats won’t hurt,” Taehyung said. “We have to wait for the light anyway.” He and Eunji crouched down and the cat trotted up to them, purring. “Hold out your hand, sweetie, let him sniff you first…”

Jungkook remained standing, frowning down at the cat, the prickling feeling increasing as he stared at it. The cat was giving him a weird sense of déjà vu, like he had seen it somewhere before－

The light changed and Jungkook reached for Eunji, ready to pull her away from the attention-demanding cat. “Come on, baby, we gotta go.”

But Eunji was completely absorbed in the cat, a huge smile on her face as she stroked its dark fur, seemingly oblivious to everything else around her as the cat rumbled away like a jet engine. “He’s so soft, Papa!”

“Baby－”

Taehyung looked up at him, a grin tugging at his own mouth. “We’re already late,” he said, shrugging. “What’s a few more minutes?”

“And you say I indulge her. And it’s a few more minutes of waiting for the next light－”

That’s when he heard the screech of tires and he turned to see a car careen through the intersection, crashing into the side of an SUV, the heart-stopping BANG of metal on metal renting the air. There were panicked shouts as traffic came to a standstill around the two wrecked cars, people opening their doors and leaning out for a closer look.

Behind him, he heard Eunji let out a frightened wail and he turned to her, scooping her up into his arms, holding her close. “It’s okay, baby,” he said, trying to soothe her even though his voice was shaking. “It’s okay, you’re okay…” Beside him, Taehyung was already on the phone reporting the accident, calling for emergency services, his free hand resting on Eunji’s back, helping Jungkook to reassure her.

Jungkook exchanged glances with his husband, noting Taehyung’s pale face, knowing his own expression was just as stricken. If they had been crossing the sidewalk, the car would have smashed right into them.

There was a soft ‘meow’ and Jungkook looked down to see the cat winding its way around his ankles, still purring away, its monkey-like tail brushing against his pant leg. It blinked up at him with bright green eyes and Jungkook felt that prickling at the back of his neck again. Then, with a soft little huff, the cat whisked away, scampering down the sidewalk until it was out of sight, seeming to vanish into thin air. As if, its business taken care of, it had been called back home.

Thankfully, no one had been seriously hurt in the accident, both drivers just a little shaken up but Jungkook still has nightmares sometimes about what might have happened if the cat hadn’t been there.

So he went back to his game and retrofitted the cat in, assigning him the role of guardian and companion to the protagonist. And it somehow works even better to have him in there, a nice little homage to the dark ball of fluff that had inadvertently (or on purpose?) saved his family.

Taehyung shuts down the game and then snuggles closer to Jungkook, resting his cheek against Jungkook’s temple. “It’s really coming along now,” he murmurs. “Any idea when you might finish?”

“Another few months maybe? Then I’ll be shopping the demo around to different companies and who knows how long that’s going to take－”

“Don’t get ahead of yourself,” Taehyung reminds him. “One thing at a time, remember?”

“I know.” He gives his husband a squeeze, kissing Taehyung’s neck. “You don’t know how lucky I feel,” he whispers, placing another kiss just beneath Taehyung’s jawline, “to have such an amazing, supportive husband.”

“You’d do the same thing for me.” Taehyung sighs, shifting against him. “I know you’d do the same thing for me, Kookie…”

“I’d do anything for you,” Jungkook says, sliding Taehyng’s pajama pants off, starting to stroke him. “Anything…”

“Oh, Kookie…”

They fuck in the small confines of the chair, Taehyung’s back against Jungkook’s chest as Jungkook thrusts into him, sliding Taehyung’s tee shirt up his chest so he can play with his nipples, whispering dirty words into his husband’s ear.

“So good for me, baby, so good…you like that? You love the way this dick makes you feel?”

“Yes, Jungkook, I love it, fuck－”

As Taehyung shudders against him and Jungkook finds his own release, he thinks again about just how much he loves his husband. He would do anything for this man who holds his heart and takes such special care of it. He would give him the world, if he could, or take a bullet for him. And every day he’s thankful that he doesn’t have to face the world without him.

So he’s especially grateful to that stupid fucking cat.

***

“Remember, shhh…inside voice.”

“Inside voice,” Eunji echos quietly.

Jungkook holds Eunji’s hand as they step into the library, a small stack of books under his arm. Automatically scanning the area for Taehyung but not seeing him, he heads over to the front desk where Hae, the young library assistant, was typing on the computer.

“Hey, you guys,” she says, looking up with a friendly smile. “Looking for Taehyung?”

“Yeah, is he around?”

“He’s just in a meeting right now but he should be out soon.” She turns to Eunji. “Hey, sweetie, read anything good this week?”

“I really liked Mr. Popper’s Penguins,” Eunji informs her. “But when I asked, Daddy said penguins wouldn’t make good pets and Papa said our apartment was too small anyway.”

“Well, that’s－”

“But that’s okay,” Eunji goes on. “I think I’d still rather have a puppy. Because they don’t eat fish and we wouldn’t have to keep it in our fridge.”

Hae exchanges an amused glance with Jungkook. “You know what, when you put it that way, I think I’d rather have a puppy too.”

Jungkook hands her the books they had taken out last week. “Will you let Tae know we’re here once he’s done?”

“Yeah, of course.”

“Thanks, Hae.”

He and Eunji head for the children’s section on the upper floor, his daughter skipping ahead of him, eager to get to the books. Thanks to Taehyung, the library was like her second home and Eunji was on track to becoming an even bigger bookworm than her papa. (Taehyung had practically swelled with pride when Eunji had entered kindergarten at a second grade reading level.) Because of their tight budget, they couldn’t buy Eunji quite as many books as they used to so Jungkook brings her to the library after school a couple of times a week where she could bring home as many books as she wanted and Jungkook could spend some time with his husband.

Eunji was already lost in the bookshelves, scanning through titles, occasionally pulling out a book to look at the cover so Jungkook wanders over to the reading area and sits down on one of the many beanbag chairs to patiently wait until she had made her selections. Keeping her in sight, Jungkook sends Taehyung a quick text:

>wandering aimlessly around the library looking for my long lost husband…calling out your name but ppl keep shushing me…<

Grinning, he slips his phone back in his pocket and fifteen minutes later, Eunji comes trotting back to him, holding a small pile of books to her chest.

“Let’s see what you got, baby girl,” Jungkook says, shifting over on the beanbag chair to allow her to sit next to him. “Hmm…Dragons Love Tacos…The Caboose Who Got Loose…The Tiger Who Came to Tea…Hobbes will like that one.”

“Yeah! That’s what I thought too.”

“Okay, you read or I read?”

“I read.”

Snuggling next to him, Eunji opens The Caboose Who Got Loose and begins to read to him, her voice soft and measured and Jungkook feels a warm glow of contentment in his chest. During her bedtime story when it’s the three of them, Eunji usually likes Taehyung to read because he has a real flair for the dramatic, putting on different voices for the characters and acting shocked when something surprising or unexpected happens in the story. But when it’s just her and Jungkook at the library, Eunji prefers to read to him, probably because he doesn’t have the same gift for narration that Taehyung does and she’d rather do it herself. Jungkook doesn’t mind though; he’d rather listen to his daughter’s or his husband’s voice than listen to his own and he gets to tease Taehyung about how he’s probably an actor in some parallel universe.

Just as they’re getting to the exciting part in the story (oh no! The caboose got loose!), Taehyung appears, beaming at them.

“Room for one more?”

“Hi, Papa!”

“Hey, sweetheart.” He greets Eunji with a kiss on her forehead and then greets Jungkook with a kiss on the lips, and they all squish together on the beanbag chair while Eunji finishes reading the story. Right away, Jungkook can tell something is on his husband’s mind; he seems a bit distracted while Eunji reads, worrying his lower lip with his teeth, his eyes not following along with the text like they usually do. When Eunji reaches the last page, she shows Taehyung the other books she had picked out.

“Ooh, good choices…but only three? That doesn’t seem like nearly enough for you, kiddo.” He smiles at her. “Why don’t you go pick out a couple more?”

“Okay!”

Eunji runs off to browse the bookshelves and Taehyung turns to Jungkook.

“What’s up?” Jungkook asks him.

Taehyung sighs. “There’s a library conference they want me to go to with Hana in a couple of weeks…it’s out of the province so we’ll be flying there. Normally they would just want Hana to go but seeing as I’m her deputy, they think it’d be valuable for me to go too. Attend some seminars, stuff like that.”

“Oh…how long’s the conference?” Jungkook can already feel his heart sinking at the thought of Taehyung being away.

“Five days, plus we’ll probably be leaving a day early so we can get there in plenty of time. So, I’d say six or seven including travel time.”

Jungkook groans, wrapping his arms around Taehyung, pulling him close. “I miss you already.”

Taehyung laughs, kissing the corner of his mouth. “It’s only for a week, you dork.” Then he sighs, snuggling into Jungkook’s chest. “But, yeah, I’m gonna miss you guys too.”

The next two weeks fly by and, all too soon, Jungkook is dropping Taehyung off at the airport, kissing him goodbye as Taehyung promises to FaceTime with him and Eunji at every chance he gets. With a final wave, Jungkook watches Taehyung go through the gate and, just like that, time seems to slow to a crawl.

Jungkook tries to make the days go by as quickly as possible, throwing himself into his almost-completed game and trying to come up with things that he and Eunji can do together like baking cookies, or going to the park. But Eunji misses Taehyung too, telling Jungkook “I miss Papa” at least ten times a day and looking forlorn. They make quite the glum little pair, Eunji pouting and fussing over her food at dinnertime and Jungkook shuffling around like a zombie because he’s hardly getting any sleep. He never sleeps well when he’s apart from Taehyung, tossing and turning for hours in a bed that feels way too big, hugging a pillow to his chest, his only comfort knowing Taehyung is doing the same. Sometimes he’ll just think ‘fuck it’ and get up and work on his game some more. He’s almost finished with the final level and he’s thinking he might even be able to have it done so Taehyung can play it when he comes home.

The day before Taehyung is due to come back home, Jungkook finds himself at the kitchen table with Eunji, trying to cajole her into finishing her broccoli.

“Come on, one more bite? One more bite and then we can watch a movie.”

Eunji looks at him, her lower lip jutted out, arms folded across her chest. “Can we watch Spirit?”

Jungkook bites the inside of his cheek. That stupid horse movie always makes him cry. “Yeah, sure.”

Satisfied, Eunji finishes her broccoli and then they sit down to watch the movie. They aren’t ten minutes into the film before Jungkook starts tearing up and it’s only through sheer force of will that he manages to hold his sobs in. Normally, Taehyung would be here with them, sitting on the other side of Eunji, one arm slung over the back of the sofa, mirroring Jungkook so they could hold hands throughout the movie. But tonight all Jungkook has to hold on to are the sofa cushions, which makes this movie doubly painful to sit through because it’s mostly ninety minutes of this cartoon horse being separated from his family. Thankfully, it has a happy ending but the film seems to require that you are left feeling like your heart’s been ripped out of your chest before you get to it.

“That was really good!” Eunji says once the credits roll, completely unfazed. “I really like the part when Spirit jumps across the canyon.”

“Yeah, ‘s a really good part.” Jungkook sniffles, wiping at his eyes. “Come on, baby, it’s your bedtime.”

He helps Eunji get ready for bed and then tucks her in, opening his mouth to ask what book she wants for a bedtime story when she says, once again, “I miss Papa.”

Jungkook looks at her, taking in the grave expression on her face, as if she thinks Taehyung has gone for good and that he’s never coming back. He feels his chest tighten. This is the first time either of them have been away from Eunji for such a long stretch of time and if the week feels like a month to Jungkook, he realizes it must feel like an eternity to a little kid.

Jungkook sighs. “I know you do, sweetheart,” he says. “I miss him too. But he’ll be home tomorrow and then we can－”

“Can you tell me a story about him?”

Jungkook frowns. “About Papa?”

“Yeah. Like…” Her little forehead scrunches up as she thinks for a few seconds. “…how did you guys fall in love?”

Jungkook can’t help but smile. A hopeless romantic, just like her papa.

“Well...you know me and Papa met at school, right? At college?” Eunji nods and Jungkook goes on. “So, me and your papa were assigned to be roommates with each other and live in a dorm room together and we met on the very first day we moved in. I remember I was just getting my computer set up when your papa walked in.”

Eunji giggles. “Was it love at first sight?”

“Yeah…” Jungkook smiles softly as he casts his mind back to that day when he had first met Taehyung. “At least, for me it was.”

“Hey, roomie!” And Jungkook had turned around to see the most beautiful boy he had ever laid eyes on…

 “Did you ask Papa for a date right away?”

“No, not right away…you see, your papa was dating another boy at the time.”

Eunji’s eyes widen, her mouth falling open. “Papa dated someone else?”

Jungkook has to fight back a laugh at his daughter’s outraged indignation. Then again, it must be weird for a kid to imagine their parents being with anyone else but each other.

“Yeah, I hate to break it to you, kiddo, but me and your papa weren’t each other’s first boyfriends.”

Eunji looks almost offended. “That’s so weird…”

“I know, right? But your papa was the first and only person I’ve ever been in love with. So there’s that.”

“What happened with the boy Papa was dating?”

“Well…” There isn’t a whole lot of that story that Jungkook is willing to divulge to his five-year-old daughter. But he figures he can at least give her the sanitized version. “One day the boy Papa was dating did something that really, um, hurt your papa’s feelings. I saw him crying about it and then went to, ah, comfort him. Because I didn’t like seeing your papa hurt.”

“Did you give him a hug?”

“Yeah…yeah, I gave him a hug.”

It was a bit more than a hug. After Taehyung had found out Minho had cheated on him (with evidence oh so helpfully provided by Jungkook), he had come back to their dorm room, completely devastated, and Jungkook had gotten out of his bed and gotten into Taehyung’s, holding him in his arms. Wiping his tears away. Kissing him. Fucking him.

“F-fuck, Jungkook, yes, right there, yes, oh god, please － ”

Yeah, definitely not something he can tell his daughter about.

“Then, after a while, I asked Papa out on a date and he said yes,” he continues. “I took him to a mini-golf course for our first date.”

“You took Papa mini-golfing?” Eunji’s face lights up. “That’s so much fun!”

“Yeah, it was.”

“Who won?”

“Uh…” Jungkook pauses, searching his memory. “I’m not sure exactly. I think I did but, honestly, I was just so happy to be on a date with your papa, I wasn’t really focused too much on winning.”

“That’s because you had already won his heart,” Eunji says sagely. “You didn’t need to win anything else.”

Jungkook chuckles. “That’s right, kiddo,” he says. “And I’m the luckiest guy in the world because I have your papa and I have you.” He leans forward and kisses her on the forehead. “So I’ve got everything I could ever want.”

Except for Taehyung to actually be here right now his mind whispers and in an instant, the full force of missing his husband hits him like a tidal wave, a hollow ache rising in his chest. It’s so stupid, Taehyung hasn’t even been gone for that long, he’ll be back in less than twenty-four hours but god, Jungkook just wants him here with them. Reading a bedtime story, helping him tuck Eunji in before they retire to their own bedroom where Jungkook can kiss him and cuddle him and hold him close. He just wants Taehyung here.

Something must have shown on his face because Eunji asks, “Does it hurt, Daddy?”

“Does what hurt, baby?”

“Being away from Papa.” She studies him, her face thoughtful. “It looks like it hurts.”

If Jungkook had felt like crying during that stupid horse movie, it’s nothing compared to what he feels like doing right now. His eyes stinging, he has to blink rapidly and take a few deep breaths to keep himself from collapsing into a sobbing mess in front of his daughter.

“Yeah, baby, it hurts,” he manages to say. “It hurts in here.” He taps himself on the chest. “But it’s okay, I know it’s only temporary. And being with you makes it hurt less.”

“I don’t think married people should be away from each other,” Eunji says. “If it hurts so much.”

“I don’t think so either, sweetheart,” Jungkook says. “But sometimes it can’t be helped.”

Eunji seems to hesitate for a moment and then she holds Hobbes out to him. “You can have Hobbes tonight if you want, Daddy. I know he’s not Papa but he’s still a good snuggler.”

Jungkook smiles, his heart melting at his daughter’s cuteness. “No, baby, you keep him. He likes snuggling with you more. But thanks for the offer, that’s very kind of you.” He gives Hobbes a kiss and then one more to Eunji before getting up and heading to the door. “Night night, baby girl. Love you.”

“Love you too, Daddy. Try not to miss Papa too much.”

Jungkook laughs softly as he turns out the light. “I’ll try my best.”

Once he’s back in his own bedroom, he’s hit with yet another wave of loneliness. Maybe he should have taken Eunji up on her offer and taken Hobbes with him as a temporary snuggle buddy. But a stuffed tiger would be a poor substitute for his husband anyway.

He pulls out his phone, checking the time and doing some quick mental calculations. It wasn’t too late, Taehyung was probably still up…

He and Eunji had already FaceTimed with Taehyung earlier in the afternoon for a few brief minutes but the majority of it had been taken up by Eunji telling Taehyung about her day at school. And telling his daughter about when he and Taehyung had first gotten together has left him feeling all wistful and nostalgic and in serious need of hearing his husband’s voice, if only for a few minutes.

He places the call before he can talk himself out of it, slipping into bed as he keeps the phone pressed to his ear.

Taehyung picks up on the second ring. “I was literally just thinking about calling you.”

“Yeah?” Jungkook grins, the ache in his chest easing a little. “Must be our married couple telepathy at work again.”

“Must be.” Taehyung laughs. “Like the time we both brought home pizza for dinner as a surprise.”

“Oh yeah.” They had been stuck eating leftover pizza for every meal for days on end and had made a pact to text each other before picking up dinner again. “Well, with our married couple telepathy, you should be able to guess what book I read to Eunji tonight.”

“Trick question. She would have read it to you.”

“Damn, you’re good. Okay, what book did she read to me?”

“Um…one of the ones she got from the library, I suppose. The tiger one?”

“Nope.”

“The dragon one, then.”

“Good guess but no. Come on, Tae, can’t you read my mind?”

“I think you’re tricking me, Kookie…” Jungkook can practically hear the pout in Taehyung’s voice.

“Okay, okay, I’m just messing with you. There was no bedtime story. Eunji asked me to tell her about how you and I fell in love.”

There’s a significant pause on the line before Taehyung says cautiously, “…what did you tell her, exactly?”

“Oh, I told her everything. All the dirty details including when, where, and how often we had sex. She was horrified. But I also like to think she was a little bit impressed with her daddy.”

Taehyung snorts. “You’re such a liar. And you know how I know that you’re a liar? Because if you really told her the full story with all of the details, you’d still be talking.”

“True.” Jungkook says. “We did a lot of fucking.”

“Stop.” More snorts of laughter. “You’re terrible, Kookie…”

“Not at sex though.”

“No, not at sex. Far from it.” Taehyung sighs, sounding wistful. “You really spoil me, you know.  I don’t even remember what bad sex was like.”

“That’s because sex with some shrinky-dink who couldn’t even make you cum isn’t worth remembering.”

“Kookie!”

Taehyung dissolves into more gales of laughter and, even though Jungkook had meant it as a joke, he still feels a sort of mild indignation that Taehyung’s first boyfriend hadn’t cared at all about his pleasure. Which was ludicrous because that was the best part about making love with Taehyung－seeing his eyes roll back, feeling his legs trembling, hearing him moan and sigh and scream. His husband also has the sexiest ‘O’ face as far as Jungkook is concerned, his face flushed with color, mouth falling open, eyes wide and amazed as if he was seeing stars. Making Taehyung cum made Jungkook feel like a fucking sex god, yet at the same time made him feel incredibly humble－to think that he could still make his husband’s toes curl after all these years, that Taehyung was always left sated and content after sex, lying across his chest, looking at him with slightly glazed eyes, a soft smile on his lips.

It was one of the best feelings in the world.

“I really miss you,” Jungkook says, wanting Taehyung here with him now more than ever. Just so he could hold him.

Taehyung’s laughter trails away and he heaves a sigh. “I miss you too, hubby bun,” he whispers. “I hate being away from you guys. Tomorrow can’t come fast enough.”

“Yeah, I know. Stay on the phone with me? Until one of us falls asleep?”

“You read my mind.”

They stay on the phone for who knows how long, mostly reminiscing about their college days when they had first met and fallen in love. ‘I remember the first time I saw you with your shirt off, I swear to god I actually drooled a bit.’ ‘Oh god, remember when I walked in on you and Minho having sex? That was a fucking nightmare!’ ‘Remember when you first called me your boyfriend?’ ‘Remember when you first told me you loved me?’ Remember…? Remember…?’

 They talk for hours, whispering about their shared memories and Jungkook isn’t sure who falls asleep first.

“Do you think Papa will like the picture I drew for him, Daddy?” Eunji asks, clutching the bluebird drawing she had made as they weave their way through the crowded airport.

“Of course he will, honey, Papa will love it.” A spray of color catches Jungkook’s eye and he stops, pulling Eunji over to the little flower shop tucked between a convenience store and a Cinnabon. “Hang on, let’s get your Papa some flowers...”

“Okay!”

“You know what Papa’s favorite kind of flower is?”

“Sunflowers!”

“That’s right, sunflowers.”

Jungkook buys the biggest bouquet of sunflowers he can afford (which admittedly, isn’t very big) and then takes Eunji’s hand again and leads her over to the arrivals gate. He feels jittery with anticipation and beside him, Eunji bounces up and down on her toes, looking around anxiously.

“How long, Daddy?”

“It looks like his plane just landed so it should be any minute now...”

In fact, it’s two minutes later that Taehyung comes through the gate, walking beside Hana, his face breaking into a huge smile when he spots them. Waving to Hana who goes off to greet her husband, Taehyung makes a beeline for them, his eyes sparkling with joy.

“Papa!”

Eunji dashes across the floor towards Taehyung who immediately crouches down and sweeps her up into his arms, hugging her close.

“Oh, my baby, Papa missed you so much!”

“I missed you too, Papa!” Eunji pulls back to look at Taehyung, grinning at him. “But I think Daddy missed you way more!”

Taehyung looks over at Jungkook who is still standing there like an idiot, holding the bouquet of sunflowers and just drinking in the sight of his husband.

“Well, then,” Taehyung says, exchanging a cheeky look with Eunji, “I think your daddy should come over here and give me a big kiss hello, don’t you?”

“Yeah, Daddy, come and give Papa a kiss!”

Grinning sheepishly, Jungkook walks up to them, leaning in to greet Taehyung with a soft kiss on the lips. “Hi.”

“Hi,” Taehyung murmurs back. “Missed you.”

“Missed you too.” He holds out the sunflowers. “These are for you.”

“Sunflowers? For me?” Taehyung gasps, putting on a bit of a show for Eunji, but Jungkook can tell he’s genuinely pleased. “Thank you, sweetheart.”

“And I drew this for you, Papa,” Eunji pipes up, holding out her bluebird drawing.

“Oh, sweet pea, it’s beautiful! I love it so much, thank you.” He gives Eunji a peck on the cheek and then gives Jungkook another peck on the lips and Jungkook can’t help it any longer－he steps closer and engulfs his husband and his daughter in his arms, finally feeling whole once again.

“Oh, Kookie,” Taehyung whispers, the tips of his fingers grazing the nape of Jungkook’s neck. “It feels so good to be home again.”

“Feels good to have you back.” Out of the corner of his eye, he can see that Hana and her husband aren’t greeting each other like they haven’t seen each other in years but he doesn’t care. If he’s a little over-the-top in greeting his husband after a mere week away, it should only be understandable.

He is married to the most amazing man in the world, after all.

Once they’re home, it’s time to get Eunji ready for bed and, even though he can tell that Taehyung is tired, he ends up reading not one but two bedtime stories to her and listens patiently as she describes all the dogs she had seen that week in vivid detail.

Once they’ve tucked her in and closed the door, Jungkook doesn’t hesitate to sweep Taehyung up into his arms and carry him to their bedroom.

“What do you need?” Jungkook whispers.

Taehyung sighs, looping his arms around Jungkook’s neck, leaning his head against his shoulder. “Shower. Definitely a shower and then bed.”

“To sleep?”

Taehyung hums. “Actually I’m hoping the shower will wake me up.”

In the steamy heat of the shower, Jungkook spends his time lathering Taehyung up, massaging the soap over his skin, the two of them exchanging lazy kisses, soft caresses. This seems to have an energizing effect on both of them so Jungkook kneels on the wet tiles, whispering for Taehyung to turn around, spreading his cheeks and licking into him, taking his time to get him nice and wet and ready.

“I-inside,” Taehyung gasps, his voice pleading. “P-please, need you inside.”

Jungkook lifts Taehyung up, pressing him back against the shower tiles, cradling him in his arms as he pushes inside him, going slow so he can savor the warmth of his husband’s skin pressed against him, the expressions of pleasure flickering across his face, the tight velvet heat of him. Eventually, his arms get sore and he stumbles out of the shower and carries Taehyung to the bed where they collapse on top of the sheets and finish in a frenzy of rough kisses and erratic thrusting, drops of water still beading on their skin.

“That was...amazing...”

Taehyung’s voice is breathless, his chest heaving as he rests his head on Jungkook’s shoulder, their legs entwined.

Jungkook chuckles, running his fingertips up and down Taehyung’s back. “You’re only saying that because you haven’t gotten any dick in a week.”

“Shut up.” Taehyung giggles, giving him a playful kick. “Your dick is always amazing, whether it’s been a week or a day or an hour since I’ve had it.”

“Hmm. Good to know.” He leans in for a kiss, gently biting down on Taehyung’s plush bottom lip. “Glad I haven’t lost my touch.”

“You could never lose your touch. If you ever did, I would be convinced that someone had killed you and was wearing you as a skin.”

Jungkook snorts. “God, I missed you.”

“I missed you too...” Taehyung props his chin on Jungkook’s chest so he can look at him. “So...” he says, tracing a finger over Jungkook’s abs, “what else did you get up to this week? Besides going out and looking at dogs, I mean.”

“Well, I, uh, finished my game.”

Taehyung’s hand stills where he had been tracing a circle around Jungkook’s navel. “You finished…your game…?”

“Technically, I just finished the last level, I still need to go back and fine tune everything－”

“You jerk!” Taehyung smacks him on the chest, glaring at him. “You’re only telling me this now?” He climbs off of the bed, reaching for his robe and slipping it on. “Get it set up, I’m playing it!”

“Baby...it’s late...you don’t have to play it right this second—”

“The hell I don’t!” Taehyung knots the belt on his robe with an almighty tug, glaring at him. “You have been working on this game for almost an entire year and you just finished it and you expect me to wait? What kind of husband do you think I am?”

“Okay, okay, jeez, just calm down...”

Jungkook gets out of bed, slipping on a pair of sweatpants before heading over to his computer and booting up the game. Taehyung sits down in his lap with a small huff, still muttering under his breath about “ridiculous husbands” but as soon as the menu screen appears, he straightens up and reaches for the keyboard.

“Oh, it’s him,” Taehyung breathes as an enormous black dragon soars across the screen. “I love him...”

The dragon has appeared throughout the game, mostly in the background, winging across the sky as the protagonist journeys across the landscape, flashing in and out of the storm clouds during the flying horse level, and even at one point saving the protagonist from a shipwreck after the level with the purple whale. As a result, Taehyung has grown quite attached to it.

“Don’t worry, dragon, Taehyungie will save you,” Taehyung coos at the screen as he starts to navigate the level. He’s on the roof a magnificent palace which is the domain of the evil king who has been sending his hunters and poachers out to slay the magical creatures. The palace is filled with soldiers that Taehyung has to battle through and armed with mounted crossbows that the guards keep firing at the dragon overhead as he swoops low over the palace, trying to save the girl. Every time the dragon is hit with an arrow, he lets out an earth-shaking roar that makes the entire palace tremble.

“No, stop hurting him!” Taehyung cries, sounding distressed. “You fucking assholes, I said stop!”

Jungkook gnaws on his lower lip as he watches his husband play through the final level, wondering how long it will take him to realize what he’s supposed to do, how Taehyung will react...

Taehyung tries disabling the mounted crossbows but they’re spread so far apart from each other, that by the time he disables one and runs to another one, a guard has already gone and fixed it. Next he tries going inside the palace to get to the king but there are too many guards and Taehyung can’t get past them, his screen fading to black every time, followed by the screams of the wounded dragon.

“What the hell?” Taehyung growls, his frustration mounting as he restarts the level. “Am I supposed to do something with the cat?”

“Do you want a hint?”

“No, I don’t want a bloody hint!”

Taehyung tries. And tries. And tries again. On the start of his fifteenth attempt, he lets out a low growl, his entire body tense as he leans aggressively towards the screen, fingers flying over the keyboard. “Okay, this time I’m going to do it, fuck all of these soldiers, fuck these guards, and fuck these stupid fucking crossbows. I am saving this goddamn dragon!”

“Baby…remember it’s just a game.”

“It’s not just a game,” Taehyung insists, his eyes glued to the screen. “It’s your game!”

 Jungkook feels a warm glow at that even though his game is currently annoying the hell out of his husband.

“Am I supposed to do something with one of these?” Taehyung mutters, stepping up to one of the crossbows and aiming it around, looking for a target.

The dragon swoops low, right in the path of the crossbow.

“No...” Taehyung says in a hushed voice. “Oh no, that can’t be it...”

Jungkook doesn’t say anything, keeping as still as possible, not wanting to give anything away.

But Taehyung seems to have caught on now and when the dragon swoops low over him again, Taehyung aims and fires, a distressed noise escaping him as the arrow lodges itself in the dragon’s chest.

There’s a bellowing roar and then a cut scene－the dragon plummeting from the sky, smashing into the castle, soldiers, guards, the evil king crushed beneath it but one of its massive claws swings out, sweeping the girl and the cat into its talons, protecting them. Saving them. The dragon manages to roll off the demolished palace and glide to a forest below on unsteady wings where it gently places the girl and the cat on the ground before collapsing onto its side, heaving a sigh. The girl kneels beside its head, laying a hand on its scaled cheek, tears running down her face as the dragon folds its wing around her, comforting her until its very last breath.

And then the screen fades to black.

“Oh my god.” Taehyung sniffles, scrubbing a hand over his face. “Oh my god,” he says again.

“So...what did you think?”

“Oh, Kookie...” He turns around to face Jungkook, tears streaming down his cheeks. “It’s beautiful.”

“Yeah? You don’t think it’s, I dunno, too dark?”

“No,” Taehyung says, shaking his head. “It’s...I mean, it’s incredibly sad but...it means something.” He sniffles again, snuggling closer to Jungkook, resting his head on his shoulder. “I don’t know how to articulate it exactly...all I can say is that my heart aches. But in a good way?”

Jungkook grins. “Can I quote you on that? It’ll make a good blurb.”

“Of course you can.” Taehyung kisses him and then pulls back to look at him, a serious look on his face. “Honey...your game is going to sell a million copies. All of the big game companies are going to want it.”

Jungkook feels his face heat. “Well, I don’t know about that...”

“I do,” Taehyung says, looking adamant. “You’ve poured your heart and soul into this game and it shows. You’ve made something special and unique and I think it’s going to resonate with people. No,” he amends, “I know it will.”

“The fact that you like it is enough for me,” Jungkook says, reaching up and wiping away the tear tracks on Taehyung’s face. “I don’t care if I don’t ever sell it.”

“You don’t mean that.”

“Okay, maybe I care a little.” He sighs. “That would be nice, wouldn’t it? If I sent it to Sony or Nintendo and they snapped it up right away.”

“They’ll both want it,” Taehyung insists. “There’ll be a bidding war.”

“Let’s not get ahead of ourselves,” Jungkook warns, even as his mind spins out into a Technicolor fantasy of executives from the top video game companies offering him bags of money for his game. “One thing at a time.”

“You’re right,” Taehyung says, kissing his temple. “So what’s next?”

“I cut a demo and start sending it out. I want to do some research on Kickstarter too, you know, consider all possible options.”

“Yeah...” Taehyung cups Jungkook’s face in his hands, beaming at him. “No matter what happens, sweetheart, I’m very proud of you.”

“Thanks, baby.” Jungkook feels himself get choked up and feels the need to make a joke before he dissolves into a sobbing mess. “Would you still be proud even if my game doesn’t make a million dollars and I can’t afford to take you and Eunji to Disneyland?”

“Still proud,” Taehyung says, giving him a gentle kiss. “Disneyland or no Disneyland.”

For the first few months of Jungkook shopping his game around, it looked like it would be the ‘no Disneyland’ option. He did his best to make as professional a demo as possible, even recruiting Yoongi to arrange some music for it so the game came with a cool-sounding score instead of just the sound effects he had cobbled together from his game design software. But even with an epic soundtrack, the rejections from the game companies came fast and furious.

Several of the companies didn’t even bother to reply, and those that did weren’t exactly gentle. “WE DO NOT TAKE UNSOLICITED GAMES FROM AMATEUR DEVELOPERS” was the subject line of one such email that included snippy lines like “with a full team of professional game developers, we’re not exactly lacking in new game ideas” and “a professional soundtrack does not a video game make.”

“Well,” he told Taehyung later, trying to make light of it. “At least they liked Yoongi’s soundtrack.”

“Oh what do they know?” Taehyung scoffed. “They wouldn’t know a good game if it smacked them in the face.”

“Baby, they’re one of the top developers...”

“Which just makes them even bigger idiots for not snapping your game up,” Taehyung said stubbornly. “Come on, Kookie, keep trying.”

So Jungkook kept sending his game out and it kept getting rejected. Some of the emails he got were better than others, some even encouraging. “Good storyline but not the kind of game we usually go for.” “Intriguing concept and solid graphics but genre is too niche, there’s no market for this...” But some were just disheartening. Like the one-sentence email he got that just read “Nobody wants to play games like this.”

If it hadn’t been for his husband’s constant encouragement, Jungkook was sure he would have given up in the first month. But Taehyung was always there to console him after a particularly scathing rejection notice, to tell him to try sending it to another company, suggest other ideas that he hadn’t tried yet. (“What about sending the demo to one of the big gamers on Twitch? Couldn’t hurt. Or there’s always Kickstarter.”)

Another thing that kept him going was not wanting to let his daughter down. Eunji had a vague idea of what he was working on－he had shown her the concept art of the animals, which she had really liked, and even played through a level while she sat on his lap, spellbound. The game was for her, after all, and he wanted her to know about it. And he was determined to get it out into the world, one way or another.

But two months of sending out demos turned into three and then six with no positive response, not even a ‘maybe.’ Feeling depressed and dejected, Jungkook started looking at job advertisements at game companies, thinking at the very least he could use his demo as part of his resume and get a job as a developer. That wouldn’t be so bad.

“Someone will want it, Kookie,” Taehyung insisted, as the sixth month of sending out demos bled into the seventh. “I know they will. You just have to keep putting it out there.”

But at this point, Jungkook was starting to doubt himself and he seriously wondered if he had spent the better part of a year making a game that nobody wanted to play.

And then, on what seems to be an average Tuesday night, after they’ve put Eunji to bed and he and Taehyung spend some quality time playing Mario Kart, Jungkook checks his email one last time while Taehyung is in the bathroom and sees a new message from Daydream Games:

Hi Jungkook,

Our company has received the demo of your game, Guardian of Beasts.  Normally, we don’t accept unsolicited games but Ito Hayami, our head game developer, was quite intrigued by it and thinks it has potential. We would love to discuss it further with you. Please let us know what your schedule is like towards the end of the month so we can arrange a meeting.

Sincerely,

Ren Murakami

Jungkook stares dumbly down at his phone for a full minute and a half, not even registering Taehyung coming out of the bathroom and saying his name.

“Babe.”

“Huh?” Jungkook finally looks up at Taehyung, still feeling dazed. “What?”

“What’s up? I called your name like ten times trying to get your attention—”

“I got an email.” Jungkook swallows thickly, holding up his phone. “An email from a video game company in Japan...they...Tae, I think they like my game. They want to meet with me.”

Taehyung’s eyes widen, looking stunned as if he’s just been walloped over the head with a frying pan. He opens his mouth, inhales—

“Don’t start screaming,” Jungkook warns. “You’ll wake up Eunji.”

Taehyung claps his hands over his mouth, still looking at Jungkook with wide eyes, before lowering his hands again. “Ahhhhhhhh,” he whisper-screams.

And then he’s launching himself at Jungkook, tackling him back onto the bed, giggling hysterically.

“I knew it, I knew it, I knew it! Oh my god, Kookie, this is so exciting—”

“I know, I know, shhh, baby, remember Eunji’s sleeping...”

It still takes a few minutes for Taehyung to get himself under control and then he grabs Jungkook’s phone so he can read the email himself and then he hands Jungkook his phone back and insist that he read the email out loud to him.

“Again, read it again!”

Jungkook ends up reading the email to Taehyung a total of three times and each time it becomes even more surreal and unbelievable. Quite intrigued by it...it has potential...would love to discuss it further with you...

“I can’t believe it...” Jungkook says for what must be the fiftieth time. “I just can’t believe it...”

“I can,” Taehyung says, hugging him, a huge smile on his face. “I knew it was only a matter of time.”

Jungkook hugs him back, tucking his face into Taehyung’s shoulder. “Thank you,” he murmurs against his skin. “For believing in me.”

Taehyung doesn’t answer, only squeezes him harder in response.

“Their offices are in Tokyo,” Jungkook goes on. “I’ll have to fly over there for a couple of days at least...”

“Well,” Taehyung says, heaving a mock-wistful sigh. “I suppose I can do without you for a couple of days. But no more than that.” Then he kisses him, softly at first but then more insistently and they celebrate the good news in their own way－by making wild, joyful love.

Two weeks later, Jungkook finds himself in an elevator going up to the offices of Daydream Games, his heart thudding against his ribcage. He takes out his phone and types out a text to Taehyung with trembling fingers

>wish me luck...<

>LUCK LUCK LUCK :D<

>and lots of LOVE too you’re going to be fine hubby bun <3<3<3<

This puts Jungkook slightly more at ease, knowing his husband is rooting for him, even if they are in two separate countries right now. And Eunji had drawn him a picture of a dragon before he left for Tokyo with the words “Good luck, Daddy!” written in crayon underneath it. This drawing is carefully folded and tucked into the inside pocket of his suit jacket; Jungkook wanted to carry it with him into the meeting as a sort of talisman.

There’s a ‘ding’ and the elevator doors open to reveal a sizable office space in a flurry of activity—people running to and fro, banks of computers showing lines of code, excited voices, even laughter. It’s like the company Jungkook used to work at and yet not like it at all. The atmosphere here is definitely more enthusiastic and welcoming, instead of oppressive and dour.

He walks over to the front desk where the receptionist looks up and greets him with a friendly smile. “Hi, how can I help you?” Or at least that’s what Jungkook thinks he says. His Japanese is a little rusty.

“Uh, hi,” Jungkook says, translating carefully in his head before he speaks. “My name is Jeon-Kim Jungkook and I have a meeting with Ms. Ito...”

“Of course! Follow me.”

Jungkook follows the receptionist down a hallway, posters of the company’s games lining the walls. It might not be as big a name as Nintendo or Sony but Daydream Games had established itself as an up-and-coming contender in the industry over the past few years, releasing innovative, beautifully-designed games, each new release hotly anticipated by the gaming community. Jungkook had played through most of their games himself, either on his own or with Taehyung and he feels like his game could find a good home in this place.

The receptionist leads him to a conference room and bows him inside and Jungkook crosses the threshold with his heart in his throat. The room is dominated by a massive table, all chrome steel and black glass and seated at this table are two women－Ito Hayami who Jungkook recognizes from the company’s website and another woman he can’t place.

They rise to greet him and they all exchange bows and pleasantries and when the introductions are formally made, Jungkook learns that the other woman is Watanabe Kumiko, the CEO. Jungkook gulps. The fucking CEO!

Trying to hide how nervous he is, Jungkook sits down across from them, politely declining their offer of tea. With the way his hands are shaking right now, he’s liable to spill it all over himself.

“So,” Hayami begins, giving him a reassuring smile. “We’ve had a look at your demo and I must say, I’m blown away by the quality of it.” She speaks slowly and clearly, enunciating every syllable and Jungkook doesn’t know if it’s for his benefit as a foreigner or if it’s how she normally talks. “Is this the first game you’ve developed?”

“Um, yes.”

Hayami and Kumiko exchange glances. “Impressive,” Kumiko murmurs. At least, that’s what Jungkook thinks she says. Either that or something about alcohol.

“Have you shown your demo to other companies? Other developers?” Hayami asks.

Jungkook nods. “I sent the demo out to a few other companies but...”

“No response?”

Jungkook suppresses a grimace, shaking his head. “No—” he searches his mind for the Japanese translation for ‘positive’ but can’t think of it so he just says, “No good response.”

“I see,” Hayami says. “Well, I would say their loss is our gain.”

Jungkook’s heartbeat picks up, beating in triple time. And even though he’s in Tokyo, sitting across the table from one of the most creative developers in the industry and the fucking CEO of a game company, he can’t quite shake the habit of telling himself not to get his hopes up. He’s still not convinced that this isn’t all some incredibly vivid dream.

“May I ask what inspired the game?” Hayami asks.

“Well, it was, uh, partly inspired by my daughter. She really loves animals so...” Jungkook stutters to a halt, realizing how stupid that sounds. I made the game because my daughter really loves animals? You are such an idiot.

But Hayami and Kumiko are nodding and smiling, and Hayami gestures for him to continue.

“So, um, I guess the idea came from there mostly...and it’s also inspired by Shadow of the Colossus only I didn’t want it to be just another, um, monster hunter game.”

“It’s certainly not that,” Hayami says wryly. “It’s inspirations are apparent and yet there is something incredibly unique about it. The heart of it is...very authentic and true.” She smiles. “Your daughter must be very proud.”

Jungkook unconsciously touches his chest where Eunji’s drawing is folded in his inside pocket. “I, ah, certainly hope so.”

“We think there’s a growing trend for games that have a more philosophical bent to them,” Kumiko says. “And there’s certainly a demand for more games that feature female protagonists.” She exchanges another glance with Hayami. “We’ve definitely been trying to accelerate that trend.”

“Your game is most likely to appeal to a specific type of gamer but we think it also has broad appeal across many different markets” Hayami adds. “Older gamers, women...and I think people who had never played a video game in their life would be intrigued by it. And we also think it has franchise potential.”

Jungkook blinks, not sure if he’s heard her correctly. “F-franchise potential?”

“Yes. Perhaps not direct sequels, but spin-offs, games set in the same universe.”

“I, um, hadn’t even thought about that.”

Hayami gives him an understanding smile. “I imagine your priority was just getting the game out there. But we tend to take the long view with our projects. Of course, as the original developer, we would want to collaborate closely with you.”

“And there’s the matter of the intellectual property,” Kumiko says. “We’d need to acquire that from you but mostly as a formality. I personally would want you working closely with Hayami and her team so that the original feeling of the game doesn’t get lost as we work on it. Come to think of it, how do you feel about joining our team of developers?”

“Uh—”

“One think at a time, Kumiko,” Hayami says gently, touching Kumiko’s arm. “I’m sure Mr. Jeon-Kim is curious what we’re willing to offer for his IP.”

Jungkook’s stomach does a slow-motion somersault and he nods. “I would be, ah, interested to know what you think it’s worth.”

With a side-long glance at Hayami, Kumiko scribbles down a number on a notepad and then pushes it across the table towards Jungkook. He looks down at it and has to swallow the hysterical laughter that wants to bubble up from his throat. It’s an insane amount of money. Life-changing money. Taking-his-family-to-Disneyland-every-month-for-the-next-ten-years kind of money.

“This is—” He swallows, tries again. “This is—”

“Of course, this is just a ballpark estimate,” Kumiko says, helping him out. “There’s no need to finalize or sign anything today. I’m sure you’ll want to go over the details with your lawyer. But needless to say, we are very interested in your game, Mr, Jeon-Kim, and we are looking forward to working with you.”

Jungkook nods, embarrassed to find that his eyes are stinging with tears. After all that hard work, after facing rejection after rejection after rejection...he had done it. And he wants Taehyung and Eunji with him here so badly, so he can share this moment with them.

“Just, ah, one thing,” Jungkook says, still staring down at the notepad.

“Yes?”

“In the credits of the game...somewhere I’d like it to say that the game is dedicated to my daughter and my husband.”

He looks up to see both women smiling warmly at him.

“I’m sure that can be arranged,” Kumiko says.

Fifteen minutes later, Jungkook is out on the sidewalk in front of the building, dialing Taehyung’s number with hands that haven’t stopped trembling.

“Come on, pick up, pick up,” Jungkook mutters, holding the phone to his ear. Taehyung is at work right now and Jungkook can only hope that he’s not stuck in a meeting.

But on the third ring, Taehyung picks up, his voice eager. “Baby?” he whispers. “What happened, how did it go?”

“I...” Jungkook’s throat tightens and he can’t help the tears that have started to spill from his eyes. “I was just wondering...when you wanted to take Eunji to Disneyland.”

There’s dead silence for a full ten seconds and then Taehyung starts yelling. “OH MY GOD, I KNEW IT, I FUCKING KNEW IT, OH MY GOD, KOOKIE—”

“Inside voice, babe,” Jungkook says, laughing as his husband continues to scream his head off over the phone. “Remember you’re in a library right now.”

***

“Papa! Daddy! Wake up! It’s Christmas!”

Eunji bounds into their room, taking a running leap onto the bed, jumping up and down on the mattress. “It’s Christmas! It’s Christmas!”

Jungkook groans, blinking blearily at the clock to see that it’s only 6:30 in the morning. The sun isn’t even up yet. Beside him, he feels Taehyung stir, stretching and yawning. “G’ morning, baby girl,” he says groggily. “Merry Christmas.”

“Merry Christmas, Papa! Merry Christmas, Daddy!”

“Merry Christmas, honey,” Jungkook says, at last sitting up, unable to help smiling at his daughter’s eager expression.

“Come on, let’s go open presents!”

“Just give us five minutes, sweetie,” Taehyung says, stifling another yawn. “Me and Daddy are still waking up. Why don’t you run downstairs and, uh, make sure Santa didn’t knock the tree down?”

“Okay! And I can see if he ate my cookies too!” She bounces off the bed and races out of the room.

“Shit,” Jungkook says once she’s left. “We remembered to eat the cookies, right?”

“Yeah, of course we did,” Taehyung says. “Right after we finished wrapping the presents. And you ate the carrot she left for Rudolph.” He gives Jungkook a funny look. “How do you not remember? We didn’t drink that much eggnog.”

Jungkook grins, gently pushing Taehyung back onto the bed, hovering over him. “That’s because my incredibly sexy husband decided to be very naughty and give me one of my Christmas gifts early so the rest of the evening is a bit of a blur...”

Taehyung blushes, biting his lip. “Well, I didn’t know when else I was going to give it to you...”

After they had finished wrapping Eunji’s gifts and stowed them underneath the tree, Taehyung had taken Jungkook by the hand and led him upstairs to their bedroom where he had gone into the en suite bathroom and come back out wearing Christmas lingerie－a lacy red negligee complete with white faux-fur trim around the bodice and hem, the ensemble complete with red lace panties and a Santa hat perched jauntily on Taehyung’s head.

Needless to say, Christmas cookies had been the furthest thing from Jungkook’s mind.

“First Christmas in our new home...” Taehyung says, wrapping his arms around Jungkook’s neck and pulling him down for a kiss. “It still feels so surreal...”

“I know...I still wake up expecting to be back in our old apartment.”

After Jungkook had sold his game, they had finally been able to buy a house in the suburbs, one with a backyard that Eunji could play around in and that had an enormous master bedroom that Taehyung and Jungkook could also play around in (in their own way). And there was enough space for Jungkook to set up his own home office and for Taehyung to have his own room where he was working on building a little home library. It was a good feeling, being able to buy a house with Taehyung, make it into their family home, where Eunji would have lots of room to grow, lots of kids on the block to play with and not be stuck inside a cramped apartment for the rest of her childhood.

Taehyung and Jungkook are still kissing when they hear Eunji yell up the stairs, “Papa! Daddy! Are you guys coming?”

“Not yet,” Jungkook murmurs against Taehyung’s mouth, reaching down to grope his ass and Taehyung giggles, whacking him with a pillow.

They go downstairs to the living room where Eunji is skipping around the tree, eagerly looking at the large pile of presents all around it. They may have gone a bit overboard with the gifts this year but seeing as they had had to scrimp during the last two Christmases, Jungkook felt it was high time they spoiled their daughter. And he hadn’t been able to resist spoiling his husband either.

“What time are Uncle Jimin and Uncle Yoongi coming over?” Eunji asks once Jungkook has supplied himself with coffee and Taehyung with tea and they’ve both taken a seat on the sofa. “You said they were coming over this morning, right?”

“Yeah, but not for a while, sweetie,” Taehyung says, looking at the clock on the wall. “I’m pretty sure they’re still sleeping. Why don’t we go ahead and open some presents? Open your stocking first.”

“Okay!”

As Eunji busies herself with the loot contained in her Christmas stocking, Jungkook leans close to Taehyung, murmuring, “Speaking of Jimin and Yoongi...have you heard from them at all? About the you-know-what?”

“Jimin texted me last night to tell me everything was all good,” Taehyung whispers back. “Let’s just hope they haven’t gone and gotten themselves too attached.”

It takes a while to get through all of the presents under the tree, not just because there’s so many of them but because Eunji keeps squealing with joy after unwrapping each one, including a watercolor paint kit, a unicorn Squishmallow, and, of course, a pile of new books. As happy as she is, Jungkook can detect a vague sense of disappointment on her face－this is the fourth year in a row she had asked Santa Claus for a puppy.

Taehyung, for his part, gushes with enthusiasm over the gifts Jungkook had bought for him－a deluxe edition of Pride and Prejudice, cozy flannel pajamas, a stack of romance novels and a set of massage oil candles (because Jungkook couldn’t help himself). In turn, Taehyung spoils Jungkook with some new oversized hoodies, a photo printer complete with a photo album to fill up, and some new video games for the PS5 they had bought as a joint present for themselves.

“To tide us over until your game comes out,” Taehyung says, pecking Jungkook on the cheek as he unwraps Ghost of Tsushima.

“No need to wait,” Jungkook teases, “the demo version is still on my computer, you can play it anytime.”

“I meant the finished version, you dork.”

Just as Eunji is unwrapping some new clothes, Taehyung’s phone buzzes on the coffee table.

“Uncle Jimin and Uncle Yoongi are on their way,” Taehyung announces, checking the screen. “They should be here in about twenty minutes.”

“Yay!”

“Yay, Uncle Jimin,” Jungkook says in a deadpan voice and Taehyung elbows him in the side.

“Look at the text he sent,” Taehyung whispers, showing Jungkook his phone and looking like he’s fighting back a laugh.

>on our way with our furry little hostage. In exchange for him, u & Eunji need 2 come back 2 live in the city with us and leave JK in ur fancy new house :))))<

Jungkook rolls his eyes. “I knew letting them in on it was a bad idea.”

A few minutes later, there’s a knock at the front door and Jungkook goes to answer it.

“Heyyyyyyyy,” Jimin says, pink-cheeked and smiling, laden down with Christmas gift bags. He shoves past Jungkook and into the front entrance. “Yoongi’s still out by the car,” he says in a low voice. “I’m on distraction duty.” Turning on his heel, he barrels into the living room, gift bags held aloft. “Where’s my favorite niece! I brought presents!”

“Uncle Jimin! Uncle Jimin!”

“Merry Christmas to you too, Jiminie,” Jungkook grumbles, shoving his feet into his sneakers and heading outside.

Yoongi’s standing by the open back door of his car, grinning at Jungkook. “Merry Christmas. What time were you guys up this morning?”

“A lot earlier than you, I bet.”

“Don’t count on it.” Yoongi steps aside so Jungkook can peer into the back seat. “Little brat was whining for attention at six o’clock this morning. I’m happy to hand him over but Jimin probably still wants shared custody with you guys.”

Jungkook chuckles, looking in at the tiny Pomeranian puppy gazing out at him from his little dog carrier, whining softly. “That’s because Jimin and this little pipsqueak are practically the same size. They probably developed a sort of kinship.”

“Yeah.” Yoongi sighs. “He was dropping hints that we should get one for next Christmas.”

“Thanks for taking him for the night, by the way,” Jungkook says, reaching for the carrier. “Kinda would’ve ruined the surprise if Eunji had heard him barking last night.”

“Don’t mention it,” Yoongi says. “Here, I brought a box. More festive.” He pops the trunk and takes out a cardboard box wrapped in Christmas paper, the lid topped with a red bow and poked with discreet holes.

“In you go, you little fluffball,” Jungkook says, carefully placing the squirming puppy in the box. “Shit...I didn’t get a ribbon to tie around his neck.”

“She won’t care,” Yoongi says. “She’ll probably be all “Holy shit, a puppy!””

“She doesn’t know that word yet,” Jungkook says. “Or, at least, I hope she doesn’t.”

“Just give her time,” Yoongi grins, punching him on the shoulder. “She’ll be a moody, cursing teenager before you know it.”

Careful not to jostle it too much, Jungkook brings the box inside, Yoongi trailing behind him. In the living room, Eunji is in the middle of showing Jimin all of her new presents and he’s exclaiming over each one.

“Ooh, a Squishmallow! You must have been a very good girl this year to land at the very top of Santa’s nice list.”

“I don’t think that’s how it works, Jimin,” Taehyung says wryly, a fond smile on his face.

Eunji looks up as Jungkook and Yoongi come into the living room. “Hi, Uncle Yoongi—” But then she stops, her gaze landing on the box Jungkook is holding, and she goes quiet.

“Hey, sweetie,” Jungkook says, his throat tight, “I think Santa left one more present for you. Would you like to open it?”

Her eyes widen as a soft whine comes from inside the box and she nods, still not saying anything.

Jungkook sets the box down on the floor in front of her, Taehyung sliding off the couch to sit on the floor beside him, taking his hand, gripping tight. Out of the corner of his eye, Jungkook notices Jimin taking a step back, surreptitiously whipping out his phone to record them.

Eunji extends a cautious hand, hastily retracting it when the box trembles a little, another whine coming from inside.

“Go ahead, honey,” Taehyung says gently. “It’s okay, you can open it.”

Eunji bites her lip, reaches out and opens the lid, the puppy giving her a little ‘yip’ of greeting—and her face crumples as she immediately bursts into tears.

“Oh, sweetie,” Taehyung coos, shifting over so he can put an arm around her. “It’s okay to cry, I know it’s emotional—”

Jungkook’s heart swells until it’s fit to bursting as Eunji carefully reaches inside the box and takes the tiny puppy out, cradling him to her chest. “I l-love him,” she sobs, tears still spilling down her face. “I’m g-gonna love h-him forever and e-ever!”

Taehyung looks over at him, tears staining his own cheeks as he laughs and Jungkook moves closer so he can get his arms around both of them, holding his family close.

As Eunji continues to sob happily over the puppy, Taehyung leans over, pressing a soft kiss to Jungkook’s lips. “Merry Christmas, my love.”

Jungkook returns the kiss, sure that he’s never felt more content in his entire life, knowing that he’d rather be here with his family than anywhere else in the entire universe.

“Merry Christmas, Tae.”