"Taehyung..."

"Taehyung......"

"Seriously, Taehyung, I need you to wake up."

It's bright, and all Taehyung can see in his vision is the blurry face of Kim Namjoon. "Wha—" he blinks against the sudden light. His head swims and the man in front of him dances in his vision.

Did he fall asleep? Is it morning? Why does he feel so disoriented? Why is Namjoon in his house?

"Hey," Namjoon says, waving his hand in front of the nurse's eyes. "Great. You're awake now, so we have to get going."

Blinking, Taehyung sits up, but his head protests greatly at the action. He looks around his childhood room to find his bags packed and his mother and grandmother standing by the doorway with their eyes fixated on Namjoon.

"Are you sure you can't stay, Namjoon-ssi?" Taehyung's mother questions with a warm smile. She looks more alert than Taehyung has seen her in recent days. "You look exhausted and a good homemade meal can do wonders for the body."

"Not that your body needs any help," his grandmother chimes in under her breath, pointedly looking Namjoon over with a sly smile. The man in question sputters at this and looks over to the nurse in a silent plea.

It seems that poor Namjoon has been subjected to this treatment prior to Taehyung waking up. Sometimes Taehyung really hates how strong-willed the women of his family are, even if it is amusing.

With a grimace, the nurse slides out of the bed, but he sways on his feet and Namjoon catches him.

"Careful, you passed out earlier, so you should probably take it slow."

Passed out?

Oh, right. He did. At the train tracks.... when he called Jimin...

"Yoongi!" Taehyung suddenly exclaims, eyes widening and heart picking up pace. He can feel every ounce of dread at the thought of the surgery resurfacing within him and it nearly knocks him out cold once more. "I have to—"

"I know," Namjoon states, grasping the nurse by the shoulders to calm him. "Jimin called me after he got off the phone with you. I was in Daegu for business and now I'm here to escort you to Europe. We need to leave now and maybe, just maybe, we can get to Yoongi-hyung in time to talk him out of this."

They could stop him? Was it possible?

It has to be, he thinks. He can't just give up on Yoongi, even if the elder had made it clear how he felt.

"Shit," Taehyung curses, running around the room and gathering his things. Everything is all ready to go, apparently due to Namjoon, but then the nurse remembers two very important things. He turns to his mother and grandmother. "Halmeoni.... Eomma... I—"

"Sweetie," his mother says, striding into the room to cup her hands around his face. "We know about you and this Yoongi. Namjoon-ssi told us."

Taehyung looks over to Namjoon with utter confusion. Did the man really tell his traditional mother and grandmother everything about Yoongi? But Taehyung himself barely understood this new side of himself... Why would a near stranger feel the need to tell his family his secret? Why couldn't Namjoon just say it was a work emergency or something?

He never thought about it much before, seeing as this is all so new, but now he's concerned about how his family will react.

Namjoon shrugs, wringing his hands together. "They wouldn't let me see you unless I told them why I was here and it's so important that I had to."

"That and he's a terrible liar," Taehyung's grandmother adds wryly. The withered woman smirks with a glint in her eye. "It's a good thing he's got a handsome face though or we would've never let him explain. Truthfully, your mother wanted to hear him out but I just wanted to stare at him."

Namjoon blushes furiously at this and looks at the ground. "Taehyung-ah, I'm really sorry."

"There's no need to apologize, Namjoon-ssi." Taehyung's mother is looking right into her son's eyes now with a warm smile. "So, my little Tae, you found love again? With this Yoongi?"

Taehyung swallows hard, not daring to look away. He reaches up to touch his mother's hands on his face. "Yes, eomma. I.... love him. I really do."

There's no need to lie or even downplay it. Here Taehyung is, fresh off saying goodbye to his first love and now he's scrambling to get to his true love; everyone else's feelings or opinions can wait, even if they hurt.

Nodding, his mother pats his cheek affectionately. "Then I'm happy for you, my son. It's not what we expected," she looks over to his grandmother at this, "but we haven't had you back since Yoonji passed away, and if this man is who brings my baby boy back to me, then so be it." She smiles something melancholy but weighted with relief. "Go get him, sweetie. But you better bring him home to meet us soon."

"Bring this one too." Taehyung's grandmother gestures to Namjoon with a wink. The woman looks like she's about to pounce and Namjoon keeps inching closer to the wall. "I need some good scenery during the holidays."

"Oh my," is all Namjoon says as his face turns red and he practically lunges for Taehyung's bags. "We need to, uh, go."

"Right."

Taehyung says his goodbyes to his family and then he's cramming his stuff into Namjoon's car.

As they drive down the country road, the nurse watches the sight of his mother and grandmother on the front porch grow smaller and smaller and with every moment, he gets closer to seeing his next family— that is, if Yoongi will have him back.

————-

The first time Yoongi tried to walk after the accident, he fell flat on his face, his legs nothing more than limp noodles beneath him. He broke his nose from the force; the doctors hadn't anticipated the severity of the nerve damage.

This feels a lot like that, wandering through what Yoongi knows is a dream. He knows this, because his last memory is of laying in a hospital bed while the anesthesiologist prepped his IV and prepared him to go under. He knows this because he's a teenager again, stumbling and dragging himself through his old home in Daegu.

It's late and he just came through the front door with his backpack on and his school uniform clinging to his clammy skin. The smell of Jimin lingers on him. They had just kissed.

Yoongi knows exactly how this night plays out, but he can't stop it.

He's crawling through the foyer, his legs nothing but dead weight behind him, when he sees a pair of sleek black dress shoes come to a stop in front of him. Yoongi looks up. His father is looming above him, furious, his usually sallow skin crimson with anger.

"A neighbor called. They saw Yoongi kissing a boy."

"So what if he was?"

It's not Yoongi's voice. It's not even a voice he recognizes— it's feminine and light and airy.

He strains to look behind him.

It's Yoonji, dressed in his school uniform, wearing his face. She just came in the door behind him.

No one acknowledges Yoongi on the floor; it's almost as if they can't see him lying there.

"Was it Kim Taehyung? Please tell us, Yoonji. We can't have your brother going around and doing things like this. You know what we'll have to do to him if this is true." Yoongi's mother is absolutely beside herself with concern, hair frazzled and attire unkempt.

Yoonji shakes her head and throws her backpack to the ground. It nearly hits Yoongi in the face. "Why does it matter?" she spits. "You can't keep them apart! You won't hurt Yoongi, I won't let you."

"Answer your mother, girl!" his father demands. "Was it Kim Taehyung?"

"Yes!" Yoonji screams. "It was Kim Taehyung! They love each other. Why can't you see that?"

Yoongi's father steps over his son lying on the ground as if he was nothing more than a wayward shoe. The man comes to a halt in front of Yoonji, expression stern.

Yoongi has to roll over to watch the scene unfold. He tries to scream, to warn his lookalike, but nothing comes out of his mouth, so he watches in mute horror as Yoonji takes the slap from his memories all those years ago. The first time his father ever hit him.

"You're a waste of breath," his father tells the girl. "You're sick because of this. You deserve to suffer because you betrayed us. You let your brother do these things and now—"

Yoonji holds her cheek, but her eyes are dancing with rage. "I'm not letting Yoongi do anything. He's his own person with his own thoughts and actions! You can't control him forever!"

"I can do what I damn well please. I gave him life all those years ago, I gave him everything, and now I'm trying to give him his life back and you have the audacity to try and ruin that? Kim Taehyung belongs to you! Keep him away from my son!"

"I don't own Taehyung," Yoonji grits out, lips trembling. "I loved him, yes, and he loved me, but love is not about possession. That's how I know you don't give a fuck about Yoongi. You're always trying to change him, but there's nothing wrong with him!"

His father scoffs, flexing his hand. Yoonji watches the action warily. "Nothing wrong with him? Who honestly believes that? Have you seen that cripple? Did you watch him fall on his face over and over again? Watch him shit and piss himself like a child? Who wants him like that?"

"Taehyung does," Yoonji hisses. "Taehyung wants Yoongi just how he is. Not because he's settling, not because he's trying to replace me, but because he's in love with him. Taehyung loved me, but he wasn't in love with me. Even if I stayed, it wouldn't have mattered. They belong together. The things they've sacrificed just to open up to each other— I could've never done that. I never did that. Taehyung barely knew me. But Yoongi— Yoongi he knows like he knows himself."

Stunned, all Yoongi can do is gape up at the girl in front of him, standing her ground with a fire in her eyes. It's strange to think that she's related to him despite their similarities. He knows nothing about her except for her face, the way she haunts Taehyung, but in this moment, he feels connected to her. She's fighting for him, defending him during a time that he couldn't defend himself, and somehow he doesn't resent that fact.

Because Yoonji is crying for him, saying that Taehyung doesn't belong to her, acknowledging that she never really had him to begin with. Deep down, Yoongi knew this, but it was hard when her memory was hanging over the both of them everyday, when he felt like Taehyung only wanted him because she was no longer an option.

But Taehyung had told him differently; he was just too stubborn to believe.

"He doesn't love him," Yoongi's father sneers in obvious disgust. "No one would want Yoongi for a lifetime."

"He does love him. He gave up everything for Yoongi. His fears, his beliefs, his past. He gave up me, even when I was the only thing he thought he had left."

"Then why did Taehyung want to remember you? Why did he abandon Yoongi?"

Yoonji squares her shoulders, head held high. She looks so certain, so confident in her next words. "I told you, love is not possession. Yoongi doesn't own Taehyung either. They had to both break to find the pieces in each other that would make them whole again."

Yoongi's father laughs. He cackles. He thinks this is hilarious. In the corner, Yoongi's mother shakes her head in disbelief.

No one would want Yoongi, they say. To them, It's all just a joke.

He's a joke— a sad, little man to take pity on.

But he's not. He may have felt that way years ago, when his father would lock his bedroom door and attempt to "fix" his son with his fists. He might've felt that way each time he woke up in stranger's bed with shame burning heavy in his gut, and he might've felt completely powerless when he tried to walk again for the first time only to fall.

But he's not.

He always washed the blood off his face after his father was done with him and went back to school. He left those stranger's beds and got on with his life. He stood up after he fell, even if he needed help. And most of all, he accepted help, even when it killed his pride to do so.

That's strength.

That's him.

"I'm going to fix Yoongi," his father states. "I'm going to make him into something I can be proud of. And if that doesn't work, then I'll move on to something better, but you won't stand in my way!" He raises his hand to hit Yoonji once more, but the motion is quickly stopped.

Yoonji's eyes are wide.

Yoongi realizes that he's no longer on the floor. He's standing, and he's holding his father by the wrist. He had almost forgotten how tall the man was in relation to him. His father is only a few inches taller but they can easily stare into each other's eyes. "Stop," he bites out coldly.

His father merely smiles. "Yoongi, go back to your room. You've got an important day coming up." The man tries to extricate himself, but Yoongi's grip is unyielding.

"No. I'm through letting you manipulate me and push me around. I'm sick of letting you determine my whole fucking life because I'm too scared to lose you as a father, but you know what? I never had you. You were never a father to me." He looks over to Yoonji. "Or her."

His father scoffs. "Why does she matter to you? She fucked him, you know? Your whore of a sister fucked Taehyung, and he would rather be with her."

Yoonji opens her mouth to protest, but she must see something in Yoongi's eyes because she quickly decides against it.

"Taehyung would rather make his own damn decision than be constantly told what the fuck to do. Not by her, or me, or anybody," Yoongi intones. "And I'm done listening to you. All you ever do is play with my head and try to change me into this... monster, like you. I don't want to be you. I never wanted your money, or your fame, or your help. I just wanted you to love me like you loved your business. I wanted your attention and somewhere along the way I started bleeding myself in order to get it. And you we're going to let me die trying, weren't you?"

Ripping his arm away from Yoongi's hold, his father steps back and straightens his suit. "Songwol-ah, I love you. I do."

"Don't call me that. You don't love me. You love that I let you control me."

"I'm trying to help you be the best that you can be. Look at you, Songwol-ah. Are you as strong as a tree? As bright as the moon? No, you're nothing but a little sapling that was snapped in half. Broken. Only I could ever learn to love you because there's something wrong with you."

Squaring his shoulders, Yoongi pushes into his father's space, but suddenly his legs are no longer solid beneath him. He slowly sinks to the floor as they buckle and soon he's on the ground again, his legs atrophied and scarred and just lying their limply. But it doesn't matter. He looks up from the ground, defiant. His voice is strong when he says, "there's nothing wrong with me."

His father laughs.

Yoongi's resolve doesn't waver. He looks over to the umbrella stand near the front door. Beside it, Yoonji is wide-eyed and watching him intently. He reaches his hand out in request and she picks up a long, wooden-handled umbrella and places it in his fingers.

Yoongi turns back to his father and without much preamble, racks the man hard across the knees, until he too is forced to kneel on the ground, crying out in pain. He looks his father in the eye. "There. Now you're on my level," he bites out. "And you can take your 'help' and go fuck yourself."

When he looks behind him, Yoonji is nowhere to be seen.

———————

It's the last hour of the flight and Taehyung can't sit still. They won't make it. He knows it.

They both tried calling Jimin several times but every time the message went straight to voicemail and Namjoon explained that Jimin had said something about cell phone coverage being spotty because they were trying to place international calls from their numbers. They tried Yoongi's brother too with no success. The hospital had answered their calls, but no one spoke English for Namjoon to converse.

So all they can do is wait and Taehyung feels like he's going mad. He just wants Yoongi to be ok. He doesn't care if the elder forgives him, misses him, or wants him back. No, he just wants Yoongi happy and healthy and not risking his life for a surgery to please a sick, twisted bastard who could care less about his son, or his daughter for that matter.

Taehyung feels sick just thinking about Yoongi feeling like he has no choice, no other option but to go through with this procedure and why? Because he feels like less than human, like a second choice for everyone in his life.

Maybe if the nurse had been more open, maybe if he had just put aside his fears and told Yoongi the truth, than maybe the elder wouldn't have felt so insecure and he wouldn't have been so easily manipulated.

But that's not really giving Yoongi credit. That's calling him weak and susceptible, which he's not. He's just human. And humans crave acceptance and affection and Taehyung had been stupid enough not to give it all to him even when he deserved it.

He supposes that makes him human too.

"So, I guess that whole 'not gay' thing really didn't work out for you," Namjoon teases, reading a newspaper through the lenses of the circular glasses perched on his nose. They have seats near the back of the plane and the location just makes the nurse more anxious.

Taehyung blushes and runs a hand through his mop of hair. "I'm sorry, hyung. I didn't lie to you though. I really didn't know I could like men, I—"

"I know. Jimin filled me in on the whole thing. Said that watching you two try to dance around each other was like watching some kind of a mix between a drama and boy's love manga."

"Oh god. We were that obvious?"

Namjoon snickers "Apparently. Jimin wasn't even present for all of it. He got this information from his conversations with Yoongi-hyung and from the others."

The others— Jungkook, Hobi, and Seokjin, who he knew had a penchant for exaggerating things out of sheer boredom.

"They're really nosy," Taehyung laments with a sigh and a small giggle. They were nosy but without their input every now and then, he didn't think he would've pursued Yoongi.

With a smirk, Namjoon rolls up his newspaper and leans back against his seat. "You have no idea. Seokjin-hyung has already decided that he's catering your wedding."

For a moment, Taehyung lets himself imagine it— He doesn't envision a church or a floral garden. For some reason he just sees him and Yoongi, standing in the middle of a vast space, holding hands and staring at each other so intently. He thinks about it, he really does, and he finds that the thought of forever isn't overbearing. It's.... expected.

The nurse frowns. "Hyung probably doesn't want anything to do with me."

"Come on, you don't really believe that, do you?" Namjoon questions. "From what I heard, he's completely idiotic about you and Yoongi-hyung doesn't have the personality type to gush about crushes or even admit his feelings. Only Jimin has seen him like that and when Jimin— hyung's unrequited love since forever— says that Yoongi-hyung is in love with you, then he's in love with you."

Taehyung stares at the seat in front of him. "Yeah, but he feels like I betrayed him, which I kind of did in a way, and even if he does love me, he won't take me back. I saw it in his eyes and I don't want him to hurt anymore."

"Taehyung, Hyung doesn't want you to hurt either. Both of you are just practicing self-preservation. You've developed these ways to cope and keep your hearts in tact and then you both challenged each other's level of comfort and this is merely the recoil. This is the moment where you slip back into old habits because you realize that your entire life could change if you just let the other in and it's terrifying. It's easier to run away when all you've been doing your whole life is running anyway."

"So you're saying this is just a natural tendency? My reluctance to move forward and Yoongi-hyung's insecurity?"

Namjoon nods, peering over the rims of his glasses. "Yes. You had some stuff to work through personally, which I assume you did, and now Hyung has to do the same. Two paths merging together as one, but only at a certain point and not a moment before."

"I just— I don't understand why he doesn't believe that I love him," Taehyung explains with a sigh. "I know he knows it deep down but it's like he can't comprehend why I would even want him. Does he really think he's not worth loving or that it's even possible for someone to find him attractive?"

Namjoon thinks this over, drumming his fingers along the seat rest. "Perhaps it's because our whole lives we're told to love what appeals to us physically and visually," he muses. "The more attractive something is, the more we desire to have it. It's ordinary to love what's beautiful— it's expected even— but there's beauty in loving something ordinary and seeing it as unexpected."

Looking out the window, Taehyung takes in the words along with the mountains below. They're snow-capped and glittering in the sun, relics of years gone by and reminders of the immovable future. "But he's not ordinary," he tells Namjoon. "At least, not to me. I think he's beautiful, of course, but that's not what lead me to him."

"Then if it wasn't beauty that caught your eye, then what was it?"

Taking a deep breath, the nurse looks over to his friend. He opens his mouth to speak but Namjoon holds up a finger to quiet him.

"Don't tell me. Tell him and only him. Feelings like yours, they're meant to be shown, not spoken."

Nodding, Taehyung swallows down the fear that Yoongi won't be around to show, and he instead closes his eyes and leans his head against the window.

He makes a promise right then that he'll spend the rest of his life with his mouth shut and his heart open.

——————

It's frantic at the hospital, but they manage to find Jimin in the correct wing after what seems like a mad dash through the building. It's later in the day, and the time difference has completely fucked with Taehyung, but his adrenaline is so high, he swears he could run three marathons.

"Where is he? Is it too late?"

Jimin is sitting on one of the plastic chairs in the lobby. A man is sleeping next to him, curled up in two chairs with a jacket draped over him. "They took him back earlier than expected because his father insisted on it," he relays. His eyes a red-rimmed and his usually clear complexion is blotchy and dry. He sighs. "He's been in there for eight hours."

"Eight hours? But the surgery was only supposed to last five at the maximum, right?" Taehyung feels sick. He might actually throw up right here, all over Jimin and this random guy, so he sinks to the floor and tries to calm himself by rubbing his temples. Namjoon had shown him how to do it on the plane.

"Yeah, it was only supposed to take five. No one will talk to us either because the translator is with Yoongi's father."

"And where is he?" Namjoon questions, looking around with disdain.

Jimin grimaces and runs his hand through the sleeping man's hair. "I don't know. He went back with Hyung when he was getting prepped but he never came back out and they won't let us back there obviously."

"When I see that man again, I swear.." Taehyung ceases his rambling and whips his head up to Jimin. In all his exhaustion, he almost forgot what he was here to warn them about.

"Jimin-hyung!" He exclaims, startling the elder. "Yoonji is—"

"My half-sister, I know. Jun Ki," he motions to the man sleeping next to him, "found out about it a week or so ago. He was under the impression that their father told Yoongi-hyung but once he got here and it became obvious that no one knew, he let the secret out."

"And Yoongi-hyung still decided to go through with the surgery?" Namjoon asks, motioning to Taehyung on the floor. "Even after finding out that his father is using him?"

"Using him?" Jimin cocks his head. "I mean, sure, he was upset over getting lied to all these years but—"

Taehyung rises to cup Jimin's face and focus all his attention on the nurse. "You don't understand. His father has been paying off Yoonji's family for years to keep quiet about her because your mother made him sign over part of the company to Yoonji and her. They own it together but now that they're both... gone, that share goes to you."

Jimin blanches and turns an unholy shade of white. "What?"

"Yoongi's father doesn't own the whole company, he never has. He has a share, your father has a share, and when your mother got pregnant with Yoonji, she made him sign over a share to them, probably as some sort of reassurance that they would get taken care of. But something is happening. He mentioned to Yoonji's father— the one back in Daegu— that he was worried that his investment in his son would go wrong and that he needed to buy Yoonji's share immediately."

"I don't understand—"

Next to them, Jun Ki stirs, sitting up with a groan. It seems that he had been listening intently. "He's afraid," the man says. "Before I extended my service, he said that the board of directors was on his ass about consolidating the company down to one primary owner, which would be impossible since the shares are split between two owners with neither of them wanting to give up stock. So he wanted me to be the heir because if it came down to it, he didn't think they would mutiny against me, someone who they saw fit to lead the company, but Yoongi—"

Jimin gasps. "But they would definitely see Hyung as unfit and end up siding with my father, unless something changed."

"Which is why that bastard is forcing this on Yoongi-hyung," Namjoon adds, shaking his head. "He's trying to make him more worthy of the board but he wanted to secure his own future..."

Taehyung lets out a frustrated sigh. "He wanted Yoonji's share— Which is now your share, but he doesn't know that."

Silence settles in while everyone contemplates this new development.

"Holy fuck," Jun Ki exclaims suddenly. "We could take the company from him."

Jimin sputters. "W-We?"

"Yeah, your family has majority share now and I'm tired of seeing my father waste his fortune and influence on computer chips that help weapons kill things better."

"But I don't really want the company and my father would never betray his best friend like that...." Jimin pouts and Taehyung lets go of the man's face.

Namjoon snorts. "He probably would if he knew his best friend and business partner had an affair with his wife and fathered a child with her."

"But is it my place to tell him?" Jimin snaps, obviously exasperated and anxious. "My mother just died."

"Everyone calm down," Taehyung interjects carefully. "We have a lot to think about, but first, we need to make sure Yoongi-hyung is ok—"

His sentence is interrupted by Jimin practically jumping out of his seat and gaping at the room behind Taehyung. The nurse turns around to find a doctor coming out of the double doors with an Asian man following him.

"That's not the same translator as before," Jun Ki notes, but soon, both men make their way across the room to stand in front of the group. The translator looks them over. His face is nearly expressionless.

The foreign doctor begins to say something, gesturing with his hands and even though Taehyung has no idea what the man is saying he can instantly tell by the tone of voice that something is horribly wrong.

He feels faint again.

Collectively, the group of Korean men all snap their attention to the translator expectantly.

The man swallows hard and pulls his lips into a thin, tight line. "He is sorry to announce that there were complications during the surgery. The man— he did not make it."

The doctor begins speaking again, this time with a quivering voice, but Taehyung can barely focus. Everything is blurring around him into a cacophony of sounds and sight and smell. He can barely stand up and he realizes belatedly that Namjoon is actually holding him up.

The translator begins again. "The damage was too extensive, so they tried another technique but the patient's body rejected it immediately. The heart became too stressed and the blood loss increased rapidly until there was nothing they could do. He offers his condolences and would like to speak with the next of kin privately."

Jimin is the first one to react.

He screams at the top of his lungs and lunges for the doctor, grabbing him by his surgical gown and shaking him. Namjoon tries to pry him off, which means he has to let go of supporting Taehyung, who falls to the floor dumbly.

Jun Ki is frozen in place; he doesn't even appear to be breathing.

"No!" Jimin is screaming. "No, no, no! It can't be! You fucking bastard! You did this— He did this— oh god, Yoongi, no!"

Above Jimin's screaming there is a singular noise— a high-pitched wailing that Taehyung recognizes as his own voice.

As Jun Ki falls to the floor beside him, Taehyung swears he can hear the droning beep of a flatlined heart somewhere in the distance, the very same sound he never got to hear when Yoonji left this world. And all he can think in this moment is that it's happening again, only this time, he can't go on.

Because Yoonji was his first love, but Yoongi—

Yoongi was the love of his life.

—————-

————————

——————————-

Taehyung watches the little boy draw patterns over the memorial stone, tracing the words with his small, chubby fingers. Surrounding him are pictures of the family members of the deceased, and the boy stops to stare at one photo in particular.

"Who is this, Appa?" Songmin asks, looking up at his father.

Sitting down on the marble floor, Taehyung picks up the boy and pulls him into his lap. He leans over his son's shoulder and picks up the framed photo. "Why don't you name all the people you can and then I'll tell you."

The picture is really a collage of different people, not one photograph of them all together. The boy points to an older, stern-faced man and Taehyung tries not to frown. "Halaeboji," he says, then moves on to an older woman. "Halmeoni.... then Yoonji-noona." The boy pauses over the picture of a man in a wheelchair and furrows his little brows. "Who is this, Appa? Why is he in a chair like that?"

Taehyung cuddles his child closer and places the photo back into the cubby alongside the flowers and candles. "Remember how I told you that Yoonji-noona, the woman we came to visit today, had a brother?" Songmin hums out an acknowledgement. "Well, I fell in love with that man. He was in a car accident and couldn't walk after that. That's why he's in a chair."

"Really?" Songmin gasps out. "That's scary!"

"It is."

A minute later, Taehyung hears footsteps and looks up to find Jimin leaning against the doorway of the memorial building. The elder smiles warmly at them both.

Songmin pouts and looks up at Jimin then back to Taehyung. "Does Abeoji know about the man in the chair?"

Glancing over to Jimin, Taehyung takes a moment collect himself before smiling down at his son.

"Yes. He was very special," he relays, tapping on the picture. "Do you want to hear about him? About the time when I knew we truly loved each other?"

Songmin seems reluctant and confused, but soon he reaches over and grabs the picture once more.

"Yes, Appa. Tell me about the man in the chair."

—————

———————-

——————————

Jimin only stops shaking the doctor when security shows up and forcibly pulls him away. Namjoon is distraught. Taehyung and Jun Ki are still on the floor.

They are threats being thrown around; the hospital staff wants to kick Jimin out and have the rest ushered outside for the time being. Then Jun Ki— seeing as Yoongi's father is nowhere in sight— will be escorted to a room to talk with the doctor about Yoongi's final moments and what happens next.

But none of that happens, because as Taehyung is staring blankly at the double doors leading into the operating area, they open, and out rolls Yoongi, dressed in a hospital gown and looking positively pissed. His hair is a mess, there's the imprint of bedsheets on one side of his face, and his eyes are swollen and red.

Taehyung doesn't even realize that he's running or that he's screaming until he's already in front of Yoongi, blubbering like a baby. The elder stares up at him in astonishment.

Behind him, he can hear Jimin yelling "What do you mean you had the wrong patient? Not all of us Asians look alike! No, he is not Dong Seo Kyun! How the fuck do you make a mistake like that?"

Oh.

It was a mistake, a miscommunication.

So this is... awkward.

But Taehyung hardly feels it when Yoongi looks at him and squints through one eye. "Taehyung? What are you doing here?"

The nurse doesn't even bother with a reply.

"Don't tell me. Tell him and only him. Feelings like yours, they're meant to shown, not spoken."

Instead, he picks Yoongi up out of the chair, not even caring that his patient is complaining about his ass hanging out of the back of his hospital gown and Taehyung wraps the man's legs around his waist and kisses him. Really kisses him— full on lips, tongue, teeth— a "swallowing Yoongi whole" kind of kiss, like this is the last time he'll ever see him.

Yoongi, for his part, is stunned for the first ten seconds or so and then he just mumbles "it's about fucking time" against the nurse's lips and they go at each other, hot and heavy and practically humping mid-air.

Taehyung is so happy. He's crying and moaning and his arms are shaking and his lips are bruising from the force of the kiss but he doesn't fucking care. He wants this. He wants Yoongi to yell at him when he burns the cookies and the kitchen is all smokey. He wants to come around the corner and witness Yoongi baby-talking Yeontan who is dressed like a bumblebee. He wants to lay under the stars at the park and listen to Yoongi rant about things only to quiet down and tell Taehyung to stop staring at him like a creep.

He wants popping rock candy foaming out of Yoongi's mouth and long nights of Yoongi playing the piano, his long fingers brushing deftly across the keys. He wants to roll over in bed and see his love sleeping soundly, so at peace with the world because he feels safe and loved.

He wants it all, and it starts with this moment.

Eventually, they part for air and Taehyung rests his head against Yoongi's and breathes deeply. He looks his patient right in the eye and grins. "Hello."

Yoongi narrows his eyes and shakes his head like he can't believe how ridiculous Taehyung is. "Hello," he replies sarcastically. "What's with all of this?"

"I literally thought you were dead just seconds ago," the nurse explains breezily, like it wasn't the worst moment of his life.

"Oh... well that's not good." Yoongi blinks at him. "I decided not to go through with it... Sorry?" It comes out as a question rather than an apology and Taehyung laughs and cries and finally puts Yoongi down because his arms are killing him now but he doesn't care.

The nurse drops to his knees in front of Yoongi's chair. "No, I'm sorry for not telling you about Yoonji sooner, for not making sure that you knew that I was interested in you for you. I should've never taken the risk, even if I thought you would be hurt or offended. That was selfish of me, but Hyung, you have to know that—"

"Taehyung, stop." Yoongi brings a shaky hand up to caress Taehyung's tear-stained cheek. "I'm sorry for asking you to throw away a part of yourself that made you into who you are today. Because without her, you wouldn't be here, we wouldn't have ever met. I don't hate her. I don't resent the fact that you love her. I was just tired of always feeling like nothing was truly mine— not my childhood, not my sexuality, not you.... and I projected all of that shit onto you and I was a dick."

"You were a dick," Taehyung concedes with a breathy giggle. More tears stream down his face. "But you're my dick."

Yoongi quirks a brow. "As far as I know, I've been your only dick."

Taehyung doesn't laugh. Yoongi's face drops. "Taehyung, what is it?"

Slowly, the nurse cups Yoongi's face in his hands and leans in close, so close that their lips brush together. "I just— When I thought I lost you, I remembered every moment we spent together and I don't think I could go on if I didn't have you in my life. You're much more than a patient, you're the smile on my face, the sun coming in through the windows. The flowers that Yeontan likes to eat and—"

"Taehyung, what did I tell you about those sappy dramas?"

Taehyung snorts with laughter through the haze of tears. "Hyung, this is a sappy drama. I love you. I love you so much and I'm never leaving you alone again."

Yoongi blinks at him in surprise and then his little doll lips open to say the sweetest words that Taehyung has ever heard.

"Kim Taehyung, I love you too, but our communication really fucking sucks. Let's work on that because I don't want to deal with these bullshit misunderstandings for the rest of my life."

"The rest of your life?" the nurse teases, looking into his lover's eyes.

The way Yoongi pouts momentarily is absolutely adorable. "I can take it back," he says, looking at the floor. "I just thought that— You're so— And we get along really well—"

"Min Yoongi," Taehyung begins, still holding onto the elder's face. "We can talk about it later, but for right now, I just want to be with you, my little lone wolf."

A breathless laugh; Yoongi's eyes scrunch up in amusement. "Ok, butterfly boy."

They begin to kiss again and when Taehyung pulls Yoongi into his lap on the floor, security is called to remove one angry Asian man screaming at the doctors and two men tempting the line between affection and public indecency.

—————-

————————

——————————-

Songmin traces his fingers over the picture his hands, digesting his father's story. "What happened to the man, Appa?"

Taehyung begins to speak but he's quickly interrupted by a familiar rasp.

"Taehyung, why are you talking to our child like I'm not here?"

Whipping his head around, Songmin breaks out into a grin. He looks down at the photo and back at Yoongi in astonishment. "It's Abeoji! The man is Abeoji! Appa loves Abeoji!"

"It sure is," Taehyung chirps, grinning like an idiot. He looks over to Jimin standing in the doorway. "Why don't you go get ready with Samchon and I'll see you soon, ok?" Songmin practically leaps for his favorite uncle and the two walk off, hand-in-hand.

Pleased with himself, Taehyung rises to his feet and looks over to the love of his life. "Was I bad for tricking him?"

"It was kind of a dick move, but I don't blame him for being confused. I look different now."

Yoongi truly does. He's standing in the doorway, his hair an auburn color, complementing his tailored suit. Beneath the pant legs are the braces his company now makes for accident victims— the braces that support rehabilitated legs and help people walk again.

It had taken nearly six years since the accident, but Yoongi had promised himself he would never give up again. He had promised the rest of them that he would work even harder in therapy. And when he and Jimin took back the company from his father, he promised to use technology to make a difference in people's lives.

He kept every single promise.

"My mother isn't coming," Yoongi says after awhile, leaning against the wall. The braces help a lot, but he still can't use all of his legs yet. He gets tired easily but he pushes himself everyday.

Taehyung isn't surprised. Things had not gone well for the Min family over the last two years. For one, Yoongi had refused the surgery after Jun Ki revealed the secret about Yoonji's true heritage. His father and him had gotten into an explosive argument right before he was to go into the operating room, while Yoongi had just gotten his IV to go under anesthesia. Apparently, he was still lucid enough to deny the surgery, but he still fell unconscious. Yoongi's father just left him there.

So when Yoongi came to, he spent the next hours in a bed recovering while he requested privacy to make some important calls. And within twenty-four hours, he had gone from Min Yoongi, disowned invalid, to Min Yoongi, acting CEO of Min Incoporated, with Jimin's blessing of course. Jimin's father had been happy to step down; he needed to deal with personal matters anyway.

But because of the takeover, Yoongi's mother was upset and refused to see him. She didn't visit him for birthdays, holidays, or even when Yoongi called to tell her about the adoption of their son. Songmin had been an unexpected surprise, but the woman didn't want anything to do with a Yoongi's "family".

Taehyung had calmed his boyfriend down and reminded him that they were doing the right thing. Songmin had been a patient at the pediatric clinic Taehyung went to work at after Yoongi regained most of his independence. The poor kid had been involved in a house fire in which he lost his parents. His legs were severely burned but he was a determined little boy who immediately attached himself to Taehyung.

When it came time for the boy to go into government custody since he had no kin that wanted him, Yoongi had looked over at Taehyung in bed one night and merely said "You would make a great father, Tae."

"You think so? Is this moving too fast? I mean, Jimin-hyung just moved out and we're so young..."

Yoongi simply smiled and ran his fingers over his boyfriend's cheek. "If you can give him half the love and attention you've given me, then he'll grow up with the most amazing father ever."

"Yoongi, you're going to be a wonderful father too. I just know it."

That night had been filled with the slowest and deepest sex they had ever had, sweat-slicked bodies writhing against each other as Taehyung helped his lover reach his peak several times before Yoongi's recovering legs needed to rest.

After that, the decision was clear as day, something so simple and natural, welcoming Songmin into their homes and hearts. That first night with the boy, Yoongi became "Abeoji" and Taehyung went from "Hyung-nim" to "Appa".

But even their joy, Yoongi's mother didn't want to experience. She was never there.

Not when Yoongi invested in bio-medical technology and began to walk again. Not when Taehyung threw a party with everyone in attendance— Seokjin, Namjoon, Hobi, Jimin, Jungkook, and Jun Ki— in order to propose; she never returned the call.

And now she wouldn't be here, even on his wedding day.

"I'm sorry, baby," Taehyung says, pulling Yoongi into a hug. "I know this is important to you."

"Of course it's important to me. I'm marrying the most frustrating, annoying, weirdest person on the planet and I want to share it with the world."

"I'm sure there are weirder men than me."

"Yeah, but none that I'm in love with."

The nurse grins as Yoongi runs his hands through his shaggy black hair. He's let it grow out to a decent length but decided to dye it recently, and he likes it a lot better now that it's not constantly bleached to death. He still puts it ponytails every so often. Songmin likes to tug on them and laugh hysterically at his father's face. "Hey, I'm not weird—"

"You're unique," Yoongi finishes and leans in for a kiss. "Speaking of which, are you still trying to do those western traditions?"

Taehyung lights up. "Yes! I've got something old," he points to his worn converse and Yoongi rolls his eyes. "Something new." He wiggles his finger with the titanium wedding band. "Something borrowed... " he spins around in the vintage designer suit that Namjoon had lent him, "and something blue..."

When he turns around and pulls up his hair in the back, he hears Yoongi let out an exhale.

"A fake-ass butterfly tattoo," the elder drawls. "Why am in not surprised. That's so Taehyung."

The nurse spins around and grins. "Unique, right? Now what about you?"

"I still think it's stupid but you're so excited about it, so..." Yoongi points to his suit which is also vintage, "something old." He wiggles his own ring finger which flashes glimpses of sapphires. "Something blue. Something borrowed..." He pulls aside his shirt to showcase a necklace that Yoonji's adoptive mother had given Yoongi to wear in remembrance of his and Jimin's sister whom they never got the opportunity to meet.

"What about the something new?" Taehyung pouts.

Yoongi just grins mischievously before making his way over to Taehyung as best as he can. He places his lips next to the nurse's ear. "I've got a new tattoo too, but you'll have to wait until later to see where I put it."

Laughing, Taehyung kisses his fiancé. "Mmm, or we can just find out now..."

"In my sister's memorial? You pervert!"

"I don't know," the nurse begins, winding his arms around Yoongi's waist. He kisses his neck and begins to sway them back and forth, supporting both their weight. "You're the one who insisted we do it in your chair that one time...."

Yoongi groans. "I honestly thought it could withstand all the... bouncing."

"And that time in your office..."

"It's a good thing that rug was already white."

"And how could I forget about the fact that you sometimes like it when I keep my scrubs on, Patient Min."

Yoongi makes the strangled sound that tells the nurse that he's blushing furiously.

"See? I win." Taehyung grins into his lover's neck. "But fine, I'll wait until tonight to see your tattoo, but please let it be the werewolf again. That was so hot."

The smile on Yoongi's face is part annoyance, part endearment, and all gums.

Taehyung has never seen anything more beautiful.

——————-

It's been six years since the accident.

Six years since Yoongi stumbled into that car, high out of his mind, and decided that he didn't care. Even after, when he was pushing himself to walk again, when he would fall flat on his face only to get up again and keep trying, he never thought that he would get to this point.

It's not perfect, and some days his legs hurt too much to use the braces, but today—

Today is perfect.

They traveled from Yoonji's memorial site to Taehyung's grandparent's farm and here they are, all gathered on an vibrantly green pasture while cherry blossom trees flower all around them.

At the front— near the arbor overgrown with flowering vines— Jungkook, Hobi, Seokjin, and Namjoon stand, dressed immaculately and beaming like the proudest friends in the world. In the audience, seated in crisp neat rows, are the rest of their guests. Jun ki and his family are in the front, and Yoongi notes how tired his brother is with two twin girls on his lap, but he looks so happy. Taehyung's mother and grandparents are present as well, looking upon the scene with fondness. Around them are a smattering of colleagues and acquaintances that both grooms have collected over the years. Yoonji's parents had sent gifts, but felt it was best if they did not attend personally.

All in all, it's such a lovely scene on this glorious spring day.

When the recording of Yoonji playing the piano starts to play, everyone rises to their feet, staring down the aisle expectantly. Jimin leads first, holding little Songmin's hand as the child tosses petals onto the lush grass. Yeontan follows after them and tries to eat the petals until Jimin scolds him. When they make it to the front and stand next to the other groomsmen, everyone holds in a collective breath.

Yoongi lets his out. He turns to Taehyung. He wonders if his fiancé can tell that he's nervous; his hands are shaking. "You don't have to help me get down this thing, you know," he tells his soon to be husband. "Tradition says that you should be up there waiting for me or something."

With a warm smile, Taehyung holds Yoongi's hand in his, brushing his thumb over the skin there. His eyes are round and filled with so much love that Yoongi finds that he can finally fill the hole inside him with the things that this man has taught him— about life, about love, about himself.

It's been a long road and things aren't always perfect. There are fights and misunderstandings and sleeping on the couch when they can't seem to reconcile. But there's also Yoongi waking up early to roll into the living room and kiss his lover awake and apologize. There are heated kisses and whispered promises before Songmin comes running into the room with Yeontan requesting Uncle Seokjin and "English" aunt Chloe's cinnamon rolls.

There are date nights where Hobi watches their son and teaches the boy the finer points of cleaning houses while they go to the park and try unusual food. There's ganging up on Jungkook to tease him when he mentions he has a girlfriend and there's grossing Jimin out with their displays of affection while at nightclubs even though Jimin has no room to talk since he's been spending all his time with Namjoon lately....

It's not perfect, and yet, it is.

Yoongi takes a moment, on this beautiful spring day, to remember the feeling of sorrow all those years ago back when he was chasing fleeting feelings of acceptance from all the wrong places, only to find that he doesn't recall such feelings at all. All he can see are choices and actions that brought him here, where he finally understands the meaning of serendipity.

He's never felt more at peace than he does in this very moment, holding onto the hand of the only person in the world that truly sees him. The man with hair too long and wild, with lips covered in cherry balm, and a heart so big Yoongi has found a home there.

"Tae, I can do this by myself," he reassures his fiancé once more. He can. He knows he can, but....

"You don't have to," Taehyung whispers softly. "I told you, Yoongi. From this moment on... You never walk alone."

And for the rest of their lives, that promise is kept, an undying echo of the past, present, and future— a glorious reprise.

"You know it all,

You're my best friend.

The morning will come again.

No darkness, no season is eternal."