(a/n: long chapter incoming!! sorry for an typos or spelling mistakes in advance <3)

suff3ring.jjk

❤ 💬 ✈️

liked by tae_babyy and 243,962 others

suff3ring.jjk i'm sad to the core, everyday is a chore, when you give i want more, i wanna be adored

view all 52,487 comments:

jim.kardashian SLAYYYYYYYYYYYY

$uga_ woi yoiii taehyung got your outfit RIGHT 📢

sunshine.exe AYO GIVING HIGH FASHION 😩😩😩

_joon_ backstory for the fans: he cut his hair when tae told him not to so tae was giving him the silent treatment and so, to get tae to forgive him, he let tae pick out his outfit for the day which is why you are not seeing as much black as usually expected 💀💀 (tldr: tae is extra asf)

seokjinnie1 EAT EAT EAT EAT EAT

tae_babyy the hair is growing on me, i guess 😔

↪️ suff3ring.jjk you're cute

jjiw00_ GOT ME CLUTCHING MY OWN PEARLS FR 📢📢📢

tetemon the fact that we've got namjoon giving us the whole storyline in the comments 😭😭

jeonii_bb THANK YOU TAE FOR BLESSING THIS BOY WITH A SINGLE COLOURED ARTICLE OF CLOTHING!!!!!

_.gl0ria._ IDK WHO YOU ARE BUT BOY YOU LOOKING FINE ASF ICL 😋😋

sarababy that lil backstory has to be the most taehyung thing taehyung has ever done

...
__________________________

🫂 3 twinks, 3 collage
graduates, 1 goth & 1 woman 🫂

_joon_:
hobi, stop renaming the groupchat, i beg you😭😭😭

sunshine.exe:
this name is top tier, i have no idea what you're talking about namjoonie

suff3ring.jjk:
i am not a goth, it's called grunge ffs

sunshine.exe:
the fact that you knew i was referencing you says enough 😆

$uga_:
wait who are the 3 twinks??

suff3ring.jjk:
you're asking that as if you're not one of them 😹

$uga_:
AM NOT

jim.kardashian:
yes you are bb and that's okay 🫂

tae_babyy:
the 3 twinks are most definitely me, you and jimin

sunshine.exe:
he's right, yoongs, sorry not sorry 😙

$uga_:
this is homophobic 😐

seokjinnie1:
sure yoongi, sure

anyways, i'm proud to be one of the collage graduates😆

_joon_:
as am i 🥂

sunshine.exe:
🥂 indeed

jjiw00_:
and i'm proud to be a woman 😆

suff3ring.jjk:
slay

jim.kardashian:
slayyyyy 👩🏻‍❤️‍💋‍👨🏻

__________________________

jeongguk chuckled at his friends' shenanigans and shut off his phone screen.

he rolled over onto his back, currently laying flat on his bed with an unlit cigarette between his lips. he fiddled with the lighter for a second before putting it to use.

staring at the ceiling while steadily exhaling white smoke was where his mind was the clearest.

it had been a few weeks since he finally made it official with taehyung and everything had been going great. too great, almost.

whenever jeongguk was sublimely happy, something crept in and managed to humble him. this day of reckoning was not something he was looking forward to so he was attempting to enjoy these moments while they lasted.

jeongguk liked to blame his bipolar disorder for the drastic ups and downs of his mood but, surprisingly, his disorder wasn't always the main problem. it turns out that people are just terrible sometimes.

sometimes, no matter how much you blame yourself for something, it will always be someone else's fault.

that aside, jeongguk was patiently waiting for something to ruin his good mood but, nonetheless, was enjoying it while it lasted.

he heard his phone go off rapidly with multiple notifications and knew it wasn't the instagram groupchat since he'd temporarily muted it.

he picked up the device and saw:

"4 new messages from tae💗"

as a small smile graced his lips at the mere thought of his boy, he stubbed out the cigarette and unlocked his phone.

__________________________

tae💗

tae💗:
give me attention

please

jeonnie

😚

jeonnie🖤:
sure

tae💗:
yay!!

okay so, i had this idea...

jeonnie🖤:
oh no...

that's never good, now is it?

tae💗:
no wait hear me out

jeonnie🖤:
okayyy

tae💗:
sooo it's been a few weeks since we've been together officially and we've basically been together for much longer than that

and i love you

jeonnie 🖤:
yes and i love you too

tae💗:
yes exactly and i've been thinkingggg

jeonnie🖤:
about?

tae💗:
don't freak out or anything and don't feel like you have to say yes but...

how would you feel about maybe meeting my parents???

jeonnie🖤:
oh

tae💗:
i'm moving too fast for you, aren't i?

it's fine, you don't have to

i'll wait until you're comfortable

jeonnie🖤:
no no it's not that

i'm fine with it i think

this just seems like it came out of nowhere

tae💗:
can i facetime you?

jeonnie🖤:
yeah sure call me

__________________________

in record timing, jeongguk's phone began to ring.

he picked up and his breath hitched in his throat.

no matter how many times he saw taehyung, his beauty never failed to send shivers down his spine.

he was laying on his bed too. while jeongguk's black sheets lay underneath him, taehyung was enveloped in soft white sheets and lilac cushions. the contrast was quite hilariously telling towards their personalities.

"talk to me." jeongguk said and that was all it took for taehyung to begin.

"are you sure you're not uncomfortable with the idea?" taehyung asked.

"i'm sure."

"you promise?"

"i promise. i always do."

taehyung looked at jeongguk through the screen and he could tell the younger wasn't lying. it was one of the reasons he facetimed him in the first place: taehyung would know how jeongguk truly felt about the topic just by looking at him. on top of that, he may or may not just prefer to hear his voice than to text him.

"okay so, as you know, i went to visit my parents the day before you popped the question and, since i hadn't seen them in so long, the topic of if i was seeing anyone recently naturally came up. i told them yes, obviously. even though we weren't official i knew that we were serious and exclusive so obviously i told them. then they asked if they could meet you and i told them i'd let them know. they're coming over to me and namjoon's place to visit for a few days so they figured that now would be the perfect time." taehyung explained.

jeongguk smiled slightly at the thought of a nervous, blushing taehyung being asked by his parents if he was seeing anyone and, even though they weren't official, bashfully stating that yes, yes he was.

"so when is this happening?" jeongguk asked after processing it all.

"we're having a family dinner the day after tomorrow. that's where they figured they'd meet you." the other replied.

jeongguk didn't respond.

"jeonnie?"

"i'm fine, i'm just thinking." the younger finally spoke.

taehyung sighed, "don't get too in your head about it, if you don't want to then it's fine. we've only been officially official for a less than a month. it's okay if meeting the parents is too fast for you."

"no, taehyung, really it's not that. i'd love to meet your parents. honestly, i've been thinking about the day you'd ask me this before i even asked you to be my boyfriend." jeongguk admitted.

taehyung smiled, blushing slightly as he thought wow, this boy really loves me.

"so then what is it that's holding you back from just saying yes?" taehyung questioned softly.

now it was jeongguk's turn to sigh, "i just don't think they're gonna like me, to be honest. i mean, you have a textbook dream family and i know that without even meeting them because you've told me yourself. i've never had a family like yours and i just... i dunno, i just don't feel like i'd fit in inside your home."

jeongguk heard taehyung sniffle and immediately looked closer at his screen with wide eyes, "are you crying?"

taehyung wiped his eyes, "don't ever say that again, jeongguk."

"say wha-"

"that you don't fit into my home. wherever i am, you'll always fit in. you'll fit in my home because you fit in my life. if my parents don't like that then that's their loss because they'll lose the privilege of getting to know you the way i have. you said it yourself, it's my home not theirs. i love my parents so much, jeongguk, and you know that. but, at the end of the day, i'm not under their roof anymore and their home isn't my home anymore. my home is here with joon and over there with you and seokjin. so you don't ever have to worry about whether you fit in when you're around me because you always will. you don't need to act any different around my parents or namjoon or around me when we're at this dinner. i love you, okay?" taehyung lectured, a deep frown on his face.

"okay, i'm sorry love, don't cry. i love you too, you know i didn't mean it like that it's just-"

"i know what you meant and it's fine. just know that you don't have to worry about any of that." taehyung said, his tone reverting back to it's original softness.

"alright." jeongguk nodded lightly, showing taehyung that he understood.

"so will you join us?" taehyung asked after a few seconds of comfortable and thoughtful silence.

"sure."

~time skip~

just like that, the day had rolled around even quicker than he'd expected.

he was told to dress business-casual. taehyung's parents were simple but classy people. they were a middle class, family dinner every sunday, white pickett fence kind of family. this meant jeongguk didn't need to dress like he was going to a wedding or anything however, he also couldn't show up in sweatpants and a t-shirt like how he would normally show up to taehyung's house. at least, not until he was on good, casual terms with his parents.

that being said, jeongguk had on a pair of black jeans, a black dress shirt (slightly unbuttoned because who the hell buttons a shirt all the way without a tie?) and a pair of boots with a black blazer that taehyung told him would definitely suffice.

his hair was recently cut so he didn't have to worry about trying to make his previously long, unruly locks cooperate with him. instead he just dried it and let it do it's own thing.

(a/n: the hair i was invisioning ^^^)

he took a deep breath before he left the house, recieving a goodbye and a good luck from seokjin before taking off.

mission "get taehyung's parents to, at least, tolerate him enough to approve of their relationship" was a go.

meanwhile, with taehyung...

"please don't intimidate him too hard, dad." taehyung begged, not wanting his father to scare off his boyfriend.

"don't be silly taehyung, i'm only gonna ask him a few things. to get to know him." he scoffed out a laugh.

"i mean it." taehyung said seriously.

noticing his sons' tone, the man looked up at him from his seat on the couch and said, "i promise you, sweetheart."

taehyung smiled, "thank you."

"oh, what's he like? i'm sure you picked someone amazing, dear." his mother was practically buzzing in sheer excitement to meet this mysterious man whom her son had fallen for.

"he is amazing." taehyung confirmed.

"oh i'm so excited." she practically squealed, namjoon having to calm her down.

"chill, mum." namjoon chucked, a hand on his mother's shoulder.

"yeah, mum, i know you're excited but please don't smother him like what you did to seokjin." taehyung warned but the woman was barely listening.

"yes, honey, i get it."

"seriously mum, he's not accustomed to being showered with affection by a parental figure and i don't want you to overwhelm him or anything because i know how you get. so just lay off a bit, please?" taehyung begged.

she smiled at him, "i promise, tae."

in all honesty, taehyung mentioning that jeongguk didn't receive a lot of affection from his own parents only made his mother even more keen to make the boy feel loved and wanted.

as conversation slowly dissipated into comfortable silence as soft jazz music played in the background, his mother found herself checking on the food in the kitchen, his dad was out on the balcony looking at the amazing view provided by their position on the eighth floor. meanwhile, namjoon and taehyung were relaxing on the couch.

well, namjoon was relaxing while taehyung was silently freaking out.

"taehyung, calm down."

"i'm fine."

"no you're not, i know that look."

"..."

"exactly."

taehyung groaned, "i hate that you know me so well."

"cmon, talk to me." namjoon made himself comfortable.

"i'm just nervous, i guess. you know i love mum and dad. i just really want them to like him. even if they don't approve of him, i'll still stay with him of course. it would just be so much better if i knew they liked him too." taehyung sighed, running a hand through his hair.

"hey, listen. you love jeongguk, yeah?" namjoon asked.

"yes, of course i do, i-"

"then that's all that matters. if you love him and he makes you happy then mum and dad will love him too. you know that." namjoon wrapped an arm around his brother, patting him on the back.

taehyung smiled, "i hope so."

meanwhile, back with jeongguk...

when he arrived at the apartment complex, he shakily pressed the button for taehyung's floor, trying to clear his mind throughout the elevator ride. once he made it to the door, he took a few more long breaths before knocking.

he was hoping taehyung would answer but he's never been known to be the luckiest of people.

when the door swung open he was met with the sight of a man who looked to be in his mid to late forties. his hair was a similar length to jeongguk's own except it was slicked back and speckled with a couple of grey hairs. he wore a simple white dress shirt and black pants but the rolex on his wrist clearly showed you that he was well-off. he had a kind and welcoming face yet still an intimidating aura about him. authoritive.

of course, the first person who saw jeongguk would be taehyung's father. just his luck.

"hello, young man." the older smiled, his mouth forming a square-ish shape and his eyes crinkling at their corners.

jeongguk found himself smiling too just at the sight. taehyung really did take after his father.

"hi mr kim, i'm jeongguk. jeon jeongguk." the boy spoke, his voice quite noticeably shaking as he shifted on his feet and dug his nails into his palms.

"come in, come in."

and so jeongguk stepped into the apartment. despite being here countless times before, the entryway felt foreign with this man greeting him.

taehyung's father shook his hand firmly, "call me doyun."

all of a sudden, a female voice rang through the short hallway.

"hello! welcome home!" the woman pretty much skipped up to jeongguk, wrapping him up into a warm embrace.

jeongguk was caught off guard, to say the least.

he wasn't comfortable with touching people he wasn't close to but he wasn't about to say that to taehyung's mother who had just greeted him like a celebrity.

she pulled away, keeping her hands on his shoulders. she was slightly shorter than him but not by much (taller than her husband, in fact). she had long, slim legs and walked like a runway model. i mean, she was wearing high heels to a casual family dinner for god's sake. although jeongguk could tell she was probably only a few years younger than her husband, she looked like she was in her prime, her beauty undeniable. her bright eyes and sweet smile radiating kindness.

it seemed taehyung took after both of his parents.

"hello ma'am, i'm jeongguk." he greeted.

"oh don't be silly! call me ayeong, we're family now." she hugged him once more.

that's when jeongguk registered that taehyung's mother, upon him entering, had exclaimed the words "welcome home".

and, in that moment, he felt as if he could break down into tears in this woman's arms at the sheer thought of her seeing her beloved son's home as his home too.

"gosh mum, please. don't scare him off." taehyung pried his mother away from jeongguk, a smile on his face nonetheless.

"i'm sorry, i'm just so happy to finally meet you." she smiled even wider (if that was even possible, at this point) before stroking over jeongguk's cheek tenderly. after that, she backed away and leaned into her husband, giving jeongguk some much needed space.

taehyung rolled his eyes at her antics before turning to jeongguk with a small smile, "hi."

"hey." jeongguk breathed out in barely a whisper, kissing his boyfriend on the cheek.

taehyung blushed furiously as he felt his parents eyes burning into him.

he turned around to them slowly, "a moment?"

"oh, of course! cmon honey." his mother said giddily, pulling her husband away into the kitchen with her.

once they were finally alone, jeongguk let out a deep breath that he didn't even realise he was holding in.

"you alright? i'm sorry about them, especially my mum. she just gets really excited about things like this. i've never brought a boy home to meet her before so she's been buzzing all day and-"

jeongguk kissed him.

"i'm fine. just a little overwhelmed but i'm fine." he reassured.

"i'll tell her to lay off a bit, she probably freaked you out. she's just really affectionate." taehyung rambled on again.

"i'll live." jeongguk chuckled.

that's when taehyung realised the slight croak in his voice and his glossy eyes.

"have you been crying?" taehyung asked, bringing a hand up to stroke jeongguk's cheek.

the action, reminding him of what he'd experienced with taehyung's mother just a moment ago, made him want to cry even more.

"no, i haven't."

"then what's wrong? why do you look like you're about to cry? it was my parents wasn't it? they invaded your personal space. i told them not to be so-" taehyung asked worriedly only to be interrupted.

"no no, it's not that. it's just- it's stupid but i guess i'm just happy." jeongguk sighed, leaning down to rest his head on taehyung's shoulder.

"oh." taehyung replied, running a hand through the other boy's hair.

"your dad saw me for the first time and immediately gave me the biggest smile i've ever seen. your mum only just met me and she's already called me her family, called this place my home. i guess i just feel stupid for ever thinking i'd be an outcast here. it's like i forgot good parents existed." jeongguk admitted.

taehyung brought him up to look at him, "i told you, you'll always be welcome here. i told you that you and seokjin's place is like my second home. this place will always be your second home too."

"i know." jeongguk nodded, kissing him on the forehead.

"now cmon, let's go say hi to namjoon and then get this dinner started because i'm starving."

after a quick greeting and chat with namjoon, the three of them heard ayeong's voice call out from the kitchen that dinner was ready.

walking into the kitchen/dining room, jeongguk's nose was hit with the familiar scent of kimchi jjigae, his favourite.

"i may or may not have told my mum what all your favourite foods are." taehyung whispers to him as they sit down.

"you shouldn't have done that, you know i would've eaten anything." jeongguk scolded for making his mother work even harder.

"yes but today is about you, dumby." taehyung poked his cheek.

at the head of the table, taehyung's father cleared his throat, signalling for them to stop whispering at the dinner table.

"sorry sir." jeongguk blushed, embarrassed.

"oh be nice to him, dear. don't mind him, jeongguk, he's just being an old man as usual." ayeong laughed at her husband, dismissing him.

"what about me?" taehyung pouted at his mother defending jeongguk but not himself.

"you've been having family dinnertime with us since you were born, taehyung. you should know better." she said, tapping him with her chopsticks as a warning.

as jeongguk suspected, taehyung's parents were warm and kind people but that kindness was not to be taken for granted as they had a very obvious strict side to them.

"i don't know about you but i'd love to eat this year." namjoon announced.

"alright, alright." she waved a hand at him before taking the covers off of all the seperate dishes she had laid out.

"thank you, honey." her husband kissed her on the cheek.

"thanks mum." their children said in unison.

"uh, thank you." jeongguk chimed in awkwardly, causing ayeong's heart to visibly melt as she leaned over and ruffled his hair.

"you're welcome, dear." she smiled at him.

with that, they all began to fill their plates to the brim with food. at first jeongguk thought he should eat in moderation for the sake of making a good impression but once he saw the sheer amount of food the family was piling onto their plates, he realised he had nothing to be ashamed of.

when they were about five minutes into eating, the soft jazz music filling the silence in the meantime, taehyung's father spoke up.

"so jeongguk, where abouts do you live? did you have to travel far?" he asked.

"uh, no sir. it's not too far, about a twenty minute car ride." he answered.

"ah that's good then. do you go to school or work here in the city then?"

"i work in the city on weekends. i've never been the academic type." he admitted, scratching the back of his neck.

"trust me, i get it. one of my son's a model and the other is a rapper. some people just aren't built for an academic line of work." he nodded.

jeongguk let out a breath of relief. at least he didn't have to worry about taehyung's parents interrogating him about his employment situation.

"are you enjoying the food, jeongguk?" ayeong jumped in.

"it's great, miss."

"oh i already told you, don't go around calling me all this miss and ma'am nonsense like we're strangers. you'll make me feel old." she chuckled.

"god, why do you already love jeongguk more than me?" namjoon laughed.

"don't feel too special, jeonnie, she acted the same way with seokjin when namjoon brought him home." taehyung snickered.

"let your mother have her moments, taehyung." his father said despite laughing himself.

"well forgive me for being happy about my two babies finding love." she looked offended.

as conversation began to flow around the table once more, jeongguk felt taehyung grasp his hand under the table, looking up at him with a love-struck gaze.

when jeongguk looked down into taehyung's eyes he saw his whole world, his whole galaxy. and taehyung saw the exact same in jeongguk's.

"oh, you are just the cutest little things." ayeong clapped her hands together happily, looking at the young couple.

"mum." taehyung groaned, stuffing food into his mouth to cure his embarassment.

"you see, jeongguk, taehyung's never brought home a boy to me before, that's how i know you're a keeper. on top of that, i've never seen him look so smitten before." ayeong giggled like a teenage girl and it made jeongguk smile.

although taehyung's parents were to be approaching the age of fifty soon, they had young spirits.

"i'm just irresistible, i guess." jeongguk joked, earning a laugh from the table which made him feel somewhat proud of himself.

"well, you are a handsome young man, perfect for my beautiful taehyungie. and you're well-mannered which we always appreciate in this family. i think you'd settle in nicely." she nods more seriously.

"where did you two meet?" doyun questioned.

"well, jeongguk lives with seokjin and when he and namjoon got together our friendship groups ended up merging." taehyung explained.

"without our permission, cough cough namjoon." jeongguk muttered.

namjoon cackled, almost choking on his food, "listen, when are you gonna let this go? i apologised profusely for like a whole week!"

"oh i've already let it go, if you didn't do that very rude thing then i probably wouldn't have met taehyung so consider this a thank you. however, i'll continue to mention it constantly because your reactions make me laugh." jeongguk snickered into the glass he was drinking from.

"i feel like i'm missing something." doyun raised an eyebrow.

and so the three of them went on to explain the drama and chaos of jeongguk and taehyung's first meeting.

~time skip~

when dinner was over, jeongguk offered to help ayeong wash up the dishes to which she declined saying that she'd do them later.

before he managed to step foot outside of the kitchen, doyun tapped him on the shoulder, motioning him to come over to him.

taehyung, having seen the gesture, warned "please don't scare him dad, we talked about this."

"i won't, i won't. run along." he said, shooing his son away which left him and jeongguk alone in the kitchen while the rest of the family chose a movie to watch in the living room.

"yes sir?"

"doyun, jeongguk. no need to be so formal." the man corrected him again.

"sorry si- doyun." jeongguk flushed in embarassment for what felt like the fiftieth time that evening.

doyun laughed, patting him on the shoulder trying to ease his nerves, "it's alright. i just wanted to let you know that we won't bite so don't be so stiff. as long as you don't do anything to hurt my son, you'll always be welcome around us."

"i would never." jeongguk nodded firmly.

"let's hope not because, in all honesty, i've never seen taehyung so happy. let alone have i ever seen him in love before you showed up. you love him back?" he asked.

"i do, i really do."

"then that's good enough for me," he smiled before ushering jeongguk out of the kitchen, "now cmon, let's get in there before they start the film without us."

sitting on the couch in front of the fireplace surrounded by the kim family as a movie played in front of them, jeongguk felt himself finally fully relax for the first time that night.

later that evening...

"so will you be staying over, jeongguk?" ayeong asked when the movie was done and the clock showed that it was past 9pm.

"uh, i mean, i don't mean to intrude on your family time or anything." he says as he takes his jacket from the coat rack.

"nonsense, you're welcome to stay if you want. i told you, consider yourself part of the family now." she smiled genuinely.

jeongguk, feeling like he couldn't say no (especially with taehyung latched onto his arm giving him puppy eyes) said, "alright, sure."

that's how he found himself upstairs in taehyung's room.

the two had washed up and changed into more comfortable clothes before they both collapsed on the bed with a sigh.

as jeongguk was staring at the ceiling, taehyung rolled onto his side to look at him.

"my dad didn't say anything too harsh to you, did he?" taehyung whispered, his breath brushing against jeongguk's cheek.

"on the contrary, actually." he replied which made taehyung smile.

"and my mum isn't overwhelming you with all this family business? i know she can be a bit overbearing." the older boy asked.

"no, it's fine. i appreciate her hospitality, actually. yes it's a bit overwhelming but i'd prefer it this way than her being distant or skeptical of me so i can't really complain. especially not when she's being so nice to me."

"well, i talked to her and... she thinks you're her son now. just to let you know. you don't have to see her as a mother yet if you're not ready for that. just know that she already sees you as family, she's not just saying it for show." taehyung confessed.

jeongguk remained silent for a minute or so and taehyung let him.

"is it wrong that i've felt more loved by your mother in the past 4 hours than i ever did with my own mother for eighteen years?" jeongguk finally asked.

"no. it's never wrong to feel loved." taehyung answered.

and as taehyung was drifting off to sleep that night, he heard jeongguk's voice in a whisper of "i love you" just before he slipped into slumber.

he felt loved too.

•~•~•~•~•~•~•~•~•~•~•~•~•~•~•

•4779 words
•not edited or proof-read
•HEYYYYYY
•this update took a while because it's a bit longer than usual so hopefully it was worth the wait!
•this book has 45 chapters along with an epilogue so there's not that much more to go now
•it feels crazy that this book is almost over because i've been writing it for so long lmao
•there is a final bit of drama/angst coming up before the happy ending so prepare yourself for that in a couple of chapters lmao
•this book should be done before i go back to school for sure
•then i'll be focusing on "my little angel" as usual aswell as another book that's in progress (probably "tics?" because i've kept a lot of people waiting on that one lmao oops)
•STAY SAFE!!!
•i love youuuuu

peace out xoxo,

nixy.