Jeongguk sighs as he walks into his mother's apartment. She was still living on her own after his dad sold the house and that only made him worry more.

He didn't want her in his life but he didn't want her to hurt herself either. Which was why he was checking in on her after months of ignoring her calls and texts. He wouldn't be able to forgive himself if something horrible happened to her.

She may have sacrificed his life so that her biological child could have a better one, but he still loved her. He loved her so much that he hated himself for it.

"Ma?" He calls as he shuts the door behind himself. "It's Jeongguk, the door was open so I came in."

"Jeongguk?" He hears her voice call from a room down the hallway.

He follows her voice, stopping when he sees her rushing out of one of the bedrooms. A look of disbelief in her eyes as she walks towards him. "You're here, you're actually here."

"Jihyuk said you weren't doing well so I~"

"Oh, Jeongguk." His mother cries as she hugs him. Burying her face in his chest as she squeezes him. "Oh, honey, I missed you. I missed you so much."

Jeongguk sighs as he wraps his arms around his mom. He couldn't deny the fact that he missed his mom. He missed her so much on some days he thought he was going insane. He just hated that someone that seemed so good was associated with something so bad.

"Let me look at you." His mom says taking his face in her hands. Blinking away her tears so that she can get a good look at her son. "You're so thin, Gguk. Are you eating properly?"

"Yeah, ma." Jeongguk says taking her hands in his. "I didn't come here for you to look at me I came here to make sure you were alright."

"I'm fine now that you're here." She says hugging him again. "My sweet, boy. I missed my sweet boy."

"I missed you too." The ravenette admits as he hugs her back. "You have to stop getting sick when I'm gone for a while."

"I can't help it. You're the only reason I have to live, Jeongguk."

    "I'm not always gonna be around, ma."

Mrs. Jeon falls silent, hugging Jeongguk close for a moment before letting go. "I understand. You shouldn't have come today if you're going to disappear again~"

    "Ma~"

    "It makes it worse. It just makes it harder for me." She says wiping away her tears with trembling hands. "You didn't have to check up on me. I would've been fine."

    "Are you drinking again?" Jeongguk asks out of pure concern and worry for his mom.

    "No, I'm not." She says walking past him to the living room. "You don't have to stay. Sorry I took time out of your day."

    "I came because I was worried about you." Jeongguk says following her. "Jihyuk said you were down in the dumps~"

    "I'm always down in the dumps, Jeongguk. It doesn't mean anything." Mrs. Jeon says grabbing a carton of cigarettes from the coffee table as she sits down on the couch. "Cigarette? Or did you quit?"

    "I quit." Jeongguk says still standing in one spot. Watching his mom light the cigarette with a hint of disapproval in his expression.

    "Good for you." She says taking a drag from the cigarette. "If you came to see if I was still alive I guess you can leave now. Right?"

    "Don't be an asshole." Jeongguk says rolling his eyes in aggravation. "I would've thought you'd be happy to see me. You were up until you realized that I'm not falling for your stupid traps anymore."

    "Traps?" Mrs. Jeon asks raising an eyebrow.

    "You tell me I'm the only reason you have to live. You say that you'd die without me. And you fall into downward spirals when I'm gone for more than a week." Jeongguk runs off. "You can't keep guilt tripping me into being in your life, ma. Especially now."

    "You think I'm such a horrible person for what I did, Jeongguk. But I'm glad I did it." Mrs. Jeon starts, leaning forward with tears forming in her eyes.

    "I didn't come here to talk about that~"

    "Don't you believe in destiny?" His mom continues. "I do. And I believe you were destined to be in my life. Regardless of my intentions in the beginning, I fell in love with you, Jeongguk. Through everything, you can't say I didn't love you."

    "I'm sure you did, ma. I loved you too." Jeongguk says. "But the decisions I make now have nothing to do with you and everything to do with my children. I'm an adult now, alright? I won't be coming here every week because I work full time durning the week and I get my kids on the weekends. I have my own shit going on, and your shit doesn't have much room in my life right now. So take it personally if you want, it has nothing to do with you."

Mrs. Jeon looks up at Jeongguk with tears in her eyes. Nodding her head slowly as she looks away. "I understand."

    "If I wanted to hurt you, trust me, I wouldn't be here right now." Jeongguk says. "Stop making me feel like shit for trying to move on with my life after you crippled me with yours."

"Okay!" Mrs. Jeon snaps. "I get it, alright? I'm sorry, what else do you want from me?"

    "Goddamnit, ma." Jeongguk groans, rubbing his eyes in aggravation. "I didn't want things to go this way."

    "I can't go back in time and do things differently, Jeongguk!" His mom continues. "I tried to give you a good life~"

    "That's bullshit." Jeongguk says, his voice isn't angry. He's honestly too drained to even raise his voice.

    "I tried to protect you from your father, Jeongguk. I did, you know I did." Mrs. Jeon argues. "I tried to push you in the right direction. I never wanted you to follow in his footsteps."

Jeongguk sighs, he couldn't argue with that. His mother always pressured him into to the right things one way or another. She always made sure he stayed in school and thought about the future by encouraging him to go to college.

    "You're a good boy, Jeongguk. You've always been a good person." His mom continues. "I knew you were capable of being better than your brother and your dad~"

    "It's not that hard to be better than them, ma." Jeongguk says rolling his eyes. "It's not hard to be a decent human being. It doesn't even matter how much better I am than them. Because their shitty decisions are still affecting me."

Jeongguk's phone rings in his pocket before his mom gets the chance to respond. When he looks at the screen he's surprised to see Taehyung's name on the screen.

    "Hey, Tae, what's wrong?"

    "So you are purposely ignoring my calls."

Jeongguk frowns when he hears his brothers voice, a million thoughts racing through his head in a split second. "Where's Taehyung?"

    "Oh, he's here." Jihyuk laughs on the other line. "So are Jaehyung and Hanjae."

    "I gotta go, ma." Jeongguk says already heading out of the apartment. "What the fuck is going on, Jihyuk?"

    "Come home, Jeongguk. We can all have a chat, as a family."

    "Jihyuk, I swear to god if you touch them you're worse than dead." The ravenette threatens coldly as he climbs into the car. Starting it and speeding out of his mother's apartment complex.

    "See you soon, brother."

Jeongguk groans when the line drops, tossing his phone to the side as he focuses on getting home at quick as possible. When he gets to his house the lights are on, Taehyung's car parked haphazardly as if he came over in a rush.

    "Jihyuk?" He calls when he walks through the door. Walking to the living room where he finds Taehyung sitting with Hanjae in his arms, Jaehyung still fast asleep in his car seat. He glares at Jihyuk when he sees Taehyung's terrified expression. "Did you have to scare him?"

    "I couldn't help myself. Come on, look at him." Jihyuk says grabbing Taehyung's chin, causing the brunette to flinch away.

Jeongguk immediately pulls Jihyuk away from Taehyung by his collar. "You don't know how close I am to kicking your ass, Jihyuk~"

    "Please stop." Taehyung says closing his eyes, he hands visibly trembling as he held Hanjae close.

    "Your boyfriend doesn't really care for confrontation, Jeongguk. I learned that while we were hanging out." Jihyuk laughs, shoving Jeongguk away from him. "I find it kind of ironic that the two of you even screwed to begin with. Considering the fact that you're almost exact opposites of each other."

    "What do you want?" Jeongguk asks. "And why'd you have to bring him into it?"

    "I didn't bring him into anything. He says he was here to check on you." Jihyuk says making Jeongguk look at Taehyung in confusion, the brunette avoiding his eyes as he rocked Hanjae. "He's overreacting, I hardly even said two words to him."

    "Are you okay, Taehyung?" Jeongguk asks, his tone of voice completely changing as he addresses him.

    "I'm fine." Taehyung says looking down at Jaehyung, using his foot to rock his seat as he started to stir.

    "I told you not to come back here." Jeongguk snaps at Jihyuk.

    "And I told you, not to give me a reason to." He says poking Jeongguk in the chest with his index finger. "You disappeared again. How was I supposed to know you hadn't offed yourself or some shit?"

    "Like you give a shit, Jihyuk." Jeongguk says shoving his hand away. "What do you really want?"

    "Can I not worry about you?" Jihyuk asks. "I'm your brother. If I wanted anything from you I'd have it by now."

    "You shouldn't have made him stay." Jeongguk says referring to Taehyung.

    "Oh, for the love of god, Jeongguk. I didn't hurt your precious boyfriend, don't worry." Jihyuk says rolling his eyes. "I knew you wouldn't have come if he didn't stay. I don't give a shit if he leaves now."

    "You need to leave. I don't have shit to say to you." Jeongguk says. "I'm alive, that's all you wanted isn't it?"

    "Did you check on mom?"

    "Yes."

Jihyuk smirks annoyingly, glancing between Jeongguk and Taehyung. "Walk me outside." He says turning and heading out of the house through the back door.

    "What'd you say to him?" Jeongguk asks when they get outside, following Jihyuk out of the fence where his car is parked on the curb.

    "I didn't say anything. I just told him to calm down, he was freaking out over nothing." Jihyuk says unlocking his door. "I didn't do anything to the punk."

    "Don't call him that." Jeongguk says in Taehyung's defense, but his voice is as passive as its ever been as he waits for Jihyuk to leave.

    "I don't know if anyone's told you, but you look like shit, Gguk." He says leaning against his car door, crossing his arms with a concerned look on his face. "You really got it this bad over that guy?"

    "I love him, Jihyuk. You didn't lose your family so you wouldn't understand." Jeongguk says staring off, pushing his overgrown hair away from his face. "Don't come back to my house. And leave Taehyung alone, you've done enough."

    "Just make sure you check in every now and then, okay?" Jihyuk says standing up straight, patting Jeongguk's shoulder before climbing into his car.

The ravenette sighs walking back into his house, making sure to lock the back door before going back to the living room.

Taehyung looks up when he enters. "Is he gone?"

    "Yeah, he's gone." Jeongguk says standing awkwardly at the threshold. "I'm sorry about him, he's an asshole."

    "He said h-he took Jaehyung that night." Taehyung says looking down. "He said he took him from the hospital."

    "He did." Jeongguk says. "Only because he wanted something from me."

    "What happens the next time he wants something from you?" The brunette asks looking up at Jeongguk with tears in his eyes.

    "I have nothing left to offer him, Tae. Or that family, I swear." Jeongguk says, stopping himself from rushing over to Taehyung. Ignoring the urge he feels to comfort him.

Taehyung shakes his head as a shaky breath escapes his lips. Wiping his tears away with trembling hands as he stands. "I'm just gonna go."

    "Why'd you come over? Is something wrong?" Jeongguk asks before he rushes out.

    "I came because I was~...Jimin was worried about you. He said you weren't answering your phone." Taehyung says grabbing Jaehyung's car seat by the handle. "I figured it was because you were sick but I see you're feeling much better now."

    "I was in a bad place earlier when I asked you to keep the boys~"

    "I don't even care, Jeongguk. I don't." Taehyung says walking past Jeongguk towards the door.

"Are you okay to drive?" Jeongguk asks. "You're shaking."

"I-I'm fine." The brunette says sitting Jaehyung's seat down to wipe his tears away, his hands still shaking.

"Sit down, Tae." Jeongguk says, surprised when Taehyung lets him lead him to the couch. "I'll take him," He says taking Hanjae from him. Standing and laying him down in his bouncer.

Taehyung sighs breathlessly as he leans forward, trying to catch his breath. He closes his eyes, covering his face with trembling hands. "I don't know what's wrong with me."

    "I'll get you some water." Jeongguk says rushing to the kitchen. When he gets back to the living room he finds Taehyung pacing back and forth. "You okay?"

    "I don't feel good." He says, his voice trembling as he focuses on trying to take a deep breath. "I don't know what's happening."

    "You should sit down~"

    "I can't, I just can't." Taehyung says in a panicky voice. His hand coming up to his chest. "I c-can't breathe. I f-feel like I'm having a heart attack."

    "You aren't having a heart attack, Taehyung. I think it's a panic attack." Jeongguk says, doing his best to keep his voice calm and neutral. "What do you need me to do? Should I call someone?"

    "J-Jeongguk~" Taehyung starts in panic, his voice catching in his throat as his breathing becomes more labored.

    "I'm here." Jeongguk reassures the brunette, stepping forward and taking him by the arm. "Sit down for me, Tae."

Taehyung sits down his eyes are frantic as he tries to catch his breath. "My hearts beating too fast."

    "You're okay, try to breath." Jeongguk says rubbing his back, taking a deep breath in hopes that Taehyung will mirror his actions. "You're okay, Taehyung. I'm right here, I won't let anything hurt you or the twins. You're safe, I promise."

Taehyung leans forward, covering his face with his hands as he continues to pant uncomfortably. His heavy breathing turning into short sobs as he tries to convince himself that his heart wasn't going to stop all together.

"Focus on my voice, Taehyung. Try to listen to what I'm saying to you." Jeongguk says, he's never been in this situation before with Taehyung, but his mother has had her fair share of panic attacks around him. "You're completely safe right now. You're safe, the twins are safe, and everything's going to be fine."

Taehyung squeezes his eyes shut, trying desperately to zero in on Jeongguk's voice. He can't fully comprehend what it is he's saying but it feels reassuring.

"Take your time." Jeongguk says when he sees Taehyung somewhat regaining control of his breathing. "You're fine."

"I-I'm sorry." Taehyung cries, keeping his hands over his face.

"Don't apologize, you're okay." The ravenette says, still rubbing Taehyung's back in soothing motions. "I'm here for you, Tae. I'll always be here for you."

Maybe it's Jeongguk's words, or maybe it's just a coincidence. But only then does Taehyung take a full breath, the pain in his chest starting to dissipate when he does so. His tears continue to fall as he starts to breathe regularly. His hands trembling still as he wipes away his tears.

Jeongguk doesn't leave his side until he's breathing regularly again, his words of encouragement and reassurance never ceasing as he brings the brunette back to reality.

Taehyung is extremely thankful for him being here, and for him comforting him in this way when he didn't deserve it.

He didn't know what he'd do without him in this moment.