[ 7 YEARS AGO | PAST ]

a/n: since this is the past, everything will be in past-tense.
this is also in taehyung's POV.

"Taehyung-ah, this is all a mistake."

I watched Sujin from the doorway, while she glanced at the pregnancy test and back at me. I bit my lip nervously as she made her way towards me, showing me the test. Positive. Her test came back positive. There was life slowly growing in her belly, and that life was made by the two of us.

But there was only one problem. 

We were both young. We were both in our golden 17 years of existence. Of course getting a girl pregnant at 17 was a huge mistake, but if you were mature enough to raise a child, it shouldn't be a mistake at all. The creation of life was never supposed to be a mistake.

"How many tests did you take?" I asked her and she frowned.

"This is my fourth test, Taehyung. They all came back positive." She replied in a tone of panic. 

"That's.. beautiful. There's someone growing in there―"

"I can't do this." She whispered. "I can't. The small human being that's going to grow in my belly is going to be that person who'll take away my future. Taehyung, I have to go to med school, I have to―"

"Are you telling me that you don't want your child, our child?" I cut her off, completely shocked and hurt. She frowned, looking away from me. "Shouldn't you feel a bit ashamed of yourself? Why would you put your own life first before the one that has just started?"

"We're both way too young, Taehyung. This is just a mistake. We were both drunk, you didn't wear a condom and I don't have access to birth control pills. This was a mistake, and we both know it." She explained. "We have to get rid of this baby before it ruins not only your life, but also mine."

"How can a baby ruin our lives?" I asked, exasperated. "It'll only shape who we truly are. Besides, you love me, right?"

She sighed, avoiding my stare as she pulled her hands away from mine. I felt my heart shatter when she slowly shook her head. 

"I love you, Taehyung." She smiled sadly, only for her smile to falter. 

"Then why can't we just keep the child and have a family together?" 

"Because I don't love you enough to raise a child and start a family with you."

  ➵ ➵➵ 

[ 4 YEARS AGO | PAST ]

"Hi Taehyung, Yoongi told me that you lived here and since you said you needed help to study for your chemistry exam I decided I would come here instead―"

I slammed the door shut on her, completely surprised as my eyes fell upon the three year-old child sitting on the floor, playing with lego pieces. I ran towards her and placed her on a chair, along with her lego pieces, tidied up the place as fast as possible and made my way back to the door.

"So sorry about that, my house was a bit of a mess and I just had to tidy up a bit. Come in." I smiled as Sori who laughed. 

She stopped in her tracks and as I turned around, she glanced at me with a huge smile on her face. "You're babysitting?"

My eyes widened as I glanced at Yoojung who had dropped a lego piece. Sori walked over towards her and picked up the lego piece, handing it over to Yoojung. Yoojung smiled, giggled, and held onto Sori's hand. My heart softened at the sight.

"I think she likes you." I smiled and Sori made a funny face at her, causing her to erupt into huge fits of giggles. "Yeah, she definitely likes you."

"I didn't know you babysit children, I should bring my five-year old cousin so that you can babysit him as well." She playfully said and I rolled my eyes. 

She didn't have to know. She can't know.

"Shall we get started on the studying?"

  ➵ ➵➵ 

It was around two months later, around Christmas time, that I noticed that Yoojung had trouble breathing. Every single friend of mine were on vacation with their families, all out of town or in another country. It was only until Yoojung had a very high fever was when I decided to call Sori for help.

"Are you sure you gave her the right medicine?" Sori asked, panicking as she rushed into the house and placed her head onto Yoojung's forehead. "Oh my God, Taehyung, we have to get her to the hospital now."

"I'm so scared, Sori." I said, completely hopeless as she swooped Yoojung into her arms and pulled me along with her as we both hopped into her car.

"We're going to the hospital, they'll take care of her there. Do you mind giving her parents a call just so that they know what's going on with her?" She asked and I fell silent.

"I'll call her parents when we get there."

By the time we reached the hospital, Yoojung was rushed into the emergency room to get checked up by a doctor. Sori and I sat at the waiting area, and I bit my lip nervously. Hours and hours had passed, and it took a while before Yoojung was completely rested and fine to check up on. Sori had already fallen asleep.

"Kim Taehyung, Yoojung's father?" 

I glanced up at the nurse, and stood up almost immediately, following the nurse into the room. I took a seat right in front of Yoojung and kissed the top of her forehead.

"What's wrong with my daughter?" I asked.

"She just has a high fever, and after diagnosis, we just wanted to let you know that Yoojung has asthma, so please keep an eye on her at all times, don't let her get too tired or else she'll have an asthma attack." The nurse explained.

I slowly nodded my head, "thank you so much."

She smiled. "Nothing to worry about. If you need anything, just buzz me over."

I looked back at Yoojung and held her hand tightly, placing my cheek against the palm of her hand. She was fast asleep, snoring, to be quite exact. 

"So.. all this time, you lied." I turned around to see Sori walking over towards me. "So you are her father. Yoojung is your daughter."

I let my head hang low, mumbling, "shocking, huh? This probably explains everything to you, especially my low grades, my frequent absences, does it all make sense to you now?"

"But why did you have to lie?" Sori asked. "You could've just told me that―"

"I was afraid you'd make fun of me." I answered, and she placed a hand on my shoulder. 

"Why would I make fun of you?" She laughed.

"Because look what we have here, Kim Taehyung, a single father who has a three year-old daughter, a father who basically got his ex-girlfriend pregnant at 17, was neglected and abandoned the moment she found out Yoojung was growing inside of her." I laughed bitterly, and she sighed. "Everyone makes fun of me for that. For being that young father who just gave up on his future way too soon."

"I think," she began, "you are the most brave, most dedicated and courageous man I have ever met."

I glanced up at her, and for the first time ever, I felt my heart skip a beat at how her face had softened and how she cared. 

"To take responsibility for something you had done, at such a young age, takes a lot of guts, especially now that.. her mother had left the two of you." She slowly smiled. "I guess it's just a shame that her mother just left such two beautiful gems, don't you think?"

I smiled, my other free hand slowly finding its way towards hers and grabbing it gently. She smiled back, before glancing at Yoojung with a loving stare.

And for the first time I knew that, maybe, just maybe, I was slowly falling in love.