jungkook: 21 yo.

jimin: 23 yo.

___

"i'm home!" jungkook announces, kicking off his shoes and loosens down his tie a little, groaning as he makes his way to the living room, from where sounds of happy laughter and giggles fill his ears along with some music playing in the background which muffles the voice of the ladies.

"mom!" he grumbles out, throwing himself on the couch, "god! i swear i'm never going to that place ever again!" he stares at eunmi with an exasperated stare, making her laugh.

"it's okay, kook. i'm sorry for today," she ruffles his hair, muting the television and takes the space next to her son, helping him take the tie off and smiles, "don't go to office from tomorrow if you don't like it, okay?"

"yeah..." he nods, leaning towards her and lays down, resting his head on her lap, taking a deep breath, "no, i... i'll go,"

"it's fine, jungkook, i already told you i'll manage," eunmi chuckles, "i've worked even when i was carrying jimin, you and aera. i can still work, it's not a big deal,"

"i'll do it, i'm here to help you," jungkook says, turning his head to look at aera who's busy putting her pokemon plushies on top of him. he smiles at her, grabbing her hand and pulls her next to him, "hi, nobody gave me a welcome-home hug. do you want me to cry?"

"no," aera giggles, leaning forward that instant, letting her tiny arms to cover as much as she could of his broad shoulders.

"that's nice," jungkook kisses her cheek, "what did riri do today?"

aera breaks into a playful grin, glancing at the mother who smiles as well, ruffling her hair. the five-year-old climbs on top of jungkook, sitting on his stomach and holding his hands, as he moves them in the air in a dancing fashion.

"i played with mamma," aera jumps in excitement and jungkook moves a little, placing his hand on the little girl's waist so she won't accidentally fall down.

"really? what else? mamma looks so happy today," jungkook points out, making eunmi laugh loudly as she shakes her head and he chuckles at the girls, "hm, is it a secret between riri and mamma? aren't you gonna tell kookie?" he pouts at aera.

the child squeals playfully, squirming on jungkook's chest as she leans down, and hugs him out of nowhere, making him laugh, returning her hug with his large hands placed on her back, "alright, what is it?" he asks.

"riri and mamma went shopping and games!"

"without me?" jungkook gasps, scrunching up his nose and huffs at aera.

"yes," she giggles, glancing up at eunmi as she lays on jungkook's chest, "mamma said not— tell koo, but oops! i told you, because- because i think koo and riri and mamma will go there again together!"

"yeah?" jungkook smiles amusedly, "why didn't you tell mamma to call koo so he can join you as well?"

"no," aera shakes her head, "i forgot,"

"i'm upset now, my riri forgot about me..." he pouts and aera stares at him, leaning near his face and cups his face in her small hands.

"no, don't be sad koo, i love you," she says, pecking his lips and nuzzles her cheek against his, "you so pe'achus, koo, and riri love you so much,"

"i'm what?"

"precious," eunmi chuckles, "you're precious,"

"wow, thanks," jungkook laughs.

"you not sad now, okay?"

"i'm not sad anymore, if that's what you mean," the brother kisses aera's cheek and sits up, placing her on her feet as she runs away quickly, sitting in her car and drives near the couch across them. jungkook takes a deep breath, shaking his head at the young sister and glances at eunmi, standing up with her now.

"how's hyung?" he asks in a soft voice, unbuttoning a few buttons of his white dress shirt, following eunmi to the kitchen as she now gives him some water and brushes his hair properly with her hands when he sits down.

a sad smile plays on her lips as she shakes her head subtly and jungkook sighs, nodding. he hugs the mother gently, "he'll be up soon,"

"yeah," eunmi hushes out, "things would've been different he was okay,"

jungkook nods quietly and eunmi rubs his back, pulling away with a smile and cups the boy's cheek in her soft hand, "anyway, go and wash up, i'll get the dinner ready for you,"

"i'm not that hungry today. i think i'll pass," jungkook exasperates, chugging down the water of his glass and stands up, taking off his shirt and throws it on the couch as he goes back to the living room, "come aera, we're gonna take a nice shower,"

"don't throw your clothes around!" eunmi shouts from the kitchen and jungkook sniggers, "jungkook i swear i'll make you do the chores the whole month!"

"fine! i'm taking it!" jungkook groans, picking up his shirt and carrying aera in the other arm. the little girl giggles at him, seeing their mother mad and jungkook imitating her to get her even more mad.

"mamma's getting old that's why she's grumpy these days,"

"what the fuck did you just say?" eunmi crosses her arms on her chest, giving the boy a straight face, "who's getting old? dude, i literally look like your sister! open your eyes blind guy!"

jungkook blinks a few times and nods slowly, "that's not how we talk to each other,"

"i do. help yourself," eunmi scoffs

"mom!"

"you were the one who called me old. like excuse me? from do i look old huh?"

"yeah right, i have this girl who's actually my sister but looks like my daughter, and then there's my mom who looks like my sister. how great is that isn't it?!" he says sarcastically.

"shut up, men are stupid," eunmi chuckles in a mocking way and jungkook looks down.

"yeah, of course you'd know that,"

"you, jeon jungkook, don't make me swear—"

"shut up!" aera wriggles in her place, moving her hands in the air, "koo and mamma, you so stupid!"

"no, baby, koo is stupid," eunmi says, "we're smarties,"

"no, mamma and koo keep saying stupid things! i'm smarty!"

"wow, there goes this little one," jungkook shakes his heas, earning a smack on his face from aera, "okay fine! i'm sorry!"

"i'm sorry too," eunmi sighs, "i really shouldn't talk to you like that,"

"you keep forgetting that i am your son, not your brother, my young mom," he rolls his eyes and eunmi pinches his ear, twisting it hard enough make the boy wince in pain, "sorry! ow! mom!"

"better. now go freshen up,"

jungkook heads straight to his room, preparing to take a nice relaxing shower after a tiring day at work as he still wasn't used to this schedule. he had started going to office with eunmi after he turned nineteen, which was two years ago, but that was just as rare as rainbow appearing in the clouds. jungkook didn't like the office works and eunmi knew this too, which is why she never told him to go with him unless it was really important.

after the death of eunmi's second husband, and jimin falling into coma due to the harsh accident, things had been difficult for both eunmi and jungkook. jungkook still remembers the day as fresh as it can be— that evening when his was helping his mother prepare a grand dinner— five years ago to surprise his step dad and elder brother, and himself too, because eunmi had only told him that she had some really big news for them and she wanted to disclose it that night over a lavish dinner.

they, jungkook and eunmi, waited for the step father and jimin to return home from jimin's soccer match till eight at night, then something wasn't feeling right. jungkook could just notice the way his thoughts would get lost in a maze of negativity, and how his mother was starting to grow restless in her place, sparing frequent glances towards the door.

their uneasiness and helplessness died all at once when jimin's phone was actually answered, but not by jimin. it was someone else who told them that he— and the man with him— had gotten in an accident. jungkook saw his mother go blank for a minute as if she couldn't make out those words. jungkook had hugged her tightly and could feel her trembling in fear, then her hand moved to her stomach. he didn't notice it back then, but now it made sense to him.

she was pregnant.

the dinner was special.

she had to break the pregnancy news to her husband and sons— tell them that there's gonna be a new member in the family soon.

although that night nobody had dinner. jungkook and eunmi rushed to the hospital after the call, and surprisingly jungkook didn't have any reaction even when he was waiting in the lobby in front of the hospital room where only his brother was being operated. his step-dad, he remembers, they were told that he couldn't make it even to the hospital.

eunmi was just crying, holding jungkook close to herself in a tight hug, which made him cry too as he had started to gradually realise that he lost his dad once again. after eunmi's divorce with jaehyun, this new man, hyunsik, was the one whom both jimin and jungkook saw as their dad. the  man was nice, he'd join all of jimin's matches, cheer for him, play videogames with jungkook, take him out, go movies and arcades together. for those years jungkook felt like he was actually experiencing what it was like to have a father love his son, which unfortunately jaehyun had failed at— for jungkook at least.

and when hyunsik died, it was like a truck coming down on jungkook. he was afraid to shed a tear, staring at his mother, who just kept crying like she wasn't going to make it out of the tragic reality. jungkook didn't utter a word to eunmi for the rest of the night, just sat near her, hugging her like she wanted and quietly letting out tears in the fabric of her top.

in the morning they had hoped that jimin would wake up at least. eunmi had stopped crying and jungkook had fallen asleep. though when he woke up he didn't find his mother anywhere around, panicking a little as he was still in the hospital and on the same place as last night. the fear runs his blood cold as he springs up to his feet, looking around hastily with teary eyes, calling out for his mom in a shaky voice. then a nurse lead him to the room where jimin was sleeping in the bed and eunmi sitting next to him with tears streaming down her face silently.

he was in coma, and the doctor had said that he might wake up in a few hours, or days, weeks, months, or even years.

it's been more than five years now.

"koo, that one," aera shakes jungkook's arm, pulling him out of his trance. he smiles at her, carrying her up in his arms and steps under the water pouring from the shower, chuckling as aera gasps in surprise, blinking her eyes through the water flowing down her head and leans onto jungkook's neck.

"is it too cold?" jungkook rubs her back as she coughs a little.

"mm," aera nods once, getting used to the water eventually and pulls herself straight, smiling on seeing her brother's face smiling at her, "baby shark,"

"alright," Jungkook chuckles, letting her down and watches as she brings her shampoo and shower gel from the lower cabinet, "give it here," he holds out his hand and aera shakes her head, turning around in determination to do it herself.

the brother shakes his head, putting on his own shampoo and sighs deeply, praying to god to do some miracle and wake his jimin hyung up real soon. when he glances back at aera, she's pouring out a lot of shampoo in her hand that it drips down from between her fingers on to the floor, making him sigh.

jungkook crouches down near her, taking the bottle of the shampoo away and brings aera's hands on her head, putting the liquid on her hair and mixes it well to create the foam that makes her a baby shark after some styling.

"koo, baby shark," she says again and jungkook nods, making a fin from the foam on her head and lets her have a peak in the mirror. aera laughs at her reflection, turning to jungkook and points at his head, "you look like baby shark too!"

"i'm not a baby shark,"

"shark-kook," aera grins.

"jungkook!" he hears eunmi's voice from outside, making the boy sigh.

"yeah, just ten minutes,"

"no, come out right now! jimin's up! i'm calling the doctor!"

jungkook gasps, "coming!" he replies, getting back in the shower with aera and washes off the foam, getting a whine from her for she probably wanted to play more. "it's okay, we'll play later, baby," he says, making her stand and crouches down to wash her nicely, ignoring the pout on her lips.

"but i wan' play with you..."

"i promise we'll play later, sweetheart," jungkook says and lifts her up, making her stand on the mat, wrapping her in her micky mouse towel.

then he washes himself quickly, wrapping a towel around his torso and carries aera up quickly, going to his room and finds one of the house maids cleaning his room. he sighs at the lady, not minding her presence and walks in the closet, throwing on a pair of sweatpants and similar one for aera.

"take aera's clothes too," he tells the woman, nodding towards the bathroom before jogging downstairs to the room where jimin has been sleeping for five years. "mom? what happened?" he enters right away and leaves his confused sister on her feet.

eunmi turns him with a teary gaze and a smile quivering on her lips, "your hyung is up... he's doing fine,"

"god..." jungkook throws his head back, breathing out deeply in relief, before hugging his mother. the nurse smiles at them as she assists the doctor, checking jimin.

"he's out of coma, you guys have waited for long," the doctor smiles as well glancing at jungkook and he realises that he's not wearing his shirt.

"uh i'm sorry— i was in the shower and just rushed here..."

"it's alright," the old man chuckles, "jimin will gain full consciousness in a few hours. take care of him, make sure he eats well and stays hydrated. it's important for his health especially after such a long coma,"

"yes, thank you so much, doctor," jungkook node, shaking hands with the man and smiles with teary eyes.

"really, thanks a lot," eunmi says, rubbing her eyes, glancing at her eldest son.

"no problem, ma'am, i'll take my leave now. have a good night,"

"you too,"

jungkook smiles at him, looking around for a t-shirt so he can walk him out, but the doctor refuses politely, telling him to stay with his mother instead. aera brings her car in the room, driving to the bed near her mother's feet and honks twice, giggling when she sees eunmi getting startled.

"hey, don't bother mamma," jungkook says, rubbing his own tears away and holds aera's hand, helping her out of the car. he sits next to their mother, holding aera in his lap and kisses her cheek, whispering to her in a soft voice, "jiminie oppa's up after a long time, and he'll meet riri soon,"

"hm," aera nods, staring at jimin's calmly sleeping face, "why he keep sleeping? we don't sleep so much,"

"he was in pain, so he needed a lot of rest," jungkook says.

"oh okay, he's up now?"

"yeah, he might listen to us now,"

"really? can i talk to him?" aera gasps, then glances at eunmi who leans onto jungkook, failing to hold in her sobs on hearing aera's words. jungkook rubs her back, shifting a little to face the mother and wipes her tears.

"don't cry, mom. he's fine,"

"yeah," eunmi nods, sniffling softly, "it's just... i... it's been five years years jungkook. i waited for this— my son... and you waited for your hyung..."

"i know," jungkook nods slowly and smiles, glancing at aera, "he's gotta see riri too,"

eunmi nods, hugging aera and kisses her forehead, "your eldest brother will love you a lot, just like jungkook. be good to him okay?" the mother hushes out, resting her forehead against aera's, who is just confused with her mother and jungkook's weird behaviour. but she nods nonetheless, looking at jimin and points at his eyes.

"he's moving, mamma!"

eunmi and jungkook follow aera's hand, gasping on seeing jimin's actually opening his slowly. jungkook stands up quickly, looking at the door and calls for the nurse.

the girl assures them that jimin is fine as he lays on the bed, awake now, breathing and his eyes blinking like that of a person who's not in coma. eunmi holds his hand, pressing kisses on it and sheds some tears, "my son... jimin... god finally..." 

jimin glances at her slowly, opening his mouth to say something but then closes it again, taking a deep breath, just watching his mother crying, holding his hand tightly. aera watches it with fearful eyes, tears pooling up as she turns her head towards jungkook and nuzzles in the crook of his neck.

"what happened?" jungkook stands up, going away from the crying mother and pats aera's back.

"he's up..."

jungkook nods, understanding that aera, being just five years old, might be scared seeing jimin actually waking up when she's only seen him sleep all her life. he kisses the side of her head, glancing at jimin and sighs, "relax, mamma's happy that jiminie woke up,"

"no... he making my mamma cry..." aera starts to cry, rubbing her eyes with her tiny fist and looks back at eunmi, who's now leaning down and kisses on jimin's forehead, making aera wail louder.

"hey, shh. he's not making mamma cry, baby," jungkook rubs her back, "jiminie's also mamma's son, like i am. she missed him, that's all,"

"no... mamma..."

"don't cry, sweetheart," jungkook chuckles, "everything is okay. you said you wanna meet jiminie when he wakes up right?"

"koo..."

"yes, i'm not going anywhere," he wipes her tears and pecks her lips, stroking her hair out of her face and bumps his forehead against aera's, "i'll stay right here with riri and mamma, okay?"

"mm..." aera nods, looking back at eunmi. she's pretty fine now and is saying something to jimin, to which he responds with some words.

jungkook goes near the bed, humming in assurance for aera as she whimpers, hunching down in his arms when he sits near eunmi and smiles at his brother, "hyung..."

jimin looks at jungkook, saying nothing yet and smiles softly, moving his head a little and jungkook chuckles, tears dropping from his eyes as he nods, "i missed you too..."

"koo," aera cries again, hugging jungkook tightly, "go f'om here... le's go..."

"shh, wait," jungkook pats her back, "is that how you greet someone you meet for the first time?"

aera whines, scared to even touch jimin and keeps sticking to jungkook, sobbing in the crook of his neck, "i' so scared..."

"i... gosh," jungkook sighs.

"i'll take her, you can stay here," eunmi says, "she must be tired, that's why she's being like that,"

"yeah," jungkook nods, patting aera's back and pulls away, getting louder cries from the kid until she finds herself in her mother's arms and sticks to her like a baby koala.

"don't cry, baby, do you want jiminie to think that our riri is a bad girl?" eunmi talks to her daughter in soft voice, walking out of the room and closes the door, making jungkook shake his head.

jimin tears his eyes off the door, focusing on jungkook who leans near the head of the bed, adjusting the pillows under jimin's head and inclines the bed a little to let the brother sit. jimin groans softly, moving his shoulders, "man... i feel so stiff..."

"i can tell," jungkook nods, helping jimin drink some water, "are you hurting anywhere? even  little bit— tell me if—"

"i'm okay," jimin says, staring at jungkook which the younger doesn't mind, knowing that jimin probably isn't aware of the time that has passed. so he just smiles when jimin reaches out to touch the boy's face and hair, "you've grown up quite a lot..."

"yeah, i'm not sixteen anymore," jungkook nods and the fear becomes evident in jimin's eyes slowly as he looks around, then at himself.

"what... how long?"

"five years," jungkook hushes out, holding jimin's hand.

jimin gulps the uneasiness down along with his saliva, looking out of the window and then at jungkook again, "f-five years? that's— how's mom and dad? and who's that kid? are you—"

"hyung, relax, you shouldn't stress out that much," the younger assures, "i'll tell you everything but please don't work up yourself too much. you still need rest,"

jimin groans to himself, resting his head back and sighs deeply, tears blurring his eyes, "i missed out a lot didn't i? i can't even imagine how you guys have managed while i was like this, and even dad—"

"hyung, dad didn't make it," jungkook says softly, earning a look from jimin, "he didn't even make it to the hospital that night after the accident,"

jimin gasps in shock, grabbing his hair in his hand and lowers his head, "fuck... this... h-how's mom? she must've— god, i don't know what to say, kook..."

"it's okay, she's fine now. yeah in the beginning it was hard for her, but she made it through everything. she's the strongest woman i've seen, hyung,"

"she is," the elder nods, glancing at jimin, "would you call her please? i gotta talk to her,"

"she must be feeding aera right now, wait i'll see," jungkook stands up, stopping on hearing jimin's voice again.

"aera? that kid? who is that?"

jungkook fails to hide his smile at that, "i'll get both of them here," he says, leaving the room to call his mother and sister. thankfully aera isn't crying anymore and becomes happier on seeing him coming, "hey, come jiminie wants to see riri,"

"mm why?" aera pouts, "riri no' did anything..."

"i know, princess. jiminie wants to get to know you. he's your brother too right?" eunmi says, wiping the side of aera's mouth and nods for jungkook to take her dish with him, "feed her there with jimin, i'm coming,"

"koo, up," aera raises her arms up and jungkook carries her with one arm, holding the micky mouse plate with her dinner in the other hand. aera picks up a few grains of rice, taking it to her brother's mouth, who has no other option than to open his mouth and eat. then she does it again, and jungkook bites her finger this time, making her squeal and laugh playfully.

jungkook enters the room, making her stand down and pulls a chair for himself to sit. aera stands near jungkook, staring at jimin and he stares back at her. "say hi to jiminie," jungkook wraps his arm around the five-year-old.

"hi..." aera mumbles, "goo'morning,"

"ri, just hi is okay," the boy sighs.

"but mamma said say goo'morning when i wake up... and jiminie wake up..."

"aw my baby," eunmi chuckles, shaking her head on haring the youngest's words. she places the glass of water and a bowl of soup on the table beside jimin's bed, befoe sitting next to him.

"mom," jimin looks at her and then at the child, confused.

"mamma," aera copies him, leaving jungkook and goes to eunmi.

"mamma?" jimin looks even more surprised and jungkook holds himself from bursting out laughing while eunmi's dace heats up as she nods, "but— how— i mean, when? and,  no like— i am just waiting for someone to explain me everything,"

"i was pregnant when you and your dad got into the accident," eunmi says, "i was going to tell you and your dad that night over dinner, but it just..." jimin stares at the kid, then at jungkook, and then at eunmi again, who takes a deep breath, "stop looking at me like that! yes she's your sister!"

"but she's so... small..."

"i'm big," aera looks offended, "riri is big girl— five years old,"

"wow..." jimin sighs, while jungkook laughs at her, "how did you manage everything? it must've been really hard..." he says to eunmi, "and she's still so young,"

"jungkook helped me a lot," eunmi smiles, "he's all grown up and often acts more mature than before,"

"i thought i was an asshole," jungkook mocks.

"now you are," eunmi smiles bitterly at him.

"mom," jimin shakes his head, "he's your son,"

"and an asshole,"

"no! mamma and koo don't fight!" aera smacks both her mother and the brother, making jimin laugh amusedly.

"aera keeps you in check huh?"

"mamma and koo keep fighting," aera shakes her head, touching her forehead in disappointment. eunmi chuckles at last, shaking her head at the daughter, seeing her standing up on the bed, beside jimin's legs.

"hey, get down from there," eunmi says, holding the little girl's hand, "we have to let jiminie rest, aera,"

"okay, but- but i wanna go there," she points at jungkook, who sighs, huffing at aera and stands up, lifting her up and squeezes her small body in a tight hug.

"why is this baby being so naughty today?" he faks huffs at her, "tickle monster will come and eat all the bad kids, especially riri,"

"no! riri's good!"

"then why is she not listening to mamma?"

"tickle monster eat mamma!" aera huffs.

"you and your tickle monster," eunmi shakes her head, focusing back on jimin and smiles at him, picking up the bowl of soup from the table and holds the spoon in front of his mouth to feed him. jimin leans forward, tasting it first and nods on realising it's chicken and some other vegetables. but mostly chicken which makes it taste better than gross.

"why is jiminie not eating on his own?" aera asks.

"because he's sick," jungkook answers, "mamma feeds you when you're sick, isn't it?"

"mm-hmm," aera nods, "i'm- i'm feed jiminie..." she mumbles, leaning out and tells jungkook to sit down. the boy smiles, sitting next to the elder brother as eunmi lets aera hold the spoon and feed her eldest brother.

"is it okay?" aera asks, peeking at jimin's face past her hand. her doe eyes watching jimin intently, getting a smile from him in return, as he nods, "are you feeling better, jiminie oppa? i- riri will taking of you, okay? don't worry,"

"thank you so much, aera," jimin says with a fond smile, "i can't believe i missed such important five years," he mumbles to his mother, earning an assuring hug from her.

"hyung, do you know riri gives real nice hugs," jungkook grins. aera giggles at that, moving her hand excitedly and ends up dropping the soup on the bed and a little on herself.

"opps," she bites her tongue, glancing at her arm. aera takes a moment to think before bringing up her arm to her mouth and licks off the soup.

"aish!" jungkook pulls her arm away, "you don't do that!"

"then you do that," aera laughs at him.

"tickle monster will eat riri. just wait," jungkook threatens her, giving the spoon back to eunmi and lofts aera up, making her hang upside down on his shoulder, "i'll put her to bed. she's just about to have a really bad meltdown if she stays awake any longer,"

"is that so?" jimin chuckles, watching the little girl trying to get out of jungkook's grip, hitting his back chest and moving her legs to get down.

"carry her properly," eunmi takes a deep breath, standing up and takes the whining daughter in her arms, "yes, baby? do you wanna go and sleep now?"

"koo so bad! he pick me up and- and i see down!"

"you mean upside down?" jungkook laughs, "yeah, because you annoy me,"

"you 'nnoy meeee!"

"i don't," he says, "now come, let's go. jiminie has to rest and you should sleep too. it's past your bedtime," 

"no, i said i taking care of jiminie," aera pouts, tears filling her eyes as she glances at jimin, "i taking care of you... you' so pe'achus,"

"i... what?"

"precious," eunmi smiles, "she's saying you're precious and she'll take care of you,"

jimin breaks into a chuckle, opening his arms for the girl and jungkook smiles, leaning down to let aera to go to him. aera sits quietly next to jimin, staring at him with her curious eyes, which still hold a thin layer of tears. "i no' wanna sleep..." she mumbles.

"alright, what do you wanna do?" jimin says softly, shifting in his place to bring aera in his lap, "you're so cute, aera,"

"i know," she nods, earning laughs from jungkook and their mother, "mamma said i pwetty like you and kookie. i come here all the time with koo and we sit with you when you were sleeping,"

"oh, really?" jimin glances at jungkook, and the boy nods with a smile.

"yes! and i was a baby! wait— i'll show you," aera gets up quickly going running out of the room. she returns in a minute with a photo frame in her hand that has a picture of jungkook holding a little baby, dressed in a white ruffled dress. jungkook has a birthday hat on his head and the baby has a crown. in front of them is a cake with candle in shape of the digit '1' glowing.

"this is me! riri!" aera shows the picture to jimin excitedly, "there so many baby riri— mamma, show it to jiminie oppa," she turns to eunmi.

"yeah, we'll show him tomorrow, okay? let him eat right now, then he has to rest for a while. so he can get up with a lot of energy in the morning and play with riri,"

"yeah," aera nods, getting on her knees and leans forward to give jimin a hug, "bye-bye, jiminie oppa. i' see you tomorrow. goo'night,"

"aw c'mere," jimin smiles, hugging aera closely and kisses his sister's head, "you're like an angel,"

"and you angel too," aera giggles, "we both angels!"

"yes, now angels should go and sleep," jungkook takes her hand as she gets off the bed and waves at jimin and the mother, "say good night to mamma,"

"goo'night mamma, goo'night jiminie oppa!"

"yes, good night," eunmi sighs deeply once they're gone and looks at jimin, continuing with feeding him the soup.

"she's so cute," jimin says, gulping down the soup.

"you should see her throwing a fit," eunmi laughs, "jungkook is so patient with her. seriously jimin, he would hardly ever get mad at her even though she keeps bothering him all the time,"

"i can tell they're really close," jimin smiles back, "anyway, tell me how's work and everything?"

"it's fine, i've been doing it since your dad's death. and now even jungkook has started going to office when there's too much work,"

"he's done with college and all?"

"yeah, it was his last year," she nods, wiping jimin's mouth with a napkin and puts the empty bowl away, "now you should sleep for a while. aera might not leave you alone tomorrow," she chuckles.

"that's fine. i do need to spend a lot of time with her," he smiles softly, "i still can't believe it mom, i have a sister..."

"yes, okay big brother," eunmi ruffles his hair, "good night, sleep well— and call me if you need anything. literally anything, okay?"

"yeah, thanks," jimin nods, laying back down in his place and sighs deeply, watching eunmi turning off the lights before leaving.

jimin lays awake, mind wandering with thoughts that are only filled with the child he just met, who is supposedly his sister. on second thoughts, he's also worried about his mother, knowing how hard it must've been for her being a single working mother, especially when aera is still so young. then jungkook too, must've have had a tough time keeping up with the situation after their father's death, considering that his elder brother wasn't there to take up the responsibilities.

jimin shakes his head, heaving out a deep breath as he lifts his head a little, placing his arm under and stares outside the window. a knock on the door, gains his attention, then jungkook peeks in, "are you sleeping, hyung?"

"no, come in," jimin hums and the door opens wider. jungkook walks over to the bed, sitting on the chair beside the bed and turns on the lamp beside the bed. "i thought you went to sleep?" the elder asks, adjusting a little between the cushions under his head.

"not yet, it's still early for me to be sleeping," jungkook snickers, "i usually stay up gaming at this time,"

"right," jimin chuckles, "how are the boys? you do talk to them still, don't you?"

"yes, of course i do. they come here often— to check on you, play with riri. she's really fond of them,"

"that's good,"

jungkook nods, getting up from the chair and lays next to jimin, stretching his body a little, "there's a lot of tea for you," he grins at the elder brother, who arches up a brow, "tae was dating for a while and it was horrendous! jin hyung is seeing uncle kim's company now. namjoon hyung helps him run it— uncle has taken retirement because he said jin is doing a good job. yoongi hyung and hobi hyung are working too. hobi hyung has a dance studio as well."

"wow, that was— like his dream!" jimin gasps, breaking into a smile and jungkook nods.

"yeah, we took riri there a few times, and she loved the big mirror,"

"aw," the elder chuckles, "can we call them here tomorrow? i gotta see them,"

"sure, they'll be so happy to see that you're fine now!" jungkook gushes with excitement, pulling out his phone and calls taehyung right away.

taehyung answers a few rings later and his face appears on the screen smiling at jungkook, "hyung, guess what?!" jungkook beams.

"you got a girl?" taehyung snickers, "bro, if you did, lemme tell you this is a waste. i thought we agreed on no-strings-attached supermacy!"

"jesus! no, tae, i'm serious. it's a real good news!"

"you got someone pregnant?!"

"i swear to god-" jungkook shakes his head and jimin laughs, waving when he's brought in the frame. taehyung gasps in shock, staring at the screen with wide eyes, until he smiles slowly, tears brimming his eyes.

"jimin..." he whispers softly, "my soulmate... bro i missed you so much..."

"well, i missed you too," jimin smiles, "and i wanna see you tomorrow. no excuses,"

"i'll come right now, dude. what are you talking about?" taehyung huffs, rubbing his eyes and the camera shuffles a bit.

"not now tae, mom will scold us for the late nighters we pull," jungkook sighs, "and riri's asleep. come tomorrow,"

"aish! okay fine," taehyung grumbles, "i'll come tomorrow with the boys. god, we really really really missed you jimin-ah!"

jimin sniggers at him, talking to him for almost the whole night while jungkook fell asleep after an hour. taehyung stayed up on the line, refusing to hang up, claiming that he was getting to talk to his best friend after five years and he wants to get as much as possible out of this night. and jimin smiled at him, hearing taehyung muttering how he missed him for the millionth time.

"we have a lot to catch up on," jimin says, "and i'm also really excited to be a big brother to a five-year-old,"

"she's awesome jimin! and y'know, i'll show you tomorrow when we meet. aera calls me tiger sometimes and gets scared if i say i'm gonna eat her," taehyung laughs.

jimin laughs as well, nodding his head, "even jungkook does that, saying that he's the tickle monster and will eat her. y'all are shameless. seriously why would you scare such a precious little soul,"

"you're already taking the big brother role i see— defending your sister huh?" taehyung wiggles his eyebrows and jimin smiles proudly, nodding his head.

"of course, she's my baby sister,"

"you both talk so much..." jungkook grumbles in his sleep, covering his ears with the pillow and drifts back to dreamland.

"jungkook really needed you jimin. you don't know this, but this boy— he used to be all tough and strong in front of your mom, and you would cry his eyes out with me," taehyung says softly, "i can count nights where he fell asleep crying, taking your name y'know? when aera was much younger and he used to tell her about you, he would always end up crying,"

jimin smiles sadly, glancing at his brother sleeping beside him and strokes his hair gently, "kook saw a lot of things at a young age, and i understand it must've been hard for him— and mom too of course. she lost her husband after all. but now that i'm fine, i'm gonna do everything that it takes to make it up for my absence. they won't have to struggle like this anymore,"

"i'm glad you're fine, bro," taehyung smiles, making jimin smile as well, nodding his head, "you should take some rest now. see you later,"

"it's fi—"

"it's almost six, jimin. we talked the whole night," taehyung chuckles, "get some sleep, because when i arrive with the boys, i'm not letting you sleep at all,"

"okay fine, bye,"

"bye, see you,"

"see you,"

___________

a/n- how have you guys been?

how was the chapter? did you like it? ^^