ʙᴜʟʟᴇᴛᴘʀᴏᴏғ│ᴛᴋ [complete]

.6.

The 18 year-aged single malt scotch whiskey bottle read, "Exclusively Matured in the finest Spanish Oloroso Sherry Oaks." Namjoon would have liked it very much, Jungkook thought. He was keeping it for a special occasion — never specifying what occasion that would have been — and now that the funeral was over and that all the guests had left, he figured the time had come to finally open the damn thing and pour them a shot. Except he hadn't been able to fit glasses in the tight pockets of his suit. Oh well. He was going to have to drink straight from the bottle.

But first, he tossed a generous amount of the expansive brandy onto the grave of the man who went from colleague to boss to friend. Taking a sip for himself, Jungkook recalled the time he finally convinced the professor to start his own consulting company, specializing in AI behaviour and human-like social patterns.

Working together for almost three decades had turned their friendship into a closer bond, especially given the fact that they both shared the secret of Taehyung's existence. After the incident that came to be known as Mother's breakdown, Jungkook had been held by police for questioning during an appalling 48 hours without charges, until a lawyer friend of the family pressed for his release. Even his own mother had shivered at the sight of her son who had had very little sleep and barely any food while in custody.

Needless to say, Jungkook hadn't uttered a word. How could he? He had no knowledge of the humanoid's whereabouts and would likely remain in the dark for the rest of his life. "It's safer that way," Namjoon had asserted. And frankly, there was no arguing with Taehyung's safety.

Gulping down the burning liquor, Jungkook's brain travelled back to Namjoon's one and only disclosure regarding the missing unit. "All I can say is this: you were his first assignment. And you'll likely be his last."

And shit, Jungkook couldn't cry now. Not when he'd spent most of his life holding his pain in check.

"Grandpa? Are you crying?" Jungkook had been too busy fighting the tears that he hadn't noticed the boy who had quietly walked up to him. "Mum says we have to go now."

Smothering his sorrow, Jungkook nodded and smiled. "I'll be there in just a minute."

The boy turned around and left to deliver his grandfather's message.

Watching him sprint away, the old man wondered what exactly he'd been expecting. Taehyung wasn't going to show himself. And if he was, he would have done so already. The humanoid was probably just around a corner, a tree, a building. Always near yet forever out of reach. Jungkook had realized that the day a fire broke out in the apartment complex he lived in. He had only vague memories of the event, but he does remember being carried down to safety, through curtains of smoke and toxic fumes. Many weren't so lucky.

And then there was the mountain-climbing incident where Jungkook had found himself stuck in a precipice after a fall that could have been deadly, were it not for the pine trees and their cushy branches. Soon after, a rope had appeared out of nowhere, allowing him to reach safer grounds. He never went climbing alone after that. Not because he feared for his welfare. No. He simply didn't wish for Taehyung to put himself at risk because of his own carelessness.

And what about that horrendous pile-up on the highway which tallied over a hundred victims? The fog had been so thick that day. Jungkook always regretted losing consciousness on impact. Listening to witnesses who had nothing but praise for the man who had pulled him out of the wreckage had filled his heart with an unquenchable yearning.

It was unfair, how Taehyung got to keep an eye on him over the years while Jungkook hadn't even caught a glimpse—

"Grandpa? Mum says the minute is up."

The ride home was gloomy. "Dad? You don't look too good." Jungkook's daughter had decided to voice her concerns.

"Yeah, well. I don't feel great either."

"Is there something we can do, to make you feel better?" She asked.

"Actually there is. There's a place not too far from here — if you don't mind." He gave her the coordinates which she entered in the vehicle's navigation system and 40 minutes later, they arrived at the park by the river Han.

Despite having lost its bygone splendour, the place still attracted people who would come to enjoy the romantic scenery and take pictures by the ponds filled with colourful water lilies.

Jungkook sat on a bench with his daughter and grandson. "Doyoon-ah!" he called the boy. "Do you know what your mother's name is?"

"It's Yeon!"

"Very good! Now, can you tell me what Yeon stands for?"

"No—"

"It means lotus flower."

Doyoon looked at the ponds, pensive. Jungkook could almost hear the wheels of his brain turning and chuckled. "She was named after those very flowers you see over there."

"They're pretty. Just like Mum!"

"That's right."

Yeon stared at her father fondly. "You're being awfully nostalgic today, dad."

"I just have precious memories of this place."

"It's a shame you never brought us here before."

"It's nothing special, really. Look, Doyoon is already bored."

Yeon gave her son permission to go play, but not too far, before letting her head fall on his shoulder. "If this place brings you happiness, then we should come here more often."

Jungkook hummed in response, not knowing what to say. There was no point in reminiscing and melancholy didn't befit him, he reckoned. But today was not like any other day. In memory of Namjoon, Jungkook would allow himself time to delve into the past in search of answers to questions he never dared ask such as why he had not once told his family about Kim Taehyung. And if he had, what would he have said to them? And—

"Grandpa! Look!" Doyoon ran up to the bench with food in his hands. But not just any food. Jungkook instantly took note of the corn dogs and the milkshake and snapped his head so fast he almost sustained a whiplash injury.

"Who gave you those?" he heard Yeon enquire.

Who else but him?

Jungkook was on his feet, scanning the crowd, mind filled with one name, and one name only. Soon, the familiar silhouette emerged in the distance. Jungkook cursed at his bloody eyes for turning moist and making things all blurry. Was Taehyung smiling at him? Damn, it looked like he hadn't aged a day. The bastard.

"Taehyung!" He tried running after him, but the leather-clad bodyguard had already vanished among the passers-by.

"Dad, what's wrong?" Yeon had caught up with her father and was presently looking rather concerned.

Touching his cheeks, Jungkook realized they were wet and attempted to wipe them dry. "I'm fine. Don't worry."

That's when he felt something tugging at his sleeve. "Grandpa, it's for you." Doyoon was holding the snack up for his grandfather to eat.

Not in living memory had a corn dog tasted so bitter.

—

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