Second Chances // Taekook

Chapter Six

TAEHYUNG

Haneul is turning 5, his birthday is September 6th.

Taehyung is in his 2nd out of 3 years of residency meaning he graduated with a bachelor's, went to vet school, and is now completing residency. A lot of you didn't know what residency is so basically it's a specialized medical training period that lasts 2-7 years. All doctors must go through residency before they are considered actual doctors, until then, they are "doctors in training". It's only considered an internship the first year of residency (doctors are considered an "intern" during this period, afterward they are residents).

Just so you know, when you start to read about Han's part, his knowledge is completely doable and I've gotten most of his inspiration from an amazing tiktok mom: LauraLove. Her son, Carter, can read biology textbooks and he's like 4.

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TAEHYUNG

Taehyung holds Haneul's textured Spongebob towel out as the four-year-old carefully stands up in the tub. He climbs out, shivering as the cold air in the apartment hits his bare skin. Taehyung quickly wraps the towel around him and Haneul rushes into his bedroom.

"We'll get you dressed and then you can go back in there and put your bath toys away, okay?" Taehyung says as he sits down on Haneul's bed. Haneul whines, throwing his head back but after receiving a sharp look from Taehyung, he begrudgingly nods.

"I don't like cleaning," he says as if it were news.

"I know, I don't either, but we have to clean," Taehyung responds as he lets Haneul dry the rest of himself off. He grabs his shirt and sweatpants and examines them. Haneul likes to pick his own clothes out and always judges his dad's choices. Tonight's fit is a Patrick/SpongeBob shirt with a pair of pink sweats since Taehyung couldn't find the actual pants that went with the shirt. Haneul doesn't need to know that.

"I like it," he says, "good job, dad...I think you're getting better."

Taehyung decides not to argue that he's the fashion king and just takes his son's poor attempt at a compliment.

They still live in the apartment Taehyung's parents had gotten him before Haneul was born but now Taehyung is paying most of the bills. He's still saving for a house but between himself, a child, and bills it would be a while before he can do a down payment and think about taking on a mortgage.

He only had one more year of residency left before he was able to practice veterinary medicine by himself without someone watching over him. Surprisingly to him, Taehyung managed to make it through the dark ages also known as school and Haneul seemed to make it out A-okay too. Taehyung prioritized educating Haneul the best he could and now his four-year-old can read and understand books far above his years, talk in clear and well-structured sentences, he can count to 300 if you let him, and he knows Mickey Mouse's ears are spheres, not circles. During the kindergarten screening and orientation, the teachers offered to let Haneul move up a grade, but Taehyung decided against it, not wanting his child to become a burnt-out AP student like many "gifted" kids (me, lol, tho I actively chose not to be an AP student).

Taehyung is proud of where he and his son are and what he's done for his child. By himself.

"Are you excited about school tomorrow?" he asks as he follows Haneul back into the bathroom.

Haneul nods and gathers his bath toys in a bowl before walking to the sink. "Kindergarten, right? No more daycare!"

God, daycare. Taehyung hated daycare but he decided to stop relying on his parents after Haneul turned one. Daycares are so expensive and his son barely learned anything while going there which made Taehyung feel as though he was wasting his money. Everything else Haneul learned was and is from home; the only good thing the four-year-old got out of daycare was friends. His best friend being his next-door neighbour, Kiwon.