Single Father • Namjoon + BTS!Kids

xlviii.

warning: explicit language

"I'm sorry, sir, but there's nothing we can do until 24 hours have past. In the meantime, you can fill out a report and-"

"No, you don't bloody understand, my boy- Jimin- my baby- he's out there, God knows where-"

"Sir, I understand you completely, but if we send out squad cars and dogs for every kid who walked by himself to the candy store, we'd be tilting at the wind."

"It's tilting at windmills you uneducated civil service worker and I don't care how many false alarms you've gotten, this one is real and it's my kid and he's out there and I don't know-"

The officer tightened his lips in a frown. "Listen, sir, like I've already said a dozen times, fill out the form and-"

"Sorry, Officer Im. He's with me," a different officer said as she walked into the waiting area. "Namjoon, lovely to see you again. Sorry it's under these circumstances, of course...although when I gave you my number, I'd imagined that you'd call a lot sooner and for a different sort of reunion, so pardon my surprise," she said as she approached Namjoon and shook his hand.

"Thank you so much, I didn't know who else to go to and this idiot won't get on board and start looking for my kid-" Namjoon began, gesturing towards Officer Im, who just had a look on his face that read Can I take my lunch break early so I can be free of this guy already.

"It's fine, I wasn't working on any major cases anyway. But listen, Namjoon. I know you're frustrated and worried, but the best way to approach this is logically. Okay? And..." The officer hesitated, looking at the five filled chairs adjacent to Namjoon. "I think you're scaring your kids a little."

Those words hit Namjoon and he closed his eyes a second before crouching down and running his hands over their heads and patting their hands and arms lightly. He needed to feel the sense of touch, to be sure that they were real and tangible and not just gone without a trace like his other son. "I'm sorry, guys. I really am. I'm...Daddy's going to try and find Jimin, and...this nice lady is going to help him, all right?"

They nodded, but none of them had said a word on the car ride over after Namjoon had made the call.

The officer smiled at the kids. "That's right. You guys may not remember me since it's been a while, but I helped Jimin when he got lost at the amusement park, and I'm going to help find him this time too. You can call me Officer Lisa."

She smiled, but the kids didn't smile back. "Well, I'm going to take you all back into the station and get your statements, okay? Don't think of this as an interrogation, but we need as much information as we can get so we're best prepared to handle this."

Namjoon nodded and herded his kids after Lisa and into the station towards a desk in the back that had a nameplate with Officer Tuan on it. "Tuan?"

Lisa looked over at him. "Yes? Oh, sorry. Tuan's my last name. Is something the matter?"

"No, I just...somebody I know has that name," Namjoon said, sitting down in the chair across her desk as she gestured to it.

"Is his name Mark?" she asked dryly, and Namjoon nodded, confused.

"Are you his-"

"Sister," she interrupted. "Nothing more, nothing less. That sounds cold but a lot of people mistakenly assume I'm his wife, which makes things a bit more awkward for an officer than has seemingly solicited invitations for an affair." She sighed before smiling at the kids. "There's lots of chairs, so steal whoever's. I wish we had toys or something, but..." She shrugged, sighing as she gave Namjoon an apologetic look.  "You boys can play with anything on my desk though. Help yourselves."