Single Father • Namjoon + BTS!Kids

cvi.

Taehyung's heart hurt a little more each time he saw that Jimin was reading but not responding to his messages or that he was purposefully avoiding Taehyung in the hallways and walking with as many people as possible to escape being confronted by Taehyung.

Tae knew he screwed up, but he was tired of being ignored by one of his favorite people in the whole world.

So he waited by Jimin's locker, knowing that he'd eventually have to put his books away and grab his lunch.

Sure enough, just a few minutes before lunch time, Jimin was walking down the hallway toward his locker, talking with Hyungwon and Jongup, and as it happened, their conversation distracted Jimin to the point that he didn't notice Tae until it was too late to avoid him.

Jimin stopped short in front of his locker, making uncomfortable eye contact with Tae for a second before looking down, then left, then right, then any generic place that wasn't at Taehyung.

Tae winced but thought, I deserve this.

"Jimin, please, just listen to me-"

Jimin pursed his lips, saying nothing, but his disapproval was enough to cut Tae off.

Tae took another breath, shooting a glance at Jongup, who also avoided his eyes, before looking back at Tae and saving that argument for another time. "Look, Jimin, I'm really sorry. I didn't mean to hurt your feelings, okay? I just thought-"

"Of c-course it would hurt m-my feelings!" Jimin stuttered out angrily, and a few people turned to see what was happening. Tae flinched, noticing how tightly Jimin's hands were clenched and knowing that it was 100% his own fault. "W-what d-did you think, that I w-would n-never figure out who it w-was?"

Taehyung looked down at the ground in shame. "I'm really sorry, Jimin," he said softly. "I just wanted you to be happy..."

"There are other w-ways t-to make s-someone happy than t-to invent a f-fake p-person to p-pretend to l-love them!" Jimin said, his speech getting worse as his emotions rose.

Taehyung opened his mouth, still looking down, before he looked up to meet Jimin's eyes. "I know, okay, I was stupid, it was a mistake."

"Y-you were a t-total asshole!" Jimin yelled, and Tae couldn't do anything but nod his head.

"I know, it was an asshole thing to do, but I really thought that it would make you happy somehow," he said.

"Y-you c-could have j-just bought me a c-cookie! Y-you d-didn't have to p-put fake l-letters from a p-person who never existed in m-my locker for w-weeks on end!"

Tae sank down a bit. He'd known it would be painful confronting Jimin, but it had been painful when things had been left unsaid. He had to believe that this was the best way. However painful it was.

"I just remember you saying that you thought no one would ever love you, and I tried to tell you it wasn't true but you didn't believe me, so I wanted you to know that you were wrong, that someone could love you just as you are."

There was a moment of silence before Jimin spoke. "H-how long w-were you g-going to keep it up?" he asked. "The r-rest of the y-year? Until w-we g-graduated? W-what would h-have happened if I'd f-fallen in l-love, T-Tae? W-what then? Was that p-part of your p-plan? T-to b-break m-my heart?"

Tae frowned, wanting Jimin to just understand that he'd done it all for him, to make him happy, to make him feel loved. Of course he didn't want to hurt Jimin. "I was going to stop soon," he said. "Eventually." He swallowed. "I just meant to write one to cheer your day up, but you looked so happy when you found it and read it, and I wanted to keep making you happy, Jimin. That was it. I didn't want to hurt your feelings."