Single Father • Namjoon + BTS!Kids

cxxi.

Namjoon sighed. He'd just been promoted to Day Manager, which meant he was working day shifts instead of night shifts, but after years of his backwards schedule, it was hard to adjust his sleep routine. Which meant, alternatively, that he was barely sleeping when he was supposed to and was often caught napping when he wasn't supposed to.

"Namidiot," Mark snapped, smacking him lightly on the back of the head, and Namjoon flinched, sitting up straight immediately.

"How can I help you?" he answered automatically, and Mark rolled his eyes before Namjoon slumped back over.

"You could help me by being awake," he said before sighing in empathy. Mark had switched to day shifts a few years ago, and he understood the transition process. "You should start drinking coffee."

"I can't afford an addiction," Namjoon groaned as he rolled his head, wincing as he heard his neck crack. That's what he got for sleeping on the counter. "I have bills to pay, kids to finance, and I have to buy Lisa something every now and then as an apology gift for not acknowledging our relationship officially in front of my kids."

Mark laughed. "What's wrong with telling them? They're old enough now, Namjoon. They realize that you aren't going to run back to your ex-wife, and I'm sure they'll understand if you told them you wanted someone new in your life. Besides, it's not like they don't know. Yugyeom and Jungkook are already conspiring about their future cousinhood."

Namjoon sighed. "It's...complicated. I just...Announcing it will make it real, you know?"

"Will make what real?"

"Everything. Their mom isn't coming back-"

"They've known that for a while, Namjoon."

"Well...it just...it feels too soon."

"Too soon since what?" Mark asked, lightly annoyed as he leaned on the counter. He still thought Lisa deserved someone better, or at least someone less dense when it came to things like this.

"Well, since their mom got split custody. Our family is already strained. I don't want to shake things up even more by adding Lisa into the picture."

"She's already in the picture, Namjoon," Mark said.

"But I'm afraid that it'll make Jimin, Hobi, and Yoongi upset," Namjoon admitted. "Like if I admit that Lisa and I are dating seriously...maybe they would think that we're making a neat little family without them. And that isn't true, not at all, but...But since we're considering buying a new house...It's just a lot of change all at once, Mark."

"Yeah, but they're not really your kids anymore," Mark said, and Namjoon frowned, sitting up straight.

"Excuse me?"

Mark took a step back, holding his hands up defensively. "I don't mean to be rude about it, Namjoon, but you see them two or three days a week. They live with their mom and her husband. They have their own family. You're still a part of it, sure, but you're a small part. What you do barely affects them anymore."

Namjoon wanted to yell something at Mark, but he couldn't find the words. "That's...that's not true."

"I'm sorry that it sounds harsh, Namjoon, but that's how split custody works. You getting them on the weekends is a privilege, and they probably only allowed it because they didn't want to completely separate the triplets. At least this way, they see each other on Fridays and in school. But, Namjoon, you have to realize that your decisions don't affect them, not really."

Namjoon looked at Mark with troubled eyes. "Mark, I told them that we were thinking of selling the house, and they were absolutely devastated. Even Yoongi. Especially Yoongi. It's all they have left, Mark, you have to see that...it's where they grew up..."