Single Father • Namjoon + BTS!Kids

cxxxviii.

Yoongi waited until Hobi and Jimin came back inside from their daily attempt to persuade the kitten to socialize. Then he looked up as though he hadn't been waiting at all.

"Hey," he said, turning over so he was lying on his back with his arms behind his head. Since they all shared a room, they didn't have desks and chairs, as three beds took up most of the space. But Yoongi wasn't complaining.

"Hi," Jimin said, a hand on the ladder, but he decided to save himself the trouble and sat on Hobi's bed instead, Hobi just smiling before sitting next to him.

"Mission status report: unsuccessful," Hobi declared gravely, nodding to himself. "But one day, she's going to warm up to us."

"How do you know it's a she?" Yoongi asked blandly, not altogether interested in the kitten anyway. He knew that Hobi and Jimin still had childish hopes and dreams, and what little kid hadn't dreamed of taking in a little puppy or kitten? But Yoongi was older. He was the adult because he needed to be one for the three of them. He thought that it was nice enough that they had something to brighten their days, but he knew the kitten would be gone one day when they went to check on it. It was just how life worked.

"B-Because," Jimin said, looking up eagerly.

"Because what?"

"Just b-because."

Yoongi rolled his eyes and let out a sigh before pretending to remember something. "Oh, yeah. Hobi, didn't you have something you wanted to tell us yesterday?"

Hobi sat up abruptly. "Yeah, yeah! I forgot about it! Thanks for reminding me, hyung." He smiled, puffing out his chest. "Are you guys ready to hear my news? You're going to be so proud of your brother."

"T-Tell us already!" Jimin said, smacking Hobi lightly on the shoulder.

"All right, all right," Hobi said, laughing and patting Jimin's shoulder back. "I, Hobi, Kim Hoseok, your favorite brother-"

"Get on with it," Yoongi said, rolling his eyes.

"Okay, okay," Hobi said, laughing once more before smiling simply. "I asked a girl to the dance."

Jimin blinked. "And?!"

"...And she said yes," Hobi finished, grinning, and Jimin gasped. "Although I guess I made that sound a lot better than it was. We were in class a few days ago and she said she'd go with me if I didn't find anyone else, and I figured she wasn't the worst person to go with, so I just asked her in class and she said sure."

"Good j-job," Jimin said, giving Hobi a pat on the back.

"Yeah," Hobi said, grinning. "Looks like I'm officially going to the dance."

"That's great," Yoongi said flatly before turning to face the wall.

"Are you okay, h-hyung?" Jimin asked, concerned.

"I'm fine," Yoongi snapped, and he didn't see it, but he instinctively felt Jimin flinch, and he felt horrible. He wasn't mad at Jimin. He wasn't really mad at Hobi, to be honest. His timing just sucked, and it left an ugly feeling in his gut.

A few seconds later, he felt a hand being pressed against his forehead.

"Jimin-" he began, turning to look, but it wasn't Jimin.

"Are you sick?" Hobi asked, frowning and taking his hand away. "I don't know, I don't think you're running a temperature, but I don't know how hot your forehead is supposed to be anyway. Like, it feels warm, but you're supposed to be sort of warm, right? I don't know, Jimin, come check if he has a temperature."