Terrible Things

Chapter 9 - Now

"You said you would love him forever." Jungkook speaks up from his spot on Jin's lap, his voice loud in the otherwise quiet room.

I look towards him, nodding my head. "I did."

He leans forward, his eyes bright. "And did you mean it? Do you still love him even though he isn't here?"

I glance down at Taehyung, seeing him watching me raptly, no doubt just as interested in the answer as his friend was. Sighing, I ruffle my son's hair before answering. "Yes. I still love him." It'd been four years, but my feelings hadn't waned at all - the almost constant ache in my chest all the evidence I needed to know that. "And I think I always will," I admit.

"Well if you loved each other, then you'd be together right now," Jungkook huffs, crossing his little arms and settling back into Jin, who doesn't look happy with what his son just said.

"Kook, you can't-"

"That's not true!" Taehyung jumps down from my lap, his eyes glistening with angry tears. "My daddy's loved each other!" He settles a glare on Kook before turning and stomping up the stairs.

"Tae?" I call after him, concerned. I start to get up, determined to go after him and make sure he was okay, but stop when I hear the tapping of his feet against the stairs. He makes his way down carefully, his arms wrapped protectively around the box from my closet.

He stops in the middle of the room, gently setting the box down on the carpet before dropping down beside it. He places his hands on the top, sending another glare towards his friend. "This is proof that they were in love. Everything is in here." He looks to me. "Can I open it, Daddy? It's okay, right?"

I settle in beside him, crossing my legs in front of me. I pull the box so it sits between us, both of our hands resting on it. I stare at the box for a second, the ache I'm so used to kicking up a notch. I had locked all of our memories in here, where they couldn't be a constant reminder of the happiness I had lost.

But I know that Taehyung deserves to see them - no matter how painful it may be for me.

I nod my head and that's all the encouragement he needs before he pulls the lid off, setting it behind him. Our guests move to us, settling down in a circle so we were all surrounding the source of our focus - the box. Namjoon sits to my right, Kook settled in between him and Jin with Hoseok being next.

Taehyung reaches into the box, pulling out a polaroid. In it I was smiling, lines of icing smeared across my cheeks. Taehyung looks between me and the picture, no doubt trying to connect me with the man I once was. "This is you, Daddy!"

I nod, a small smile gracing my lips. "That was from my birthday. The very first one your daddy and I spent together."

He furrows his eyes at the picture, confused. "Where is he?"

"He was taking the picture," I explain. I reach out, tracing the edge of the photo. "This is called a polaroid. You take a picture and the camera prints it immediately. He loved them and he preferred them over the digital pictures I took."

"Can I see?" Kook pipes up, holding his hand out. Taehyung eyes it skeptically, but relents and gives him the picture, warning him to be gentle. Jungkook looks over it, laughing. "You look funny," he giggles.

Namjoon and Jin lean in, both of them crack up when they see it. I glare at them, but they ignore me and continue laughing. "If you think this photo is funny, you should of seen it in person," Jin laughs. "Yoongi whined for a solid five minutes."

"I didn't want to take the picture," I mumble, glancing away.

"But you gave in," Hoseok laughs. "Like you always did when Jimin wanted something. You didn't know how to tell him no." He leans down to Taehyung, whispering loud enough for all of us to hear. "He totally spoiled him. Everything he wanted, Yoongi gave him. All Jimin had to do was pout and Yoongi would crumble."

"Tha- That's not true at all!"

"So you say, but what about..." Namjoon leans forward, looking through the box for a second before coming out with another picture. He holds it up so the whole circle can see it: Jimin's beaming at the camera, his arm wrapped around my waist as my eyes stare at the ground. We were wearing matching shirts, each reading 'He's mine.' "How about this then, Yoongs?" He raises a brow, meanwhile my other friends were just chuckling. "You swore you would never go out in these. Especially not out in public where everyone could see you."

"That lasted a whole ten minutes," Jin scoffed.

"Daddy," Taehyung gasps, bringing his hand to his mouth. "You were a sucker!"

"I was not!" I defend myself, giggling. "It's just that... he was too cute. How could I say no to that face?"

"It's just two letters, it's not that difficult," Namjoon laughs.

"But Daddy..." Jungkook looks up to Namjoon, his brows furrowed. "You don't tell Dada no either."

"Yah!" I yell, pointing at Joon. "And so the truth comes out!"

"Busted by your own son, gotta be rough," Hoseok mumbles.

Namjoon blushes and Jin simply laughs, patting his back. "It's hard to say no to the person you love," Jin explains. "All you want to do is make them happy."

"Was he happy?" Taehyung asks quietly, his eyes meeting mine. "Did it make him happy?"

I smile, memories of Jimin flitting through my mind, the laugh that I loved hear, the smile that lit up my whole life. "I like to think he was happy."

Taehyung nods, saying no more as he plucks another picture from the box. This one is of Jimin and Hoseok, both of them smiling at the camera, V signs held up by their eyes. A headband sat on Jimin's head, the yellow letters spelling 'Happy Birthday'.

"His birthday," Hoseok sighs, his eyes on the picture. I glance at him, quickly looking away when I see the sadness on his face. I felt guilty. All this time I had been so focused on my own feelings about losing Jimin that I ignored how my friends felt. I knew that Jimin and Hoseok had grown close, they were basically inseparable, but I never really considered how he felt about it all.

I look at the picture again, my breath catching in my throat. I reach out, my hand shaking slightly as I take it from Taehyung. "This was a good day," I whisper, my thumb tracing over Jimin's features.

"Why?" Taehyung asks, leaning over into my side.

"Do you wanna hear about it?" He nods, making me smile. I stare down at the picture for a second before taking a deep breath and lowering it to my lap. "Then here we go..."