Fifteen Years Later.

"Dad! I've asked you not to go through my stuff!" Hak-kun groaned, the volume of his voice increasing.

"Well, when you come home past your curfew, I'm going to do what I can to make sure you were responsible!" I responding, taking deep breaths to remain calm.

"You knew I was going to a party! You approved it!"

"Yes, but with the stipulation that you get home before your curfew," I added, watching his eyebrows crease.

Hak-kun scoffed. "Clearly you've never been to a party, because ten pm is when they actually start getting good!"

"I know," I admitted, voice falling. "I'm aware of what happens at parties after ten pm and that's why you have that curfew."

"I just want to live my life dad, come on!"

Footsteps echoed from down the hall, Taehyung soon entering the kitchen. "I could hear you all from the driveway. What's going on?"

"I got home last night an hour past curfew and dad here is throwing a fit!" Hak-kun complained, putting his hands on his hips.

Taehyung nodded, swallowing as he set his briefcase down on the kitchen island.

He motioned for our son to sit down on the bar stools, grabbing a hand in his.

"Son, you know we love you, right?"

Hak-kun nodded. "Of course."

"I am going to tell you this so you understand where your dad and I are coming from, okay? You're seventeen, I think you can handle it."

The male nodded again. I made eye contact with my husband before also giving a small nod.

"Your father and I met in a drug rehab group. I was older when I got hooked, but your other dad here..."

I sighed, letting Taehyung know I would continue the story. "My parents were drug dealers. I was always around drugs, but didn't officially start using them until I was fourteen. I went to my fair share of parties when I was your age, and that's where I got a hold of a lot of the heavier drugs."

Hak-kun's eyes grew wide as he looked between us. "I never would've guessed. You both seem so... normal."

Taehyung chuckled, ruffling our son's hair. "We've put in our fair share of time and effort to look normal, son. We've both been sober for around sixteen years. We still go to meetings every morning while you're at school."

"I-This is crazy. I-I'm so sorry I brought all of this up." Hak-kun apologized, standing up to bow, only for Taehyung to stop him.

"No, it's okay son. You deserve to know! Actually... We may not have ever met and adopted you if it wasn't for our rehab group. Most of us are still around, and still sober. Our friend, Zico though... his sister died around the time of our wedding, leaving behind a son. Zico raised you until you were almost three, and then he fell off the wagon. He ended up dying via an overdose. We immediately took you in, and officially adopted you about six months after."

"I'm..." Hak-kun's face saddened, making me walk around the island to grab his empty hand.

"Kunny, don't fret on those things now. We know it's a lot, especially all at once. We never told you what happened to bring you to us, but my goodness, we're glad it brought you into our lives. We love you so much, Hak-kunny, just like you are our flesh and blood, okay?"

He nodded, swallowing harshly. "I, um... I think I'm going to go upstairs and read a little bit while I process, okay? I love you both." He kissed each of us on the cheek before shouldering his school bag and walking up the stairs.

Once our son was out of sight, Taehyung's shoulders dropped, his hands covered his face as he wept. I brought his head into my chest, running a hand up and down his spine until he was ready to talk.

His shoulder continued to shake, despite my comforting touch, until he started to hiccup, struggling to catch his breath through the tears. I pulled his head off of my chest until we were eye to eye, squeezing his shoulders. I mimicked the motion of deep breaths, ensuring he followed my lead.

His panic-stricken eyes settled into a more somber look after several deep breaths. He gave a small, forced smile as his breathing returned to normal.

"Thank you, Kookie."

My fingers brushed the hair of his mullet out of his face, leaving gentle thumbprint kisses on his melanin. "Tell me what's got you upset, love."

He took a shaky breath before shrugging. "I don't know. I'm just... thinking about Jisoo, and the drugs, and Zico, and meeting you, and our son, and everything... I-I haven't felt so many different emotions since before the drugs. I'm confused on how I should feel."

I listened as he spoke, nodding and humming along so he would know I'm listening.

"What can I do to help?"

He frowned. "I-" he closed his eyes to ponder for a few seconds. "I think I need to go to another meeting before meeting up with everyone."

"Do you want me to go with you?"

"No, I..." His eyes wandered the space, looking lost. "I think it would be more helpful if you got ready for them to come over, and I can pick up snacks on my way home. I just need to clear my head and reset my emotions. A meeting would be good for that right now."

"Okay, love." My lips pressed against the side of his temple. "Call or text me if you need me. I will stay here with Hak-kun."

"I love you, Jungkook." His eyes met mine, the lost look still visible in the backs of his eyes.

"I love you, Taehyung." I gave his hand a squeeze before checking the time. "Rosè starts her evening meeting in twenty minutes, better get going."

He sniffled, grabbing his keys and planting a kiss on my cheek, our routine we do everytime one of us leaves.

•••

"Jungkookie!" Hoseok practically screamed, reaching his arms out for a hug the second the front door opened.

"Why the fuck did you knock? You know you can just walk into my house, right?"

Yoongi chuckled, shoving his way past the doorway, mumbling something about finding the snacks.

"Yeah, yeah," Hoseok waved off my question, slipping off his shoes. "Where's Taehyung?"

"He was having a tough time, so he went to a meeting. He should be home in a few minutes."

At that, Yoongi poked his head up from the bowl of chips. "Is he okay?"

I nodded. "Hak-kun went to a party past curfew last night, so we told him why we encourage him to not do that. Speaking of our past always brings up a lot of emotions for Tae. Poor thing looked lost."

Our friends pouted, only for me to smile back. "But let's not dampen the mood! We want this to be a fun gettogether!" As I finished speaking, the front door opened, several loud voices echoing off the walls.

"What do you mean fish breathe oxygen? Where the hell does the oxygen come from if they're underwater?" Jimin's voice asked, clearly in disbelief.

"Their oxygen is given from the water, whereas ours is from air. Oxygen doesn't mean air, Jiminie," Namjoon argued back, Jin shaking his head knowing the conversation was about to get real scientific. "Fish take water into their mouth, passing their gills. They absorb the dissolved oxygen and then release the carbon dioxide back into the water. But their gills have many small blood vessels which makes it so they absorb as much oxyg-"

"Oh God, make it stop," Taehyung groaned from behind the guests, making everyone laugh, including Namjoon.

The newcomers all received hugs and helped set out the snacks Taehyung brought from the nearby store.

"Jimin, where's Doyoung?" Jin asked, popping a pretzel into his mouth.

"Him and Jisoo both got called in to the restaurant." Jimin responded with a frown.

"Damn. Is she liking that new soux chef position, though?" I asked, seeing Jimin smile.

"She loves it!"

And as we continued to converse in our living room, all of the memories came flooding back. Contrary to Taehyung's feeling of bewilderment, I couldn't help but smile at the memories. Surrounded by my closest friends and family, I knew...

I found myself.

The End.

Lolol I felt like I was dragging it on so I knew it was time to end this Epilogue.

Thank you all for sticking with me throughout this shitshow journey!