12 Years Ago

"Hope you have a good time, Jaegeun-ah. I'm gonna miss you so much." The lady bided with an overly exaggerated smile. "Be nice to your new appa, okay?"

Jaegeun coward behind Jimin's leg, holding onto the fabric of his jeans.

His dad returned a forced smile despite how much he wanted to tell her to fuck off. He could sense his son's distress so he lifted him into his arms, letting him bury his head into the older male's shoulder.

"C-can we go now, appa?" Jaegeun mumbled near Jimin's ear, the older nodding.

They left shortly after, failing to notice the little boy peaking from the hallway.

Yoongi felt tears welling up in his eyes while he listened to the whole conversation. Jaegeun was finally adopted and the older boy wasn't sure if he should've felt happy or sad. He was happy for the younger, knowing how badly he was being treated by the other kids in the building, but he was also sad and scared knowing that all the attention, the teasing, and the bullying would all be directed to him now.

He had never talked to the younger boy but his presence was enough of a comfort to Yoongi. Knowing that he wasn't the only one going through the same pain made him feel a little better about his own situation— as selfish as it sounded.

But now Jaegeun was gone.

Yoongi was alone again.

His bottom lip quivered, brown orbs glossing from the thought, before running back to his small room and crying into his pillow.

He should've been happy for Jaegeun but he couldn't help but be envious of him instead.

Present Day

"Jaegeun?" Yoongi questioned, taking the said male by surprise.

"You know my name?" The blonde widened his eyes.

"Of course, I do. You were the talk of school yesterday— being the new kid and all." The older informed him, his focus back on the children playing roughhouse.

"Oh..." Jaegeun awkwardly sat next to the male, arms hugging his legs closer to his chest. He was taller than Yoongi but their difference in way of sitting made the blonde look smaller and more vulnerable.

"And how did you know my name? I'm not exactly known on campus until someone decides they needed a person to pick on." The peach-haired male chuckled to himself.

"I made a friend and they told me about who you were in the morning when— uh— that Hangyeol guy was picking on you."

Yoongi snickered at the mention of that name. "Choi Hangyeol, that son of a bastard who makes being Hoseok's little minion his entire personality— picking on the only brownie of the school is apparently his favorite thing to do to pass time. God, I hate those two jackasses."

"I don't blame you." Jaegeun shrugged. He didn't really expect the older to speak to him, let alone have a casual conversation with him as if they've known each other for years.

Which was kind of true in a sense but they never actually got to become friends.

"So it's really you, huh?" Yoongi sighed, confusing the younger.

"Me?"

"I heard a guy with brown and blue eyes started attending our school and I assumed it was the same person as the kid from years ago."

"You remember me?" The blonde's heart rate picked up and he was well aware that a light blush was probably sprinkled across the middle of his face. He looked the other way, avoiding eye contact with the older male.

"Of course I remember you." Yoongi sighed, leaning the back of his head against the tree. "You're one of the only reasons I got through my childhood."

"Really?" Jaegeun didn't really know what to say go that. He still wasn't used to speaking Korean to everyone around him so his responses were always short and awkward.

"You were the only kid who didn't pick on me and we were in similar situations because of our eyes even though I'm a full brownie. Plus, kinda hard to forget you when you always stared at me." The shorter teased with a wink. Jaegeun could've sworn his heart stopped, feeling caught even if those memories dated back to about twelve or thirteen years ago.

For the next half an hour or so, the two caught up with everything that happened after the blonde was adopted. Yoongi told him that nothing's changed in his life and he hadn't left foster care though he was planning to soon with the money he earned from working shifts. Jaegeun told him that he'd been living abroad for most of his life after the adoption which explained why his Korean was a little rough.

They didn't expect to find each other's presence to be more comfortable than awkward. It felt as if they hadn't just officially met on the same day.

Their reunion— if you could even call it one— was cut short when Jaegeun's phone rang, indicating that Jimin was most likely on his way back.

"Ah, I gotta go. My dad's gonna be here in a bit." The blonde sighed, admittedly a little disappointed that he had to leave so soon.

Yoongi nodded, getting up from the ground and dusting himself off before holding his hand out. "I'll walk you to the front." Jaegeun took his hand and did the same.

They walked back inside, catching the staff's attention who carefully eyed the two boys. Through the glass doors, the younger could already see his dad's car parked in front of the building.

"That's one expensive ass car." Yoongi mumbled, the other snickering.

"Yoonie-Hyung." A small voice from behind them caught both of their attentions, their unique orbs immediately looking down at the munchkin tightly holding a stuffed bear to his chest.

Jaegeun refrained himself from reacting to the sight of a little boy with big, brown eyes.

"Kwan, what are you doing here? You're supposed to be napping." Yoongi scolded, picking up the boy who immediately clung his short arms around his neck.

"I c-can't sweep without yew." The little boy, Kwan as the older mentioned, mumbled sadly.

"I'm sorry, bubba. I got caught up talking to a friend." The peach-haired male apologized.

The blonde awkwardly stood in front of the scene though he'd be lying if he said it wasn't cute. Yoongi noticed Jaegeun's fidgeting so he offered a warm smile. The younger's cheeks heated up at the small gesture though he returned one himself.

"Jaegeun, this is Kwan. He's two and he's basically like a little brother to me." The older introduced, Jaegeun nodding as he watched him ruffle the munchkin's hair. "I usually put him on naps around this time of the day but I kinda lost track of time."

The blonde smiled when Kwan took a small peak from his older brother's neck. "That's Jaegeun. Say hi, Kwan-ah." Yoongi encouraged.

He hesitated before lifting his head up, little fists clenching the peach-haired male's shirt. "H-hi. You haf p-pwetty eyes."

"Thank you, your eyes are pretty, too." Jaegeun complimented back, watching the shy boy retreat back to Yoongi's chest.

"I should probably go put him on his nap. Sorry I couldn't walk you all the way out." The older apologize, cradling the back of the little boy's head with his hand.

"It's okay, I understand. I'll see you in school?" Jaegeun questioned, receiving a nod from the other.

"Yeah, see you in school."

They finally parted ways, the younger exiting the building and opening the car door. He was immediately greeted by his dad's familiar smile from the driver's seat.

"Sooo... how was it? Did you get to see the friend you were looking for?" Jimin questioned, looking at his son who buckled his seatbelt before checking himself through the sun visor's small mirror.

"It was good, felt kind of nostalgic even though I hated that place. And yeah, I got to see him." Jaegeun hummed, closing the sun visor once the car started moving.

"Can I at least know the name if this friend?"

"His name's Yoongi." The blonde informed him, the older nodding.

"Ah, reminds me of someone." Jimin chuckled.

"So what'd you do while I was visiting the center?" Jaegeun questioned.

"Went to the cemetery, visited my two friends. It's been a while." His dad sighed exhaustedly though a warm smile never left his expression.

The younger didn't like his dad's two friends which was why he never bothered remembering anything about them. But he knew Jimin and he knew how hard it was for the male to talk about them. Their death's clearly still pained him even after nineteen years.

Jaegeun only nodded, sinking in his seat.

=

There are other people in the world with the name Yoongi so don't call Jimin dumb or anything— especially since the Yoongi that he knew had been dead for years. Would've been weird if he reacted suspicious or something 💀

I wanted to update again since I received a lot of lovely comments from yesterday's update ☺️