heart attack? 😚

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age difference between jimin and jungkook is four years.

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it wasn't until jimin turned ten that he started noticing the dull environment of his house. he had returned from his martial art class along with jungkook whom his mother insisted on taking with him for that day. and oh how thankful he was for the decision, for having his six-year-old brother watching the parents arguing with each other wasn't something he wanted jungkook to experience.

the last christmas, which was supposed to be joyous for the family, in turn became the first day when he saw his dad sitting alone in their room, while the mother was storming out, tears streaming down her pretty face like a river and eyes gleaming in anger. something wasn't right.

she had carried the younger boy who looked confused with the commotion when jaehyun came out, stopping her by her arm. for the first time, jimin felt so helpless and scared, staring at his parents who were an ideal couple in his eyes and his superheros.

that day, with jungkook's crying voice as eunmi hugged him and gave false assurance that everything will be fine, jimin learnt that nothing lasts forever. nothing. be it his crayons, or the ice cream his dad got for him, his snacks, or even the love between people — like his parents.

eunmi walked away, alone, because jaehyun didn't leave his sons' hands, holding them securely as if promising his children that whatever happens their daddy will always be their pillar. which again reminded jimin of the lesson he learnt, nothing lasts forever, not even promises, because in the next two years, he was sitting with jungkook in an unfamiliar surrounding, seeing both of his parents, facing each other with guilt laden eyes. the judge hammered twice, and signed the papers that were kept in front of him.

for jimin's fear, he knew what it meant when the old man of law said something looking at eunmi and she smiled softly. a tear slipped down from his eyes to his puffy cheeks that his mother said resembled to a soft rice cake. his grip on his brother's hand tightened, earning a glance from the eight-year-old jungkook who was still a bit confused after seeing their mother back after two years.

as if jimin could foresee everything he shook his head, hugging jaehyun with all his will, telling him to do something and take jungkook with them too. "i'm sorry" were the only words that came out of his mouth that day as he patted jimin's head, looking over to his younger son who had tears in his eyes on seeing his hyung and dad crying.

"i'm so sorry, kook," jaehyun broke into a sob, kneeling down as he brought jungkook in his embrace, mumbling apologies over and over again.

"what happened dad?"

"you're going with me" eunmi's voice was enough to pull out their heart from their throats. jungkook shook his head, hugging jaehyun tighter.

"no, dad," the boy whimpered, clutching on to his father's shirt, "i wanna stay with dad and hyungie..."

"i know, buddy, i'm so sorry." jaehyun said, pulling away gradually which jungkook didn't let him do, so he stood up instead, carrying the boy in his arms and looked at him, wiping his tears. "you have to go with your mom. you missed her right?"

"is hyungie going too?"

nobody said anything, just jimin was hugging his dad's waist, holding the younger brother's hand, eyes pleading through tears to not take his brother away from him. eunmi had won jungkook's custody. a win for her, and a loss for jaehyun, but the pain was visible more in jimin's eyes.

for a moment he felt as if the elders were deaf, jungkook's cries and his pleadings weren't audible to them. that was his second biggest lesson, law can never be defied. eunmi won his brother legally, jaehyun won him, and nobody can change that.

__

present day

"koo!" a high pitched voice cackles along with footsteps running towards him, making him pull his headphones down as he turns his chair to see what was happening.

an instant smile spreads across his lips when the door is pushed open and a little body runs in straight to his lap, laughing as she seems too busy hiding herself inside his jacket, "taetae will catch me! hide!" her voice rolls off from the pair of tinted lips decorated with a mole on the lower one.

"ah where's riri?" a deep voice says, coming through the door, earning a chuckle from jungkook as he turns away, holding the little girl in his lap, inside his jacket. "kook, did you see her?"

"nope" he shakes his head, smiling at elder who raises his eyebrows, leaning forward until he sees the bump on jungkook, looking like he's pregnant. he chuckles a little, nodding his head and says, "ah okay, well i was thinking we can go out for a drive and get some snacks y'know. maybe some ice cream too, but aera's not here, so it's okay-"

"no! i'm here!" the girl, pops out her head from the jacket, grinning at taehyung, showing off the smile that extends somewhere between jungkook's and taehyung's. what a combination. the boys wouldn't have known someone could look so beautiful if they hadn't seen aera for themselves. maybe she looked even prettier to their eyes because she was their only sister. the only one who brought happiness in the family when things seemed like falling apart.

both taehyung and jungkook acknowledge their meeting wasn't the best thing that happened. the latter was eleven when his mother broke the news of her seeing some other man. at first jungkook had neutral reaction, no support and no hate. but eventually, to see his mother smiling, he found himself giving in, until a year later he realised they were moving to daegu and it was the day his mother was marrying this man.

kim hyunmin, who happened to have a son four years older than jungkook, means jimin's age, which also means, he'd be the hyung. the twelve-year-old jungkook had thrown a messy temper tantrum, telling eunmi that he has only one hyung, and that is jimin. nobody else in the world can replace him. and she, being the mother, had explained him very lovingly that finding a new person does not mean replacing the older one, in fact, creating new relationships bring more happiness.

he felt bad now for being so rude to taehyung despite him being a sweetheart, always wanting to get along for he had been an only son under the care of his single father which brought him a lot of loneliness for free. so when the elder boy was informed about having a brother, a younger brother on top of that, and a mom, he was on the ninth cloud.

as people say, time teaches everything, it taught the boys the importance of having each other's back. by the time jungkook turned fourteen and the parents broke the news of a new member joining their family, they had realised that it could be a great opportunity for the boys to get along. hyunmin would go to work, while eunmi took a maternity leave during the last trimester and have the boys helping her around with stuff, claiming to be her bodyguards and also taking the time to be good brothers to each other, for fighting in front their new sibling would be a bad impression.

that's how they got closer, so close that their rooms were shifted next to each other from being meters apart at different ends of the hallway, all thanks to the baby, who took birth and became their sister.

"mamma and daddy going out?" aera asks, standing up from jungkook's lap as taehyung carries her in his arms now.

"yes, but oppa's here. we'll have a lot of fun!" he cheers.

"partyy!"

"sure," he laughs, "do we need to take kookie in too?"

"yes, riri and koo and taetae will having party!"

"okay, what are we going to eat? i heard five-year-old babies are very tasty."

"five year babies...?"

"yeah, how old are you?"

"...uhm five" she gasps, wiggling in taehyung's arms, making jungkook laugh as he shakes his head at that elder for scaring her like that. "no! don't eat me oppa!"

"no? but riri's cheeks are tasty." he says, biting her right cheek gently, making the girl whine louder and leans towards jungkook who is busy laughing. "okay let's do one thing, taetae will eat riri's cheeks, and riri can eat taetae's cheeks."

"no... my cheeks, koo..." she shakes her head.

"aw baby, nobody's eating riri's cheeks." the younger boy says, taking aera in his arms, making her sigh in relief as she sticks her tongue out at taehyung now that she is in a much safer embrace.

taehyung laughs loudly, pinching her cheek and apologises for pulling such a believable joke on the five-year-old. she smiles at him, pecking both brothers' lips quickly and walks out jumping her way like a bunny with taehyung to get some real snacks for their party.

meanwhile jungkook shuts off his computer, taking his phone that just buzzed with a message.

hey kook,
you free rn?

yeah, why?
oh no wait! shit i forgot about the call
i'm sorry hyung!

without waiting for a reply, he sits up straight, placing his phone on the desk and stares at the screen with an anticipating smile for the elder to recieve his call. and the next second, his smile is already doubling as jimin's face displays on the screen of his phone.

"hey, champ, how are you?" the elder speaks with his voice coated with love and affection just like whenever he speaks to the younger boy.

"i'm great, and sorry i totally forgot it was saturday and i was supposed to call you."

"it's fine, how's your soccer practice going?"

"it's good, y'know the last captain suddenly started underperforming, and then the coach said i was doing great, so now i'm the captain." he grins proudly at the screen, earning a chuckle and an even prouder smile from the brother.

"that is great," he nods, "how's mom?"

"fine, but busy. what about dad?"

"he's out right now. says it's been easier since i started working, y'know the company and all, i'm watching it now."

"wow, that's great."

"yeah, i mean, but it gets too much sometimes." jimin shrugs, "by the way, you've grown up kook."

jungkook laughs and nods, "yeah, but i'm sure you don't know my age."

"i do, you're... what? sixteen? no, eighteen?"

"nineteen," jungkook sighs, "how come you remember my birthday but not my age?"

jimin chuckles, rubbing the back of his neck, shrugging his shoulders, "oh anyways, i wanted to tell you that i'll be visiting daegu next week. there's an important business seminar, so i thought if you could get some time spare an-"

"yes! definitely! when and where? and what time?"

"relax jungkook, it's next week. i'll text you after talking to my manager about the schedule."

"sounds rich." jungkook wiggles his eyebrows making jimin laugh, shaking his head, "you do have a black right?"

"yeah, why?" jimin raises his eyebrows, knowing exactly where the younger was taking the conversation now.

"mm nothing, just sounds amazing y'know, to tell others like, 'yeah i have a black card.'" he laughs, making jimin chuckle as well.

"where are the other two?"

"taehyung and aera?" jungkook says, earning a nod from the elder, "they went out to get some snacks. mom and dad are going on a buisness trip tonight, so it'll be just us."

"ah okay, how old is the youngest again?"

"five" the boy grins, "y'know hyung, please come home when you arrive daegu, you gotta meet her. she's really adorable."

"i bet she is," jimin smiles, as they continue catching up after almost two months due to their busy schedules and hectic days.

time flies by and noon shifts to evening until the boys realise how much time they've spent just talking to each other. jungkook hangs up after bidding goodbyes wih his brother, thinking about the day he'll meet his hyung after almost eleven years.

__

a week later

"alright, cancel everything on my schedule today." jimin voices, walking out of the conference hall with the managers and assistants following after him.

"but sir-"

"any problem, manager lee?" he stops to look back, seeing the manager freezing at his place as well, quickly shaking his head and bows, taking the order without any further exchange of words. "also, arrange some good food and the best video games that teens play these days. oh! and gifts for a five-year-old too. make it good."

"uh yes sir, sure." he says, taking his leave instantly to get all the things that his boss said.

jimin sighs softly, motioning his hand for his men to leave as he walks towards the white sedan waiting for him with his driver ready to head off. he pulls out his phone, smiling softly at the screen which lights up into a picture of an eight-year-old jungkook and eleven-year-old him, grinning widely at the camera.

hey wyd?

oh hey hyung
nothing much going on,
just on the way to pick aera up
from her school.

oh okay
what time are you free?

i'm free aaaaaaat...
wait! you're coming???
😃😃

well kinda, i'm free rn

yussss! i'll be home by 12

alright, take your time
see you, bye champ.

bye! i'm so excited!
love you hyung!

jimin shakes his head, chuckling at the over-affectionate brother and keeps his phone down, telling the driver to take him to a café as his daily dose of coffee wasn't in yet and that makes his head pound.

the car pulls in front of an old yet warm looking café, that fills the air with the faint fragrance of coffee beans and sweetness of cakes. jimin takes a seat in an empty booth, placing his order for a strong black coffee while he scrolls through his phone, checking for important messages or mails.

it was quiet and peaceful until a voice breaks into his ears, making him look up to confirm the person is talking to him.

"yes?" he says.

"you're jimin right?" the guy asks, looking around his age, tall with a slightly tan skin that suits him and makes him look more attractive.

"yes," jimin nods, "jeon jimin. do i know you?"

"i'm kim taehyung," the guy smiles, "maybe you've heard that name before or-"

"yeah, kim hyunmin's son? jungkook's step brother."

"yes, exactly." taehyung chuckles, shaking hands with jimin as he stood up to greet him.

"have a seat," the latter says, gesturing towards the chair across him, earning a thankful smile from taehyung. "i never thought i'd meeting you here by any chance."

"ah yeah, i just dropped by today. jungkook has been talking about you ever since last week."

"yeah, he's excited." jimin nods, chuckling as he takes a sip of his drink, "anything you'd like?"

"no no, i'm good. i'm not really a coffee person." taehyung rubs the back of his neck, "by the way, did you just come back from work?"

jimin glances down following his gaze on the three peice suit that he's wearing and nods, "yeah, i had a meeting today."

taehyung nods, glancing at his watch and then at jimin, "do you wanna come with me? i'm going home now."

"uh jungkook said he'd be back by 12 or so."

"that's okay, we can get know each other. you're his brother, so you're my brother as well, and i'll be honest, i've heard a lot about you."

"really? i hope it's all the good things." jimin jokes laughing with taehyung as they stand up and jimin quickly pays for his drink, heading out. "how are you going? i mean, let's take my car if you don't mind."

"thanks for asking, but i prefer walking, it's not that far." jimin smiles at his words, nodding as he takes off his jackets, leaving himself in the black slacks and the white dress shirt, putting the rest inside as he tells the driver to go back to the hotel.

"it's been a while since i enjoyed walking." he says, gesturing his hands for taehyung to lead the way, "so, how's everything at home?"

"pretty good," taehyung sighs in satisfaction with a fond smile playing on his lips, "it was a bit hard in the beginning, jungkook wasn't very find of me, but now it's very different. the kid is amazing and having a younger brother like him is even more amazing."

"yeah, he told me about it, i'm sorry if he was too harsh. y'know he's introverted, and the condition worsened after mom left, he was just six and he wasn't used to it."

"yeah, i understand. the good thing is, it's all fine now. anyways, tell me about yourself, how's life, work and everything?"

"well, there's nothing much to know about me, i'm four years older than jungkook, lived in seuol since mom and dad separated. i was fairly good in school, and now i'm taking care of our business."

"sounds like an ideal life, except for the separation part."

"yeah, it is." jimin chuckles, "my dad always had everything ready for me, he believed in me more than he did in himself."

"as what i've heard from jungkook, i'm sure you're an ace. he always praises everything about you and says he wants to be like you."

jimin sighs in response, smiling at the sky as his mind still has the image of the eight-year-old jungkook more prominent than the one of now, "y'know, taehyung-ssi, i was thinking about seeing him ever since i turned eighteen, but circumstances weren't always in favour, i was nervous and kinda scared, he got a new family and home, everything literally. whereas with me, if you look back, it was just dad who had business and me, we did talk and all, but still, everybody's got work right? i missed my brother so much, and today finally, after eleven years, being able to see him, makes me emotional."

taehyung smiles softly, patting jimin's shoulder, "he missed you too, no matter what and who he has in his life, you're still his brother, and no one can change that."

jimin glances at him, seeing the pretty smile in shape of a rectangle, contagious as it makes him smile too, "i'm glad he found a brother like you." he says.

"i know right?" taehyung jokes, earning a laugh from jimin, as he pats his back, "come on, you have to meet our little sister too, i'm sure you've heard of her."

"of course, jungkook talks a lot about her." jimin nods, following the boy into a house which is not that big, but enough for a family to live peacefully. at least nobody would be lonely within these four walls, unlike how jimin's life was in the mansion back in seoul.

"tea?" jimin looks at the owner of the voice, shaking his head as takes a seat on the couch that lays in a cozy looking living room.

"uh no thanks, just water is fine." he says and taehyung disappears in the kitchen. he sighs, looking around the house noticing how there are photo frames hanging on the walls randomly at places, adding a warm feeling in the cold atmosphere. there's one on the wall right next to the couch that grabs jimin's attention, he stands up and walks over, realising it's a picture of jungkook and taehyung with a baby.

next to it, is another picture of a kid, looking not more than two years old, wearing a yellow floral dress, holding a white paper scroll secured with a red ribbon in her hands and a black graduate's hat on her head.

"that's aera," taehyung's voice makes him nod, "it was my graduation ceremony."

"adorable" he smiles and sits again with taehyung, as they talk more until the clock hits twelve, and within a few minutes, a cheerful laughter fills in.

"they're here." taehyung chuckles, "3, 2, 1-"

"taetae!" a high pitched voice calls and footsteps running inside is heard, revealing a little girl wearing a cute school uniform while jungkook behind her is holding a small bag, probably the kid's.

"hey, princess, how was your day?" taehyung asks, quickly returning her hug as she stands between his legs.

"hyung!" jungkook gasps, letting go of the back and rushes to jimin who smiles in return, standing up for a hug. the younger slams against him, making him stumble a bit, but holds onto the hug, chuckling as he pats his back.

"hey, champ." he smiles softly, as jungkook never attempts to pull back, burying his face in jimin's shoulder, "kook, hey are you crying? look here."

jungkook shakes his head, rubbing his eyes quickly and pulls away with a smile, "i missed you so much hyung..."

"i know, i missed you too." jimin nods, looking at the younger carefully after years, "you've grown up hm? i never thought our little kook would be working out and having muscles and all."

jungkook grins sheepishly, "i was eight back then."

"i missed out a lot, didn't i?" jimin says with a sad smile, stroking the younger's hair gently.

"yeah, a little bit." the boy sighs, "anyways, sit down. you've met tae hyung already, so i'll introduce you to our princess. aera, come here."

the girl quietly stands near him, having her eyes fixed on jimin who smiles at her, holding his hand out for her, "hi, little one, i'm jimin."

"i know," she nods, looking back at her brothers who smile at her.

"you do?" he asks, surprised by her words.

she nods again, "you're in koo's phone. he told me you're chimin oppa."

"ah i see," he nods gradually, glancing at jungkook who smiles proudly looking at the little girl. "well, that's good that you already know me. i guess we can be friends right?"

"mm-hmm"

jimin chuckles at her little habit of nodding, finding it extremely adorable. she giggles with him, stepping forward and points at his face, "you pretty."

"thanks, but you're prettier."

"pittier?"

"prettier," jimin says, "means you're more pretty."

"no, you more pretty."

"no, you're more pretty."

"koo's pretty! and taetae pretty!" she laughs, clapping her hands, making him laugh as well.

"of course, they're aera's oppas so they're pretty too."

"yes," jimin laughs again as she nods, patting her head, "you're adorable."

aera is about to say something, but his phone interrupts her, having her curious gaze fixed on his phone that has a black cover with shining silver linings on the right side.

"ah yes," jimin stands up, speaking to the person, "no, not at the hotel, i'm here... uh what is this place called?" he looks at taehyung and jungkook who quickly tell the locality's name. "alright, great, i'll text you the address."

"what happened?" jungkook asks, "are you leaving?"

"not yet, i asked for something, my manager is on the way." he answers, giving his phone to jungkook, "text him the address please."

"sure," the younger nods, quickly typing the location of their house, but not returning the phone yet as he goes through some applications, installing and uninstalling some games with aera sitting on his lap, trying to look at the cover, while the elder boys talk.

"hyung, he's calling again" he says, now giving the phone to jimin who answers and tells the manager to come in. "what is it?"

"a surprise?" jimin smiles, earning a gasp from jungkook who springs up quickly, holding aera's hand as they go to the front door where a middle aged man is standing with three more people, all of them holding boxes.

"no way!" jungkook turns to jimin, "that is the playstation!"

"yeah, there's a lot of food too. who's hungry?"

"me!" aera jumps in her place, "let's eat!"

"sure," jimin smiles, gesturing the men to bring the stuff inside.

"uh jimin-ssi, thanks a lot but i don't think we accept all that. it's too much." taehyung says, earning a glancing from the younger siblings.

"oh no, please don't say that. it's nothing, i genuinely wanted to do this for y'all. please, don't say no." jimin says.

"i understand, but it's too expensive and we won't be able to pay for so many-"

"who said you've to pay me? it's a gift, taehyung, and we don't pay for gifts." jimin smiles, "please, take it, i insist."

"yes hyung, we can take it." jungkook says, "i swear i won't fail math, please let's take the playstation at least!"

"pwease, candies oppa!" aera pouts at taehyung, making him sigh, while jimin watches amusedly as the boy fails miserably on saying no to jungkook and aera.

"fine," he says, "you won't misuse it, promise?"

"promise!" the two shout together, giving each other a quick high-five, making jimin chuckle, happy to see his brother having someone else to be his hyung in his absence and love him the way he does.

"alright, come on, we have a lot to catch up on."

"i will eat sushi!" aera says looking up at jimin, he smiles and carries her in his arms.

"yes madam, whatever you say."

"madam?"

"mm-hmm, aren't you a little madam?"

"yes," she nods with little interest as her eyes are fixed on the bags of food, "they have sushi?"

jimin laughs and places a kiss on her cheek, "yes, there's sushi, candies, noodles, and a lot of stuff. and the other box has toys for aera."

"really?"

"yes, you like toys?"

"yes!" aera nods quickly, "you nice, chimin oppa."

"oh thank you, aera." he smiles, "anything for you guys."

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a/n- ik it's friday (again *sigh*) but i just realised for my indian readers, this week's gonna be super busy. diwali yayy!!! and friday is somewhere near that i don't remember exactly, but it's almost on friday. and since i completed this chapter today, i thought why not posting it today itself?

viminkook×aera is great, isn't it? i'm smiling like an idiot 😚

alright so, that's it for now, vote if you like, comment to let me know what you think about this chapter. thank you for reading! have a great time! stay safe and healthy ❤️✨

and happy diwali to everyone (indian or not 😂) may the festival of lights brings happiness and prosperity to your homes and a joyous life ahead. have a safe and miraculous diwali with all your loved ones. eat a lot of your favourite sweets, go to people's house wish them and eat there too lol. in short, jus enjoy yourself! 😁🥳

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