Chapter Text
When Yoongi moves into the new apartment, it’s only after the landlady assures him the two kids next door are the ‘sweetest things on the planet’ and ‘definitely won’t be noisy.’
A day after he moves in, he gets off the elevator to find the two kids – they look like they’re about 4 or 5 years old – jumping up and down and clinging onto who he guesses is their dad while he tries to juggle groceries, the combination to the door, and the kids at the same time. “Taehyung, no, don’t grab – Jimin – stop, let daddy open the door, and then we can eat the ice cream – Taehyung, stop! I said no, we have to be inside to eat. Why are you two being so difficult today?”
Usually Yoongi doesn’t really care for other people’s business, but he’s kind of curious as to what his neighbors are like. He clears his throat and the father looks back, looking a little disheveled and tired. “Hi,” Yoongi shrugs a shoulder. “I’m your new next door neighbor.”
“Oh!” The man says, and he looks awfully young to be having two kids. Not that Yoongi is judging. “Oh, you moved in yesterday. Sorry, I should’ve said hi, but I’m just so busy – and my kids are – oh, where are my manners. Taehyung, Jimin. Say hello to our new neighbor.”
The two kids peek around their father’s legs and one of them grins before running headfirst into Yoongi’s legs. “Ow?” Yoongi grunts, and their father looks horrified as he just gives up on his groceries and puts them on the floor before running to grab the child around the waist.
“I’m so sorry! Taehyung, why would you do that?! Sorry, they’re – I just took them to see How to Train Your Dragon and they’ve been pretending like they’re dragons all day. They’re usually very good kids, really.” The father looks flustered and he looks dejectedly at his other kid, who’s successfully managed to fish out the ice cream and is digging into it with his hands. “Sorry.”
“Uh. Kids will be kids.” Yoongi manages, although frankly he’s a little disgusted with the way the second kid is digging into the ice cream tub with his hands. “.. I was wondering why you were trying to hold the bags and your kids, and open your door at the same time. Name’s Min Yoongi.”
“Kim Seokjin,” the father beams. “I’d offer you my hand, but – Ow! Taehyung! I thought we were over your biting phase!”
Yoongi decides he’s just going to go back to not minding other people’s business.
--
Despite the loud introduction, the two kids next door don't make much noise. A lot less than Yoongi was expecting, anyway. The only time they do is around lunch, when Yoongi hears loud stamping and giggling for a bit before they’re died down. It’s surprisingly quiet for a family with two little boys.
He’s taking out the trash one day when he meets one of the boys – Jimin, if Yoongi’s remembering right – and offers him half the container of cookies he’d been eating, remembering how the kid had dug into ice cream with his hands. Jimin takes it with a bright grin. Yoongi lets him finish a cookie before asking, “Your dad home?”
“No, he’s at school.”
“Your mom then?”
Jimin shrugs and takes another cookie. “We don’t have a mommy. Daddy said he doesn’t know where she is either, but that’s okay. We only need daddy anyway. And Uncle Joonie! Uncle Joonie is the best. He makes daddy happy and takes care of us when daddy has school.”
--
“Wow, you’ve been here, like, a month, and it already smells like a single dude’s apartment.” Jungkook snickers as he walks into the apartment with bags of food held in each hand.
“You just came here as an excuse to get drunk.”
“Hey, I came to fill up my beloved hyung’s fridge.” Jungkook laughs. “And to drink. But mostly the former, I swear. I brought you a shit ton of food.”
Yoongi can tell. Jungkook’s brought loads of food that he tosses in front of the fridge. “You didn’t have to.”
“Yeah, well, you brought me a lot of food when I got my own place, so.” Jungkook shrugs. “As expected, you have pretty much no decoration in this entire place.”
Yoongi shrugs and starts putting the food away in the fridge. A lot of it is pre-made side dishes, and servings of meat and fish that he tosses in the freezer. He appreciates it. He's been eating ramen for a month. “Well, I don’t need much.”
Hoseok joins them about an hour later, and they start talking about the music Yoongi and Hoseok are working on when the doorbell rings. Yoongi goes to open it to find Seokjin looking frazzled and upset. “Hi, it’s me, Seokjin. I just – Something really urgent came up and my usual sitter just can’t make it. Do you think – I know it’s really sudden but if you can, do you think you can watch my kids? I’ll only be gone for two hours tops. I’d pay you for your trouble-”
“Sunbae?” Jungkook blinks, peeking his head over Yoongi’s shoulder.
Seokjin goes quiet and his eyes widen. “K-Kookie? What are you doing here?”
“Yoongi-hyung’s an old friend. What are you doing here?”
“I live there.” Seokjin sounds confused but points at the door across the hall. “I have – my professor’s calling me to the workshop even though I told him I can’t make it out of my designated hours, and Namjoon’s got his studio work today so I can’t call him. The professor told me he’d fire me if I can’t get there within half an hour and – and Kookie, I can’t be dropped from this workshop.”
“Oh.” Jungkook shrugs. “Yeah, that professor’s crap. I told you not to work with him. I’ll go over to your house and watch the kids. Unless Yoongi-hyung’s okay with bringing them here.”
Yoongi shrugs. “That’s, uh, fine. Small world, huh?” He watches Seokjin flurry over to his apartment and bring over Jimin and Taehyung, who squeal at the sight of Jungkook (apparently this is not a first meeting) and tackle him around the legs. Seokjin thanks Yoongi and Jungkook over and over and over again before Jungkook reminds him he has a time limit and he rushes down the stairs.
“Uncle Kookie! Uncle Kookie!” Taehyung chants, laughing as he clings onto Jungkook’s legs. “We haven’t seen you in a while!”
“Yeah, it’s been a while, huh? Namjoon-hyung usually makes sure he’s available to sit you guys.”
“We saw Uncle Joonie yesterday. He brought a bunch of flowers for daddy.” Jimin comes to sit by Hoseok, who looks amused by the sudden onset of kids. He offers Jimin the potato chips and slides the yet-to-be-opened beer cans out of sight.
Jungkook manages to walk over with Taehyung clinging to his legs. “Yeah? … Wait, isn’t your dad’s birthday in December? It passed already.”
Taehyung reaches for the chips that are laying open on the floor. He eyes the adults as if to ask permission. When no one stops him, he takes a handful and his brother follows suit. “Uncle Joonie brings daddy flowers all the time. Yesterday he just brought a lot.”
“A ton!” Jimin chirps. “Like, enough to fill the entire couch!”
Hoseok nods sagely. “So the dude swings that way, huh?”
“What.” Jungkook looks up from opening a bottle of water for Taehyung. “No. No. I mean. Seokjin-sunbae. Maybe, I dunno. I guess he’s never had a girlfriend, but he’s never had a boyfriend, either. But, uh, Namjoon-hyung’s his cousin.”
There’s a silence, and then Hoseok bursts into laughter. “What the f-“ he breaks off abruptly, glancing down at the two kids battling each other for chips, clears his throat, and takes a chug of his coke. “What kind of dude buys his cousin that many flowers for no reason?”
Jungkook shrugs. “Namjoon-hyung does. They’re really close. Seokjin-sunbae- Uh. Well, I don’t know the full details. I just know they’re really close. I used to think it was weird at first too, but they're just super close.” He looks troubled and embarrassed for a second and grabs Taehyung around the waist to pull onto his lap instead. “Hey, Tae. How’s day care lately?”
Yoongi raises an eyebrow but doesn’t say anything, but curiosity comes up and he wonders if he should get to know his neighbors more. All he knows about his neighbors is that Seokjin is only a year older than him, and Taehyung and Jimin are 4, which would mean Seokjin had both kids when he was only 18. He’s also just learned that Seokjin goes to the same university that Jungkook does, judging from what Jungkook calls him and their conversation earlier. It’s rare, Yoongi thinks - and he knows he’s being an ass by thinking about stereotypes but still – that someone who had kids that early in their life with no mother to be seen is attending such a prestigious university.
Huh.
He glances over to the kids, giggling and laughing, and thinks he should get to know the family a little more.
--
They’re about an hour into watching the kids when the doorbell rings. Figuring it’s Seokjin, Yoongi gets the door with Jimin hanging onto his arm.
It’s not. The man that’s at the door is taller than Seokjin, darker, and has platinum-blonde hair. Yoongi stares, but then Jimin lets out a yell. “Uncle Joonie!” He immediately lets go of Yoongi’s arm to launch himself at the man. Yoongi makes the connection that this is the cousin that gets Seokjin the flowers.
“Hey, kiddo.” The man chuckles, and his voice is deep enough to make women swoon on their feet. It’s about two seconds before Taehyung comes barreling from the living room to launch himself at the man as well. “You must be Min Yoongi. I’m Kim Namjoon. Seokjin-hyung’s cousin.” He holds out his hand and offers him a broad grin. Yoongi takes it. Namjoon has a firm grip. “Oh, Seokjin-hyung said I should pay you for all your trouble. I’m not sure what rate he offered, but I think I've brought enough cash...”
“Uh. No, it’s fine. We just had them around and they ate chips. We didn’t do anything.” Yoongi shakes his head at the wallet that Namjoon takes out. Namjoon looks unsure, but Yoongi manages to wave them away without getting any money.
He lets Jungkook and Hoseok get pissed drunk, but he’s listening carefully for the elevator doors to open. As soon as it does, he grabs the bag of trash he’s had ready and jumps out. He realizes it’s a little creepy, but hell, he’s curious and Min Yoongi isn’t one to let curiosity gnaw at him.
As he expects, Seokjin’s coming out of the elevator, holding cake in one hand and a bag of groceries in the other. He looks tired, but not exhausted. “Oh,” Seokjin says, blinking at him. “Good afternoon.”
“Uh, hey. Just putting trash out.” Yoongi nods to the bag in his hand. Obviously he should have planned a little more ahead.
Seokjin smiles at him. “Thank you for watching my kids. Is Kookie still around? You guys can join us. I’ve got cake and there’s no way I'm letting Jimin and Taehyung will eat all this, or they’ll jump off the walls.”
“Jungkook’s pissed drunk. Yes, it's 2 in the afternoon.” Yoongi shrugs, and then glances up. “Sorry for the language.”
“It’s fine. Namjoon does it all the time. Just watch yourself around the kids. I’ll leave the door unlocked, so feel free to come in once you’ve taken care of the trash.” Seokjin offers him a bright smile before punching in the combination to his electrical lock. He leaves it propped open by the latch and Yoongi literally flies down the stairs, tosses the trash bag into the bin and runs back up the stairs.
He almost yanks the door open and then remembers to take a deep breath, smoothing his breathing down with a hand down his chest. He opens the door as calmly as he can.
“It’s UNCLE YOONGI!” Taehyung shrieks, mouth smeared with chocolate. “Have some cake!” Yoongi manages to keep him at an arm's distance so he's not getting chocolate smudged all over his clothes.
“Tae!” Seokjin shouts, rushing after the toddler with a towel in his hands. In the short time he’s changed into sweatpants and a loose shirt, and he looks attractive. “Come in, come in.” Seokjin’s got chocolate smeared across his cheek but he smiles and Yoongi can’t help but smile back. Seokjin swipes Taehyung up and starts patting at his lips with the towel. "Obviously they've had more than enough cake. I'm, uh, sorry about the uncle thing. I don't know why he thinks everyone is his uncle. I can get him to stop."
"It's fine; it's kind of cute, and I don't mind. They're less rowdy than I thought they'd be. Really quiet."
"That'd be the soundproof walls." Seokjin chuckles, defeated. "Namjoon installed them." He motions to the walls, and Yoongi can't help but laugh at the soundproofing material all over the walls. "They aren't the prettiest things in the world, but they help. Also helps because the kids like running headfirst into walls." He shakes his head and looks down at Taehyung, who’s managed to squiggle out of Seokjin’s hands and run into the kitchen. There’s a deep voice laughing that he recognizes as Namjoon from before.
He peeks over, and he’s unsure what to expect. He finds Jimin and Taehyung standing on the chairs, digging into cake with plastic forks. Namjoon raises an eyebrow when he sees Yoongi, but doesn't do much else. He instead offers, "Cake?"
Yoongi hates sweets. But it's going to look weird if he's here without any reason, so he takes a slice and gingerly sinks his fork (plastic, with little Pororo characters on the handle) into it. Seokjin sits down next to Jimin, napkin in hand and dabbing Jimin's chubby cheeks with it whenever he smears it across his face. "Were they good?" Seokjin asks, eyes still focused on Jimin. He looks so gentle that Yoongi finds his heart skipping a beat.
"Yeah, they were good kids. We just ate chips. Taehyung ran around." Yoongi shrugs, and Seokjin laughs fondly.
"Taehyung tends to do that." Namjoon grins, pinching his nephew's nose. "You're a hyper little thing, huh?" Taehyung blows him a raspberry, spluttering half-eaten chocolate cake onto Namjoon's shirt, and Namjoon doesn't even look fazed. He just takes a napkin and dabs Taehyung's mouth with it before wiping his shirt down. "Hyung, the chocolate cake might have been a little overboard."
Seokjin smiles and eases the fork out of Taehyung's and Jimin's hands. They surprisingly don't make a fuss, and Yoongi raises an eyebrow. He watches Namjoon clean up the plates and forks, and Seokjin picks Jimin up first, humming as he securely tucks his arms around him, plucking a wet wipe from a pink case on the kitchen counter and gently wiping him down. He does the same to Taehyung, and they're suddenly subdued and quiet. Namjoon puts his finger to his lips when he notices Yoongi's confusion, so Yoongi just watches.
Seokjin takes Jimin into the room first - when Seokjin opens the door Yoongi realizes it's like a play room, walls painted a bright blue and green with toys strewn on the floor. Seokjin doesn't look fazed at the mess - he just pushes past it to the small beds on the side and lays Jimin in it, comes to pick Taehyung up and does the same. He spends about a minute or two in the room, humming lightly and patting their stomachs, and then comes out quietly, leaving the door ajar.
"Always amazes me." Namjoon winks at Yoongi. "It's like he can do magic."
Seokjin snorts and picks up a dishtowel to start wiping the kitchen table down. "Their body tells them to sleep when it's nap time. I just remind them a little." He looks at Yoongi's barely-eaten cake. "You don't really like cake, huh?" Yoongi feels a flush running from his cheeks, and Seokjin laughs kindly as he takes the plate from Yoongi's hands. "That's all right. Yoongi, you work in music, right? I thought you and Namjoon could get to know each other."
Yoongi raises an eyebrow. "Oh?" Namjoon is, decidedly, not the person he was trying to get to know, but he figures conversation is conversation.
Namjoon looks equally surprised. "You work in music? What kind of music?"
"Uh." He glances at Seokjin, who's settled in a seat next to Namjoon. He watches Namjoon pull Seokjin's chair closer to his. The move looks unconscious, something done without much thought, and Yoongi has the same question Hoseok asked Jungkook - what kind of cousins do that? "I do hiphop. Rap. I kind of work under the name Suga-"
"Wait." Namjoon stops him abruptly. "You're kidding."
"Uh. No. Why?"
Namjoon bursts out laughing and he holds his hand out. "Hey, Suga. I'm Rap Monster."
Yoongi's jaw drops. Rap Monster?! He's worked with Rap Monster before - but only through emails. They'd sent work back and forth. He's never seen the face, but now that he knows Namjoon is Rap Monster, it's a wonder how he didn't make the connection between the deep voice in the song to the voice he's hearing now.
Seokjin laughs. "You two've met?"
"Well, we've never met in person." Namjoon turns back to his cousin, his gaze fond as he reaches to organize a stray hair on the top of Seokjin's head. The movement is oddly tender. "But we've worked together. Kind of weird to place a face to the voice and the music. I'm a fan, by the way. I love your work. Your songs are amazing. I'm shit at using machines, but obviously you don't have that problem."
Yoongi shakes his head. "...I'm not the one that's being called a genius."
Seokjin literally beams at that. "You're being called a genius? You never told me that."
Namjoon looks embarrassed. "It's not a big deal. What he does is a lot harder." He reaches to place his hand on top of Seokjin's head, and his gaze is so tender that Yoongi feels the question bubbling up again. He ignores it. The conversation flows smoothly, and he finds out Seokjin's a senior at the University of Seoul, majoring in literature. Jungkook's an international trade major, but they took a class together once and Jungkook and Seokjin had clicked. Yoongi isn't surprised – Seokjin seems like the type that can see the best in everyone. Jungkook is a little brat, but once you can see under his sarcasm, he's a good kid.
He also finds out Namjoon had a drug habit, when he was younger, and Seokjin basically found him overdosed and saved him from dying. "He's the only one who believed in me when everyone gave up on me. I owe him my life."
And that makes a little more sense - why Namjoon looks at Seokjin the way he does, why he treats Seokjin the way he does. It's a little excessive, still, but Yoongi doesn't know the full story so he won't judge.
Yoongi tells them about his life - coming out to his parents and getting kicked out, keeping in touch with his brother who supported him in secret, and succeeding as a composer. He doesn't even realize how much time's passed until there's a small whine from the room and Seokjin bursts up, excusing himself before rushing into the room.
He comes back out with Jimin in his arms and Taehyung clinging onto his pant leg. "I didn't realize it's been so long," Seokjin smiles apologetically. "It's already 5. Namjoon, I thought you had somewhere to go by 6."
"Holy sh.. Sheep. Holy sheep, hyung. Sheep." Seokjin rolls his eyes and Namjoon grins. "Yeah, I gotta go. Yoongi, I'll walk you out."
Yoongi half wants to stay, but Namjoon’s already leading him toward the door. Taehyung and Jimin wave them a sleepy goodbye and Namjoon squeezes Taehyung’s nose before closing the door. “Nice meeting you, I guess,” Yoongi walks the three steps to his own door.
“You too.” Namjoon nods. He then frowns slightly. “Hey, just… I’m pretty protective of my family, all right? I feel like I’m going to be seeing you often. Please don’t let it offend you if I get a little protective. I’m like that to everyone.”
“Oh.” Yoongi laughs lightly. “Oh, that’s fine. I would be worried if you weren’t. Nice meeting you, though, really. Nice putting a face onto Rap Monster.”
Namjoon grins at him. “Same here, Suga.”