"Tae, one more question, and we will eat lunch." Jungkook said sternly. They were right now at his house studying for an upcoming maths test. But the little one had other plans. He wanted to eat the pizza that his best friend promised him that he would order.
"Kookie, please! I promise to study after lunch again." Tae pouted, making jungkook sigh. He knew there was no winning against that pout.
"Okay, how about this, I'll order your favorite pizza, and while we wait, you write down all the formulae we learned today, deal?" Jungkook tried compromising with Tae, even using his powers by softly playing with the boy's hair.
"Okiee..." Tae mumbled, pout still evident on his face.
"Ohh baby, come here. Let me cuddle you while you write. Will that make it better?" Jungkook heart is too weak to handle his best friend being upset with him.
Receiving an enthusiastic nod, jungkook lifted Tae and sat on the chair the boy was previously sitting on, placing the boy on his lap facing the table.
"Happy now?" Jungkook asked, with a small smile on his face as he wrapped his hands completely around the boy's waist. He always loved the way Tae fit in his arms. Ever since they were children, taehyung was always smaller of the two, ever more delicate. Jungkook could easily lift him up by his waist even as a kid, sometimes to only tease Tae, but he had feeling the latter liked it a lot too.
"Yes!" Tae smiled back, being all cute.
"So spoiled, aren't you, darling?" Jungkook said as he placed his head on the boy's shoulder to see the boy starting to write the formulae.
"Not spoiled, kookie! I'm only using my best friend privileges."
"Is that so? Well, what if I revoke those privileges, hmm?" Jungkook teased lightly, not meaning anything. He simultaneously started placing the order on his app for tae's pizza and his chicken wings.
"You wouldn't dare, kook! You love me too much for that." Tae laughed. He knew the elder would never do anything to make him sad. (Author: Tae, be prepared, babe)
"I do, I do. Sadly, I'm completely wrapped around your finger. Should've thought about that before I befriended you over a silly cookie."
"Heyyyy, don't shame our first meeting!" Tae said, hitting the elder on his hand with the pen.
...
(Taekook's first ever meeting. Tae-5, Jungkook-7)
Jungkook's dad had taken him to a local bakery. It had recently been opened by one of his neighbors, and they were here to congratulate them and to help the business grow.
"Go pick something out for yourself, bud. I'll be waiting at the counter with Mr. Shin."
"Okay, appa." Jungkook nodded obediently and walked to the display of sweet goods. He looked around the tons of choices, ranging from cookies to cakes, crossiants, buns, and so on. He was finding it hard to choose. Finally, his eyes landed on a tray that had only one 1 cookie left, a big triple chocolate cookie, covered in cream and chocolate chips.
He picked the cookie carefully with the tongs kept and was about to place it in a bag provided before a small tug on his sleeve stopped him.
"Tae want." The small boy who was still holding Jungkook's sleeve mumbled.
"You want the cookie? This one?" Jungkook held the cookie towards the boy. The boy simply nodded, letting go of Jungkook's sleeve to take the cookie instead.
Seeing the trying to grab the cookie with his bare hands, jungkook held it higher, "You have to use the tongs."
The boy just gave a confused look and pouted, thinking the boy was not going to let him have the delicious treat.
"Tae want." The small boy repeated again, kicking his foot on the ground in a small tantrum.
Jungkook, not knowing what else to do, sad that he had to give up his sweet treat, place the cookie in the plastic bag, and give it to the boy.
"Here you go, enjoy."
"Thank you!" The boy smiled widely and immediately got the cookie out and took a big bite out of it before jungkook could even stop him.
"Must be nice..." Jungkook thought out loud as he watched the boy eating away happily.
"Hey! You have to pay for that!" An elderly man who jungkook assumed was the baker shouted.
"Wut?" Tae asked, not understanding why the scary man was glaring at him.
"You have to pay! Don't play with me. Where are your parents?" The man shouted again.
"Are you with him, boy? You have to pay for that!" The man looked at jungkook this time.
"I- no, I don't know him." Jungkook said, scared of getting shouted at. He was always so good of a child that he hardly ever got shouted at.
"Don't you lie to me! Why is he holding onto you, then?" He pointed at, and jungkook hadn't even realized, but Tae was indeed holding onto the back of his shirt and slightly hiding behind him. The boy looked increasingly scared and uncomfortable of the situation. He looked so small and meek in front of jungkook that the latter felt pity for him.
Jungkook saw the boy had tears welling up in his eyes, his chin wobbling, "Hey, don't be scared. I'm here." Jungkook said, brushing his hand through the boys hair like his eomma always does when he is about to cry.
"See! Liars, I knew yall were pretending. Pay up, come on." The man who was behind the display raised his voice more.
"My appa can pay, come on." Jungkook held the boy's hand as he started walking towards the entrance where his appa said the counter was at. The man behind the display also came out and walked behind them to make sure they didn't run away.
As soon as jungkook saw his father, he said, "Appa, can we please buy this?"
Mr. Jeon was confused seeing his son holding an unknown boys hand, "This? This boy? Baby, i told you to select treats, not another human being."
"What? Appa no! The cookie! This cookie." Jungkook showed the cookie in Tae's hand to his dad and was flustered at his dad's assumption. But he did hear a tiny giggle in the background that made him smile, too.
"Sir! These two boys were stealing from the store. I caught then red-handed." The baker who was standing back suddenly made himself aware.
"Did you just accuse my son of stealing? Who do you think you are?" Mr. Jeon got angry super quick, pulling his son closer and jungkook pulling onto Tae in return. The smaller boy was still eating his cookie.
"Jeon, I think there must be some kind of mistake." Mr. Shin interrupted immediately, not wanting to escalate the situation for a bad reputation. "I'm sorry for my staff. Apologize to him right this instant, Kang. This right here is a very close friend of mine, and this is his son."
"Oh. Umm, I-I'm sorry, please forgive me, this is my first job. I'm sorry, I didn't know." The man, Kang, bowed his head and apologized profusely, complete change of attitude.
"Jungkook, did this man shout at you and your friend?" Mr. Jeon ignored the man and asked his son.
"Just a little, appa, but we are okay." Jungkook confirmed, and Mr. Jeon nodded his head in return.
"I'm letting this be excused this time for your sake, Shin. And you don't go around shouting around at kids." He looked at the man in digust because who shouts at little kids , that too someone else's.
With the man finally gone, and Mr. Shin, not even asking for any pay as an apology, jungkook, and his father, along with Tae, exited the store.
"Now, can you tell me, who is he?" Mr. Jeon asked, looking at his son and the boy.
"I don't know, appa. He just wanted the cookie." Jungkook shrugged, making Mr. Jeon sighs. Maybe the kid was lost, his parents must be worried.
"Hey, little one, can you tell me your name?" Mr. Jeon knelt on a knee to talk to the boy, keeping his voice gentle.
"Kim Taehyung." Tae said, proud he remembered what his mom taught him.
"Good job, buddy. I am Jeon Haeun, and this is my son Jeon Jungkook." He introduced them, and Jungkook muttered a small "Hi. "
"And where is your eomma or appa?"
"Ummm, I don't know." Tae mumbled.
"How did you come to the bakery then? Where do you live?" Mr. Jeon asked, increasingly getting worried.
"Tae wanted cookie." Is all the small boy replied with, not answering any of the two important questions.
"Okay, do you know your eomma or appa's phone number?"
Tae simply shook his head, making both the father son duo sigh, not knowing how to help the child.
"Jungkook, you try. He seems attached to you." Mr. Jeon stood straight again, giving up momentarily.
Jungkook nodded before turning to face Tae, "Tae, want another cookie?" Seeing as the boy had already gobbled up the previous one.
Tae bounced with excitement at the idea of getting another cookie. He nodded his head again.
"You'll get a cookie, but in return, can you tell us where your home is?"
"Home? Oh! There!" Tae pointed at the house across the street.
"You live there? So you literally just crossed the street and ran into a bakery without any adult?!" Mr. Jeon was shocked at the boys' bold actions. He was wondering if his parents weren't aware, but how wouldn't you know your child is not in the house? Did they even care? The last thought made his heart ache.
"Tae wanted cookie." Like a chant, Tae repeated his mission again.
"Yeah, yeah, well, you got that. Let's get you home now." Mr. Jeon went to hold the boys' hand, but he refused, hiding him jungkook.
"Cookie?" Tae whispered, and jungkook laughed, finding the boy adorable.
"Appa, I promised him a cookie. Can you get us one, please?" Jungkook looked at his appa, pleading with his eyes.
"Got it, I'll be right out. Wait for me right here, take care of him." The elder instructed his son and walked back in the bakery.
Now that the two boys were alone, jungkook said, "You shouldn't have come alone. Your appa eomma must be worried."
"Appa? TaeTae no have appa." Tae said, a small pout on his face. The small boy had always wondered why he didn't have a father like all other kids but he remembers when he had asked that to his mom, she had cried a lot saying she loves her baby so much that she couldn't share him with his appa. The small boy believed her. He loved his eomma a lot, too.
"Oh.." Jungkook didn't know what to reply to that. So he let the boy be, the conversation burning out. A few minutes later, Mr. Jeon came back holding another cookie, not the same as the last one, but it was still good enough to make Tae giddy with happiness, a simple chocolate chip cookie.
"Let's get you to your parents now, come on." Mr. Jeon said as he finally led the two boys to the house across.
Upon ringing the bell, an old lady opened the door. She was chewing onto a sandwich in her hand and looked so disinterested, Mr. Jeon wondered if she is Taehyung's grandmother or someone, but they looked nothing alike.
"Can I help you?" She said, not bothering to add any complimentaries to her sentence, still chewing. She smelled a bit weird, too, which made jungkook crunch his nose in disgust. He looked down to see Tae, and the boy was visibly not very happy. He was again holding onto Jungkook's shirt from behind and trying to hide from the lady.
"Well, we have your grandson here." Mr. Jeon said as he gestured to Tae. "Buddy, come out, go to your grandmother." Mr. Jeon was confused seeing the boy so scared. Was there something wrong? Was this not his house?
"Grandson?" She said as she took two steps ahead to peek behind jungkook, seeing Taehyung she gasped, "Hey! How did you get out, idiot?!"
Tae flinched at her voice, and jungkook didn't miss the tightening he felt by the boys' grip. As if on auto mode, he wrapped his arms around the boy's shoulders to pull him close as if protecting him.
"Hey, come here!" She aggressively snatched the boy by the arm into the house, about to close the door, but Mr. Jeon was faster, he held the door open again. His parental instincts are kicking in.
"Hey, Mister, thank you for bringing him up. I'm his baby sitter, he must've escaped when I was in the bathroom. You can let go now." She said, scowling at Mr. Jeon was as if he was in the wrong and not the opposite.
"You're his babysitter? You are paid to look after him, and he escaped? That doesn't sound safe to me. Please call his parents, I would like to speak to them." Mr. Jeon said sternly, then looking at how harshly the lady was handling Tae. He said, "And let go of his arm, the boy is about to cry for goodness sake."
As soon as she let go of Tae, the boy ran back to jungkook, this time though hugging his front, "Tae, no wanna go home. Want eomma."
"Appa..." Was all jungkook managed to say. He was too young to understand the entire situation, but even he knew his new friend was in distress, and he wanted to help him as much as he could.
"Hey, little one, don't worry, you are safe with us. Don't cry, okay?" Mr. Jeon ran his hand through the boys' hair and smiled in pride when he saw jungkook hugging the boy close.
"I'll call the police for you harrassing-" The lady started, pretending to be brave, but Mr. Jeon saw straight through the act.
"If anyone would be calling the police, it wouldn't be you. Call his parents, right this instant, we are not leaving him alone with you. If not, I'll have to call the police myself for child neglect."
"I-ugh, fine. Wait here." The lady walked back into the house, presumably to call the parents.
"Kookie." Tae said when the lady was gone, tugging on Jungkook's sleeve.
"Cookie? You can eat it." Jungkook said, gesturing to the bag that was held by the younger.
"No, no, kookie." Tae grumbled.
"I don't understand, Tae..."
"Kookie! You! Kookie." The boy pressed his index finger to Jungkook's chest.
"Kookie? Ohhh, you gave me a nickname? I like it." Jungkook smiled genuinely. "You already have a nickname, but I want to make something cute too!"
"Cute? Tae cute?" The younger knew exactly how to tug on the heart strings.
"Very cute..." jungkook mumbled under his breath, not understanding how he was so infatuated with a boy he just met. But the boy was indeed very cute, just like a small baby, "Baby...YES, I'll call you baby!"
Tae giggled at the elder's enthusiasm and clapped his hand at the nickname, "Tae like! Tae your baby!" Hugging jungkook close.
"My baby!" Jungkook also giggled as he hugged the boy back.
Mr. Jeon, who watched the scene unfold, couldn't help but take a picture of the special moment his son was making a friend. He was shocked because jungkook hardly made friends this easy, let alone give them nicknames or hug them. He was happy, though, because the little boy was indeed quite adorable to not like.
Not even 20 minutes had passed when suddenly the lady came out the door again, her handbag with her this time, she looked ready to leave.
"Where are you going?" Mr. Jeon asked.
"Doesn't concern you. His mom is coming, tell her I quit." With just that, the lady walked away not before giving Tae a dirty look of anger, but jungkook was quick to notice and stood in front of the boy as a human shield.
"Meany lady." Tae said, making the father son duo sad for the boy. God knows how neglectful or horrible that lady must be to make the boy escape and be so scared to even enter his own house.
A few more minutes went by after the lady had left, when a car came and stopped in front of the house. A very distressed lady exited the vehicle, and as soon as she did, Tae ran up to her, saying, "Eomma!"
"Tae, oh my God. Are you okay?" His mom picked up the little boy and checked him for any injuries. The babysitter just told her he ran away from home and was now bought back by some strange man. She looked at Mr. Jeon in suspicion at first, but then she saw a little boy standing with him, and the small identical smiles that were on both their faces made her relax a little.
"Yes, eomma. I'm okay. Kookie saved Tae from meany lady." Tae explained to his mom.
"Kookie?" She asked.
"Umm, that's me, Aunty, jeon jungkook. Nice to meet you." Jungkook introduced himself and bowed in respect.
"That's my son, and I'm Jeon Haeun. We actually found your son in the bakery across the street. We thought he was lost at first, but then -" Mr. Jeon explained the entire scene that took place, and Mrs. Jeon was beyond shocked that she had left her beloved son at the hands of that wicked lady that made her baby run away.
"Thank you, thank you so much." She bowed.
"No, no, as a parent, I can understand the feeling. We are glad we met him." Mr. Jeon assured her. He then teased Kook, saying, "Thanks to your son, my son found a new friend."
Jungkook was shy that his dad had put him on spot like that, "Appaa..." He whined lowly under his breath.
"Am I lying, kookie? What was the nickname my son called you, Tae?" Mr. Jeon smirked, enjoying embrassing his ever so quiet son.
"Baby! Eomma, Tae kookie's baby!" Tae said, blissfully unaware and not shy at all.
"Tae, shhhh." Jungkook grumbled, all flustered.
Both the parents burst out laughing at their kids' antics. Neither of them knew, nor were they prepared for the intensity of the friendship that would grow out this small incident.
....
(Present time)
"My baby." Jungkook said proudly as he held the boy tighter.
"Kookie's baby." Tae mumbled back, shy and flustered now, reversing the roles from their childhood.
"I'll always be grateful to my 7 year old self to have given you that cookie." Jungkook said, making Tae giggle. The elder would always tease him, saying how he had made the greatest sacrifice by sacrificing the peace of heaven in the form of a cookie. But jungkook hoped Tae knew that he would sacrifice anything and everything for his baby's smile. (Author: Would you, jeon, would you?)
"I'll always be grateful for meeting you that day. You saved me from meany lady." And from every other problem, Tae kept the last sentence to himself, knowing the elder must've known the depth of the sentence already.
"It's what I do best, I guess. You're a like a small little kitten. Gotta keep you safe." Jungkook joked, but both knew how true the words were.
(Helloooo, thank you for all the love in the last chapter. I hope yall like this chapter too, sorry for not a lot of fluff. But be prepared, shits about to go down soon. But I promise you no chapter will go by without sweet taekook moments (but will they overpower the sad ones, no guarantees, you chose this!) I hope yall had a good day, I'm off to bed. See you again soonnn.
All the love.)