okay, so the birthday surprise was a little nice. he’s not ever going to admit it to jungkook’s face, because there would only be a bunch of rubbing it in involved, but he can admit that he did like having everyone over.

the one thing he doesn’t change his mind about is the tiredness he feels after the party. it’s honestly too much; his bones, back, and head all ache. even with the calming days of sunday and saturday, monday is a bright new day with more work to do and more headaches to conquer.

one of them is the fact that his coworkers have decided to throw him a party.

there are about ten or more of them all in the large conference room, where he had been texted to go to by his superior. there his hyung is, grinning sheepishly before handing yoongi a pink and red hat.

there are a bunch of kids he works with, including ilhoon and woohyun’s group, the girl group that’s going to debut soon, and two members of a well-established trio. they all whoop at him and pat him on the back as yoongi stares blankly at the room, at the pink and yellow and red decorations, and at the obvious romantic theme they’ve got going on.

“it’s because white day is so close,” says one of his female coworkers, grinning wickedly. “it’s your birthday, but we all wanted an excuse to party and indulge. here, have a cup.”

she hands him a cup of coffee and gives him a short salute. yoongi snorts and tears the awful party hat off his head.

woohyun bounds up to him first out of all the kids, bowing low at ninety degrees and handing him a present wrapped in newspaper. “here, hyung, i want you to see it first! happy birthday? how old are you anyway, hyung?”

“old enough to drink, kid,” yoongi grumbles back, pushing away woohyun’s overactive personality. he opens the newspapers to see a mix cd. woohyun looks up at him and beams.

“i made it myself,” he says. “and i wanted you to hear it. i know it’s not a good birthday gift, but i didn’t know what else to get you.” why would he? he’s still so young, still working out how to make money. he probably doesn’t even know how to do his taxes yet.

it’s still a sweet gift, and yoongi puts it in his bag to listen to later. there’s a lot of food and many people mention white day. yoongi sighs when he observes the girl group and a couple of 5EVER members talking a little too closely. aah, well, that’s none of his business - they’re kids, so who cares?

he wonders if he should get jungkook anything for white day. they’re already married, what else could white do for them?

he stops thinking about it when his coworker decides to smear cake icing on his face. not this ing again, he despairs.

/

his new watch glints from underneath the dim studio lights. he can’t stop staring at it when he moves, the sight of its polished surface reminding him of what’s inside. sure, he’s got pictures of his family on his phone, but it’s not the same as knowing that he hold tangible colors of them printed on paper.

yoongi gets back to his work with a small smile.

/

for white day they don’t do anything extremely special. jungkook wears a white sweater that yoongi’s brother (more like his brother’s wife) bought him a for his birthday a couple years back; hayoung, however, is all dolled up in a fluttery dress that sways around her legs, white shoes with bows on them, and a headband with a tiny white daisy. she beams up at yoongi the first thing that wednesday morning. jungkook stands behind her, looking like he’s regretting his choices. there’s a bowl of her breakfast in his hand. her very staining breakfast.

“nothing is going to be worth this,” jungkook swears, staring down at the carrots and sweet potatoes mix in his hands. there’s also a bit of bread there for her. “nothing. this won’t even work with bleach; i’m going to have to handwash it in the bathroom.”

“just change her clothes,” yoongi says, bewildered.

“but she looks cute,” jungkook bemoans. “can’t you just take a couple of pictures and then i’ll change her?”

“you should change too,” yoongi comments from a mouthful of breakfast stew. “i mean, i like it when you wear white, but it’s not your wedding day, is it now?”

“we both wore black on our wedding day,” jungkook says balefully. “and it’s white day, i have to do something for it.” he’s still holding on to the idea that they’re a couple that has free time for each other in the midst of their work and child.

“make me chocolate?” yoongi suggests.

“buy me a car,” jungkook snipes back, showing how much he’s in favor of that idea. “go to work, you lazy a - .”

yoongi knows he’s made jungkook a little grumpy, so he tries to make it up by acting sappy on purpose. he leans over and kisses him on the cheek endlessly, pulling away only to peck him again with kisses. jungkook pushes his face away but yoongi just holds on tighter, this time spreading the kisses to his neck, his jaw, his lower lip - anywhere he can reach.

jungkook yells out and pushes yoongi away for good this time, glaring when the older man laughs.

“you’re cute when you’re angry,” yoongi snickers.

“go to work,” jungkook grits out. hayoung, for her part, is absolutely thrilled to see her parents and their infectious affection; she squeals and bangs her chubby hands on the table. when yoongi comes near, she pulls on the collar of his neatly ironed black shirt. he nuzzles her nose with his. “g’bye, baby girl. papa’ll be home in no time to spoil you and your daddy, okay? i’ll buy him a car.”

“get out,” jungkook shouts from the kitchen.

/

at the store, yoongi looks down at the exploding mess of pink, purple, blue and white, sighing all the while. he had given jungkook chocolate that valentine’s day - other than that, they hadn’t gone anywhere. they stayed home, probably; yoongi doesn’t remember.

following tradition, jungkook is supposed to give him chocolates on white day, but years of being together has sort of desensitized them to the overtly couple-like behaviors that is so pushed by everyone else. he’s already married to jungkook - they’ve got a kid, a house, a car together. they see each other day and night and somehow, somehow, jungkook still isn’t tired of seeing his face in the morning. he still flushes when yoongi flirts with him and his breath catches when yoongi kisses him with intent; what more do they need?

ing white day, yoongi thinks with a murderous aura.

he sighs down again at the choices before him: lollipop bouquets, candy hearts, plastic flowers, cards, all of that odd business. there’s nothing here that jungkook would like, so what is he doing here anyway?

yoongi blames his coworkers. and the media. mostly his coworkers.

in the end, he purchases a small brown teddy bear with big button eyes that remind him of jungkook. he’s holding a gold pillow in his hands that says, i love you beary much in english type. jungkook doesn’t like flowery and overly-dramatic gestures - they went through all of that in college - but he does like something cheesy once in a while. why else would he like yoongi so much?

it turns out to be okay, because when he gets home the smell of something warm and... and melty makes its way to yoongi’s senses. jungkook is sitting on the couch, clothed in a blue sweater. hayoung is on his lap, pointing out pictures in her book to him.

jungkook huffs when yoongi notices the perfectly round chocolates covered in sprinkles laid out neatly on the kitchen island. “don’t say anything,” he snaps, but he looks awfully, endearingly embarrassed.

yoongi takes the palm-sized bear he’s hiding behind his back and says in a purposefully deeper voice, “we’re both awful people.”

hayoung giggles at the voice and points to him. “papa!” she exclaims, before slapping her book. she points to a random star on the page.

“very astute,” yoongi compliments.

jungkook takes the bear that’s outstretched toward him and snorts when he reads what’s on it. he bounces hayoung on his lap before shaking his head. there’s a small smile on his face; the corners of his eyes curve and his nose crinkles. yoongi settles himself down with the chocolates, popping them in his mouth. after a contemplating chew, he says, “they could have been more smooth.”

jungkook hits him with the bear, but then kisses it better. yoongi can live with that.

/

they’re slowly practicing walking with hayoung. she’s still not a year old yet (her birthday is at the end of march) but they’re preparing for it. yoongi staples protective corners against the sides of all sharp tables, buys a baby gate so she won’t be toddling into places she’s not allowed to go into (like the studio, where there’s a bunch of very expensive equipment) and jungkook absentmindedly holds her hand instead of picking her up in an attempt to get her to use her legs more often.

she still likes taking naps with yoongi in the evening, though jungkook frowns at them both in disapproval when she does.

“she can’t be messing up her schedule,” he argues.

“a little nap won’t hurt, and she’s always so tired anyway,” yoongi reasons. mostly, he’s just gotten used to the weight of a tiny human being on his chest as he’s napping on the couch, and he doesn’t want to give up the moment of closeness he has with his daughter. jungkook is weak at the sight too, because he always sighs and gives in.

hayoung’s sleeping schedule gets messed up anyway, because she starts waking up at the middle of the night along with her parents. some new neighbors have moved in recently - like, last week - and yoongi suspects that it’s some rich college kid that can afford a flat in a building like theirs, because there’s always a party going on. the music blasts loudly and it causes the walls to vibrate. the halls smell like cigarette smoke even though it’s forbidden to smoke inside the building; there’s trash littering the outside of the door next to theirs. hayoung tears up and cries in the middle of the night, annoyed at being woken from her nap.

jungkook groans, turning in yoongi’s steel-tight grip on him. in the midst of his wish for the noise to just go away, he’s grabbed onto jungkook and buried his head in the other’s soft skin.

“make it stop,” jungkook whimpers softly, and he sounds like he’s on the verge of tearing. “i’m serious, i have work tomorrow, yoongi, i can’t - i can’t sleep - “

“ing hell,” yoongi swears, voice low and murderous, because jungkook has been having difficult times at work lately and the last thing he needs is stress from not sleeping. hayoung is crying loudly now, wailing, and she’s rolled over in her cot, attempting to stand up with the bars of her crib.

yoongi blearily looks at their alarm clock; it’s ing three in the morning.

he forces himself up, gathering energy from both a quiet rage and a week of little sleep. they both thought that maybe the parties would stop after one or two, but they haven’t, and it’s getting to be too much now. everything else, they could deal with - the trash, the cigarettes, but not this.yoongi refuses to deal with this.

“you take care of the baby,” he tells jungkook. “i’m going to take care of the ers next door.”

jungkook’s so out of it he doesn’t even berate yoongi on his cursing, only nods distractedly. yoongi pulls on a shirt and leaves on his sweatpants, grabbing his phone and opening it up. the brightness blinds him for a second, only souring his mood worse. in the living room, he paces around with the phone pressed to his ear, impatiently waiting for an answer.

eventually, he gets what he wants; the landlady, a sweet older woman working mostly by herself to handle the place, picks up. she’s acquaintances with yoongi and jungkook; they were one of the first young couples here and didn’t give her any trouble at all. she enjoys talking to yoongi from time to time about life in general (jungkook says they share opinions because they’re both like grandparents) and sitting with jungkook for tea, because they both dislike coffee. with a confused, sleepy voice, she asks, “yoongi-ssi? is there something wrong? is it the ceiling again, or did something happen to jungkook-ssi?”

“no, auntie,” yoongi sighs. he pinches two fingers at the bridge of his nose. “it’s - did you happen to find someone to rent out the apartment next to us? apartment 3c? after the baek sisters left?”

“the baek sisters?” the landlady, mrs lee, seems to frown through her voice. yoongi feels briefly bad about waking her up so late, but then he spots jungkook bouncing hayoung in her arms and he knows that he has to resolve this situation quickly. “why, i did. it was nice young man who’s going to the university nearby; i told him that he should get someplace cheaper if he was in school, but he insisted that he could pay for it and wanted someplace larger, nicer, and near the business area.”

“when did he move in?”

“at the end of february, i believe. is he giving you trouble, yoongi-ssi?”

“he’s been holding parties nearly every day for the past week,” yoongi barely keeps himself from snarling, because it’s not mrs. lee’s fault any of this is happening. “jungkook has work tomorrow and hayoung can barely sleep because of the noise. they smoke often and leave trash outside instead of taking it down to the bins. it’s the first one that’s really bothering us; i called to tell you first before going over there to ask them to quiet down.”

“oh, my,” mrs. lee says, sounding disappointed. “i’m so sorry, yoongi-ssi. please give jungkook my apologies too, i’ll talk to them tomorrow, if you want me to. call the police if you need, i won’t mind.”

“thank you,” yoongi sighs, exhausted. “i’m sorry for waking you up, auntie.”

“it’s not a problem, not a problem.”

jungkook strolls into the room, hayoung wide awake in his arms. of course she can’t go to sleep; the music is still going on. with a worried glance, jungkook shifts her in his arms and comes near. “did you call mrs. lee? what did she say?”

“she said she’ll talk to them tomorrow.” to calm himself down, yoongi curls a finger under hayoung’s chin. she’s grumpy and moody when she doesn’t get enough sleep, much like yoongi himself, and she doesn’t respond much except to raise her hands and rub at her face. “i’m going over there to give them a piece of my mind. sorry for the trouble, babe.”

“not your fault,” jungkook murmurs. he yawns. “be quick,” he instructs. “i’m going to try putting hayoung to sleep in your studio, is that okay? we’ll be on the couch there - it’s a bit quiet because of the soundproofing.”

yoongi nods his understanding and jungkook leaves, disappearing into yoongi’s work space. with a growl, he runs his hands through his hair and heads out.

the door next door is open, and from the other side of the hall, he sees two other people out of their apartments; one is the middle-aged woman living with her daughter in apartment 3d; the other a guy around yoongi’s age, looking distraught. he’s taller than six feet and has muscles the size of a truck, yet it’s the middle-aged woman trying to convince him to head inside and give them a stern talking to. when she spots yoongi, she hurries over.

“thank goodness, min-ssi. you must be suffering the same sleepless nights as we are, right? at least you’ll try to do something; seunghoon here doesn’t want to go inside.”

seunghoon scratches at his cheek. “i just don’t want to make a fuss,” he mutters.

“you’re still bothered by it, aren’t you?” the lady snaps. “goodness, my daughter has to go to school tomorrow, she already sleeps so late because of cram school - what am i supposed to do when she tells me that she can’t sleep and she has an important test tomorrow? it’s not her fault if she can’t sleep because of these awful kids!”

“my daughter can’t sleep either,” yoongi adds in. “she’s been on a normal sleeping schedule since she was eight months, and now it’s all ruined. it’s taking a toll on jungkook.”

“jungkook, too?” the lady from 3d huffs. “poor boy; he’s always working too hard. seunghoon, i tell you, these two over here, they work all the time and dote on their daughter and have always treated everyone around them with politeness and respect! so hard to find young people like them nowadays - you should say hello to them more often, seunghoon - it’s absolutely unacceptable. i’m calling the police.”

“mrs. im,” seunghoon protests weakly, but yoongi cuts through with vehement approval; “go ahead. i called mrs. lee and she said she wouldn’t mind. i’m going to go in and tell them to quit the music, at the very least.”

yoongi does. there’s a lot of shuffling through disgusting, sweaty bodies; it’s a raging college party for sure. there are kids everywhere talking, dancing mildly, or drinking from large blue cups; there couldn’t be one sober person there except for yoongi himself. he ends up pulling aside the first person he sees and barking out, “who’s apartment is this?”

the guy stammers out some name and points out a college kid trying to chat up some girl. yoongi sees red and does, indeed, go over there to give him a piece of his mind.

the police come in around twenty minutes later, bearing a complaint form and stern faces. the party abruptly stops and some of the kids dash to hide the alcohol behind the sofa or the chairs.

the music’s stopped already, but yoongi’s mood has officially soured. mrs. im’s daughter comes out, grumbling to her mom about something, and seunghoon is chewing on the ends of his sweater nervously. yoongi is the first to go straight up to the officer and frankly tell him all that’s been going on.

by the time the whole ordeal is done, it’s almost five o’clock. outside, the sky is streaking light blue, and yoongi feels exhausted down to his bones. he closes his apartment door behind him and staggers all the way to the bedroom before having a tiny heart attack at the missing sight of his husband and child; that’s when he remembers that jungkook is sleeping in his studio.

he peeks inside to see that the couch has been folded out; hayoung is dozing away quietly from where she’s curled up near jungkook’s chest. jungkook himself looks knocked out cold.

yoongi brushes his knuckles against his cheekbones, displeased at the dark circles underneath his eyes. when jungkook doesn’t wake, yoongi stumbles into his chair and sighs. he plans to move and sleep next to them, or go back to bed, but his body feels like lead. before he knows it, his eyes are closing, closing, and he’s drifting off.

/

“your parents are coming up from busan, right?” yoongi asks jungkook as they’re looking over the guest plan. “and jimin’s parents are too?”

“all of their parents are, i think, except for hoseok-hyung’s - they’re out of the country at the moment.” jungkook cuts another leek and puts it in a bowl. yoongi is sitting at the farther end of the island counter, pen and planner in hand, several sheets of paper in front of them. they’ve already got most of it sorted out - the budget, the clothes, the catering, the venue. now all they’ve got left to plan for is hayoung’s doljanchi is the guest list and other small details - party favors, games, photography, cake - and they’ll be all set for her birthday next week.

“are your parents staying with us?”

“we don’t have the room, mom knows that,” jungkook points out. “they’re staying two nights at the hotel nearby. i already booked it for them and jimin’s parents too.”

“so friends, parents, college buddies, coworkers...” yoongi’s counting them up slowly. “that’s around fifty people, i think. rounded, at least.”

jungkook nods. “sounds about right. we invited mrs. lee, right?”

“yeah, auntie is on the list.” yoongi peers at the paper in his hand. “who is yoon bo-in?”

“a sunbae from college,” jungkook responds. “she helped me through my second to last year a lot. stop making that face.”

“i’m not making a face,” yoongi says, smoothing out his expression.

jungkook rolls his eyes.

/

the day of the birthday party is large, loud, and celebrative. hayoung is dressed up in a pink and white hanbok, a traditional gulle over her dark head of hair. she looks insanely adorable, blinking around and greeting the guests with piqued interest. yoongi and jungkook are also wearinghanbok, in colors similar to and complementing hayoung’s own. she’s currently in jungkook’s arms, bowing along with him as he greets people coming.

there’s a tiny table where a worker from the venue hands out pieces of paper. on the wall is a little collage of baby photos and family pictures, most of them focused on hayoung: her first bath, her time at the park, sleeping on yoongi’s chest, and so on. the papers are then stuck to the wall with the well wishes of everyone who is coming in; words of love, happiness, and health are made next to the round eyes of the birthday girl.

jimin is the first to arrive of their friends, dressed sharply in a blue collar up and dress pants. he’s combed his hair and wore his best cologne; he hugs yoongi briefly and with a pat on the back, greets jungkook. then his attention is immediately drawn to hayoung.

“hello there birthday girl,” he coos. “look how big a party your parents threw for you! aren’t you lucky?”

“go on and sit,” yoongi shoos him away. taehyung comes next with his family; they all pause to talk to jungkook and the girl of honor in his arms. there’s a lot of cheek pinching going around, and then finally hayoung succumbs to the pressure and buries her head in jungkook’s throat; she’s shy and won’t do much more than peek through her clothes to the crowd. everyone laughs in good nature.

a couple of people head over to place in guesses as to what hayoung will pick up later during her time to choose. secretly, yoongi’s placed his bets on the string, because he just wants his daughter to live a good life. he knows jungkook wants her to pick up the microphone, so she’ll enjoy music and become an entertainer like her parents.

seokjin sets down a present at the gift table and then reaches over to timidly say hello to hayoung; to everyone’s surprise, she clings her finger around his index. seokjin brightens and excitedly slaps namjoon on the shoulder, whispering, “did you see that? did you get it on camera?”

“i’m getting everything on camera,” jimin says from somewhere next to them. “i’m not missing any of this for the world.”

“we already have cameramen, hyung,” jungkook points out, but jimin waves it away. “they’re official cameramen, jungkookie, they’ll just stuffily record everything and then send it to you in a neat little box. i’m making it more real. more intimate.” he sounds passionate and earnest for that while, but then hayoung turns to the sound of his voice and gives a gummy smile; in a second his voice turns from serious to squealing. “aigoo,hayoungie! smile more! you’re so pretty oh my goodness!”

jungkook directs hayoung’s attention to the camera. namjoon looks well dressed as well, and it only means that seokjin came in earlier to tell him what to wear. yoongi tugs at the sleeves of his hanbok and namjoon smirks. “you look like a real ahjussi now, hyung.”

“it’s my daughter’s birthday, don’t make me punch you,” yoongi warns.

that’s when hoseok enters, taking off all the attention to everyone else. taehyung, jimin, and hoseok get together and crowd around jungkook, making it hard for the other guests to say their greetings - jungkook just laughs, face bright, hayoung bouncing in his arms.

yoongi sees his colleagues enter, including the dance instructors, the other coaches, and songwriters. some of them have brought their own kids, dressed up in tiny suits and tiny dresses, hair neatly pulled back and clutching on to their parent’s hands. mrs. lee comes in after that, wearing a floral dress and looking a little out of place until jungkook bows to her. she simply pats him on the cheek. to hayoung, she puts a little box in the baby’s hand, pushing aside all protests from jungkook.

“good people deserve good things,” she says gently, smiling at yoongi all the while. hayoung overturns the box in her hand. “you two remind me of my grandchildren. be well!” she goes to write well wishes to hayoung.

jungkook’s parents arrive next, jimin’s parents following closely behind. he gives hayoung to yoongi and reaches for his mom, who’s eyes glisten at seeing her son. mr. jeon gives jungkook a big bear hug and yoongi sees him melt into his father’s touch.

it makes something warm and bright bloom in him; at the same time, he brings hayoung forward so that mrs. jeon can see her. she remarks, “look at your hanbok! your dad certainly wasn’t cheap, was he?”

“oh my god, mom,” jungkook complains. he gets sidetracked again when junghyun claps his little brother on the back.

the flood of people don’t end until a little while later. jungkook’s already gone inside with hayoung, deciding to give her a little snack so she won’t be hungry. yoongi’s still outside, talking to one of the workers just to finalize everything, when a familiar face catches his eye.

it’s his mom, walking toward the entrance with a careful, cautious step. she’s dressed up in what yoongi recognizes as her sunday best; even though she looks every inch the businesswoman her knows her to be, she seems to crumble in the face of actually entering the venue.

she looks older. the lines around her eyes have deepened; makeup cannot take away the evidence of aging, but she still looks beautiful nonetheless. yoongi spares a cursory glance around her; his father isn’t here. he doesn’t know whether to be disappointed or relieved.

he heads up toward her. “mom,” he begins quietly, but then his throat closes up.

his mom startles. her eyes widen at the sight of him. “yoongi?” she breathes, before shifting her purse from one hand to the other. she looks up him up and down and a smile flits across her face. “oh, look at you...”

“i - i didn’t know you were coming,” jungkook must have invited his mom. there’s no way reception would have let her through without an invite. “i...”

“jungkook invited me,” she says, confirming his suspicions. “i came with your older brother. your father - well, he didn’t...”

he didn’t want to come.

yoongi swallows. even after so many years, even after he knew that his father would reject his advances, it still hurts. the sound of a little girl saying something loudly interrupts their conversation; he sees his older brother and his sister-in-law walking toward them, smiling brightly. his hyung’s smile doesn’t leave even when he notices the stiff air between him and their mother.

“there’s my little brother,” yoonseob grins widely at him. “where’s my niece?”

“inside with jungkook,” yoongi responds. he bends down to pay his hellos to the little girl shying away from him. “hello, ah-young. how have you been?”

“hi, uncle yoongi,” she says, biting at her fingers. she holds onto her father’s hand tighter and melts against his side. “i’m good. is there going to be cake?”

yoongi chuckles. “yeah, there’s going to be cake. do you want to meet your cousin again and play with her?”

“your cousin hayoung,” sora, yoonseob’s wife, reminds gently. “remember, the baby we saw last year when uncle yoongi came to visit?”

ah-young’s nose crinkles. “but she’s so small,” she marvels. “how can i play with her? does she know how to play with dolls?”

“she will if you teach her,” yoongi tells the five year old. this seems to make sense, because ah-young’s eyes widen and she nods her head vigorously. she starts pulling on her dad’s hand, and when he won’t move, she runs inside, leaving sora to sigh and chase after her.

“forget being four years apart,” yoonseob says, “i bet they’ll be thick as thieves when they grow up. we’ll call them two-young, for ah-young and hayoung. you just had to copy me, little brother.”

“that was her name when we adopted her,” yoongi shoots back. his eyes trail over to his mom and with a light heart, he reaches in for a hug. she wraps her arms around him immediately. “it’s nice to see you again, mom,” he murmurs.

his mom’s eyes are suspiciously glistening when he pulls back, but she nods and tells him, “you’ve grown up well. let me see your child to know if you’ve become a good father.”

“jungkook probably does all the work,” yoonseob says nonchalantly. yoongi pushes him so he stumbles. “hey, what are you doing to your hyung?!”

“go right inside,” yoongi says blithely. his mom moves to go on to the well-wishing booth, and yoonseob sticks out his tongue in a childish display. yoongi resists the urge to send him an inappropriate hand gesture and simply makes a face.

the next few hours are an honest blur; he doesn’t get to talk to jungkook in private, because they’re always surrounded by someone. yoongi decides to just forget about everything for a while. he lets go of all his worries and plays with his daughter, teases his dongsaengs and gets teased by his elders, and when it comes to it, he poses for pictures and smiles for the camera. for the most part, it’s a genuine happiness that overtakes him. hayoung likes it too, revelling in the attention. ah-young spends her time half around the baby, and half around the other little girls and boys that have come by. his mom ends up talking to jungkook’s mom, as both jungkook’s family and his family share a table near the front.

at the front, there’s a raised dais and a table on top of that, as well as a table on the regular floor. the lower table is filled with food stacked high up; the upper table has a birthday cake with three tiers, covered in white frosting and purple flowers. there’s a single candle there, ready to be lit.

they go through a couple of other things first; namely, the host that is talking through the microphone brings everyone to talk a little about hayoung, and then a little about yoongi and jungkook. everyone has a piece to say - jimin and taehyung take up the most time, interrupting each other and adding on to each other’s stories - building up an idea of how their relationship looks to others, and how well they raise their daughter.

“they’re good parents,” jimin finally finishes with, sending a bright grin to where yoongi is sitting. “they might trip up and fall sometimes, but they’re good parents, because they love that little girl with all their heart.”

to his endless embarrassment, his coworkers get up to talk about how yoongi acts grumpy at work, but he’s really a big softie on the inside for his family. they talk about how he has a picture of either jungkook or hayoung on his phone that he stares at whenever he’s feeling stressed. to this, jungkook speaks up, delighted: “does he really?!”

the embarrassment is worth it for the joyous look on his husband’s face.

they go through a slideshow jimin created of hayoung’s photos and videos, documenting her first year of life. there’s a photo of yoongi and jungkook bringing her home from the orphanage; playing in the water; on the beach; at home, sitting up for the first time; being fed by yoongi; rolling around on her playmat; smiling wide, two teeth visible at the camera.

the final thing to do after they’ve had lunch is to go on with the ceremonial part of it all. yoongi holds hayoung while they both stand on the dais, in front of the big cake. the host lights it up and begins the song; everyone starts singing together and clapping in tandem, yoongi included. jungkook kisses hayoung’s cheek at the very end of it, and when it’s time to blow out the candle, they both blow gently as hayoung stares at the flame, fascinated.

the leave the cake for later; the host then brings a tray filled with assorted items: a toy microphone, string, a book, a pencil, a gavel, and a stethoscope.

“let’s see what the birthday girl will choose, huh?” the host exclaims, and everyone whoops.

yoongi leans in close. “take whichever one you like, baby girl,” he whispers. jungkook holds up the tray so that it’s visible by the camera and the crowd. neither of them do anything to influence hayoung’s choice, but with a decisive little “ba!”, she goes for what must be the most interesting thing there: the toy stethoscope, winding around the tray due to it’s size.

“looks like we got ourselves a future doctor here,” the host laughs. “how about another one?”

his daughter has a fondness for the big things, as well as a keen sense of things that she can play with, because she picks up the microphone next, presenting it to yoongi by almost smacking him in the face with it. he hears jungkook stifle a laugh.

“a future musician!” the host shows everyone what she’s chosen.

“i knew it!” jimin yells from the crowd.

“she’s too much like her parents not to be!” taehyung follows.

yoongi nuzzles hayoung’s temple and she just plays with microphone in her hand, unaware of everyone around her. jungkook sets down the tray and claps, diverting her attention to him.

after this everyone begins to bring up their presents. a lot of it is money, but some of it area also clothes, toys, and books. his mom, jungkook’s parents, and his hyung give hayoung gold rings; junghyun gets her a gold chain.

“time to cut the cake!” hoseok makes excited motions. “i can’t wait!”

yoongi looks around at the people around him, at the people who have come just for hayoung, and smiles. quietly, to himself, he kisses hayoung on the nose as she’s in jungkook’s arms. when he pulls away, he sees jimin and his camera recording the entire moment, but he can’t really find it in him to care.