Yoongi paused for a moment. “Besides, I’m not here to see your mom. I’m here to see you.”

Yoonsung stared at his father, confused. Yoongi was surprised Inhye hadn’t stepped in between them yet. The older man glanced up at the woman and noticed the way her brows furrowed, but she didn’t say anything to stop the father and son from interacting. This was what Yoongi wanted – to see their kid – and he was glad she was actually being nice about this. He slipped off his cap and the little boy let out a small gasp when he saw the older man’s fading blue hair.

“You’re the ahjusshi at the store.” Yoonsung pointed his small index finger at him as he turned to his mother. “Mommy, that’s the man from the toy section.”

Inhye flashed Yoongi a look of disgust. “What the ?” she huffed. “Were you stalking us?”

“Of ing course not.” replied the man in a heartbeat. “It was an accident. I was grabbing some things with my girlfriend and-”

“You got your girlfriend pregnant?” interrupted Inhye, with shocked eyes. “Yoongi, the least you can do is actually remember how to properly put on a damn . You can’t just go around and knock up-”

“WE WENT THERE TO LOOK AT A PRESENT FOR A BABY SHOWER.” he clarified, as anger surged through his veins. “You two just happened to have been there!”

The young woman scoffed. “Fine. It’s a coincidence or whatever.” she stated. “But, you saw Yoonsung and then decided that it was time that you became a father? You can’t just assume that you can waltz back into his life now that the hard part of taking care of him when he was a baby is all over, Yoongi. You never cared for him. Remember how he used to follow you around the house and call you ‘Daddy’ all the time, but you would yell at him-”

“I’m still his father nonetheless.” interrupted Yoongi. “Nothing will ever change the fact that I will always be apart of him and he will always be apart of me.” Inhye became silent as he glanced down at the confused boy. He squatted down to look at child at eye level. “Yoonsung-ah, I’m your dad and I’m sorry that I haven’t been there for you for the last 7 years.” He handed the child the brown paper bag. “Here, it’s your birthday present. I should have been there for your birthday, but I was busy that day.”

The child’s dark eyes bore into Yoongi’s soul as his brows continued to furrow in confusion. “My dad? No, you’re not because I don’t have one.” he replied. He eyed the older man from head to toe rather suspiciously. “Ahjusshi, you don’t look like a dad either so I don’t know who you are.”

Yoongi’s jaw dropped at the little boy’s cold comment, in disbelief. He felt an immense pang of sadness in his heart now that it was clear that his son wouldn’t openly accept him. It was expected, but he didn’t expect the rejection to be half as harsh as this. He had assumed that the boy would be more open minded and accepting because he was only a kid after all. Kids were forgiving. Well, at least Yoongi thought they were. He opened his mouth to say something when Yoonsung butted in.

“Ahjusshi, I think you should leave.” said the child, in the politest way he could. “I thought that you were nice at the store, but I don’t think you’re a good person after what you did to my mommy.”

“Is that all I am to you?” muttered Yoongi as he felt his eyes burn in bitterness. “An ahjushhi?”

“Of course.” chirped his son. “Who else would you be?”

Yoongi let out a forced, shaky laugh as he tried to get rid of his budding disappointment at the turn of events. Who was he to expect that he could just show up at their doorstep and expect Yoonsung to accept him? He may be the child’s biological father, but he was no different than another stranger on the streets to the boy. He was no one special because he had abandoned his son long ago. The tears in his eyes started to weld up in front of the child as the boy stared back at him, innocently.

“I-I’m,” breathed Yoongi, being overwhelmed with regret, guilt, and sadness. A few tears escaped the rims of his eyes and his hand quickly came up to wipe them, not wanting the mother and son to see him like this. He mentally cursed at himself for being completely vulnerable in front of them. Usually, he’d be expressionless but his heart had warmed up to the idea of loving Yoonsung no matter what but his heartless rejection had hurt him beyond imaginable. “I’m no one.”

“He’s your uncle.” quickly muttered Inhye’s voice, breathlessly. Both the father and son whipped their heads to her, surprised and confused. She was staring down only at Yoongi with an unreadable emotion in her eyes. “Yoonsung-ah, this man is your uncle. Please be nice to him.”

“But, mommy-” the child started.

“This is your Uncle Yoongi, Baby. Be a good boy, apologize, and thank him for his gift.” she stated with a clear voice. “When you’re done apologizing, you need to go inside. I have to talk to your uncle for a bit.”

Yoonsung looked back at Yoongi, mirroring his confused face. “Uncle Yoongi, I’m sorry.” he immediately said with the utmost politeness. He looked regretful as he quickly reached out and grabbed the bag from his father’s hands. “Thank you so much for the gift. It was very kind of you to be thinking of me on my birthday.” With that, he bowed to the older man. Yoongi stared at his son, impressed by how well he followed orders and how polite Inhye had raised him to be. “Goodbye.”

“Before you leave, give him a kiss.” commanded Inhye.

The little boy quickly did as he was requested and brushed his small lips against the corner of Yoongi’s. The action happened so quickly that the older man barely had time to register it, but when he did, he wrapped his arms around the small child’s waist and pulled him into a quick hug. “Thank you, Yoonsung.” he said, against the child’s head.

The boy pulled away from the embrace with a small nod and smile. He quickly left, leaving the older man feeling a bit empty. Yoonsung punched the pin into the lock on the door of the gates of their home and disappeared in a flash. Inhye turned to Yoongi once their son was out of sight as he stood up from his squat.

“Yoonsung doesn’t understand the fact that he has a dad since you were never around. All I’ve told him his whole life is that he doesn’t have one and that’s it. I suppose he took that statement a lot more seriously than I had expected.” she explained. Yoongi couldn’t say anything in return as he stared at the black metal door his son disappeared behind. “But, he does seem to understand that the concept of having an uncle. So, you will just have to live with the fact that you are an uncle in Yoonsung’s eyes and not as his father. It is a little degrading, but at least you’re not labeled as some stranger.”

Yoongi swallowed hard. He didn’t like it, but he couldn’t do anything about that. His son had rejected him. He rather be accepted as an uncle than as no one. “It’s fine.” he whispered. He took the chance to turn to his ex-wife. “Does this mean that you’ll let me see Yoonsung from now on?”

Inhye crossed her arms over her chest as she eyed him closely. “I can’t say for sure.” she said. “I only said what I said earlier because it’s pretty clear that you’re here with the intention of being a father to Yoonsung. You had never showed much interest in him, let alone cry for him so I was moved by your tears, but this doesn’t mean I’m going to say OK to your request. Let me think about this for some time first.” She let out a long breath. “If I do say yes, then that means you can only meet him under my supervision for 2 hours maximum. If I say no, please respect my wishes as a mother. If you still want to see him at that point, then you’re going to have request for child custody through the courts.”

“Inhye, please let me continue to see him.” Yoongi begged immediately.

She stared at him, expressionless. “There might be no reason for you to be in his life if all we do is fight in front him. It might actually be detrimental for him instead.” she responded.

Yoongi let out a loud scoff. “Maybe if you aren’t so quick to jump to conclusions then we won’t get into arguments.”

“I have my reasons to jump to conclusions, Yoongi.” she responded off the bat. “You’ve disappointed me too many times in the 2 years that we were together. It’s only reasonable for me to expect the worst from you.”

He glared at her. “Maybe