Forced Ties Chapter 8 : Getaway 

Taehyung was a mixture of happiness and annoyance. His aunt had called, telling him to babysit his cousin, Aecha, while she and her husband go on a little vacation. Don't get the wrong idea, he loves the baby, but she can be pretty hard to take care of. 

He was currently waiting for the arrival of his niece and Jimin. There was a knock at the door, making Taehyung wonder who it was, until he realized that Jimin would've just unlocked the door. 

"Taehyung!" His aunt exclaims when he opened the door for them. "How've you been?" She asked as she entered the house. Taehyung took the baby's bag and car seat from her, then walked her into the living room. 

"Work's been keeping me busy like usual," he replies, setting the things down.

"How's your marriage going? Any news of a mini you yet?" His aunt teased. 

Taehyung chuckled, "Not yet, but hopefully soon."

His aunt laughed, "I can't wait to see my little nephew start his own family!"

"Ah, well, you won't be waiting long."

"Yah Taehyungie's so grown up now," she nudged him teasingly. "Anyways, I better get going now. If you need anything, just call me. I'll pick her up in a three days."

"Of course auntie. Don't worry, Aecha will be fine with us," Taehyung assures her as she kisses her daughter goodbye. 

As soon as her mother left, Aecha began crying. "Oh no no no, it's okay." Taehyung picked the baby up, waving her elephant plushie in front of her. It was no use, Aecha was still crying. "It's just brother!" He says with a smile, carrying her around the house. 

Jimin came home a couple minutes later, confuse as to why Taehyung has a baby in the house. "Where did you get her?"

"She's my cousin, babysitting her for three days," Taehyung says, trying to shush the nonstop crying girl. 

"Let me," Jimin takes her from Taehyung. He smiles brightly at her, baby talking, and lightly pinching her cheeks. Oddly enough, Aecha stopped crying. She was still sniffling, but her attention was now on Jimin. 

"I used to be so good with kids," Taehyung says, rubbing his head. 

"You sure?" Jimin asks before he continues to play peekaboo with Aecha. 

It's been a couple of hours now. Jimin has told Taehyung to get ready for bed, and that he'll take care of the baby. Even though Taehyung left, all he could think of is the endless nights of Aecha's crying. Last time he babysat her, she would cry all night. Hearing her laugh and Jimin speaking did make his nerves calm down a bit though. It was ten, usually the time Aecha would begin crying. However, he heard nothing. It was completely silent downstairs. 

A few minutes later, Taehyung hears Jimin coming up the stairs. He got out of bed and went over to Jimin's room. "Wow, she's asleep?" Jimin nodded, gently laying the baby on the bed. "How did you get her to sleep? She usually stays up crying all night."

"She probably just doesn't like you," Jimin joked, then left to get ready for bed. 

The next day went by smoothly again. Aecha was super obedient, and seemed to be fond of Jimin very much. Taehyung was getting a bit jealous that his baby cousin likes Jimin better than him. So on the last day, he offered to watch her. 

Taehyung brought Aecha to his bedroom, placing her on the bed. She crawled towards the pillows, plopping herself down onto them. "Aww, you must be tired," Taehyung cooed, crawling next to her. She lays down for a couple of seconds before sitting back up with a smile on her face. Aecha babbled noises, clapping her hands and slapping Taehyung's face. He didn't mind it at first, but after many slaps, it began to hurt. "Alright," Taehyung moves away from her. "That's enough hitting for you missy."

Aecha began to whimper, her smile turned into a frown. 

"Oh no no, brother’s sorry!" Taehyung quickly apologizes, immediately returning to the baby's side. It was no use, she was bawling her eyes out already.

"Taehyung," Jimin called. "What did you do?"

"Nothing! Don't worry about it!" He shouts back, picking Aecha up. He bounced lightly, caressing her head, and sung to her.

After hearing the baby cry for awhile now, Jimin decided to go check up on Taehyung. "Jimin, I told you, I got it," Taehyung says when Jimin walked in. He stops at the doorway, and watched Taehyung. After just a minute, Jimin decided to steal Aecha from Taehyung. 

"Go make her a bottle," he orders Taehyung. Taehyung frowned, but left to complete the given task.

He returns with a bottle, and as soon as it gets into Aecha's hands, she was quiet. Just on the bottle while in Jimin's hold. Not long after, she was slowly drifting off to sleep. She finished the bottle, and dropped it on the ground. Taehyung picked it up, and looked to see if she was asleep yet or not. When he saw Aecha snuggling against Jimin, he felt upset that he couldn't get her to do the same. To hide his jealousy from Jimin, Taehyung left to get ready for bed.

When he returned, Jimin and Aecha were no longer in his room. Since it was the last night, he decided to go over to Jimin's room. "Taehyung!" Jimin quietly shouted when he got out of his bathroom. "Why are you laying on my bed?"

"It's Aecha's last night," he says, closing his eyes afterwards. Jimin tightens his robe, then walked over to Taehyung. 

"Go sleep in your room, you can take her with you," he says, tugging on Taehyung's shirt. 

"Just sleep here with us," Taehyung mumbles, pulling Jimin down. 

"Tsk," Jimin slapped his hand. "Fine, but I'll go sleep on the other side."

Even with Aecha between them, Taehyung reached over and placed his hand on Jimin's waist. Careful not to squeeze the baby, Taehyung scoots in closer, so that he could touch more of Jimin. He could feel Jimin getting annoyed, but that only made him smile, and want to do it more. 

>>>

"Thank you so much!" Taehyung's aunt said the next morning. 

"Of course, bring her anytime you're busy," Jimin replies, as he helps her carry the baby's bag to the car. They talk about the past three days, and Taehyung for a bit before she left. 

"Can't believe how fast time flies," Jimin says when he got inside. Taehyung had finished washing the dishes, and was now watching some show on the tv. A few minutes later, Jimin comes down all dressed up. Taehyung's eyes were no longer on the screen.

"Where are you going?" He asks, watching Jimin.

"Out, I'll be back later," Jimin says and leaves without another word. Taehyung couldn't help but wonder where Jimin was actually going. It's been awhile since he has ever just gone "out". 

>>>

"Thanks for coming," Jimin says. 

"Of course, what is it that you wanted to talk to me about?" Jungkook asks, taking a sip of his milk tea. They were currently in a neighborhood cafe, sitting across from each other. 

"I just wanted to apologize for what Taehyung did last week," Jimin sighs, setting his drink down on the table. 

"No need, I understand him," Jungkook replied.

"I just hope that won't affect any of our friendships, I know you and him came a long way."

That reminded Jungkook of his friendship with Taehyung. They really did come a long way, and it did upset him how they weren't really getting along lately. 

"Why don't you invite him to my beach house then, I'll ask Seokjin to come too," Jungkook suggested. Jimin liked the idea, it would be a great way for the three of them to make up. 

After meeting with Jungkook, Jimin hurried home. He was excited to ask Taehyung to come on the planned trip. That was, until he spotted a strange car in the driveway. He unlocked the door and slowly crept in. Jimin could here a woman's voice coming from upstairs. Following the voice with caution, he peeks into Taehyung's room. 

"Why are you still with him?" Sora whines, grabbing Taehyung's hands. "Don't you love me anymore?"

"Sora," Taehyung sighs. "You've got to give me time, okay?" 

Jimin was speechless. He always had a feeling that Taehyung didn't truly leave Sora. Eavesdropping was something Jimin knew he shouldn't do, so he left. 

"What do you mean he couldn't come?" Jungkook asks.

"He's too busy with work, sorry," Jimin lies, hiding his face from Jungkook and Seokjin. 

"We can invite him another time," Jin says, leaning back into his lawn chair. 

"Alright," Jungkook sighs. "In that case, let me call one of my good friends to join us then." 

Jungkook's friend arrived an hour later. It was someone both Jimin and Seokjin never met before. He worked alongside Jungkook, and they've been great friends since. 

The four of them spent the evening with a barbecue outside. There was a nice breeze, and the colors of the sky was beautiful as the sun set.  

"Let's enjoy the night fully," Jungkook says as he returns with bottles of alcohol. 

"Idiot, did you know that you go crazy whenever you drink?" Jin spatted, taking a bite of marinated pork. 

"But he can drink for a long time."

"You're right on that Yoongi," Jungkook laughs, placing each bottle on the table. 

"I don't think I'm going to join you guys," Jimin says as he stood up. 

"What? Why not?" Yoongi asked.

"I'm feeling sleepy already."

"Just drink a cup before you go at least," Jungkook says, already pouring one for him.

"I'm gonna need you to stay with me too, don't know how crazy it'll get," Seokjin faked a shiver and walked over to Jimin.

>>>

Taehyung made dinner after he kicked Sora out. Jimin had said he was going to return soon, but it was almost midnight, and he hasn't return yet. Every time Taehyung called, it would just go to voicemail. He began to worry, hating himself for thinking something bad had happened. After trying to call Jimin again, he decided to call Seokjin, hoping he would know where Jimin is. When there was no answer, Taehyung wailed in frustration. "Agh, where can he be?"

>>>

Jimin only took a few sips here and there, pretending to actually drink. He just wasn't feeling the alcohol tonight. Seokjin had told Jimin he'd do the same, but ended up drinking more than what he had intended. Jungkook and Yoongi were having a drinking competition. Jimin was holding Seokjin up as he cheered the boys on and continued chugging down the drinks. "What are you guys? Kids?" Jin yelled. He walked over and poured the guys another cup. Jin began to stumble, and his face was flushed red. 

"I think we better get going, let's leave them be," Jimin says to Jin, dragging him inside. 

"I'll definitely beat you today Kook," Yoongi challenged, downing the cup Jin had poured. 

After Jimin helped Jin to his room, he checked on the guys outside before heading to his room. It was late, and he was tired, but Jimin couldn't sleep. All he thought about was Taehyung. The guy really confused him, and he wasn't sure what to believe anymore. His thoughts were interrupted when there was a thump at his door. Jimin sat up, finding Jungkook stumbling inside. The smell of alcohol lingered around the guy, getting stronger as he walked closer to Jimin. Jimin checked the time on his phone, it was 2:30, and he got in bed at twelve. Just as he returned his phone, Jungkook flopped himself on the bed, half of his body on Jimin. 

"Jungkook!" Jimin said, pushing him to the side. "What are you doing here?" He realized it was no use asking when he saw that Jungkook was nowhere near the stage of being sober. 

"Jimin," Jungkook quietly lets out, arms finding their way to Jimin's waist. He decreased the gap between them, burying his face into Jimin's chest. 

"Tsk, Jungkook," Jimin tried again, only causing Jungkook to tighten his grip. "Damn I hate how you work out." 

After struggling to get Jungkook off of him, Jimin gave up. The smell coming off Jungkook was keeping him awake, yet the way Jungkook was holding him was making him tired. Eventually, he fell asleep in Jungkook's embrace.