JUNE 5 A/N: sorry for the republication. thought the issue with this chapter was fixed but apparently not. can y'all please tell me if this chapter's display looks weird or messed up on your screens? thanks :(

"there. i called him," taehyung announced, shoving his phone back into the pocket of his suit jacket.

his father gave a grateful nod from his bed on the other side of the room, all the wires attached to his fragile body making it difficult for him to do any other action. his cheekbones were sunken in and his pale lips were cracked. "thank you, taehyung."

he was no longer the man who initially got kim corporations to the top of the business food chain in korea. he was no longer the man who everybody feared and respected even after his position as CEO was handed over to his son.

"why do you want to see jungkook that badly? you hate him, you made that very clear to both me and him.  sorry, but he doesn't deserve to be offended and slandered by you anymore," the blond male pointed out.

"i have no such intentions," daehyun made haste to object. "i told you to tell him to come here for one purpose only. i want to apologize to him, as i have done to you."

"apologies don't mean anything compared to what you've done in the past, father," taehyung muttered. "i've accepted your apology because in the end, you are my father and i don't want... to end it on a bad note. however, jungkook might not be so forgiving."

"it is still worth a try. after all, i am on my deathbed right now, am i not? if i only have mere hours left to live, the least i could do was try to reconcile with the boy you cherish so dearly. that's what your mother would've wanted as well."

taehyung tensed up at the moment of his deceased mother.

"i was too greedy for power to realize that i never considered the happiness of my own son. i never took into account that jeon jungkook was the reason for your happiness — the happiness i could never give you," daehyun paused to let out a series of coughs. "yet, i also foolishly tried to take that away from you. i'm sorry it took me this long to notice my mistake into trying to separating you and jungkook."

taehyung gnawed at his bottom lip, unsure of what to say.

"i really appreciate that, mr. kim," a familiar voice from behind taehyung spoke up for him.

he turned around, breath hitching in his throat at the newcomer who stood in the doorway, gazing straight at daehyun with a sad smile. jungkook.

jungkook's chest was visibly heaving up and down with every large inhale he took as a veiny hand held back his fringe, displaying the thin sheen of sweat that was glued on his uncovered forehead.

"kook," taehyung uttered as a mild greeting.

with a sigh, he gave one last glance at his bedridden father and proceeded to walk out of the room so that his father and jungkook could have some privacy while they talked about whatever his father wanted to talk about, but not forgetting to brush his hand against the tattooist's shoulder as he exited.

jungkook felt the corners of his lips curl up at the blond's small gesture, finally regaining his regular breathing and stepping inside the room, making sure to closing the door behind him.

"jeon jungkook, thank you for coming."

jungkook wordlessly nodded. "a-are you alright?" he wanted to slap himself for the dumb question. "sorry, that— you shouldn't be suffering like this, mr. kim."

"please, call me daehyun," said taehyung's father, to jungkook's utmost surprise. "i had expected my condition to come to this sooner or later. pancreatic cancer isn't the best cancer to be diagnosed with, let's just say that. the doctors told me i only had a couple hours left, so i wanted to use this chance to apologize to you and taehyung while i still had the ability converse normally. this might sound like a load of nonsense right now, but i truly hope it's not too late to ask for your forgiveness, jungkook."

"mr. k— daehyun-ssi, i'm so sorry. i know saying that won't just magically cure you or anything, but i'm— y-you don't deserve to go through the pain that you've been going through," jungkook spoke, taking a seat on the plastic chair that was placed next to the hospital bed, worriedly furrowing his brows at the sight of multiple wires hanging from mr. kim's limbs and the intimidating heart monitor on the other side of the bed.

"i was wrong about you, jungkook," daehyun began. "i know we had an unpleasantly rough start solely because my views and initial judgement towards you were nothing short of complete ignorance, and i wanted to sincerely apologize for that. trying to separate you two... that's my biggest regret. i-i've never seen my son as happy as he was whenever he's with you, and i'm extremely grateful towards you for being able to give my son the happiness he always deserved but never received from his own neglectful parent."

"thank you, daehyun-ssi. i forgive you, since you were always just doing what you thought was best for taehyung," the raven-haired man stated. "being with your son has also made me the happiest that i've ever been. i-i like taehyung, i like him a lot."

"i could see that, which is why i have a very important request for you, jungkook," daehyun halted to violently cough once more as jungkook was about to spring up from his chair in panic and concern. "please stop park bogum. for a reason i'm not aware of, bogum desperately wants to hurt you and he's been using taehyung to try achieving that. i've been blinded too much by the money and power bogum offered, that i never realized he had an ulterior motive for getting back with my son all along," he revealed.

jungkook's eyes widened a fraction before his expression eventually steeled over with firm determination. "i will, daehyun-ssi. don't worry, i won't let bogum have his way with taehyung any longer, and i sure as hell won't let him harm a hair on both of our heads," he vowed.

"thank you, jungkook. i'll leave my son in your hands from here on out. i'm deeply sorry for everything, i really am."

jungkook then stood up, taking daehyun's trembling right hand in his own and respectfully bowing 90-degrees, forcing himself to not dwell upon how the day was quickly nearing its end.

━━━━━━━━━━

the rest of the following hours flew by in the blink of an eye.

taehyung knew what was approaching. he was now using the last couple of minutes to say what there was left for him to say.

"i never thought i'd be saying this, but i'll miss you, father. as much as you hurt me, you also made me strive to work harder and become the best that i can be," taehyung started, his hands coiled into fists. "i'll continue on to make sure kim corporations remains on the top. i swear i won't disappoint you or mother."

"i'm glad to hear that, son. i regret not saying this to you before, but i'm so proud of you, taehyung; i always have been. i'm sorry you had to wait until i'm on my deathbed to hear that." mr. kim's voice grew weaker and progressively more strained with each word escaping his mouth. "i've truly failed as a parent, right? i bet your mom would be very angry at me if she was still here."

"no, i forgive you. through all these years, a part of me never exactly stopped loving you. no matter how much time passes, you'll always be the father who constantly let me beat him in bowling, the father who bought me that looming tower of comic books i grew up loving to read, and the father who built the biggest model rocket with me in our backyard. thank you for everything, dad." taehyung knelt down by the side of the bed to grasp his father's hand.

"ah, you seriously remind me of your mother sometimes," daehyun unconsciously murmured, unaware of how the blond's heart lurched at that comparative statement. "taehyung, promise me that you'll never let go of jungkook. that kid... i can see that he really cares about you. he's somebody who's willing to risk it all just for you, i know it."

"i promise. i've never even thought about letting him go, and i won't ever. i'll fight for him if that's what i need to do in order to keep him," taehyung guaranteed.

daehyun gave one final grin, the wrinkles and creases on his face deepening before everything abruptly went haywire.

the heart monitor went flat with a deafening beep at last as nurses and doctors hurriedly rushed inside the room.

taehyung didn't cry. he didn't break down on the spot. he simply let his head hang low, a bittersweet ache tugging on his heartstrings and a numb feeling taking over his legs.

he heard the nurses yell something, pushing past him alongside frantic commands and even more yells, but he still couldn't find the strength in him to move a single muscle. it was like his feet were glued directly to the marble-tiled floor as he resumed staring at his father's motionless body on the bed.

he just couldn't believe it. one minute his father was here, and next minute, he was gone.

he couldn't move even when a blanket of white was being draped over his father,

not until he felt a hand land on his shoulder, giving it a comforting squeeze.

jungkook softly gripped onto the underside of the elder's chin, carefully lifting his head back up.

"it's going to be okay, tae. you're so strong," he attempted to console as he placed a gentle palm against taehyung's cheek in a gentle manner. "it's alright. you're okay."

"i'm okay," taehyung weakly echoed back, voice cracking, before he felt himself being pulled into the warmest embrace by a pair of strong, muscular arms. he let out a shaky sigh as he allowed his tense muscles to loosen, slowly melting into the soothing hug.

rest in peace, dad. i hope you'll continue to watch over me up there with mom.

"st-stay with me tonight, please?" he soon hesitantly requested, his words muffled by the fabric of jungkook's shirt. "i mean, w-well, only if you're fine with—"

the ravenet cut him off with an immediate, "of course, tae," while tightening his arms around the older male's frame.

━━━━━━━━━━

that night, as taehyung laid wide awake against his bed's headboard with jungkook's head resting on his lap, his fingers playing with the other's silky strands of obsidian locks, he peered out of the large glass window on his side and genuinely grinned as he recalled his late father's last words from earlier.

"i swear i won't let go of you, kook — not again," he whispered, gaze briefly flickering down to the black-haired tattoo artist sound asleep on his lap. "i won't be a coward anymore. i'll do whatever it takes to preserve your happiness, i promise you."

he didn't notice that jungkook had actually stirred awake minutes ago, nor did he notice the little unstoppable smile that was gradually stretching across the younger's lips.

he didn't notice until he suddenly felt a feathery kiss being pressed against the exposed sliver of skin on his waist where his pajama shirt had been ridden up just the slightest. he instantly peeled his attention away from the window and glanced down to see a pair of stunning doe eyes looking right back at him, causing him to discard his solemn thoughts for a moment.

the blond's entire face heated up in a flash. "y-you were awake?" he asked, despite already knowing the answer.

"i won't ever let go of you, too, tae," jungkook assured. "that's my promise to you."