Chapter Text
Yoongi firmly believes the phrase: if there are kids in the house and everything suddenly goes quiet, you know they’re up to no good. Now, it’s not that his twins, Jimin and Taehyung, are bad kids. In fact, Yoongi feels like his kids are the best kids on the planet. He loves his kids. Loves spending time with them and their vastly different energies. Loves their kindness towards other people…
He has to admit though, between the divorce from their mother and her moving to New Zealand, things have gotten a bit challenging. Jimin’s gotten sassier and bossier. Taehyung’s vibrance has dulled and he keeps to himself a lot despite Jimin pulling him every which way. Yoongi, too, has changed. He’s had to scold himself for closing himself off emotionally to his kids and friends. It’s even gotten to the point that he’s had to set alarms for himself to remind himself to leave work on time instead of staying late and keeping the babysitter past her agreed upon hours.
Just last night, Haru had called him to inform him that Jimin seemed to be shushing Taehyung a lot more than normal which therefore caused Taehyung to lash out and it caused a huge fight. She’d sent them to their separate rooms to try and settle before Yoongi got home and, at least from what she assumed, everything seemed to be under control.
Except that, once Yoongi got home, the boys were nothing but two peas in a pod whispering frantically about who knows what and they refused to let Yoongi in on their little dilemma. He found it cute that they’d found a way to come back to each other and that they’d seemed more lively than the past few months. By the time they were fed, bathed, and tucked into bed, Yoongi thought nothing of their earlier troubles, chalking it up to typical sibling troubles.
But this morning, Yoongi is suspicious. With it being a Saturday, Yoongi had laid in bed until he’d heard the kids knocking around in Jimin’s room (they hardly ever slept apart despite having their own rooms). After listening to their silly muffled voices for a bit, he eventually rolled out of bed and shuffled into the kitchen to start whipping up his famous pajeon that the boys couldn’t get enough of lately.
The boys came out without being summoned. Messy hair, wrinkled pajamas, and looking thoroughly exhausted. As if they’d stayed up all night or played until the wee hours and then whispered wild stories until they smelled food…
“Are you two okay?” Yoongi asks with an amused chuckle at the sight of their pouty faces. He crouches down to draw both of them into his arms simultaneously. They nod unenthusiastically against his chest and shoulder. Jimin quietly moves away, grabs the step stool, and starts pulling cups and plates down from the first shelf of the cupboard to help set the table. Taehyung, on the other hand, clings to Yoongi’s side, face tucked into Yoongi’s baggy sleep shirt, his tiny fists gripping the fabric with a fierce determination.
Breakfast is a slow affair. Jimin looks like he’s about to fall asleep face first into his food and Taehyung refuses to leave Yoongi’s lap, insisting on being hand fed.
“Appa,” Taehyung plops his head into the crook of Yoongi’s neck.
“Yes, baby bear.” Yoongi kisses the top of his head and rubs his back. For a split second, he’s almost certain Taehyung has dozed off but then his little body jerks to attention with a small gasp and furrowed brows.
“Do we have any fruit?” Taehyung asks and Jimin perks up, mirroring his brother’s question.
“We do.” Yoongi leans back to take in the ferocious countenance that’s overtaken his youngest child’s demeanor. “Would you like me to cut some up for you?”
“Yes, please, appa,” Taehyung says, polite as always.
“I wanna help!” Jimin raises his hand like he’s in school.
“Alright, but you two have to help me clean this mess first, yeah?”
“Okay!” The twins cheer in unison.
The mood in the kitchen livens up considerably while they clean. The twins get into an all out bubble fight as they wash the dishes and Yoongi isn’t much better. He sprays them both down with the faucet sprayer and their joyous screeching plays like the soundtrack to his favorite comedies.
“Appa, we’re drenched!”
“Appa, you’re so naughty!”
“Appaaaaaa noooo hahahahaaaaaa!”
“Appa, more bubbles!”
He loves them. So much. And it feels so, so good to hear them laughing like this.
The kitchen is essentially flooded by the time he shoos the pair away to go shower and change into dry clothes and he can hear them squealing to each other as they wrestle over who uses which bathroom. (Apparently, Yoongi’s bathroom is cooler and more adult so obviously because Jimin is the oldest, he should be the one to use appa’s shower.) (And because Taehyung announces that he’s deciding to behave like the angel he is, he concedes.)
It takes far too long for Yoongi to wipe up their mess. Both of the boys are out of their respective showers and back to being cloistered in Jimin’s room. He can hear their small radio playing softly and the boys chatting about who knows what. It’s the calm before the storm, Yoongi supposes.
He’s almost right. After a quick shower of his own, the boys are already back to giggling uncontrollably in the kitchen. He panics for a moment, remembering that he’d promised to cut some fruit after they’d cleaned up, and bolts down the hall into the kitchen. Thankfully, it’s just Jimin making Taehyung laugh as he attempts to juggle three tangerines. They keep bonking him in the head or bouncing off of his small hands and rolling away.
The twins insist that Yoongi try juggling and he can’t help but cackle at their wide eyes and gaping mouths as he successfully adds not only a fourth but a fifth tangerine to his stunt.
“Yeah but can you juggle these!?” Taehyung nearly drops the two mangoes he pulls from the fridge and Yoongi cannot believe just how tiny Taehyung’s hands are compared to the fruits.
“Ew, gross! No mangoes!” Jimin scrunches his nose and sticks his tongue out dramatically. “Ah, wait!” His small hand, a bit clammy, grasps at Yoongi’s wrist. “We need it though!”
Taehyung’s eyes go round as saucers and Yoongi pauses and narrows his eyes suspiciously.
“I mean.” Jimin huffs to himself, letting go of Yoongi’s wrist and clasping his hands behind his back. “I mean I would like to try it again, please. You said sometimes foods are admired tastes.”
“Ak-wared,” Taehyung confidently corrects.
“Acquired tastes,” Yoongi laughs when the boys repeat the word over and over to themselves.
He cuts a mango and mixes it with some strawberries and grapes and then separates the fruit into three small bowls. Not that he cares where in the apartment they eat, but instead of eating at the table like they normally do, the boys dash back towards their rooms and he hears the door slam shut behind them.
“Well, okay then,” Yoongi smiles as he pops a tangerine segment into his mouth while he cleans the counter of their mess.
And that’s when it happens: that silence.
It’s almost as if Yoongi becomes hyperaware. He can hear the way their apartment building creaks with the hot summer winds, the slight drip of the faucet that he thought he’d fixed. He also swears he can hear the sunlight stretching across the wall. What he can’t hear, however, is a singular smidge of sound coming from the boys. It’s possible that the boys have fallen asleep, but it’s also very unlikely.
Rising from his seat at the table, Yoongi places his dirty bowl into the sink with the cutting board he’d used for the fruit. He washes his hands and keeps the towel with him as he dries his hands and walks towards Jimin’s closed bedroom door.
“Mini? Taetae?” He calls out when he’s a few steps away. Whispers erupt and he hears scurrying on the other side of the door. “You two okay in there?”
“YEAH!”
Yoongi smirks and places his hand on the doorknob.
“Can appa come in?” he tentatively asks.
“NO!” Jimin shouts and Yoongi’s taken aback by just how bossy he sounds.
“Miniiiii,” Taehyung whines. “It’s appa. He can help.”
Yoongi doesn’t even need to see Taehyung to know he’s pouting. A series of harsh whispers between the twins float through the door but Yoongi can’t make out what exactly they’re saying. In his younger years, his patience wore thin almost immediately. Now, his impatience is often replaced with endearment. This is one of those moments. He can tell the boys aren’t in danger, rather, they’re sorting something out and he wants to let them have that. At the same time, he knows for sure they’re hiding something and he knows for sure he’s going to find out sooner or later.
“Jimin, no!” Taehyung says firmly. “Appa will know how to fix him. So I’m telling if you won’t.”
“Fine. You can come in, appa.”
Yoongi was going to laugh at the fact that he could hear Jimin rolling his eyes. Except that when he opens the bedroom door, he shouts, actually shouts, at what Taehyung has cradled in his arms.
“Baby, what–!” Yoongi closes the door shut behind himself and slowly approaches Taehyung. Precious Taehyung and his precious little face. His big, watery eyes. His broad smile. His round cheeks. His fluffy black hair. “Sweetheart, where on god’s green earth did you…did you find that?”
“He was in the laundry room downstairs!” Jimin hops up and crowds over Taehyung’s arms but Yoongi gently pushes him away to create more space.
“The lau…where was Haru? How?” He searches Jimin’s nearly glowing eyes, brimming with satisfaction, cheeks full from the giant smile overtaking his face.
“Oh! Well, we went with her to do laundry and Taetae saw him but was too nervous to go back so I snuck down and got him while Taetae distracted her.” Jimin beams from ear to ear, extremely proud of their plan.
“Appa, why do you look so concerned?” Taehyung asks, his lips turned down. “Aren’t you a chirplologist?”
“Kiroptlorist,” Jimin corrects.
“Chiropterologist,” Yoongi nods. “Yes. But that. Oh, sweet love of god.” Yoongi puts one hand on his hip and the other on his forehead. “Please tell me that you have used those gloves and that blanket this whole time?”
“YES!” They say in unison and Yoongi tilts his head all the way back with a huge sigh of relief.
“Okay, do not move. I will be right back.”
The twins nod and Yoongi rushes into the small home office to grab a pair of leather gloves that he keeps on hand in case he’s called to a rescue site and sprints back into the bedroom.
“You boys did very well protecting yourselves and him but I need you to promise to never do something like this ever again. Do you understand me?” He looks between both boys and they nod their heads. Fully rounded eyes. Fully pouting. Soft little ‘yes appa’ from both.
Carefully, Yoongi takes the bundle from Taehyung’s arms. He glances to the side and sees one of the fruit bowls with partially chewed mango slices.
“And do not, I repeat, do NOT eat from either of those fruit bowls.” He tips his head for the boys to follow him. They trot along like puppies into the bathroom where the lighting is best. “Mini, will you go grab appa’s phone from my nightstand and call Haru, please?”
Jimin darts out of the room and Taehyung presses close to Yoongi’s side.
“Is he gonna be okay, appa?”
Yoongi leans over and kisses Taehyung’s temple. “We’ll make sure of it.”
“Noonaaaa,” Jimin sing-songs when Haru answers. “Appa wants to talk to you.” Jimin shoves the phone close to Yoongi’s face.
Without explaining the exact reason for such a short notice request, he and Haru go back and forth for a few minutes on whether or not she can come watch the boys. He knows he can’t expect her to drop everything at the last minute just so that he can go to work, but it was worth the shot. He most certainly won’t scold her for allowing the boys to perform their little heist considering he’s fallen victim to some of their antics too.
Even though this situation qualifies as a bit more than a simple antic, the boys did appear to keep themselves safe and that’s something he can’t get upset about. (Especially because he knows he would’ve tried to do the exact same thing at their age if given the chance.) When he hangs up, it’s the first time he’s wished his ex-wife still lived nearby. Her parents do, but they’ve never gotten along and, if he’s honest, he doesn’t feel comfortable leaving the boys with them.
“Baby doll, can you call Hoba, please?”
Jimin’s face shines exactly twelve times brighter than the sun at that request. Within minutes, both boys are scurrying out of the bathroom in a wild mess of excitement at their favorite person in the entire world coming to spend time with them.
Unfortunately for Yoongi, his own work tells him that they cannot afford to allow him on the property without a thorough vetting of his sons’ discovery. He wasn’t surprised by that response. He is an expert afterall. Thankfully though, one of his coworkers says he’ll stop by with a bag full of supplies.
***
“Hyung,” Hobi says sternly the second he steps into the bathroom with the bag of supplies that Yoongi’s coworker had dropped off. “How in the FUCK do you have…not just a bat, but a solitary, near threatened, little golden-mantled flying fox? A BAT, HYUNG!” He whisper-shouts as he skirts the wall of the bathroom. “Holy crap it’s so cute!” Hobi wraps his arms around himself in a tight hug.
“Isn’t he?” Yoongi gushes. “Seriously though, I’ve been asking myself that exact same question for the past forty-five minutes. And I’d like you to know that I have actively decided to ignore all logic for the time being.” Yoongi turns his eyes back over to the large bat hanging upside down from the wooden towel rack.
“Remind me to never have kids,” Hobi says, fully amused, after Yoongi tells him how the boys got the bat upstairs without Haru noticing. “You know I got into so much shit when I was young. They say it comes back twice as bad in your own kids.” He finally makes his way close to Yoongi and elbows him good naturedly.
During those forty-five minutes, Yoongi had gently stretched each wing one at a time, inspecting the bat’s claws and body as best he could. His left wing extended perfectly. His right wing, however...
Yoongi’s heart had dropped to see the tear that extended down the chiropatagium from the bat’s wrist between the fourth and fifth fingers. Upon further inspection, he actually thought he was going to cry when he saw that the fourth finger itself was broken. Whatever had happened to the bat, it must have hurt so badly.
“You poor thing,” Yoongi had whispered. “We’ll get you patched up, okay?”
Hobi helps him sort out the contents of the medical supply bag and then Yoongi video calls the on-call veterinarian at his work. He’s had years of experience nursing bats to good health but the task of doing so in his own bathroom, for some reason, makes him feel green behind the ears. Together, he and the vet ensure that Yoongi cleans, dresses, and splints the injury properly. His coworker says he’ll stop by the next day to give the bat a thorough review and vetting. If the bat passes inspection, they will take him in for full-time care and recovery.
When that’s taken care of, he pokes his head out of the bathroom to see Hobi and his boys sitting patiently in the hallway. Touched that all three of them care as much as they do, Yoongi asks Jimin to bring one of the bowls of fruit into the bathroom. He does and he lingers for a moment to make sure the animal really is okay.
With a huge sigh of relief, Yoongi is able to coax the bat into consuming another few bites of a mango slice. While the bat eats, his huge amber eyes make Yoongi feel like he is the one being evaluated and not the other way around. The messy smacks of his mouth make Yoongi laugh, reminiscent of his own kids smacking around their food, particularly foods they love. Much to Yoongi’s relief, the winged mammal eventually falls asleep, clearly exhausted, clearly out of his element, and very much out of his natural habitat.
Second to his kids, bats are Yoongi’s passion. His current work has Egyptian fruit bats and he’s grown quite attached to them over the years and he likes to think that the feeling is mutual. He’s the lead handler for their zoo and is in charge of monitoring their health and behaviors. Before this job, he’d spent years in the field researching roosts and colonies all over the world. It’s how he’d met the boys’ mother. It’s also the reason they’d gotten divorced. She still wanted to spend time in the field, whereas he wanted a more stable position with stable hours so they could have the family she’d always claimed she’d wanted.
After sticking his head back into the bathroom to chat about the bat’s health and to make sure Yoongi is doing alright, Hobi goes back out to the living room to supervise the boys. To keep their minds off of the whole thing entirely, he ends up taking them to Lotte World for the day (hence the “favorite person in the whole world” title). Upon feeling confident that the bat isn’t noticeably sick (a rabies test will have to be done in the lab), nor are his wounds infected, Yoongi turns off the bathroom light and closes the door.
From time to time, Yoongi checks on the animal and each time, he’s still fast asleep. The natural sunlight from the window is the only source of light and the bat seems completely unfazed by it. In his downtime, Yoongi sets up various contraptions upon which the bat can climb or roost should he wake and feel the need to explore. Yoongi also sets out more fresh fruit for the bat in case he feels hungry enough to try and eat more.
Jimin and Taehyung are thoroughly worn out by the time Hobi brings them back home. The three of them beg Yoongi to let them see the bat and he finally caves once he confirms that the creature is still sleeping soundly. The bat has managed to move to a new perch closer to the window, but he appears comfortable and that calms a number of Yoongi’s worries. Bats are resourceful creatures, they always find ways to adapt.
The boys’ enthusiasm and love for the animal reminds Yoongi of when he was their age and just as enthralled with bats. His own heart flutters thinking that he’s somehow not only seen a little golden-mantled flying fox in person, but that he has one in his own living space. Theoretically, he should probably be extremely concerned considering it’s wildly unsafe to keep a bat in the house. It’s also illegal to have one as a ‘pet’ (which, he very obviously won’t keep it as a pet). And Hobi is right, they are rare. They’re solitary creatures as they don’t roost in colonies. They’re elusive enough that researchers don’t even know the entirety of what their diets consist of. So little is known about them compared to other species of bats and Yoongi is on the verge of giddy that there’s one hanging out in his bathroom. But how did this bat even find itself in the middle of Seoul? That is what’s truly concerning.
After Hobi goes home and the boys are tucked into bed, Yoongi pulls out his phone and flips through the countless pictures he’d taken while he was inspecting the animal as well as once it had fallen asleep. His light cream colored fur and golden toasted wings were so stunning that it nearly took Yoongi’s breath away. The creature had been so responsive to Yoongi’s gentle petting on his head that Yoongi thought he would melt into a puddle. His amber eyes were so round and so huge and so cute that Yoongi didn’t even care that he openly cooed when he’d blink. His precious snout too, Yoongi had to clutch his own heart when it would actively twitch and sniff the fruit.
If Yoongi hadn’t been so utterly obsessed with bats for his entire life, he’d swear the bat was smiling at him for most of their interactions. He’d swear the bat let Yoongi do whatever he wanted. He’d swear the bat had a fully-fledged opinion of Yoongi and that that opinion was not only positive but urgently so.
At some point, Yoongi falls asleep, phone slipping to the side of his face and he dreams of a bat flying through the apartment, completely at ease and at home.