Chapter Text
Yoongi stands up to his knees in the water, staring out over the horizon. He’s traveled all over the continent in the last three years, but this is the first time he’s seen the ocean. It’s like nothing he’s ever seen before, huge, peaceful, endless. It reminds him of the meadow. He still finds himself thinking about that meadow from time to time, when things are calm, and Yoongi feels peaceful. He knows he’ll never stop thinking about it, about what he could have lost, and what he gained.
“Yoongi!” He turns slowly, looking up the beach. Jeongguk’s waving, and Yoongi waves back. “Come on, I’m hungry!” Yoongi turns again and takes another moment to gaze out over the vast expanse of blue.
“I’ll be back,” he says. He’s already planning on talking with Jeongguk about the possibility of building a house here, overlooking the sea. He’s not worried about Jeongguk opposing the idea. He turns around and walks out of the water, the light breeze chilling his wet calves, his pants bunched up around his knees. When he makes it to Jeongguk he takes his hand automatically, and lets himself be pulled in for a kiss. “I can’t believe this is so close to home, and I’ve never been,” he says.
“We can come back any time. I love it,” Jeongguk replies as they make their way back to where their horses are grazing in the grass, beyond where the sand ends. It was Jeongguk’s first time visiting the sea as well, and when they arrived yesterday they spent hours sitting side by side in the sand, staring out at the vast endless horizon. They reminisced, and talked about their hopes and dreams for the future. “I wish we could stay longer.”
“I do too, but we have to get home. We’ve been gone a while, and Dayeon’s going to have the baby any day now. Geumjae would kill me for missing his secondborn’s birth.” They mount their horses and turn them eastward, away from the sea, and toward home. Yoongi watches Jeongguk as they ride. His husband is just as gorgeous as he was the first time Yoongi saw him. He’s a little more tan now, from their long travels, and his face is chiseled, shoulders broad and strong. When they’re not travelling, Jeongguk works with the military, helping to train their members, and it keeps him in excellent shape. A tingle of heat works its way into Yoongi’s belly when he thinks about what all Jeongguk can do with those muscles.
Yoongi trains with them as well, though not nearly as intensely. Just enough to keep his body strong and healthy, thin and lithe, but not enough to completely get rid of that little bit of his softness that Jeongguk loves so much.
As they make their way home, Yoongi’s mind wanders. He thinks about his young nephew, Geumjae’s heir, and how angry he is about having a new sibling soon. Yoongi still laughs whenever he thinks about the look on Soobin’s face when he finally understood just why it was that his mother’s belly was growing bigger, and what the words brother or sister meant. He was not happy.
That leads him back to his and Jeongguk’s hesitant conversation yesterday as they sat on the beach. “I’m ready to adopt,” Yoongi had whispered, feeling more nervous than he needed to be.
“Oh? When?” Jeongguk had asked, curious, and already excited. One of the first things they talked about, after their bond bloomed, was whether or not they wanted a child of their own - Jeongguk said he did, but after a few years. Well, they’ve been married for almost four years now, and Yoongi’s starting to long for a son or daughter of his own.
“I don’t know, soon…? This year, or next?” They’d spent the next long while talking about whether they wanted to adopt a boy or a girl, a baby, toddler, or child. Eventually they agreed that they would simply let the Fates lead the way toward the child meant for them.
When Yoongi really thinks about what it will be like to have a child of his own, he feels terrified. Terrified, but also excited. He plans on smothering his child with love and affection. He or she won’t grow up the way he did. They will never question Yoongi’s love for them. They will never feel as alone as he did.
“You look very deep in your thoughts, baby,” Jeongguk says, and Yoongi pulls himself out of his head and glances over.
“Ah, I guess I was.”
“What were you thinking about?”
“I was thinking about how our child will never want for attention and affection like I did.” Yoongi’s parents have come a long way in the last four years, but that doesn’t make up for twenty years of feeling overlooked, and unnecessary. Nevertheless. Yoongi’s father hugged both him and Geumjae when Soobin was born, and that’s not something that would have ever happened before. Before. Everything in Yoongi’s life can be categorized one of two ways. There is either before Jeongguk, or before Yoongi’s brush with death. Considering there’s less than a year between those two events, Yoongi supposes it doesn’t truly matter which major event in his life changed things. Yoongi likes to think that meeting Jeongguk was the more significant event, but if he’s honest with himself, he realizes why his coming so near dying - to their knowledge - would be more life changing to his parents. They’ve been much more free with their affectionate words and touches since then.
“That’s very true,” Jeongguk says. He guides his horse a little closer to Yoongi’s and reaches across the gap between them. Yoongi takes his hand, squeezing it with a smile.
They arrive back at the castle by late evening, and they’re almost immediately collected by Jiwoo - waddling, nearly seven months pregnant herself - and rushed toward Geumjae and Dayeon’s chambers. It would appear they’re just in time. Yoongi greets his mother and father with a smile and an embrace, and then goes to his brother. He’s pacing by the window, just as worried and anxious as he was the first time they went through this. Yoongi hears a squeal of laughter, and he turns to see Jeongguk holding and tickling the nearly three year old Soobin.
“It’ll be alright,” Yoongi says, putting his hand easily on his brother’s shoulder. “Dayeon is strong.” Geumjae nods, taking a deep breath.
She gives birth to a girl, and they name her Bomin, after Dayeon’s late mother.
The summer passes slowly, almost sluggishly. It’s so hot that the world seems to have come to a standstill. No one wants to do anything, so Yoongi and his friends spend many of their days lounging in the library or one of their chambers, fans in hand, talking or playing games that don’t require moving around as much.They also spend a lot of time with Soobin, and baby Bomin, and the desire for a child of his own settles comfortably over Yoongi.
One day, near the end of the summer, Yoongi wakes with the strong desire to go into the city. By now, he’s spent so much time there that it’s familiar. It feels like a second home. The people no longer stare when they see him out and about, for they’re so used to seeing their younger prince amongst them now.
“Jeonggukie,” he says, shaking his shoulder. Jeongguk snorts as he startles awake, and Yoongi laughs, the last vestiges of his own sleepiness leaving him.
“What?”
“Let’s go to the city today.”
“It’s too hot,” Jeongguk whines, one hand coming to rest on his bare belly, while the other moves his hair from his face.
“Come on, I feel like it’s necessary.”
Jeongguk peels his eyes open, and stares at him for a long moment. Finally, he grumbles, “Okay fine.” He hauls himself up, and together they get out of bed and get dressed in their light summer attire. They decide to eat when they arrive, and they hold hands as they begin the trek. Given that it’s still early in the day, the sun isn’t quite so oppressively hot yet, and it’s actually pleasant.
“Jeonggukie,” Yoongi starts, when they’re halfway there. A slight breeze has started to blow, making the walk even more pleasant. Jeongguk glances over to him, humming, his brows raised. “What if we visited the orphanage today?” As soon as the words leave his mouth, a nasty ball of nerves coils in Yoongi’s belly. He braces himself for Jeongguk to say no, that he wants to wait a while longer, that he’s not ready yet. But instead Jeongguk stops, squeezing Yoongi’s hand tighter. He stares into Yoongi’s eyes, searching.
After a long moment, he nods slowly. “Okay. Let’s do it.” Yoongi’s full smile breaks out over his face, showing off all his teeth and gums, and it ignites Jeongguk’s own radiant smile. His nose scrunches, and at the same time they lean in to kiss soundly, just for a moment. The rest of the journey to the city feels charged, momentous. They know the way, having visited with Seokjin and Namjoon last year when their friends adopted their daughter, and so, after stopping at their old friend Siwoo’s bakery for something to eat, they head straight there.
The orphanage is a large wooden home on the western edge of the city. There’s a large stretch of grass surrounding the house, with a fence circling it all the way around. There are children running around, playing together, and Yoongi smiles, guessing it’s their morning playtime. Several men and women are stationed around, watching over them, and one of them spies Yoongi and Jeongguk approaching. Her eyes go wide, and she rushes over to the gate, opening it and bowing as Yoongi stops before her. “Your highness, what a pleasant surprise!” she says. “How can we help you today?”
The nerves come back, and Yoongi swallows around a suddenly dry throat. “Could we talk to the Priestess?” The woman smiles brightly and nods, gesturing for them to follow her into the large house. Yoongi had been surprised to learn that a Priestess of the Fates was the woman who ran the city’s orphanage, but after thinking about it for a while, he realized just how much sense it made. Every person is a child of the Fates, but Yoongi figures the Fates themselves would want to keep a particularly close eye on those children without parents, as they wait to be adopted, and the way to do that would be for a Priestess to watch over them. The woman, who introduces herself as Chaeyoon, leads them through the house, up the stairs, and into a large, brightly lit room on the second floor. A woman who looks like she’s about the same age as Yoongi’s mother, looks up as they enter, and she smiles when she recognizes them.
“Prince Yoongi, and Jeongguk. What a wonderful surprise.” Yoongi inclines his head, greeting her in return. He may be a prince, but she is the Fates’ soulmate, and deserves his deep respect.
“Good morning, Priestess.”
“Please, call me Kyuna, your highness.” Her eyes twinkle and are heavily wrinkled as her smile grows wider. “So, I have an inkling as to why you’re here today.”
“We’re ready to adopt,” Jeongguk says. Kyuna nods.
“Praise the Fates.” She stands, and steps around her desk. She stops just in front of them, and places one hand on either of their shoulders. “I’ve had a feeling this day would come soon. Shall we go meet the kids?” Yoongi and Jeongguk nod, and together the three of them go back downstairs, and out behind the house. “We have several slightly older children who are all outside playing right now. Fates be praised, we have no infants living with us right now.”
“That is a blessing,” Jeongguk says, nodding. They stop in the middle of the yard, and Kyuna whistles loudly. All the children playing outside immediately race over. There are eight of them, ranging from maybe four to ten years old. They stare at Yoongi and Jeongguk with wide eyes, curiosity unhidden on their faces. Immediately, Yoongi’s gaze is drawn to one small boy who hangs back a little further away than the others. “Everyone, this is Prince Yoongi, and his soulmate Jeongguk. Please be nice to them, and show them how lovely and fun you all are. Okay?”
“Okay!” they all scream, and then several of them rush forward and grab hold of their hands, dragging them with them into their play. Yoongi laughs, eyes wide as they’re thrust right into a game of chase. He’s glad that he’s had experience with Soobin, now, because before then he had no idea how to play with a child.
He watches Jeongguk cackling as he races around, running from several of the boys. Yoongi stops running, and the two young girls take his hands and talk about how they want to be princesses with stars in their eyes. Warmth fills Yoongi’s belly, but it’s mingled with faint dread. How is he supposed to be able to choose which child to take home?
“Remember, you don’t have to decide today,” Kyuna says, coming up to join him. “You can always come back as many times as you need, to find the one you truly connect with.” Yoongi smiles gratefully at her, and the girls lose interest and race off to go play with Jeongguk, who’s started tossing the kids high in the air. Their screams of joy and laughter are like music to Yoongi’s ears. “Hang on,” Kyuna says, her voice suddenly alarmed. “Where’s Yeonjun?” she mutters to herself. “He was here when we introduced you.” She turns around, looking almost frantic. Yoongi looks around as well, though he doesn’t know what Yeonjun looks like. He spies that same small boy he felt drawn to earlier sitting against one of the few trees that dot the property, and he asks, “Is that him?” Kyuna spins around to look where he’s indicating, and she sighs in relief.
“Yes. That’s him. He’s… shy. His parents passed when he was quite young, so he’s been here a while, and he’s seen several children come and go.”
“Shy…” Yoongi whispers. “I can empathize with shy. May I?”
“Of course! Please, be my guest,” she says, gesturing for him to go. Yoongi walks toward Yeonjun, and the small boy stares up at him with big, wide eyes.
“Hi,” Yoongi says. “May I sit with you?” Without saying anything, Yeonjun nods. Yoongi sits down on the ground beside him. Yeonjun stares at him for a moment, but then he turns to look at the other kids playing with Jeongguk. “They look like they’re having fun, don’t they?” Yoongi asks.
“Yeah…”
“Don’t you want to play with them?”
“They don’t want to play with me…” Yeonjun’s voice is high and sad.
“Did you ask them?”
“No. I just know.”
Yoongi stares at the little boy, stricken. Suddenly, he sees himself, sitting there, watching life pass by, feeling excluded and unwanted. His heart squeezes, and he has to press hard down on the emotion welling in his throat. “Well, we can just sit here together. Does that sound okay?” Yeonjun turns to stare at him again, looking skeptical for a moment. “I want to get to know you better. You seem like a very interesting boy.”
“Okay,” Yeonjun breathes out. “Are you really the prince?” he asks quickly, his words almost tripping over themselves. Yoongi can tell that he’s holding a lot inside, afraid to let it out, or just… doesn’t know how to let it out.
“I am, my father is King Seungwoo. Have you ever seen him?” Yeonjun shakes his head. “Well, how about Prince Geumjae?”
“Yeah! He’s really cool!” Yoongi laughs.
“Yeah, he’s cool. I’m pretty cool, too, though.” Yeonjun’s gaze turns skeptical again, and Yoongi can’t help laughing loudly. Jeongguk hears, and stops running to see what he’s doing, and in the process gets tackled by two ten year old boys. “My husband is cooler, though,” Yoongi says, leaning closer, and pointing to where Jeongguk is now wrestling the two boys, while the other kids cheer them on. “He trains the military.” Yeonjun’s eyes go wide.
“Wow,” he breathes. “That is cool!”
“What do you like to do, Yeonjun?”
“I like to listen to stories, and dance. Kyuna is trying to teach me how to play the piano, but I’m not very good at it yet…”
“I can play the piano, I could teach you if you want?”
Suddenly Yeonjun seems to withdraw. He pulls his legs up and hugs his knees. “How can you do that?” he mumbles.
“What do you mean?”
“You’re going to take one of the others home with you, and you’ll be too busy for me…”
Yoongi’s heart breaks. All at once he can feel that the choice he was just so recently agonizing over having to make, has been made for him. He reaches out, but stops before he touches Yeonjun’s shoulder. “Can I touch you, Yeonjunie?” He looks over, huge eyes vulnerable, and then nods slowly. He’s probably never been asked that question before. Yoongi puts his hand on Yeonjun’s shoulder, and squeezes gently - the most fatherly gesture he knows.
“You know, Yeonjunie,” he starts, his voice soft. “I died, a few years ago.” Yeonjun gasps, and Yoongi nods. “And I’m going to tell you a secret - you can’t tell anyone okay?” He nods rapidly. “When I died, I met the Fates. And then I asked them if I could come back, and they let me, but ever since then I’ve felt extra close to them. I woke up this morning, and I felt like coming here was a really good idea, and now I understand why. I think they wanted me to meet you. I think the Fates want you to come and live with us, and for us to be your parents. Does that sound okay to you?” It’s quick, so sudden, but Yoongi doesn’t think anything else in his life - except perhaps being bonded to Jeongguk - has ever felt so right.
Yeonjun stares at him for a long moment. He’s young, but Yoongi thinks he’s old enough to be able to understand what he’s saying. Children are taught about the Fates from birth, and they grow up knowing that they’re out there, and that they love all their children, and want them all to be happy. Yoongi knows better than most that the Fates can’t really directly make things happen, but they can urge people in the right direction, and Yoongi truly does believe that it was their urging that made him want to come here today. Yoongi watches as Yeonjun’s face crumples, and he starts to cry. He uncurls and launches himself at Yoongi, wrapping his thin arms around his waist and crying into his tunic. Yoongi immediately holds him closely, sliding his arm under his legs to pull him into his lap.
He looks up, searching for his husband, and as soon as their eyes meet Jeongguk’s mouth falls open. “Hey kids, I’m sorry, I need to go see the prince!” he calls, and the other children aww but they let him go. He jogs over, and he falls to his knees in front of them. “Hey,” he says, reaching out and petting the back of Yeonjun’s head. “What’s going on?”
“Jeongguk, this is Yeonjun,” Yoongi says, rubbing his back. Yeonjun pulls back, hiccuping on his breath, and he turns his head. “Yeonjunie, this is Jeonggukie.”
“Hi,” Yeonjun says, sniffling.
“Hi! Why are you crying, Yeonjunie?”
“Will you really be my dads?” Yeonjun says, looking between Yoongi and Jeongguk, who shoots a bewildered look at Yoongi, but goes with it.
“Of course. If you want us to be your dads.”
“I think the Fates brought us together.”
“But…” Yeonjun says, trying valiantly to keep himself calm. Yoongi recognizes that desperate need to keep control. “But, all the other kids are the ones who get picked. I never get picked. Why do you want me?”
“Because when we started talking, I recognized you, Yeonjunie. I think you’re a lot like me,” Yoongi says. “Which means that I think I could be a really good dad to you.”
“Well that’s perfect,” Jeongguk says, smiling and ruffling Yeonjun’s hair. “If you’re like Yoongi then I already know that we’re perfect for each other.” Yoongi snorts softly, shaking his head at Jeongguk over Yeonjun’s head.
“Do you want to take some time to think about it, Yeonjunie?”
“Does that mean you’d leave?” he asks, suddenly scared.
“That depends on how much time you need to decide. It’s your choice.”
“Hmm,” he says, furrowing his brow and frowning deeply for a moment. “Okay, I decided. You can be my dads.” Yoongi smiles, feeling like his heart is about to burst. He hugs Yeonjun close, and the little boy returns it, squeezing him just as tightly. Jeongguk wraps his arms around both of them, and they stay like that for a long while. This child will never want for anything else for the rest of his life, Yoongi thinks. I’ll make sure of that.
In the peaceful calm of the morning, with his husband’s arms around him, and their small, brand new son in their arms, Yoongi feels that old familiar peace settle over him again. This peace he associates directly with the Fates, and which comes in moments of calm quiet, in moments of contemplation, moments of chance. They’re pleased, Yoongi can tell. This feels good. This feels right.