too young | eight
summary: jungkook proves to everyone that he cares about you and his daughter, jules the most.
word count: 3,083
genre: parent!au, single dad!jungkook fluff
one || two || three || four || five || six || seven || eight
“Do you know what time Jungkook is getting here?” Jules asked, sitting down on one of the office chairs. Without any hesitation, she undid her braid quickly and started messing up her hair. “Or is someone else supposed to take me?”
“Didn’t lunch just start for you?” You looked at the clock behind you, the long black minute hand just reaching the same place as the short hour mark. “I’m sure he will be here soon.”
“I wouldn’t be surprised if he forgot,” she mumbled under her breath.
“He’s coming,” you assured Jules. “Be patient.”
“But are you sure he’s coming?” Unlike the first time you met Jules, she looked at you with a look of confusion on her face. She was clenching the white straps of her purple backpack as if she was afraid to lose the bag. Jules had been in your office for at least five minutes, asking every thirty seconds to ask if her guardian was here. “What if he forgot, again?”
“He didn’t forget.” It used to be normal for Jungkook to be late whether that be ten minutes or an hour and a half. You remember how nonchalant and unimpressed Jules used to be when you told her one of her uncles was on her way instead of her guardian. “Why are you in such a rush?”
“Because I want this stupid thing off now!” She gestured to the black ankle brace. It had been a month since the hospital visit and Jules had been counting the days she could go back on the field to play soccer. She reached to take one of the velcro straps off on her brace. “Do you know how annoying this has been?”
“Hey!” you exclaimed. “You know you aren’t allowed to take it off before your appointment. The doctor needs to make sure it has healed correctly and everything. Then, the doctor will take it off for you.”
“By the time he gets here, the doctor’s office will be closed until next year,” she pouted, placing her hands back onto the backpack straps. “Why can’t Uncle Tae get me? Why can’t you take me to the doctor?”
“Because I’m at school,” you deadpanned. “And I want to be here.”
“I do too. You can just take me,” she whined.
“No, I can’t.” You couldn’t help to roll your eyes. "Because Jungkook is coming.”
“Yeah, right.” Jules threw back her head in frustration and groaned loudly. “Then where is he?”
“Right behind you,” Jungkook said, appearing with a smile on his face. “Are you ready, Kiddo?”
Without saying a word, Jules got up on her two feet and rolled her eyes. Still holding onto the straps of her bag tightly, she first looked out of the office, staring at the kids in the cafeteria as if she were searching for someone specific. She then in a haste left the office, stomping her feet on the ground, making her footsteps heard through the entire building.
“This is the first time I’ve seen her with an attitude.” You and Jungkook both looked at each other, realizing you guys both said the same thing at the same time.
“Did something happen between you guys this morning?” You asked. “Was she like this before school?”
“She seemed fine this morning when I dropped her off at school,” he replied, crunching his eyebrows together. “She was super excited for her appointment today, so maybe her excitement just turned into anger...Right? Kids and their emotions these days.”
But even before, on the days when Jungkook told Jules that he would pick her up and he still didn’t show, Jules never showed any sign of any anger or displeasure. She stayed patient, understanding that even if Jungkook didn’t come, she would always see him at home.
“Why did she think you weren’t going to show up though?”
Before he could say anything, Jungkook’s phone started going off, ringing so loudly that he jumped a bit. He reached into his right beige trenchcoat pocket and pulled out his phone, showing you the screen: Jules was calling.
“Did she say anything to you earlier?” He asked.
“Just that she wanted her brace off,” you confirmed his suspicions. “Maybe it’s nothing, and we’re just thinking too hard about it.”
_________
It was not nothing.
It was definitely something.
Something was off.
Ever since her doctor’s appointment, Jules has tried to convince Jungkook that she was sick and could not go to school. He allowed it for the first day and the second day, but when she asked for a third and then a fourth, he started to think something was going on. Every time Jungkook asked about school, Jules stayed quiet, saying nothing, yet it was louder than what could have been said. During the last week you had seen her, she would always change the subject whenever school was brought up and would ask you to convince Jungkook to not let her go.
“Have you heard anything from school? Teachers? Students?” Jungkook asked over the phone. It had been a week since she got her brace off, and he was worried. He had kept calling you every day during this time always to ask if you had heard anything about Jules and her change in behavior. “Why doesn’t she want to go to school?”
“Jungkook, no kid really wants to go to school,” you guessed, scratching the back of your neck. “She’s a kid. Maybe, the only thing on her mind is soccer and she wasn’t able to do that for a while.”
“Yeah but Jules never had a problem in school and always enjoyed learning,” he replied. “I just don’t get why she’s avoiding school like it's the plague.”
Sighing, you think about the last time Jules had been in your office and how she was so agitated, maybe even apprehensive about whether or not Jungkook was going to arrive and take her to her appointment. “Well, the last time she was in my office, she told me she had wanted to be at school.”
“Really?”
You winced. “I mean, I said that I couldn’t take her to the appointment because I wanted to stay at school, and she agreed before asking if you were going to pick her up?”
“Wait, she asked you that?” Jungkook was taken aback, sounding like he was offended by what you said. “Why would she think that?”
“Have you been picking her up?” You questioned. “The boys haven’t been picking her up?
“I have been picking her up from school every day,” he answered back. “I haven’t been really late either. But you know how it is with every parent wanting to pick up their kid. The line is so long so I am always going to be the last one there just because I can’t get out of work earlier.”
“Really?” Usually five minutes after class ends, Jules would always come to your office and make herself at home. “I thought you'd been picking her up earlier because she hasn’t come by to my office to see me this week or last week at all.”
“Not even for lunch?” He asked.
“Nope.”
“Are we just being pushy?” Despite not having a face-to-face conversation, you could tell Jungkook was disheartened, thinking what he could have done wrong to upset Jules, for her to act this way. “Maybe she wanted to do something different.”
“That can be true,” you reluctantly answered, releasing a slow sigh. “But let’s think about it, Kook. She’s never lied to you before, especially about this kind of stuff.”
“And she tells you everything too.” His voice trails off into silence. “Does she usually have lunch with you today?”
You answered, “On Fridays at 12 usually.”
“But it’s 1:45,” he replied slowly. “Did she not eat today?”
Your head snapped to the clock hanging on the wall. The time was indeed past the time you usually saw Jules. “I must have lost track of the time. But I had been in my office all day, so I don’t know why she didn’t come in. She comes sometimes and eats in silence if she sees me working.”
“Something is wrong.”
“Hey, I gotta go.” A staff member from the fifth-grade department had knocked on your door. She was hired around the same time you were, letting the two of you quickly bond over a new school environment earlier in the school year. “I’ll see you later for dinner tonight.”
“Hey, Y/N. I think you should look at this.” The staff member took a pause, looking frightened. “It’s…about Jules.”
“Jules? Is she okay?” You asked with urgency. “Jules as in Seo Jules?”
She nodded and gestured for you to follow her into the fifth-grade wing. Taking a left, the two of you entered the bathroom. Without saying a word, she pointed to the middle stall.
Giving her a look of confusion, she pointed down, making you look. There in the stall, you could see a small girl sitting on the toilet, not using the bathroom, and had her legs stretched in front of her, so her feet wouldn’t be shown on the ground. You could recognize those shoes from anywhere: the light-up tennis shoes that Jin bought for Jules that she loved to brag about.
“What is she doing here?” You whispered. “Are you sure it's Seo Jules?”
Jules was 7 and her classroom was on the other side of the building, opposite the fifth-grade wing. At this time, you knew she should have been in class, learning how to spell words, long words that she didn’t know how even to pronounce.
“Hey Jules? Are you feeling okay?” Your colleague called out.
“Um..Yeah.” You heard Jules's voice come through the stall. “Is school almost over?”
“Yeah, do you want to open the door for me?”
Getting off the toilet seat, Jules unlocked the handle and opened the door. She didn’t expect to see you standing there in front of her. She was wearing an oversized grey hoodie that you’ve never seen her wear and some fake black glasses, way too big for her round small face. Avoiding making any eye contact with you, she looked down. “Are you going to tell Jungkook?”
You looked at your colleague, and she understood that it was her cue to leave the two of you alone to have a private conversation. “Do you want me to?”
“Obviously not,” she mumbled under her breath, still staring down at the ground. “I forgot to do my homework, Miss. I didn’t want to get in trouble in front of everyone.”
“Is there something wrong, Jules?” You asked with concern in your voice. “Is that really the reason why?”
“Yes,” she answered quickly. “Please don’t tell Jungkook this time.”
________
“Seo Jules, please come to the front office,” you announced to the microphone of the PA system.
When it happens a second time, you immediately call Jungkook.
The sounds of ringing phones and tapping keyboards filled the air, but Jungkook’s mind was elsewhere. He was sitting in front of your desk, violently shaking his leg with the look of concern on his face. “Is Jules hurt?”
“Jungkook, Jules was found in the library, hiding by the bookshelves during most of her classes today and she was just found there becaus she hadn’t showed up to soccer practice since she got her brace off.”
“What?” He asked in disbelief.
“Hey,” Jules called out as she stood by the door. “Why are you here?”
Jungkook took a deep breath, trying to keep his cool after hearing Jules ask that question. He didn’t want Jules to ever be scare to tell him the truth, and he didn’t want Jules to ever lie to him about something as important as this. “Do you want to tell me why the school informed me that you were hiding in the library? How you haven’t been attending some certain classes?”
“You told him?” Jules dropped her shoulders, feeling betrayed. “Why would you do that?”
“We need to address the issue going on here,” Jungkook said, his tone disapproving.
“There’s no issue,” Jules protested. “I just got a little lost. It happens sometimes.”
“Jules, you were found around the bean bags, reading books,” He pointed out. “I don’t think you were lost. And this isn’t the first time this has happened and I’m only now being aware of it. What if you were really lost? What if the school couldn’t find you? What if I couldn’t find you?”
“It’s not like that!” Jules sighed, looking down. “You won’t lose me.”
“Sweetheart, we know you haven’t been going to soccer practice either,” you said. Jules’s head shot up to look at you. “If there’s something wrong, you need to tell us now.”
Jules sighed, fidgeting with her fingers. “Everyone says I get special treatment because Jungkook is dating my principal.”
Jungkook’s heart sank along with yours. “What is wrong with that?”
“Nothing.” She paused before continuing. “I don’t know. They just think the teachers favor me over them because of Y/N and how we have money to pay them to like me. They just wouldn’t stop, so I just stopped…I rather be by myself than be with mean people.”
Although the most recent break up with Jungkook didn’t make you cry, the realization that Jules was facing remarks at school due to your relationship with Jungkook did. You remember telling Jungkook from the beginning that you strived to create a safe environment for all students, wanting to shape their growth and education. You never wanted them to feel alone like you did while growing up. Jules felt alone.
You had been aware of the potential challenges that could arise from dating a parent of a student but witnessing the treatment and suffering Jules was facing made you reconsider all your choices.
“It’s not your fault,” Jules reassured quickly, reading the expression on your face. “I love you two. I just..it’s just hard right now. I lost soccer for a bit and now I feel like I have nothing.”
“Sweetheart, you know you always have us and your family,” Jungkook reminded her. “Why didn’t you want to tell me? Or Y/N?”
“Because I don’t want you guys to be sad again. I don’t want Y/N to leave,” Jules answered, tears forming in her eyes.
As a reflex, Jungkook picked up Jules and wrapped his arms around her, making Jules feel like she was safe from everything else in the world.
“You can cry,” Jungkook whispered.
And Jules started bawling. “I just want to be unnoticed so I change my hair and clothes. And try not to come in here.”
“It’s okay.”
“And they keep talking about how young you are! ‘Wow he is too young to be a parent. He don’t know what to do.’” She wept. “Like shut up!”
_________
While Jungkook was putting Jules to bed, you couldn’t help but wrestle with the responsibility you played in Jules’s suffering the last few months by breaking up with Jungkook, leaving her, and now, not knowing she was being bullied at school.
“Hey, what are you thinking about?” Jungkook asked loudly, interrupting your thoughts. “Are you okay?”
“I’m sorry.”
He laughed. “For what?”
“That I did this.”
“Stop.” He sighed, running his hair through his hair. “You supported Jules and countless other students! This is not your fault…Just an unanticipated consequence that can be solved.”
“Are we breaking up again?” You asked seriously, not meeting his eyes. “I never wanted this to happen to a student, let alone Jules.”
“Hey, listen to me.” He nudged at your side with his elbow, making you look at him. “The biggest thing I’ve learned from you is that we cannot control how others react, but how we react. Like you never really yelled at me for not picking up Jules. You were accepting and understanding because you knew there was more to learn.”
You nodded, appreciating Jungkook’s words. “But the last thing I want is for her to suffer.”
Still staring back at you, he reached to grab your hand. “Breaking up isn’t going to solve that, you know?”
“Yeah, but-” Jungkook cuts you off.
“Hey, you believed in me as a parent and as a person even when I was too young and too busy with a career,” Jungkook said, choosing his words carefully. “Our relationship has made me better. It has made Jules so happy since the accident. We were alone without you, struggling. And now with you, we have so much love and support.”
You smiled, squeezing Jungkook’s hand. “You gave me so much as well.”
His grip on your hand tightened. ��Do you think I’m still ‘too young’ and ‘too dumb’ to be there for Jules and you?”
“Of course not!”
“Personal matters should not affect the well-being of children under their care, and you helped me realize that as a parent,” he said. “You don’t have to give anything up. You don’t have to give up your dream of maintaining a safe environment for kids, and you don’t have to give up on us. Take the risk.”
You’re reminded of your past conversation with Jungkook, still smiling from all that the two of you have learned and experienced. “I am going to talk to the school community about this.”
“I know you are,” Jungkook said. “I love you. I love Jules and we will get this together, one step and one day at a time.”
And when it was the next day, there was Jungkook, balloons in his right hand, leaning his back against his blue minivan in the parking lot, waiting for his child to come out of elementary school. He was hours early, shocking all the parents and teachers. They all wondered what he was doing.
When it was time for lunch, Jules came into your office, and the both of you looked outside the window and saw Jungkook, talking to himself. “Do you know what he is saying?”
“He isn’t saying anything.” She laughed. “He’s singing our favorite song. I just know it.”
He was right, that everything was a process that took day by day, and he was going to start by not letting Jules wait for him ever again.
_____
the end! thank you for reading <3 (i am terribly sorry for the long wait).
hopefully one day i can rewrite this story and make it into something way better. so crazy to think i started this years ago. i miss bts and can’t wait for them to come back home <3 the best is yet to come :)
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