4.

“I hate school.” Yujin tosses his backpack in the backseat and clambers into the passenger's seat. “I hate it.”

Frowning, Jeongguk doesn’t make a move to pull away yet, despite the queue of parents behind him. He needs to be ready if he has to go inside. “What’s wrong?”

“I got my history paper back. I got a D.”

“Oh, kid.” Jeongguk twists in his seat a little to face Yujin. “I’m sorry. What happened? You worked your ass off on it.”

“I…” Yujin shakes his head, clearly frustrated. “I’m just not good at school, dad. Can’t I just get a job at the diner?”

Jeongguk presses his lips together because this isn’t the first time they’ve had this conversation and he knows how it’s going to go. “No.”

“But why? ” Yujin grits out, frustration evident on his face. “You didn’t finish school!”

Jeongguk sighs. “Yujin—”

“Why won’t you just let me drop out? I wanna be like you, dad. School is dumb and—”

“It’s not dumb.”

“—I’m not good at it, anyway! I’m not gonna go to college, so what’s the point?”

A horn blares behind them.

“You’re not dropping out of school.” Jeongguk can already feel the headache forming, and it doesn’t help when the ass behind him hits the horn again.

“But if I started working, you wouldn’t have to have two jobs anymore,” Yujin reasons. “You could be home more.”

Jeongguk sighs. “That’s not your responsibility.”

“It could be, though!”

“Yujin.”

“ Dad , I don’t like school. I wanna be like you.”

“I was immature for dropping out of school,” Jeongguk reminds him. “If I could go back to being your age, I would have done a lot of shit differently.”

“But you’re mature now!” Yujin argues. “That’s what matters, right? How you turned out now .”

The asshat behind them lays on the horn and Jeongguk is out of the car before he can stop himself, irritated. "Hey!" he snaps, staring at the guy in the Range Rover. Licking his lips, Jeongguk exhales through his nose and forces a smile. He points a finger in the guy’s direction. "Keep that up and I'll crush you until you make the same noise."

Yujin snorts from inside the car when Jeongguk climbs back in.

"See?" Jeongguk sighs, pulling his seatbelt on. "That was really immature of me. If I'd stayed in school, I could have used my words better and threatened him more eloquently."

Yujin rolls his eyes, but there's a smile working at the corner of his lips. Nothing is said until Jeongguk finally pulls away and heads for home.

"I don't want you to turn out like me, kid," Jeongguk tells him a few minutes later, glancing over at Yujin briefly.

"But—"

"No. I'm serious."

"But I want to be like you, dad," Yujin returns, frown in his voice. "Why are you so against that?" There's a beat of silence. "Do you regret the way life turned out for you?"

"No," Jeongguk answers immediately, sharp. "I know what you're getting at there, and no. I don't regret having you." He sighs, switching hands on the steering wheel. "Dropping out of school is a big regret of mine just because it didn't give me the opportunities a diploma would have granted me. If college is something you don't want to do or something you're not ready for, I'll support you 100%, alright? But it's important that you at least graduate from high school so you can still have that option."

Glancing back over at Yujin, Jeongguk can see him scowling down at his tie, rolling the end up.

"Can you see where I'm coming from?" Jeongguk tries.

"Yeah," Yujin sighs after a moment. "I get it, I just. I hate feeling stupid."

"You are not stupid, Yujin. You know you're not either."

"The D says differently..."

"So you got an D," Jeongguk shrugs. "I know you worked your ass off on it, and at the end of the day, that's what matters most to me. That you applied yourself. Did you talk to your teacher about it?"

Yujin nods.

"And?"

"She said it seemed rushed and I went off on multiple tangents," Yujin confesses.

"And did you rush it?"

"...yeah, some parts."

Jeongguk nods. "Then you know what to work on for next time, right?"

"I guess, yeah."

He can tell Yujin is still bummed about it, so he thinks on his feet. He's working the late shift tonight at the diner to lock up, so it looks like they'll be having dinner there, which isn't entirely unusual.

So he drives them to the bowling alley they haven't been to in a hot minute.

"Why are we here?" Yujin asks when Jeongguk parks up.

"Well, I'm here to kick your ass at bowling," Jeongguk tells him, cutting the engine. "I don't know what you're doing here, though."

It gets him a genuine smile and Yujin is quick to follow him out of the car. "Loser buys the drinks?"

"Hope you brought your wallet."

They end up playing a few games, the pair of them pretty equally matched at this point since Jeongguk has raised his son on bowling. But Jeongguk's still the pro, and wins two out of three games. It's enough to get Yujin giggling and smiling again by the time they head to the diner for Jeongguk's shift. Yujin studies at the counter while Jeongguk works, eating his dinner over his chemistry homework. And when he's done, he hops into the kitchen and helps wash the dishes.

“Thanks for tonight, dad,” he says through a yawn once they get home, a little past midnight.

“For what?” Jeongguk asks as he unlocks the door, guiding Yujin in first.

“For hanging out with me.” Yujin flicks the lights on and dumps his backpack on the couch. “I know you were busy.”

“I’m never too busy for you,” Jeongguk promises. He knows sometimes it can’t be helped, but everything he does, it’s all in hopes of giving Yujin a good life. He curls his hand around the back of Yujin’s neck, giving him a soft shake. “You know that, yeah?”

“Yeah,” Yujin nods and does something he hasn’t done in a while. He hugs Jeongguk. “Love you, old man.”

Jeongguk kisses Yujin’s forehead, cupping the back of his head. “Love you too, kid. Now go get ready for bed.”

Gently ruffling Yujin’s hair, he nudges him towards his room and watches him until he disappears behind his door. He’s up early in the morning, but he makes sure Yujin has everything he needs for school tomorrow before he goes to bed. He fishes the history paper out of Yujin’s bag, wanting to read it.

When he finishes, Jeongguk scoffs and tucks it back into Yujin’s bag.

“D my ass… I would have given him an A.”

\-\- \-\- \-\-

“Are you incapable of relaxing?” comes a voice, pitched louder than the Slipknot song playing over his speakers.

Jeongguk looks over to see Taehyung standing at the entrance of the garage door, which Jeongguk keeps open to let some air in while he works out. “What do you mean?” He doesn’t stop counting as he does another pull up on the bar.

“You never stop.”

“I don’t have time to stop.”

Taehyung hums. “I can see that.”

Jeongguk looks over at him again. “What are you doing here so early?”

“It’s 5, dude.”

Jeongguk stops with his chin above the bar at that. “What?”

Taehyung pulls out his phone and shows him the 17:03 on his homescreen.

“Damn.” Jeongguk drops down to the ground, stepping over to pick up his towel to wipe the sweat from his eyebrows. “Time flies when you’re having fun.”

“Fun?” Taehyung repeats. “You call working out fun?”

“Yeah. This is me relaxing.”

Taehyung’s nose twists a little. “You’re sick.” Then his eyes drop to Jeongguk’s sweat-soaked tee. “Hot, sure. But sick.”

Jeongguk chuckles, tossing his towel over his shoulder, and grabs his water. “I’m sick because I like to work out?”

“Sick because you think it’s relaxing. Most dads take up golfing or, like, have an affair. They don’t work out.”

“Didn’t realise you studied fathers for a living.”

“Sure I do,” Taehyung grins. “I know all about DILFs. Love a good DILF.”

Jeongguk raises an eyebrow.

“You know what a DILF is.” Taehyung blinks. “Right?”

Jeongguk shrugs a shoulder and takes another sip of water. “Should I?”

“You absolutely should considering you are one.”

“ I’m a DILF?”

“Totally, man.” Taehyung drops down to sit on Jeongguk’s bench press. “Dad I’d Like to Fuck.”

Jeongguk processes that, lining the letters up with the words. “Oh. Oh.” He fucking beams . “I’m a DILF? Really?”

“Oh, shut up,” Taehyung scoffs. “You totally know you’re hot.”

Jeongguk shrugs. “No more than average.”

Taehyung rolls his eyes. “Actually, you know what. It’s good you don’t know how hot you are, that’d be too much power. Continue to think you’re average. Makes life easier for the rest of us.”

“But you’re attractive,” Jeongguk points out, surprising himself a little. It surprises him more that he finds he really means it. “Do you know it?”

“That I’m attractive? Yeah, I know I’m attractive. But there’s a difference.”

“What’s the difference?”

“I’m not gonna tell you that,” Taehyung snorts, checking his phone when it buzzes in his hand. He stands up and tucks his phone away. “I’m not about to enable you to go Super Saiyan in hotness. Stay humble, man.”

Jeongguk is beyond amused.

“Anyway, I’m gonna head in. What are we having for dinner?”

“Galbi-jjim,” Jeongguk answers, tickled. Taehyung really is unintentionally funny.

“Nice. See you in there, DILF.” He shows himself inside through the backdoor and Jeongguk takes a moment to look at himself in the mirror he hung up to monitor his form when he works out.

He lifts up the bottom of his shirt and inspects the muscles of his stomach. Then he lifts his arm and flexes, twisting his wrist to watch the muscle of his bicep shift.

Dropping his arm, Jeongguk nods, satisfied, and takes another sip of water. “Still got it.”

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