Chapter Text
When Kim Jinho, the CEO of Kim-Min Enterprises, died unexpectedly at only fifty-eight years of age, many thought that the co-chair of the company, the Min portion of the name, Min Youngsoo, would take over as CEO. However, with his own health having been poor for years, the decision came down by Kim Jinho’s wife, Yoosun, that the elusive Kim heir would take over as CEO of the company, even though the Min heir was the older of the two.
Kim Namjoon only found out about this because his cousin and oldest friend, Min Yoongi, called him up and told him to check out the news about who would be taking over in the wake of his father’s death.
As Namjoon stared at the TV screen, shocked at what he was seeing on the screen, he could only manage one thought. “Oh fuck.”
After a brief pause there was a gasp and a tiny voice cried, “Ooooh, Appa said a bad word!”
“He said the ‘fuck’ word!” another little voice chimed in, and that snapped Namjoon out of his shock, making him wheel around to gape at the two little boys standing behind him.
“Kim Jungkook, you know better than to say that word-“
“But Appa said it-“
“Taehyung, you know too that he can’t say ‘fuc-‘ I mean that w- ah shit-“
“Oh my God he said the OTHER bad word, Kookie!”
Namjoon closed his eyes and groaned, slamming his head into the heel of his hand repeatedly as he fought to get back into the headspace of a parent, not that of a twenty-something that just had shocking news that warranted way more ‘bad words’ than just those two.
“The shit word isn’t as bad as the fuck word, Uncle Yoongi said so!” Jungkook informed his brother, and Taehyung nodded sagely, like a wise old man, not a six-year-old.
“Yeah, he said the damn word isn’t so bad at all.”
So much was about to change in their lives that Namjoon didn’t have the focus to properly sit the kids down and scold them and explain why all those words were bad words. He looked at the boys and knew he had to go make a call that would throw their entire lives into chaos if it went the way he suspected it would.
~
Namjoon’s parents hadn’t spoken to him in nearly a decade, so Yoongi knew that they hadn’t even known Namjoon was living in Seoul again. Yoongi had worried that someone they knew might spot Namjoon, especially when Yoongi was hanging out with him, but Seoul was a big city and they managed to stick to neighborhoods their ‘peers’ wouldn’t deign to step foot in when they went out. Yoongi’s parents had no idea he was still in contact with Namjoon at all, so it came as a shock to everybody when Yoosun contacted Namjoon and discovered he could be at the Company building within the hour. Yoongi was shocked only that he was willing to come. He tried calling him and offering to sneak out and watch the kids, but his aunt insisted that every member of the family be present for the meeting, from Yoongi and his parents all the way to Jinho’s mother and his sisters.
Yoongi knew that not a single one of them was aware the kids existed, but he wasn’t prepared for Namjoon to walk through the conference room doors that had been opened to him his kids on either side of him, not staying with a last-minute sitter. The silence in the room was deafening as everybody saw the boys, Taehyung’s big smile he always wore when he got a chance to meet new people and Jungkook shyly hiding behind his father’s leg.
When Taehyung spotted him, he brightened even more and waved so hard his little body swayed from side to side. “Hey, Yoongi-Samchon!”
Yoongi heard the crack of someone’s chair colliding with the table as his entire family turned to him and immediately burst into outrage.
~
Namjoon’s parent had sent him to the best schools and got him the best tutors when they discovered how intelligent he was. When he was nineteen, they sent him off to Europe to study at all the greatest universities the world had to offer. They wanted him educated in all the best economies in their business and finance methods so that he could take the Company to even bigger heights one day.
What they didn’t know was that Namjoon quietly swapped areas of studies at every school he spent time in. He studied art and literature and philosophy and music in some of the most historic places to study such things. He learned English and French with ease, and he was passable at Greek and German by the time he left Europe. When he went to America, they were at a point where they were ready for him to come home and be done with his education, but he urged them that he had to study in more of Western business than just Europe, so they allowed it.
The real reason Namjoon went to America was Rose.
Namjoon had been in Italy when he ran into a girl speaking a very familiar language he didn’t hear often while in Europe, and he had turned to her with a smile and commented on the weather, mostly just wanting to speak Korean again after so long speaking English only. When she turned to look at him, however, he was lost within seconds.
Rose Park had just been an American student spending a summer studying abroad in Italy, and yet Namjoon knew after an afternoon spent hanging out, she was the most important person he had ever met in his life. She was beautiful, and funny, and smart, and he fell head over heels with her in the two weeks they spent in a whirlwind romance wondering around Florence. When it came time for her to go home to New York, Namjoon offered to come visit her. When she asked him to move there and stay with him, he agreed eagerly.
However, what started as the love of his life, his Grand Romance, simmered out fairly quickly once they were living in a small apartment together while Rose tried to finish her studies and Namjoon proved to only be a distraction. Her first spring semester back, she failed two courses because Namjoon wanted so much of her attention that she lost time focusing on classes. Their relationship fell apart soon after.
Namjoon decided to leave New York and head to California and discover more of America. When his parents discovered he wasn’t actually studying any longer, they cut him off. There was a horrible fight and then that was it, he never heard from them again. He had the skills to make a living, though, so he didn’t bother coming back. He lived in LA for a year and the moved to San Francisco and lived there another year. It was living there that he received a call he never expected to get, a call that changed his life forever.
“Is this Namjoon Kim?” an unknown voice asked while Namjoon sat outside his favorite coffee shop one morning.
He sighed internally at the way Americans insisted on addressing him. “Yes, this is him. Can I ask who’s calling?”
“Sir, this is New York Child Services. We regret to inform you that at two o’clock this morning, Rose Park died from injuries occurring in a car accident.” Namjoon’s heart had leapt into his throat, and his stomach clenched at the news that Rose was dead. He had really loved her, even if their relationship hadn’t worked out, so it was a blow to his heart.
However, he had no idea what that had to do with him now. “I’m sorry,” he said slowly. “Did you say ‘Child Services’?” he asked.
“Yes, we are trying to contact next of kin for Ms. Park’s sons, and your contact information was found when her friends looked around her apartment. A young lady commented that she remembered you had moved to California, so we were very relieved to find you so quickly-“
“I’m sorry, but I’m not sure I know what you mean. Sons?” he asked incredulously.
“Yes,” the voice on the phone said, “You are listed on the birth certificate of Taehyung Kim, born December 30. Are you not his father?”
When Namjoon flew to New York the next morning, he was taken to meet his son. What he found was a not even two-year-old toddler curled up in a little baby bed beside an infant, arms around the baby like he was scared somebody would take it away. When they explained that Rose had another baby – without ever even having a another relationship – when Taehyung was still a baby, he tried to learn more about the other father. Instead, they could only tell him that she gave the baby a last name but listed no father on the birth certificate.
Taehyung was old enough to speak and walk and though he was still a baby, when the lady told him he was going with his daddy and that his brother would stay here, he had lost it. Namjoon had never been around children to see a tantrum, but when they tried to take Taehyung’s baby brother away, he saw firsthand how volatile a toddler’s emotions were. Namjoon never had any choice after seeing that. He knew he would have to take both children as his own.
And so Namjoon, a man who had never been around a child in his life, found himself the father of two children all at once. They lived in California for a little while longer until he realized he couldn’t do this alone. Though he had lost contact with all his old friends and family when he was cut off, his cousin Yoongi had never allowed him to cut him off. When he asked Yoongi if he thought he could help out some if he moved back to Korea, Yoongi wasted no time setting up the arrangements to get an apartment and a job for Namjoon all lined up, and by the time Taehyung was three and Jungkook was almost two, Namjoon was back home in Seoul once again.
Now, however, Namjoon almost regretted ever coming back as he watched the utter chaos that was his family discovering his sons existed.
“Hello, Mother,” he said, still holding his boys’ hands tight. “Boys, say hello to your grandmother,” he instructed, and both boys looked at him before he inclined his head then they both nodded, remembering what he told them, and bowed to his mother.
“Hi, halmeoni,” Jungkook said quietly.
“Hello! It’s nice to meet you!” Taehyung said brightly, waving to everybody around the room.
His mother stood up and Namjoon could see rage in her features. “What is the meaning of this?!” she hissed.
Taehyung frowned, his little lips pursed, and Namjoon tried to squeeze his hand and shush him but he spoke loudly in what Namjoon knew he thought was a whisper. “Appa, why is she so rude and cranky?”
Half the people in the room made gasps or outraged grumbles, but Yoongi, who had managed to keep it together so far, finally broke and let out a guffaw that echoed through the room. Namjoon sighed and closed his eyes for a moment before glaring at his cousin, who was nearly falling out of his chair while his aunt elbowed him repeatedly to shut up. Namjoon looked down at Taehyung. “TaeTae, that’s not very nice. You shouldn’t say things like that,” he said gently, and Taehyung pouted.
“But it’s true! She’s being very cranky, like Kookie when he needs a nap-“
“Shhhhh,” Namjoon said, shaking his hand gently. “Hush, now.”
“Kim Namjoon, you explain yourself right now!” his mother demanded, and he looked up from his kids to face her.
“You heard,” he said simply. “These are my sons, Taehyung and Jungkook.”
Yoongi could see the fight coming so he sighed and stood up. “Hey, TaeTae, Jungkookie, come on. I’ll go find you some juice,” he said, holding out his hands to them.
“Son?” his father asked, and Yoongi just smirked over his shoulder.
“Sorry, Father, I better look after my nephews while you guys talk,” he said, swinging Jungkook up to sit on his hip while he guided Taehyung out by the hand.
Namjoon faced forward again and put his hands together in front of him passively. “I hear I’m taking over the Company. Funny, since you haven’t spoken to me in years until you called to tell me Father had died,” he said, still feeing a pang at that news. Though he and his parents had their differences, they were still his parents. When his father died two days ago, it had hit him hard. He had a lot of regrets about not speaking to his father for so long and now he never would.
She scoffed. “You’re the heir. It’s only natural. Although now, I’m questioning whether or not your uncle and I should consider your cousin instead,” she said, glancing at her brother. Namjoon couldn’t help but snort out loud at the thought of Yoongi becoming the head of Kim-Min Enterprises. His mother narrowed her eyes. “Is something funny?”
Namjoon shook his head. “I just had a mental image of Epik High playing in the elevators,” he said honestly, which made his uncle and mother both bristle. Namjoon knew the reason they didn’t pick Yoongi as well as anybody: Yoongi had been rebellious since he was a child and nobody could ever change him. Namjoon had pretended to go along with his parents wishes, at least, but Yoongi had dropped out of every university they sent him to as soon as the checks cleared just so his parents couldn’t get a refund. He had moved out and started working as a music producer in Busan with his friend Hoseok as soon as he could, and he had only come back to Seoul for Namjoon and the kids.
Nobody knew that, of course. They thought Yoongi just wanted back into the family’s good graces even if he was still rebellious to their business. Namjoon figured it would all come out now that he had revealed his kids to them.
Speaking of his kids, his mother stood and began pacing, heels clicking. “We have already announced your takeover of control. We can’t go back on that. However, the issue you just revealed to us is a big one-“
“My children?” he asked, blood running hot at her calling them ‘an issue’. “My children have nothing to do with you. They’re just fine outside of all of this. If I’m really going to have to take over-“ Namjoon knew it wasn’t a request. There was no getting away from it after the announcement. He had wanted to try to avoid it, but there was no world in which he was free any longer. “Then something will have to be said. I won’t send them away so it will come out I have children.”
Youngsoo sat up straighter in his chair. “And when, exactly, were you going to tell the family you have children, Namjoon? My son clearly knows, but nobody else?” he asked and Namjoon looked to his uncle.
“I wasn’t sure when or if I ever would. However, now I know I can’t hide them, so I thought it would be best to bring them with me and just get it all out.”
“And where’s their mother?” Youngsoo asked him. “Surely your wife should have come with you.”
Namjoon squirmed a bit. “I was never married,” he said, and there was a rumble of whispers around the room. “Their mother died in a car accident years ago, though, so it isn’t a big deal,” he said, heart pulsing with sadness at the thought of his boys’ mother. “We moved back here a couple years ago so Hyung could help me with the boys.”
Yoosun and Youngsoo shared a long look before she turned back to Namjoon. “This does cause problems,” she said tightly. “We had already started looking ahead, trying to find a suitable wife for you since you’re going to be the head of the Company, but children makes that a harder ask.”
Namjoon made a slightly panicked sound. “At least let me get used to my new place before you try to marry me off! I haven’t even started yet and you’re already four steps ahead!”
“The boy is right.” Namjoon was surprised to hear his grandmother’s voice. Kim Jihyun was not often one to speak her mind. She had silently went along with most things her son and daughter-in-law said and did, so Namjoon had not expected her to be the one to defend him. “Youngsoo-ssi, you will spend a few weeks showing the boy the ropes. Get him accustomed to his new position. Young Yoongi can help him move into his new apartment and find suitable care for the children while he’s busy since my grandson has obviously trusted his cousin with the children so far.” She looked at Namjoon, her wrinkled face betraying no emotions at all. “Within a month, you will be heading the Company. I expect you to have your affairs settled by then. Your mother and I will search for candidates to be your wife who will accept two children who are not her own in the meantime. Hopefully by the end of the year, we can start setting you up with meetings so that you can find a woman who will be a good mother for your boys. Children need a mother and CEOs need a wife,” she said as if that was the only thing that he needed to hear that day.
“Well,” Yoosun said, looking at Namjoon. “Let’s get started on the paperwork and formalities,” she said, gesturing to him to come take a seat at the table so that the family could begin passing around papers and files to try and sort everything out.