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Chapter Text

The practice room was filled with sounds of unreleased music, some heavy breathing, the squeaking of shoes, someone dropping a bottle of water on the wooden flooring and the mutters of the staff. It was the typical chaos expected of BTS and even after their military service, they were still the same lunatics when it came to dance practice. Of course, there were changes to muscles, structure, punctuality and how everything was planned to the finest detail.

Some things, however, could not be planned to the finest detail.

With the boys back all together from the military, their comeback plans were finalised and put in place. A new album was in the making with a single having been released about two months ago and a tour was in the planning stages. It had been thought out, in great detail, with all eight members signed on and ready to go.

Yet, life never listens to plans.

Life finds a way.

Grace had been the sole member to represent the group as the boys completed their military career and her final solo concert coincided with BTS 12th anniversary. The following months allowed her to relax for once while the last members finished their service and she could enjoy having Seokjin home, could enjoy not worrying about music for once.

The plus sign on a pregnancy test threw every plan out of the window.

It wasn’t planned, it never is. It was wanted but later on. However, life found a way as Bang PD jokingly said when he was told the news. And any fear or worry about what was going to happen slowly shifted when the team came together to make adjustments.

The tour would go ahead but without Grace. She would still be there but behind the scenes, dealing with a newborn baby if all went okay. BTS would play as seven members, 6 uncles and 1 Dad.

For now, she was still part of the process and still part of practice. The 25-week baby bump had stopped her fully dancing but she could still sing and she wasn’t going to miss a single practice, interview or the like until B-Day as Jungkook had taken to calling it. B-Day for the day she was meant to give birth.

The boys had been over the moon and beyond with joy at the news. Finally, after many hints and a bit of begging, Seokjin & Grace were going to make them uncles. In Jungkook’s case, he was finally going to be a big brother and big brother had taken to following his mother wherever she went. If Seokjin wasn’t there, Jungkook was.

Jimin and Taehyung were twins of loud support - kings of snacks, blankets, and foot rubs.

Hobi had been a bouncing ball of sunshine and was already buying clothes for a child whose gender nobody knew but they all had a feeling of what it would be. Namjoon immediately started researching and buying pregnancy books, DISPATCH catching him once and sending the media into a flurry of rumours. None of which were denied or talked about.

Yoongi had taken it upon himself to build the nursery and buy the furniture. That was his job and nobody was going to take it from him. He was also secretly making a lullaby album for the future.

And Seokjin - well he was a bit of a worrywort. Constantly worrying about everything, mostly if he would be a good father because he would be on the road most of the time and he was childish yet mature, strong yet weak and every moment was a worry. But he was excited, just like the staff were, just like the families were.

The first Bangtan baby.

And the first Bangtan baby was getting a taste of the song IDOL.

Grace had a microphone in one hand, the other hand on the side of her stomach where her child seemed to be hitting in time with the beat and in front of her on the table was a selection of snacks. The doctor had told her to snack daily on carrots, cheese, yoghurt and some apple wedges with strawberries and tangerines. So it was a constant process of munching on a baby carrot then sing her lines then munch on something else.

It wasn’t too bad. She’d rather be eating than sweating.

“How’s baby Bangtan doing?” Yoongi asked, coming over once the song was done to steal some tangerine segments.

“Baby Bangtan was enjoying IDOL and were dancing up a storm, if the pain in my ribs is any indication,” Grace sighed then frowned when she realised what Yoongi had stolen. Seeing the look on her face, Yoongi quickly sat down and began peeling the other tangerines. If there was one thing he was going to do, it would be not getting on Grace’s bad side. Her mood swings have been a bit unpredictable lately.

“Noona, I’ve got your black tea,” Jimin said as he placed the mug on the table before sitting beside his noona.

Tea - the only drink she could have twice a week. And it had to be black, not her normal drink which she missed.

“Ah here comes Joon with his daily pregnancy fact,” Yoongi muttered with a grin as he finished peeling one tangerine.

Namjoon ignored the smaller man and glared at Jimin for giggling. “25 weeks so 6 months, we’ve got 3 months to go. Baby should start developing blood vessels in their lungs and their nose will start to work as well,” he read off his phone where he had downloaded an app to keep track.

“We? What we? I think it’s Grace and I who have 3 months to go,” Seokjin wandered over as he pressed a towel to his skin to dry it from the sweat.

“No hyung, we all have three months to go until the bangtan baby is here,” Jungkook said while coming up behind the older man to give him a light slap to the neck before settling down beside Grace.

Grace could see Seokjin’s mouth begin to open with his traditional ‘ya!’ but Taehyung beat him to it, shoving his phone in front of his face. “Jin-hyung, what do you think of that t-shirt? I think we should all get one for when the baby comes. It says Team Bangtan Baby.”

“Team Bangtan Baby,” Hobi grinned as he took his place next to Jimin. “That kind of works. Can we use that when we start doing RUN BTS again? We can have baby-themed episodes. Who can change a nappy the quickest?”

“You won’t be able to do that hyung, you can’t stand the sight of sick so how are you going to deal with dirty nappies?” Jimin asked, pushing the mug of tea closer again.

“I can deal with it, I’ve changed since the military you know,” Hobi glared at the younger man while puffing up his chest.

“Hobi-hyung, you screamed and jumped when you bumped into that mannequin the other day,” Jungkook pointed out from where he lay his head against Grace’s stomach, grinning when he felt the light kicks.

“I’m feeling very ganged up on here,” Hobi muttered as he pulled out his phone and distracted himself.

“How are you feeling anyway, Gigi?” Namjoon asked, turning the attention back to the woman in question.

“Hemorrhoids are fun,” Grace said in the most deadpan way she could causing Yoongi to giggle behind his hand and for Namjoon to stutter.

“Boys! As much as it’s fun to torture your female member, we’ve got practice to get to,” Sung-deuk called from the other side of the room.

There was a collective groans and sighs as they all stood up. Grace smugly grinned, holding up her strawberries and leaning back against the chair that had been provided. “Go on boys, I’ve covered you for over a year. Now it’s your turn. I’ve got some baking to do here, only three months to go.”

Chapter Text

They were told labour could take anywhere from eight hours to nineteen when it came to the first child. It was going to be a long and painful process, where all you could do was wait and breathe and push when the time came to it. Grace’s mother took twelve hours to deliver Grace, and Seokjin’s mother took twenty hours. Either way, it was going to take a bit of time.

Grace had been in labour for 48 hours before the doctor delivered the news she could start pushing and by that point, all she wanted to do was sleep and eat. The no eating was the hardest because she really wanted a greasy cheeseburger with extra pickles, curly fries that were covered in cheese and a big cup of fizzy cola. Throughout her whole pregnancy, she had been careful with what she had eaten though being on the road with a long tour meant homecooked meals were out of the question.

But it was all worth it.

The delivery room was quiet now, the midwife in charge had done her final pieces of paperwork and clean up and checks and left the new family to it. The last fifty hours had nothing but machine beeps, the door being constantly opened with nurses and doctors and family, sounds of life going on outside and then the sounds of a baby being born.

Tired eyes glanced over to the large windows where Seokjin was cradling his first child close to his chest, pointing to the world that knew nothing of the important arrival. Life went on in Seoul, though the most important people had been on call and waiting. Six men had been by their phones in the midst of practice, waiting for the news that would make them drop everything. Bang PD had also been asking for regular updates and the grandparents had been in and out of the delivery suite all day.

Grace’s mother had been by her side as had Seokjin, the two never leaving and taking it in turns to stay up with Grace during her contractions. They two had worked well as a team of constant support - breathing, massages, walking Grace around to help get those contractions going, lifting legs, helping to make trips to the bathroom.

Now the grandparents were off for some well earned rest.

“How you feeling?”

Grace focused her eyes and it took her moment to answer, letting out a large yawn instead. “Tired, very sore. But happy.”

“I bet. That was probably worse than one of Hobi’s dance practices,” Seokjin commented. The baby in his arms fussed for a second and he paused, holding his breath until he and the baby relaxed.

“See, knew you’d be a natural,” grinned Grace as she shifted in the bed. She couldn’t wait for a hot bath and a hair wash and that greasy burger.

“I haven’t tried doing the nappies yet,” the new father sighed and sat down in the chair next to Grace who laughed softly and closed her eyes. “Why don’t you get some sleep? Me and the munchkin will be alright.”

“Muchkin? Nicknames already?” Her eyes were closed but she was still awake, grinning at the thought.

“I’m working on it,” Seokjin shrugged. “I’m not letting Jungkook beat me to it.”

“Uncle Kookie,” Grace muttered under her breath and Seokjin knew she was starting to fall asleep.

“Hmm, she’s certainly going to have her hands full with uncles and saying their names.” Of course, the baby in his arms didn’t care that she had six famous uncles, a famous father and a famous mother. Right now, baby was content to sleep in her father’s arms, completely unaware of what was going to be awaiting her when she woke up.

But she was finally here and Jin sighed happily, breathing in that new baby smell. His daughter was all his now and he’d be there every step of the way to introduce her to this new strange world and to the ARMY who were waiting patiently for her arrival.

The perfect representation of a couple fully in love, of six uncles who already adored her and of a fanbase of whom she was named after.

Chapter Text

Note: Because the lovely anon put me in a good mood today with their lovely message, here's a Bangtan Baby prompt early.

Someone had remarked that the HYBE building had become a child’s centre (and promptly fired for it whether it was a nice remark or a nasty one). The floor belonging to BTS where they had their studios and common area had been dedicated to the youngest member of the team and it wasn’t Jungkook.

The giggles of a six month year old baby echoed down the hallway, signalling to other staff that the daughter of Seokjin & Grace was in the building. BTS were preparing for another comeback, one that Grace would be present for after being absent for the last one due to her pregnancy with said giggling baby.

And said giggling baby was now in the arms of her Uncle Kookie.

“Come on, bb,” Jungkook said as he carried his niece towards the common area, the nickname falling from his lips easily. When Grace announced her pregnancy, the baby had been nicknamed the Bangtan Baby or Baby Bangtan. And when her name had been announced, Jungkook had taken to calling her ‘bb’. Baby Bangtan, Bangtan Baby, Baby, Baby Bora.

“Uncle Kookie has got a fun activity for us to enjoy,” he added as he slipped the baby into the high chair provided. Kim Bora looked a good mix of her parents, but her eyes were all her grandmothers. Hazel with flecks of green, wide and almost bambi like. And she even had some freckles spreading across her nose.

Jungkook spread a piece of paper across the tray of the highchair and squeezed out some washable paint onto a small paper plate. Purples, blues, whites and reds. She looked at it curiously, still very much the quiet and serious baby that she was unless someone got her laughing.

“Let’s make a painting for ARMY,” the maknae gently picking up her tiny hand and pressed it into the small amount of purple and pressed onto the paper. “And we’ll go for this colour as well,” he added as he pressed her free hand to the blue.

Maybe it was the fact that Namjoon hung out with her the most lately but it was clear his high IQ was starting to rub off on her. Her two tiny hands carefully pressed against the paper then back into the paint then the paper. Joy took cover and she happily slapped her painted hands against the paper, Jungkook adding his own fingerprint in white paint to bits she had missed.

“Waaa clever bb!” Jungkook clapped. Baby Bora copied him, stopping when the paint splashed onto her face and she stared up at him with her bambi eyes as if to say ‘how did that happen?’

“And that’s the downside,” her uncle laughed and carefully pulled her tiny body out of the highchair. “Let’s get you cleaned up before your mum kills me.”

Later that day, ARMY would be presented with the finger painting from their tiny fan with Jungkook’s handwriting: To ARMY, from Bora.

Chapter Text

If Yoongi was going to be completely honest, he had been saving ideas for the nursery ever since Grace had announced her pregnancy to the team. He had gone into complete baby mode, which was a surprise to even him, and his phone had been filled with photos of what he could do for the nursery. Or nurseries since a mini one would be made up at HYBE for the future arrival.

And while he could pay the money and hire professionals, he didn’t install bidets back at the old dorm for nothing and he wasn’t known at the time as the BTS DIY man for any old reason. Hence the reason Grace found herself one afternoon, sitting in one of the many conference rooms at HYBE with a table full of snacks and catalogs and one of the big screens turned on and connected to Yoongi’s laptop.

Obviously he had taken his role very seriously.

“So, what are you thinking about for the theme?” Yoongi asked, typing into the Naver search bar the keywords ‘baby furniture’ and seeing what popped up. It wasn’t like they could take a wander down into town without causing a media frenzy.

“I’m thinking maybe a moon theme.”

Yoongi snorted at the response, glancing over to the woman at the table who was currently divulging in her current craving: chocolate biscuits.

“Of course you are. So I’m guessing neutral, clouds, a moon spinning thing, white furniture?” Yoongi asked, clicking through the various links that were provided by the search. One website offering matching furniture sets of the baby crib, changing table, wardrobe and even a rocking chair.

“Pretty much, I’ve got some bits already like the mobile which has a whale on it,” Grace flicked through her phone to find the product in question which she sent to Yoongi’s phone.

“Okay that’s adorable.”

Grace grinned at the gummy smile on Yoongi’s face and broke off half of her biscuit, handing it over to the man who was her brother in everything but blood and who would be her closest confidant during her pregnancy.

“You know I’m putting this all together right? I’m not letting Namjoon or Jin-hyung anywhere near the furniture. I’ve seen them try to put together a bookcase or whatever it was,” Yoongi referred to that one RUN!BTS episode. “Baby Bangtan will be secure in what I’m putting together.”

“Just don’t put a crib in your studio because I don’t want my baby listening to you shout shibal every five seconds,” Grace paused and glanced at the man in question who was busy adding things to the online shopping cart. “Yoongi, don’t you dare.”

Chapter Text

A simple text message arrived in the group chat at around 10am, startling some out of their sleep and startling some who hadn’t bothered to go to bed yet.

Kim Bora.
Arrived at 4am this morning, April 27th.
You have an hour to get here.

It prompted a sometimes slow moving BTS to throw clothes on, brush teeth, quickly drink coffee, grab what gifts they had organised and high tailed it over to Asan Medical Center. It took twenty minutes from HYBE to get to the hospital, security guards already stationed at the back entrance that was normally used by celebrities.

While they were respectful of where they were and they tried to be completely quiet, Seokjin couldn’t help but grin at the noise of footsteps coming down the hallway towards their private room. He hadn’t expected them to come so quickly but then the uncles of baby bangtan had been on tenterhooks the moment the first message to the group chat was sent:

Action stations! Baby bangtan has started its descent.

Typical of Seokjin.

The baby in question was fast asleep in her mother’s arms, completely unaware of the chaos outside her room. She had just been bathed, fed, nappy changed and out for the count. And while Seokjin changed his daughter with deft hands, Grace had taken a shower with the help of a nurse and her mother.

Now they were ready for the boys.

Namjoon was through the door first, as expected of the leader. Yoongi next, then Hobi and finally the maknae line. All loud at first but soon shut up by a glare from the new father. “Awww,” Jimin cooed as he finally spotted the baby in the arms of their female member.

Grace grinned, taking a quick glance at her daughter before she slipped her into the waiting arms of Yoongi. He was the third eldest, so he got first dibs on the new baby.

“Waa noona, she looks like you,” Taehyung stared at the baby from the shoulder of his hyung who looked absolutely besotted with the tiny thing in his embrace.

“She looks like hyung as well, I think she’s got his lips,” Jungkook added as he took a quick glance but made his way straight to Grace. As much as he wanted to see his new baby sister, his substitute mother was his main priority.

“Her eyes are her grandmother’s though,” Seokjin added as he helped Hobi put all the gifts on the table and gratefully took the takeaway cup of coffee.

Bora was passed to Namjoon then, who protested but soon melted when he got a good sniff at the new baby smell. “She’s going to have so many songs written about her,” the leader muttered, taking another quick sniff at the new baby smell then passed her onto Hobi.

She chose this moment to open her eyes causing Hobi to react with a loud gasp, causing said eyes to stare at him. “She does have her grandmother’s eyes. Oh but they look like Jungkook’s when he was young. Come look at this.”

It was interesting to watch five men fight for prime position to look at the new baby, who stared at them in the most deadpan way a few hours old baby could. Seokjin quickly pulled out his phone, tapping on the camera app.

“Hey uncles,” he called out and grinned when all six heads popped up causing Grace to laugh from her bed. “Cheese.”

Chapter Text

Chaos rained in the practice room of Bangtan Sonyeondan.

So much so that their choreographer took one look at them and rolled his eyes, throwing up his hands in disbelief but still grinning. Whenever the bangtan baby made her presence, whatever they had planned for the day, was out of the window and gone. Not that staff minded as they were equally besotted with the now one-year-old.

The one-year-old in question had taken to crawling everywhere and causing absolute mischief, making her father worry if he was getting wrinkles already on his handsome face.

Tiny hazel eyes watched from the safety of Sejin’s arms as her parents as well as her six uncles lined up to do the choreography of Mic Drop. The first beats came in and in the mirror, Grace could see the little one wiggle her legs to match the music being pumped out of the speakers.

Discreetly, she caught the eye of the woman who usually filmed their Bangtan Bombs and she nodded in the direction of her baby. Once the woman caught on, a camera discreetly pointed to cover their dance practice as well as the new baby.

Bora was at the age now where she could start walking any minute. Some attempts had been made at home on soft carpet and her daughter was interested, especially when Seokjin waved a snack in her face but it just wasn’t happening.

However, music must have been the answer.

The moment they got to ‘Did you see my bag,’ Bora was kicking out her legs so much that Sejin let her stand on the ground. Large hands carefully took hold of tiny fingers as she stumbled on tiny feet.

No one said anything, as BTS continued their usual practice.

It was Namjoon who spotted her first.

She was taking very small but steady steps with Sejin right behind her, ready to catch her if she fell. But stubborn like her parents and like her uncles, Bora made enough progress to grab onto Namjoon’s pants and hold on.

“Well who knew it would be Mic Drop that would get you moving,” Hobi laughed as Namjoon picked her up, holding her up high for everyone to see.

“Obviously a rap line fan,” Yoongi grinned at his hyung who rolled his eyes but couldn’t wipe the proud smile from his face.

“At least it wasn’t baepsae,” Grace laughed as she came over to press kisses all over her daughter’s face, causing her to giggle.

Chapter Text

Seokjin wanted to boast that he was a good father. He had taken to parenting as if he had been doing it his whole life, which considering who he helped raise then that would be correct. Dirty nappies, bottles, food, the baby was feeling ill, he was there all for it and ready for it. Vomit explosion - he was there with the cleanup. The baby was not well - he was there with the medication.

Another thing he was good at, getting the baby to sleep. However, tonight his daughter was proving that maybe her father didn’t know everything or could do everything.

She had been fussy all day, slowly getting over a typical cold which had left the normal happy baby feeling miserable. No amount of comfort from her uncles, especially Uncle Kookie, or even her grandparents or even her mother was soothing her.

“Ah my Bora, you’re upsetting your appa here,” Seokjin soothed as he carried her around the living room, curtains still open to overlook Seoul at night. Even Min-Ji let out a small meow at the upset child.

“See, even Min-Ji is worried about you,” Seokjin turned so the little one could see the large white cat spread across the back of the couch staring at them. That didn’t seem to work either.

Bringing out his phone, he pulled up his music app. He typed in his choice and pressed play, connecting the phone to the bluetooth speaker.

The instrumental version of Magic Shop quietly played in the background, Seokjin humming along to it as he swayed on the spot. If there was one thing his daughter loved, that was music and if she was anything like her uncles, music was going to be the best stress relief for her.

“So show me,” Seokjin quietly sung as he glanced down, spotting the small hazel eyes finally begin to close. “I’ll show you. So show me, I’ll show you. Show you.”

By the end of the song, Bora was fast asleep in her father’s arms.

“ARMY is always the right choice when it comes to songs,” her father mused as he turned towards the nursery.

Chapter Text

When ARMY got the notification that Jin was doing a rare Eat Jin live, the views were already up in the millions by the time Jin got himself settled in front of the camera. It was obvious he wasn’t at HYBE but possibly in a hotel room, given the decor behind him. BTS were currently preparing for another comeback and Dispatch had caught six of them flying out of Incheon a week ago, Grace & Jin following but more discreetly considering they were bringing their daughter with them.

“Hello ARMY!” Jin yelled, but a bit quieter than usual.

“I’ve missed you and it’s dinner time so I thought why not do an Eat Jin and come see you all,” he added as he lifted up his plates to show off his steak, noodles and other pieces he had ordered. He quickly cut a slice of his steak and shoved it into his mouth, his eyes looking at the comments flying in - how were the boys, where were they, how was Grace, how was Bora?

There was a gentle knock at the door causing Jin to glance over, pause then grin.

“Ah you were wondering about Bora. Well, someone decided to wake up and say hello,” Jin pushed his plate far away from where he was sitting and gratefully accepted his daughter from her tired mother.

“I’m going to take a shower then order food, you good over here?” Grace asked from behind the camera as she handed over Bora’s baby food.

“Better now,” Jin nodded and a quick glance to the camera saw the comments going bananas at the appearance of a rarely seen bangtan baby and Grace’s appearance. He mentioned it to Grace who grinned but only showed her heart fingers to the camera before disappearing to the bathroom.

“Well, eat Jin with special guest Kim Bora who woke up hungry,” Jin shifted his daughter to his other thigh and with deft fingers, opened up the tiny jar of food. “What do we have today? Cheese and tomato pasta stars,” he read the label of the pureed baby food which looked less than appetising considering he was just having steak.

ARMY must have laughed themselves silly at the face he pulled but none the less, he spooned a small amount and turned to feed his daughter. Like her father, she pulled a less than appealing face and refused to eat it.

“Ah you want to be like Uncle Kookie and be a problem,” Jin laughed but he knew he needed to get her to eat before Grace came out of her shower. He saw one comment suggest Jin try it and if he liked it, then Bora would eat it.

‘Things I do for my daughter,’ he thought but gamely went for it. He licked the spoon, his daughter’s hazel eyes watching him the entire time, and let out a fake ‘yummmm’ as he cleaned the spoon off.

It took another attempt or two but soon his daughter had eaten the entire jars contents and managed to cover her mouth in it as well. “Now you look like your father,” Grace laughed when she saw her daughter and Jin sighed, handing over Bora to her mother.

“I’ve done my job and now I’m going to cover my mouth in my food.”

Sure enough, ARMY was treated to a selfie from Jin whose mouth was covered in noodle sauce and steak sauce.

Chapter Text

Later, when Bora is a teenager and is asked what is one of her favourite memories of her uncles, she’ll often bring up the memory she had as a very young child with Uncle Joon. She was about three or four years old and had been left with Uncle Joon while her parents went on their honeymoon. Well, not left completely - she had been left in the care of her grandparents with her uncles on babysitting duties.

One of the uncles had been chosen for said babysitting duties and had taken his niece out for a nice walk around the Seoul Forest Park. It was a cool winter day so he had wrapped Bora up and settled her on his strong shoulders, two managers and a bodyguard following behind. Namjoon was masked up but ARMY knew any member of BTS just from their walk.

He decided on the trek which would lead them around the lake and would take about an hour, enough time to wear Bora out and enough time to give her enough nature for the day. She was a very inquisitive child, asking questions about everything and everything and Uncle Joon would always be her go-to. He used to read to her as a baby and that had continued through to now.

“Uncle Joon,” a quiet voice came from at the top of his head.

“Yes, Bora?”

“Why do trees grow so tall?”

Namjoon glanced towards the native Korean trees that lined the path. The small talk behind them of the HYBE team didn’t deter Bora from her question and even for her young age she knew why there needed to be a team of people always with them.

“Well, trees need sunlight. So if there are big brother trees who are tall, little sister tree can’t get enough sunlight so she has to grow and grow until she is tall enough to get the sunlight. Then once she gets the sunlight she can go and multiply.”

He felt tiny hands tighten on the beanie hat on top of his head.

“So when do I become tall like uncles?”

“Don’t worry Bora, you’ll catch up to us soon.”

There was a pause and then a soft giggle that always warmed their hearts. “Okay, Uncle Joon. Just wait for me.”

Chapter Text

It was the sound of crying that woke Grace up. Having lived with seven men who weren’t known for being quiet elephants, she was used to sleeping light and ever since having Bora, there was the constant need to be somewhat awake in case anything happened anything. The baby monitor was right next to her ear on the bedside table, the cries of her daughter having woke her up.

With a slight groan, Grace flung the covers off her and made her way towards the nursery. It was down the hallway to the second door, right next to the bathroom. There her daughter lay in the crib, screaming at the top of her lungs as her little arms and legs waved around in frustration. She clearly wasn’t having a good night.

“My Bora, what’s the matter?” her mother cooed as she reached down, bringing the three month old to her chest. Grace quickly checked her bottom, which was clean, and she had been fed over an hour before they went to bed so she wasn’t hungry. “Did you have a bad dream?”

No amount of comforting or trying to get her back to sleep in her crib was helping the baby. For a quiet and serious baby who rarely cried over anything, this was completely unusual. So Grace carried her out of the nursery and into the bedroom she shared with Jin. Of course, he was wide awake, lamp on the bedside table on and the TV on low because if their daughter was awake then so were they.

“I think she had a bad dream,” Grace said as she handed their daughter over to Jin to lay on his chest.

“Sounds like she has,” he winced at the screams but started to smooth a hand up and down the baby’s back. “Maybe she dreamt that you had run out of milk.”

“Maybe she dreamt that you had eaten her favourite snack,” Grace countered with a grin, settling down back into bed. She reached over and ran a finger over her daughter’s tear covered cheek. “Poor baba. We’re here, don’t worry.”

With the sound of her parent's voices and the low volume of the TV in the background, the rise and fall of her father’s chest underneath her chubby cheek, it didn’t take long for Bora to go back to dreamland.

Chapter Text

April 27th - Bora’s first birthday.

Being Korean, it was expected of them to do the traditional Dojanchi celebration so Bora could pick her future. They planned something small with both sets of grandparents and close family, with the traditional hanboks, seaweed soup and rice cakes. They had laid a book, money, food, thread, a BTS album and a paintbrush before her - Grace knew what Seokjin wanted Bora to go for, she personally wanted her daughter to go for the book.

Of course, because of whose daughter she was, she had one hand on the BTS album and one hand on the food.

But for her actual birthday, they had planned a party at HYBE so everyone could celebrate her birthday. Of course, it meant nearly everyone and anyone had been invited, including Bang PD, CL, IU, Tomorrow by Together, and so many more. And being Grace, it gave her the perfect excuse to go all out for her daughter’s birthday.

It took four months of planning but the top floor of HYBE had been transformed into a nursery rhyme world. There was a large cake decorated with vintage images of the cow jumping over the moon, Humpty Dumpty and the like. The decor consisted of vintage inspired jars of fresh flowers, with themed elements added to the table like a mini Humpty Dumpty sat on the edge of the vase and there was a little grandfather clock with a cat on it.

The ceiling was covered in pastel materials with stars hanging down and paper lanterns as well. On one wall, there was a large backdrop in white with Bora’s name in purple, small and large nursery rhyme figures around it with balloons tied together to look like clouds with stars hanging down.

The event company had done an amazing job, including the caterers who had gone above and beyond to create food around the theme.

The birthday girl in question was having a great time having people carry her around to look at everything. She was dressed in a light purple dress with fairy rings - her request.

“She’s having fun,” Hobi laughed as he snacked on one of the themed biscuits as he sat with the rest of BTS, minus Jungkook who had the birthday girl sat in his lap as the rest of the children sat around the lady dressed as Mother Goose to tell nursery rhymes. “And I think Jungkook is enjoying himself as well.”

Yoongi snorted, taking a seat next to Namjoon who was videoing the youngest members of the group. “That’s because he’s a big kid at heart. Plus he’s been talking non-stop about this.”

Jimin and Taehyung had wandered over to join the maknae, causing Bora to abandon her post and sit in Jimin’s lap. Jungkook pouted and frowned, causing Taehyung to grin and give him a slight nudge.

“That’s because he’s Bora’s brother in everything but blood,” Namjoon noted and took a quick glance at the parents who had chosen this moment to join them at the table. “You guys look knackered.”

“You know, it’s one thing talking to celebrities in a formal setting because you’ve slept in that morning and you’ve had to do nothing other than let stylists make you up and sip champagne,” Jin started and held up his vintage tea cup. “This time I’m the parent who has been up all night with his one year old and I’m having coffee.”

Grace hid her grin and reached over, patting Jin on the shoulder. “At least you got an hour’s nap in until she had a poo explosion on your lap.”

“And where were you?” Yoongi asked, arching an eyebrow at the female member who matched his expression. “I was here, dealing with the party since 7am, thank you very much. Plus, I dealt with the aftermath of the explosion since I got home in time. What were you doing? Sleeping?”

Yoongi glanced away, saying nothing, making Namjoon and Hobi laugh.

“Yeah, thought so,” Grace rolled her eyes but she was smiling, glancing over to the four youngest. “At least they're enjoying themselves. Good thing we’re only doing this every milestone birthday.”

“Won’t be long till she’s 5,” Namjoon commented causing those at the table to stare at him. “Sorry.”

“Can I enjoy my daughter being one please before you ruin it with the fact she’s going to be five soon and then a teenager? I already found a grey hair this morning,” Jin commented, turning his head to Yoongi who wrinkled his nose at him.

“I’m surprised you haven’t turned grey already. You’ve been dealing with Jungkook since forever,” Yoongi remarked then found his hands full when said boy decided to sit on him.

“Ah that’s what you get,” Jin grinned as he took back his daughter from Taehyung as the rest joined them. “Have fun?”

“I never knew about Tom Thumb,” Taehyung suddenly exclaimed. “Why did no one tell me about that one?”

“Because your not a baby and don’t need nursery rhymes?” Hobi asked, nudging at Jungkook to get off Yoongi but losing the battle against the muscle bunny.

“But I will one day when it’s my turn. How am I meant to know what nursery rhymes to tell my kids?”

“Oh god can we not go down the road of everyone else having kids,” Grace groaned as she covered her eyes. “I can just about handle you lot and my own.”

“Hey!” came a collective cry from everyone including her partner, her daughter silent on this one.

Chapter Text

Trying to organise a trip out with eight members of BTS, one child, a team of bodyguards, three managers, one small camera crew and one make-up artist (because you know) was a logistical nightmare. Especially since it had mentioned it casually that Seokjin and Grace were going to take their child out to the zoo in Seoul, everyone had decided to come.

So began the mission of the Bangtan Day Out their managers had called it.

They didn’t want to pull strings and do the ‘BTS want to come to the zoo, can you close it down for us’ but with the amount of people in the team required, a call went ahead for them to come and view the zoo just for their pleasure.

Considering Bora was now two years old and had never been properly to a zoo, especially in her hometown of Seoul. Also her parents didn’t need everyone gawking at her in such a public setting they couldn’t quite control.

“Okay,” Hobi stood at the entrance to the zoo with his hands on his hips. He had been deemed the most responsible one and had been in charge of tickets and the map. “Let’s not cause too much trouble,” he added with a pointed look at the maknae line. “Let’s not get lost,” he continued as he glanced at Namjoon. “And let’s make sure Bora has a good time,” this time he looked at Jin and Grace as well as Yoongi who had the two year old on his shoulders.

The little one had picked Yoongi to be her ride for the day.

That was a privilege in itself and the man in question waved away concern for his shoulder. If he got too tired, he knew Jungkook would jump in.

“Ready?” Hobi asked, getting nods from his members and then the crew.

“Onwards!”

“Hobi-hyung, you’re in a fun mood today,” Jimin commented from beside Jungkook who had his camera ready.

“Well it’s not everyday we get to enjoy a fun day out with our niece is it?”

Comebacks, albums, tours, performances, photoshoots and the like tended to take up most of the time ever since they came back from military service and then there was a pause for at least Grace to go through her pregnancy comfortably until she had been ready to join them.

There was a break between their last comeback and the next one, giving plenty of space to bring Bora along for day trips out. Hence the reason for the family trip out to see the animals. Even though Hobi was in charge of the map, Taehyung suggested they should visit the animals that represented themselves which then started an argument over whose animal was better.

“But Taehyung is both a tiger and a bear, which is unfair,” Jimin pointed out as Jungkook pouted. “And I’m a bunny and sometimes kangaroo so how is that going to work?”

“And Seokjin-hyung is both a hamster and a llama,” Namjoon helpfully added as they walked in the direction of the lions.

“Poor Yoongi-hyung isn’t going to see any cats today,” Jungkook butted in.

“Technically, lions are felines,” Yoongi sent a glare to the maknae who grinned at him. Tiny fingers tightened against the bucket hat he had chosen to wear, making his head tilt. “What’s wrong Bora?”

“Mama,” the tiny voice said as a tiny finger pointed in the direction of the sign that said ‘Wolf & Fox Enclosure' with a large fox and wolf on either side of it.

There was a brief pause before Seokjin went into dad mode, proudly settling his daughter on his own shoulders from Yoongi’s while boasting how clever she was just as Namjoon puffed up his chest, also proudly stating how she got her intelligence from him.

“Looking pretty smug there,” Hobi whispered to Grace who had said nothing during the whole thing. “It might have nothing to do with the fact that I’ve been teaching her about foxes lately,” Grace whispered back.

Hobi cackled and held out his hand for his female member to hit in return. Never go against a mother and a smart baby.

Chapter Text

The mobile with the whale spun slowly, having been set in motion half an hour ago and the night light made little stars twinkle against the light cream wall. Outside, Seoul’s nightlife carried as usual even in the heavy rain and Grace knew people would be heading home from work, heading to work, going on a night out or if you were BTS, you might be waking up to go on a live.

However, her nights had changed as the album Yoongi had created as a present for the birth of the first Bangtan Baby played in the background. Traditional lullabies in piano and guitar, both played by the well known producer, had been a welcome relief when the baby didn’t want to sleep.

Now the new baby was old enough to sleep in a crib on her own, in her own room, decorated with moons and stars. Bora was still awake, dressed in a pale yellow onesie, resting a chubby cheek against her mother’s shoulder. Hazel eyes were tired but still open.

Twinkle Twinkle Little Star began to play in piano as Grace shifted her daughter, gently swaying the two of them as she quietly sang along. If there was one thing her daughter loved, it was music and someone singing.

Finally, tired hazel eyes closed and with now practised ease, Grace set her daughter down in her crib and pulled the blanket over the little one. She let the album play out quietly and left the door open just a bit, heading back towards the living room where Seokjin was keeping an eye on Jungkook’s live.

“She go down okay?” he asked, opening up the blanket for Grace to climb under.

“Nothing a little bit of lullabies and Yoongi’s album couldn’t handle.”

“Well, thank god for second favourite uncle,” Seokjin grinned as he handed over the mug of tea he made before.

“Whose her favourite?” Grace asked, arching an eyebrow at her partner.

She didn’t get a verbal response but a nod in the direction of the TV where Jungkook was on screen, showing the recent toy bunny he had bought Bora especially.

“Ah, that’s not her favourite uncle though. That’s her older brother.”

Chapter Text

It became a beloved video of ARMY’s the moment it had been uploaded. A BANGTAN BOMB of the guys, surrounding a very amused baby Bora as they tried to feed her. Her father was on stage doing rehearsal and her mother had left them in charge so she could take a nap. Being parents to a young one while on tour meant you had to accept help when it came along and to nap when you could or in Seokjin’s case, you rehearsed.

“How is this meant to work?” Jungkook asked as he opened the container of baby food and handed it to Jimin who had drawn the short straw on being the one to feed their niece.

“How do you mean?” Namjoon asked, as he tied the bib around her little neck and earned a small smile in return.

“Do we need to do some special trick to get her to eat? I mean, that doesn’t look appetising,” Jungkook clarified as he nodded in the direction of the jar he had just opened.

“Soon find out,” Hobi laughed as he got the cleaning products ready to clean the high chair and the baby cleaning products for the little one.

Taehyung was more than content to watch. He was ridiculously good at dealing with kids but not ones that were going to eat what looked like pureed tomatoes.

Jimin carefully took a small spoonful of the food and held it to Bora’s mouth but she refused to open it. After every attempt had been made by each member, it came down to Yoongi who had wandered over from an interview.

“Bora,” he said and waited till her eyes met his. “Here comes the aeroplane,” he continued then made aeroplane noises, swishing the spoon around so her eyes were captivated and as if by magic, her mouth opened and she swallowed the food.

“Just keep doing that,” Yoongi smirked and handed the spoon to Jimin. “Or try choo choo the train. She likes that as well.”

As if nothing had happened, Yoongi wandered off to go and join his hyung on stage for his rehearsal. And the rest were left to play aeroplane with a hungry Bora.

Chapter Text

Namjoon settled the four month old baby in his lap, tucking the knitted blanket around the tiny legs. Grace had fed baby Bora an hour ago and she had gone down for a nap but Uncle Joon had heard the small whimpers of his niece from across the room. It was rare to get Bora on her own without someone interrupting and Namjoon savoured every moment he had.

Grace and Seokjin had decided to bring up their daughter like Grace had been brought up, in a mixed household of British and Korean. And so Namjoon had bought the new baby her very first set of English books for home and another set for the studio which had been Grace’s but now belonged to Bora as well. A crib, changing table and a small bookcase had been set up in there.

A set of Winnie the Pooh books had taken pride of place on the first shelf of the bookcase.

“Shall we get started?” Namjoon asked, holding the baby close to him with one hand and the other hand holding open the book.

Hazel eyes met dark brown ones and he earned a smile in return.

“Okay,” grinned Namjoon, chuffed that he got a smile out of the normally serious baby.

“Once upon a time, a very long time ago now, about last Friday, Winnie-the-Pooh lived in a forest all by himself under the name of Sanders,” Namjoon started. If anyone was watching, they would have seen the tiny baby behind held by a large man, both with their eyes on the page. And both would barely get to the end of chapter one, falling asleep after reading about the bears adventures in one hundred acre woods.

Grace found them an hour later, still fast asleep. She quietly pulled out her phone and took a photo, sending it to the group chat with a purple heart emoji. Grace gently pulled the book away from Namjoon’s hand and bookmarked the page, slipping the book back onto the shelf and then turning to the two. The knitted blanket soon covered tiny feet and thick thighs.

Winnie-the-Pooh could wait for another day.

Chapter Text

Fans were more than surprised and shocked when Big Hit announced that everyone’s favourite series, RUN BTS, would be coming back to their screens within a month's time of the announcement. Accompanying the episodes would be the usual BANGTAN BOMB episodes, showing the behind-the-scenes chaos that was pretty normal for the group.

The second episode saw record numbers thanks to one particular guest and one particular behind the scenes episode.

The one and a half year old, dressed in a purple jumpsuit, was running around on tiny feet after finally finding her footing and charging around like her headstrong father. She would take no prisoners, demand everyone’s attention but she was charming with it. She bumped into everyone’s legs as if they were in her way, rather than try and step around and off in the corner her parents watched with amusement.

“How does she not tire out,” Yoongi sighed as he sat down next to Grace who shrugged.

“She takes after her father’s unending energy when it comes to the maknae line,” she added as she gave Seokjin’s knee a nudge. He frowned at her yet couldn’t argue over the fact that she was completely right.

“She matches Hobi’s energy as well,” Seokjin mentioned as he sat still when the hair stylist came over to fix his hair after slouching against the couch.

The second ball of energy that belonged to Bangtan was currently sat on the floor, having found a tube of bubbles to blow at the first ball of energy. She became fascinated as they drifted around the room then gave chase as Jimin popped one of them.

“Here we go again,” Grace softly laughed. She wasn’t worried about her daughter running around like an utter madman, knowing there was six uncles ready to jump in as well as the Big Hit staff and the team behind RUN!BTS as well.

It became a game then - Hobi blowing out the bubbles, Bora giving chase to them, Jimin and now Taehyung popping them if she took too long to get to them and Namjoon getting out of the way of the chaos.

“Their crazy,” the leader said as he joined the others, content not to add to the normal chaos.

Jungkook came back in time to see, what he considered to be, his little sister running around chasing the bubbles and his two hyungs popping them. Without making a sound, he picked up the little one and settled her on his shoulders so she could reach them before Jimin and Taehyung could.

With his speed, albeit a bit slowed down for the safety of the little one, Bora managed to get to all the bubbles.

“10 points,” Seokjin called from where they all sat and joined in on the clapping that was started by Grace and Yoongi.

Jungkook gave his normal bunny grin which perfectly matched the one from the little one on top of his head.

Chapter Text

The first present to arrive after Bora had been born was from the BT21 team. They hadn’t sent loads as Grace had expected when the gift came to the door but rather one singular item which soon became a favourite for Bora.

Right now, the two year old had her arms wrapped tightly around her RJ pillow. They were off on another plane journey, having gone through the back entrance to avoid the usual press and had joined the rest of BTS in first class.

Bora had been carried safely, along with RJ, in her father’s arms as she talked to him about the character. The pillow had been tucked in her arms and she hadn’t let go, even as they got to the private lounge and even as they got onto the plane.

A quick glance over chairs from her uncles to see if she was still awake but she was fast asleep, blanket wrapped around her with her favourite stuffed animal by her side. She loved all the other BT21 characters but when it came to her father’s character, no one could beat him. She had everything RJ - pyjamas to match her father, a little backpack, a little hat. BT21 had even brought out a line of RJ for her especially.

“One of these days, she’s going to look back at these photos and wonder why she even liked RJ,” Jungkook muttered from somewhere behind them.

“My character doesn’t even get a look in anymore,” Grace laughed as she returned to her seat from using the bathroom and checking in on everyone else. “It’s always going to be RJ, Kook. Might as well get used to it. Even when she’s a teenager.”

The bunny pout was full on display but Grace shrugged, knowing her daughter better than anyone. She had dealt with the tantrums when it came to even trying to wash the stuffed animal and no replacement would do compared to RJ pillow.

Her father was no better.

He had his own RJ pillow next to him, using it as an armrest rather than an actual pillow as he played with something on his phone as his daughter slept next to him.

“Hmm?” he asked, glancing up when Grace gave him a nudge.

“Kook is pouting about RJ.”

Seokjin glanced over at the youngest member and smirked, giving his own shrug. “What can I say? RJ is better. Should have known that all along when you saw the sales figures.”

He got a slap on the back of the neck from the youngest and was about to retaliate when he got another slap from his partner. Seokjin whipped round, ready to protest when she gave him another one while pointing at their daughter.

“Shush, she’s asleep.”

Seokjin pouted and settled down in his chair, pulling RJ closer.

“He started it.”

Chapter Text

He was known as the third parent of BTS. The second father of an unruly bunch of five men.

The third eldest and the quietest, even if he did add his own chaotic energy to everything when he wanted to. And right now, he was Uncle Sug.

Bora hadn’t quite managed to pronounce Suga just yet and Yoongi was even more difficult. Agust D was going to be a nightmare though she could pronounce the D quite well. So for now, he was Uncle Sug. However, whenever Bora’s eyes landed on him, she always yelled “Sug!”

Though the rest of BTS hadn’t fared any better other than Namjoon.

J-Hope became Hop, Namjoon was Joon, Jimin was JM, Taehyung was Ta and Jungkook got Kook or sometimes Kookie if she got her words out.

There was never any uncle before their names.

But it was cute, especially when she was toddling around on little legs, the princess of Big Hit and yelling names when she saw the right person. There had been many heart attacks when she stumbled on Bang PD and she had toddled very quickly, all the while yelling “Bang!”

So Uncle Sug was on babysitting duty.

The little one was content to sit on his lap as he played around with his sounds, seeing what worked for the next song that took his fancy. She wasn’t expected to stay for long as her parents were around, doing various bits of recordings as was the rest of the group. He only got away with babysitting duties as he had plucked her up before anyone else.

While the mix was playing around in the background, Yoongi slowly began to peel one of his many tangerines. There was a constant supply of them now as another fan had made an appearance if the excited jumping and squeals on his knee were any indication.

“Thank god you take after me with your appreciation for fruit,” Yoongi chuckled as he peeled away one segment, checked it for pips and then handed it over to his niece.

She stared at it for a moment, as if her tiny mind was trying to figure out what she had just been given. Yoongi was about to question further when she jammed the fruit into her mouth, leaving a trail of saliva and tangerine juice over her fingers and chin.

“Now you look like your Dad,” grinned Yoongi as he grabbed some tissues.

The two of them shared the tangerine between them as he played around with his mixing station, adding sounds here and there when Bora kicked with joy over. With the warmth of the room and the smell of his vanilla candle and tangerines, Bora soon fell asleep against his chest.

“See, this is why I’m the best uncle. You just fall asleep with me so easily,” he slowly got out of his chair and over to the popup crib that he had secreted away. “I’m sure the herd will be coming soon so enjoy your nap, Bora.”

Chapter Text

It had been difficult when Bora had reached two years old and school had become an option. Grace and Seokjin didn’t have the luxury that Grace’s parents did of being home more often so they could teach their daughter a mixed curriculum of British/Korean education. And as much as Grace’s mother had offered, the decision came down to it they would send Bora to an international pre-school and see how she went.

This meant their careers of being BTS could work around a pre-school schedule and vice versa though parental guilt always happened when one of them dropped Bora off to her class. It was cute, however, to watch her toddle off with a little bag, excited to start the day by playing with her classmates and learning new things.

It was Grace’s turn to pick her up from her full day of preschool with a manager by her side. Luckily the school had been accommodating with the fact that Kim Bora’s parents were two parts of BTS and their privacy was paramount, especially to other students and parents.

“My Bora, what’s wrong?” Grace asked, a little shocked that her daughter had come out of her class in complete tears.

“We had a little accident with a toy hammer,” the teacher explained as she showed the little plaster on Bora’s knee. “Only a tiny cut but I think Bora’s having a little off day as well.”

Grace gently cleared Bora’s tiny chubby cheeks of the tears and picked her up, holding her close. “Poor baby. Let’s go and see appa and Uncle Kookie. Their cooking up a storm of your favourites.”

With a bow to the teacher and thanks for the bit of homework which was a book to read, Grace carried her daughter out to the blacked out SUV. The manager looked surprised at how upset the little bangtan member was, considering how happy she usually was.

“We’ve got a booboo, don’t we?” Grace cooed as she buckled up her daughter into the car seat and pressed a kiss to the bandaid. “Don’t worry bb, the booboos will go away once appa sees you.”

As predicted, Seokjin went into complete drama queen mode the moment he saw the bandaid which entertained his daughter, causing her to giggle at her dad’s antics.

“My princess! What enemy do I need to fight?” he dramatically said, using the wooden spoon as a sword.

“A toy hammer,” Grace offered as an answer as she put away the small pair of shoes and emptied the little bag.

Seokjin faltered for a moment then nodded, holding the spoon high. “A toy hammer it is!”

“Hyung, you look so funny,” Jungkook laughed as he held his baby sister in his arms, pressing his cheek to hers. “I don’t think you can fight against a toy hammer.”

“Listen brat, why are you here anyway? I don’t remember giving birth to you.”

Grace frowned, taking the spoon off Seokjin and giving him a little whack on the arm which made him yelp. “You didn’t give birth to Bora either, so shut up and carry on cooking.”

She heard what he muttered under his breath but chose to ignore it. “Kook, you wanna get her ready for dinner time? I assume you’re staying the night as well?”

The proper maknae nodded and turned, heading down the hallway. “Family night!”

Chapter Text

Sejin paused for a moment and wondered if he needed new glasses or his eyes checking at least. Ever since the Bangtan Baby had arrived over a year ago, there were constant new stresses and worries taking place - half belonging to the baby and half belonging to BTS, who added more stress because of the baby.

Priorities shifted and while music & ARMY were top priorities, the Bangtan Baby had taken first place in everyone’s books. Nearly every member of staff had signed up for babysitting duty and nearly everyone had become some kind of auntie or uncle, Sejin included.

The boys had taken to Kim Bora as if she had always been there and it seemed instinct always took over when one of them was on babysitting duties. However, maybe they should have realised that Taehyung’s unique perspective on things would have made for very interesting babysitting days.

“Kim Bora,” the bear yelled as he ran down the corridor of HYBE after a suceedingly fast baby on tiny legs and only in a nappy.

“I told ARMY chapter 2 had nothing to do with us taking our clothes off and here you are, making Uncle a liar!” He added as he finally caught the giggling baby, holding her tight in his arms as he turned around to go back to where he came from. “Naughty Bora! Streaking for all of HYBE to see!”

Taehyung paused, realising Sejin had stopped what he was doing and staring at him.

“Ah, Sejin-hyung. You didn’t see a thing, right?”

Sejin paused, wondering for a moment if he should report this moment to the parents before realising this was probably a normal thing. He shook his head and carried on down the hallway, content to completely forget about seeing a nappy wearing baby and a stressed looking Taehyung.

“Now, don’t be telling ARMY you did this. Their ruthless and will use you to see more of our pictures. Especially since your Uncle Yoongi hasn’t revealed everything yet,” Taehyung whispered to a still giggling Bora.

The moment was never revealed by Taehyung or Sejin, though they often caught Taehyung laughing to himself as he looked at his phone at the picture he took of the moment.

Chapter Text

Jeon Jungkook was known as many things to ARMY - golden maknae, bunny, JK, Kookie, muscle pig and the list goes on. He was also known as the adoptive son of Grace Chu and Seokjin Kim, having been raised by the two with Yoongi since he arrived in the Bangtan dorm all those years ago. He was nearing 30 now, a constant fact that Seokjin loved to remind him about, and a completely grown man. His title of maknae seemed silly now especially when another member of the team had taken that title away from him only a couple of months ago.

The tiny baby had been left in her older brother’s capable hands as various members of BTS went to meetings, leaving Jungkook last so he could be on babysitting duty until Seokjin came back. Kim Bora, finding meetings as boring as her father did, spent most of the time asleep in the portable crib that one of them always carried around. Jungkook scrolled through various social media on his phone as a form of entertainment until he was called away or until Bora woke up.

However, he found himself being woken up only twenty minutes later to cries coming from the crib.

Tripping over chunky shoes, Jungkook found himself pausing as he reached for his baby sister. He had never dealt with a crying baby before, not on his own at least and there had been no instructions left by Seokjin or Grace over what to do if their daughter woke up crying.

“Bb,” he muttered as he used the nickname that was so familiar now. Large hands picked up the tiny body and held her close to his chest, carefully cradling her as he moved around the room while slowly rocking. “Did you have a bad dream? Don’t worry, big brother is here to protect you.”

Jungkook hummed under his breath, turning to Seokjin’s song Moon, while he rocked and swayed. The cries which seemed loud and deafening before now turned to muffled whimpers. Then there was nothing as she drifted back to sleep, slumped against Jungkook’s chest.

“There we go,” he whispered but didn’t let go or put her back down in her crib again. He took a quick selfie which he sent to the group chat and switched his phone to silent, not wanting to disturb Bora with the incoming messages that he felt vibrate in the pocket of his jacket.

Who knew when he would have children of his own so for now, he was more content to shower his little sister with all the love and affection he could give. ARMY would have to deal with the fact that they were no longer number 1 on the list, Kim Bora was.

Chapter Text

Jimin didn’t know whether to feel pleased, highly honoured or annoyed. He had always been insecure about how small his hands were, especially his pinky finger (compared to Taehyung’s anyway) and it was always a source of annoyance for him whenever he compared his hand to someone else.

However, there might be someone who found his hands highly needed.

Kim Bora was teething.

It had been announced to the group as Seokjin walked through the door, five month old Bora in his arms with a plastic ring in her mouth that she was gumming on. Namjoon had taken one look at her and almost collapsed with how cute she looked.

She was passed around each member to get their cuddles in before their schedule took over, Grace still on her maternity leave. Bora landed in Jimin’s lap and he was more than happy to get his snuggles in, his body being the perfect size and shape to hold a little one who clearly felt uncomfortable.

She had thrown the plastic ring to the floor, feeling frustrate and sore with her baby teeth coming through. Hobi had picked it up and went to wash it off, which left Bora with nothing to chew on.

Jimin, distracted by Namjoon, felt something wet on his hand.

“What the,” he muttered and glanced down, seeing Bora biting on his small fingers which seemed to be the perfect size to hold onto and chew.

Namjoon burst out laughing, causing the others to stop what they were doing and look. More laughter soon followed as phones were pulled out, camera app open so they could take photos of the moment.

“You did wash your hands, right?” Hobi asked as he came back with the now clean teething ring, noticing that Bora had focused on something else instead.

“Of course hyung,” Jimin frowned as he took back the ring and held it for Bora to take but she was completely uninterested in it and stuck to Jimin’s fingers.

“I guess I’ll be dancing with no hand,” he laughed as he stood, one arm under Bora and the other still in her mouth.

Chapter Text

Taehyung looked closely at the swatch of material he had been given by Grace.

The wedding of the century, according to the K-Pop World, was happening in less than five months and it was time to get Bora’s flower girl dress sorted. Being designated the fashion guru, outside of J-Hope, and having well-known connections to Gucci, Ralph Lauren, Celine and the like, it had been Taehyung’s job to get Bora fitted for her personally designed dress.

It just had to match the shade of green that matched the colour theme, be comfortable for the two year old girl and would be practical as well regardless of whether it was designer or not.

Having made friends with the designer at Celine meant a dress had been custom-made for the wedding of the century, they just needed the measurements.

They had arrived at AvenueL, the Lotte Department Store, where Celine had a shop located. It took a bit of promising on Taehyung’s end that they would end up at Lotte World, but only for a short time and if Bora was well behaved for her measurements.

There was a little bit of giggling as Tae looked up and grinned, watching with amusement as two people held long measuring tapes and seemed to dance around the little girl who was looking more and more like her parents each day. Though those hazel eyes with green flecks were a complete giveaway.

She was certainly going to steal hearts when she grew older.

That thought made Taehyung frown so he stood, whipping out his phone to take a quick picture to send to his noona so she knew that he was fulfilling his end of the bargain.

“Bora! You ready to become a princess?” he asked, crouching down next to the little podium once measurements had been taken.

Bora nodded and held up her arms, immediately being lifted into her uncle’s embrace. “Like mummy,” she quietly said.

“Like your mummy,” Tae grinned and pressed a kiss to brown curls.

With a date set for when her flower girl dress would be ready, the two jauntily skipped out of the department store and to Lotte World with a gaggle of bodyguards behind them who seemed unsurprised by what they were witnessing.

Chapter Text

There were three months to go.

That’s what the calendar kept saying as the days were ticked off by the boys each time they happened to appear near it.

Three months to go until the Bangtan Baby would arrive. And said Bangtan Baby had no name yet, which is why it was constantly referred to as ‘bb’ or ‘she.’ A niece with six eagerly awaiting uncles, grandparents, extended family and millions of fans across the world who were counting down the time with them.

Grace was currently stretched out, feet in Jin’s lap as he kneaded away the aches and pains while trying to keep the swelling down. They had just finished rehearsals, though there had been no dancing on Grace’s part or much singing but she had been there every day as if she was participating.

No rehearsal had gone unmissed even with her being so pregnant.

“British or Korean?” Jin suddenly asked, glancing over to where the boys were going over a few things then towards his partner.

“Hmm?” she asked, eyes focusing from where they had just about to doze off.

“Do you want her to be called a British or Korean name?” Jin clarified, grinning slightly as he dug his fingers in harder.

“I don’t know. I kind of want to see what she looks like when she comes but at the same time, I’m getting fed up with calling her bb every minute,” Grace sighed then sighed even more when tattooed hands started massaging her shoulders. “You know, this I could get used to when I’m back.”

There was a typical Kookie giggle and another little giggle, a bit sweeter as a plate of fruit was balanced carefully on her pregnant stomach.

“Thanks Jimin.”

“No problem noona. What discussion are we having?” he asked, sitting down next to his Seokjin-hyung and wrapping an arm loosely around broad shoulders.

“Whether we’re naming bb with a Korean or British name,” the father explained.

“Have you got anything in particular in mind?” Namjoon asked, straddling one of the chairs he had brought over with phone in hand, pregnancy app at the ready. He had been tracking each day, each week, each month as it arrived.

“I mean, my parents gave me my British name first then had it translated to Korean,” Grace threw in around a mouthful of grapes. “Grace then Hea. You all have Korean names, with no English equivalent. Seagull doesn’t count,” she added with a pointed finger to Taehyung as he joined the conversation.

“Well she could be sunshine as she’ll bring a lot of light to our lives,” Hobi suggested then yelped when Yoongi gave him a slight shove. “You want her to be named after you.”

“Well she hasn’t got many choices,” Hobi threw back. “Hope would be a lovely name.”

“Borahae.”

“We purple you too,” came the reaction of seven others.

“No,” Jungkook paused and then laughed. “No, Bora. Borahae. Like ARMY tells us and like we tell ARMY. She’s become ARMY’s number one fan without even being here. So why not Bora?”

Seokjin paused and glanced over to Grace. There was a single thought passed between them:

Perfect.

Chapter Text

Constant giggles.

That’s all J-Hope, the sunshine of the group, was getting as he laid his four month old niece across his thighs. He hadn’t even done anything yet as he had taken the baby from Jimin as they each waited their turn in the make up chair.

“What’s so funny?” he asked, giving a little tickle to the baby’s side which caused more giggles to erupt. “You find Uncle Hobi so funny, huh? You got a little giggle fit coming along?” he tickled a little bit more then simply held Bora in his lap with large hands covering her tiny ribcage.

It was fun to watch Bangtan in their normal situation of chaos backstage and now there was a tiny baby to add to the chaos, it was just insane. So much had changed in a year: from the pregnancy announcement to Grace going into labour to finally their little niece making an appearance and here she lay as a four month old giggling baby.

At least she didn’t giggle like her father.

Said father was having a deep conversation with Yoongi as they sat on the couches, each peeling a banana and a tangerine respectively. And Bora’s mother had gone to the bathroom to change into another set of clothes after she had been the one to receive the poo-namie as it had been called.

“So giggly,” Jungkook mused after he had finished his turn and sat down next to his hyung and baby sister. “Do you want me to take her?”

“Don’t be taking my niece away from me! I don’t get enough time with her as it is,” Hobi frowned at the younger member who grinned at him. “Don’t grin at me, you’re just as bad.”

There was another giggle from his lap and then a tiny foot kicked out in time with the giggles, causing Hobi to stop and look. “Ooh, someone has found her feet.”

Jungkook reached over and gently squished her chubby cheeks as the giggles continued, feet kicking in time. “Aish, she’s cute.” With that, the maknae left the two alone to go and bother someone else.

“Happy, giggly, Bora. I still think you should have been named Hope but I got vetoed,” Hobi mused as he held onto a tiny foot and watched with amusement at how shocked Bora looked that someone could stop her kicking.

He let go and grinned as feet continued kicking, matching the giggles as he began to gently tickle her again. “Ah, never grow up bb. You make your Uncle Hobi happy everytime you smile.”

Chapter Text

There was never any worry about Bam and Bora being together. She had come to understand with a couple of valuable lessons that animals weren’t as happy to be poked and prodded as humans were. A little incident with Min-Ji where a tiny foot had met a long fluffy tail was a big lesson to the tiny one.

So now she understood that you had to take time and be gentle.

However, Bam had more energy than any of them combined and even with an excited toddler, the dog’s energy was completely unmatched.

Jungkook let out a wheeze as he sat down on the grass, completely winded by running after his dog and his sister. The training in the military and outside of it clearly didn’t prepare him for this.

Bam slowly chased around the small garden, tiny legs and feet following with little arms stretched out. Even Bam knew he couldn’t go too fast otherwise the toddler would cry at the frustration of not matching her second favourite visitor.

The first one being Jungkook.

“Go and get him Bora!” The golden maknae yelled, giving up completely on trying to even catch up.

It took two more laps around the garden before Bam stopped, panting as he realised the little one was no longer following. His ears flopped against his fur as he turned, trying to see where she had gone.

“Got!” a little voice yelled as she finally got her target.

Bora wrapped her arms around the dog’s neck, gently like her mother told her, and rested her head against the dobermann’s. With a huff of defeat, Bam sat in place.

“Okay, that’s cute,” Jungkook grinned as he took his phone out to take a photo.

He left them like that for a moment, watching as Bora gently stroked Bam’s long neck.

“Come on then guys. Lunch will be ready soon,” he said as he stood and stretched. He hooked Bam’s leash to his collar and held onto it with one hand, the other taking hold of the out stretched tiny hand, ready for her brother to lead her home.

Chapter Text

It had become a tradition ever since Bora was born that Namjoon would buy her a book and a plant every birthday. The book collection had outgrown the plant collection but there was always one plant that kept coming back stronger each time - Sweet Alyssum.

Namjoon had planted it in a large pot on his balcony which then had been transferred to Grace & Jin’s place, where it continued to grow with his care. But now it was time to teach the little one to care for the plant that had been bought, cared for and grown in her name.

He helped Bora pull on her kid-size gardening gloves and made sure her clothes were well protected, her hair pulled into pigtails that suited her six-year-old face. Hazel eyes curiously looked over the tools that Namjoon had brought along - adult size and kid size.

“So, Bora, we’re going to take a look at your plant since it needs a bit of pruning and sorting out,” he said as he plonked Bora on his lap with the large plant pot in front of him. “You hold this,” he added as handed her a pair of kid-size garden scissors.

Little fingers held on tightly but she was paying attention, watching as he pointed out a branch of the plant that had obviously wilted in the Seoul heat. “We’re going to cut that off and then another branch will take its place next year,” Namjoon explained and watched as Bora carefully cut the branch off. “Perfect.”

They began to deadhead some of the flowers, those ones that look wilted and dead, brown and crispy rather than the purple that they should be. Bora carefully followed every instruction her Uncle Joon gave her, learning how the plant started from a seed then grew to this large plant, just like she would do soon as she was only six but within four years she would be ten and then it wouldn’t be long till she was a teenager.

That was a horrible thought to Namjoon as he watched the little girl that Bangtan had fallen in love with the moment they knew about her existence. Of course, most of them had gone to start their own families but she was the original and the first Bangtan baby. So she held a close place in all their hearts.

“You okay, Uncle Joon?” she asked, taking the glove off that was covered in soil and pressing a hand to his cheek where he realised he had been crying.

“I’m fine Bora, just thinking about you growing up and how you’ll be too old to do this with your uncle.”

She gave a smile, one little dimple popped up on the left side of her mouth. She looked like Jungkook when she did that but that dimple looked like Namjoon. She was the complete embodiment of BTS in one little body.

“I’ll never be too old for my uncles, especially you Uncle Joon. After all, who is going to help with my homework?”

Chapter Text

The news spread like wildfire around HYBE. Soobin had heard it by eavesdropping on his manager’s conversation and mentioned it to Yeonjun, who then mentioned it to Seungcheol who mentioned it to Woozi who mentioned it to The8 who mentioned it to Vernon who then mentioned it to Taehyun who then mentioned to everyone else.

Kim Bora was coming to HYBE.

The new arrival, the Bangtan Baby, had arrived a month ago much to the excitement of every member of staff or idol group in the building. They had watched from a distance at the early days of Grace’s pregnancy, right up to the point where she could no longer perform to when she went on maternity leave.

Everyone was told the news of the baby’s arrival by Bang PD when he called two separate meetings - one for the staff, one for the idols.

BTS had arrived back at work a week after the birth, Seokjin joining in two weeks after that and Grace wouldn’t be a full participating member until her daughter was a year old but they knew that wouldn’t stop BTS’ female member from bringing the new addition to the company.

The newborn was in the arms of Bang PD when Seventeen and Tomorrow by Together were called into the room. It was funny to watch a thirteen-member idol group and a five-member idol group try to squeeze in, all trying to be quiet but excited at the same time.

They were all incredibly polite, over-polite really, bowing to everyone and being respectful. Even though the three groups had known each other for years and as much as they were told to knock it off, manners automatically kicked in.

“She’s so small,” Hoshi whispered which caused BTS to glance over. He immediately shut up and bowed, causing everyone to laugh.

“PD-nim, I think everyone else wants to say hello now,” Grace grinned as she tucked her legs underneath her, accepting the blanket brought over by Namjoon.

The large man sighed heavily, took a good look at the baby girl in his arms and handed her off to her father who was already waiting. The new parents exchanged a look and Grace nodded, knowing what her partner was asking.

“Soobin, come on over.”

The leader of TXT quickly looked up and pointed to himself, stumbling over when he got a nudge in the back by several hands.

“Yes you,” Seokjin laughed and waited until the younger man was in front of him. He gave him light instructions and then watched as the leader cradled the baby in his arms. “There you go. Go on, show her off.”

Soobin slowly turned and as quietly as he could, he walked over to where seventeen young men were waiting for their turn. However, she stayed in Soobin’s arms as everyone gathered around, cooing over the smallest BTS member.

“Well, good to know we’ve got plenty of babysitters,” Seokjin grinned as he sat down, accepting the iced coffee.

Bora no longer had six uncles, but another set of eighteen uncles who would fight over to be first in line for whenever Grace or Seokjin needed someone to take Bora off their hands for five minutes.

She would grow up to pick her favourites and gravitate to those in particular, which were Soobin, Yeonjun, Mingyu, Woozi, Vernon and Wonwoo.

Chapter Text

The Kim/Chu household was a little bit different than normal households in Seoul, South Korea. While most Koreans didn’t go all out for Christmas, Grace grew up in England with an English mother and Korean father so she had all the full experience of Christmas. Even in Germany, they went all out.

So that tradition continued when they moved back to Korea, when Grace joined the boys in the dorm for the first time, when they moved to their subsequent dorms and into her own home and finally the home she shared with Seokjin and their eight-month-old daughter.

Bora was crawling up a storm and had nearly started to form words, nearly getting there but not quite making it. The lights on the Christmas tree always caught her attention and her small fingers played with the baubles that she could just about reach but her father always swooped in before she could pull it off.

It was like having a second Min-ji at times. The cat had calmed down since his first Christmas, having knocked down the tree and everything with it. The more it appeared, the more he grew bored of it until he liked to sleep underneath it so his long tail could swish at the lights.

“My Bora, are you ready for your first Christmas?” Seokjin asked, adjusting his grasp so he was more comfortable holding the eight-month-old. Her fingers reached up and grabbed hold of his nose, giving it a squeeze which made her laugh. “I’ll take that as a yes.”

“Come here you little rascal, I hadn’t finished putting on your shoes,” Grace sighed as she finally spotted where her daughter was. “Don’t you want to see the Seoul Lantern Festival? That should tire you out.”

It was a little struggle to get shoes on and to get her wrapped up in a coat with some gloves and a little hat but as long as she was in her father’s arms, she was quiet and content. After a 15 minute drive and a 10 minute search for a parking space, the couple with their daughter were walking along the Cheonggyecheon Stream.

They were masked up, hats on, and no distinct tags that shouted they were part of BTS. No bodyguards to give it all a way - just a young family enjoying what Seoul had to offer for Christmas.

“At least she’s enjoying herself,” Grace chuckled from where she was resting her head against Seokjin’s arm, their daughter still in his grasp. Bora’s tiny eyes were taking it all in but every now and then she would close them, have a five second nap then they would pop open when there was a new sound.

“Just wait until everyone arrives for Christmas, she won’t know what to do then,” Seokjin grinned. They had planned a not-so-traditional Christmas dinner with both sets of parents, Seokjin’s brother and his wife with their two sons and the rest of Bangtan. All boys forgoing any schedules or events to spend time with Bora, to experience her first Christmas with them.

Jungkook had already made plans to take over his room again on Christmas Eve, having bought everyone matching pyjamas (a photo which would later be uploaded to social media and spread like wildfire over how cute it was).

“Come on,” Seokjin groaned and adjusted the now heavy child. “Let’s get this tuckered out one home and get wrapping presents.”

“I think your more excited than you let on,” Grace chuckled as she reached over to adjust the hat that kept sliding off.

“Excited to see my daughter’s first Christmas? You must be kidding. I want to see Jungkook’s face when he realises he got a lump of coal.”

Chapter Text

Note: Happy birthday to myself! It's not till the 28th but I'm going to be early for once. This isn't up to the usual standards but here it is anyway. Hope you enjoy.

It was hard to believe that Grace now had a two week old daughter. After nine months of pregnancy, a numbing amount of hours in labour and one extra day in hospital, Kim Bora had arrived.

Of course, her daughter did nothing other than sleep, eat and poop and cried plenty in between but she was here, safe and sound and growing at a fast rate. Bora remained unbothered by her new life - sometimes content to lay in her father’s arms and look around, watching everything with an intent gaze until she needed a nap. Sometimes she was wide awake, feeding like a hungry kitten and little fingers exploring.

Either way, she was beautiful.

It was becoming the norm now as they settled into life with a newborn. Grace and Seokjin took turns, sharing the duties even if it was late at night or very early in the morning. There was no routine to follow, the two just going with the flow of whatever rhythm their daughter was going with that day. They were fortunate enough, unlike most normal parents, to have the chance to step away from their careers and settle into life as parents without the worries of money and time.

The rest of Bangtan followed along. They took up the mantle with one member out for a year, the other adjusting to life as a new father. And they visited plenty ever since Grace had left the hospital, coming over when their schedules would allow and there was always someone nearby to run for supplies if needed.

Jungkook was a prime example of this.

He had essentially moved in.

One of the bedrooms had become his own now - clothes were in the closet, chunky shoes in the corner, a guitar or two on the walls, a mini fridge with his drinks of choice and a large enough TV that took over one wall.

And as much as Seokjin complained, Jungkook had been a massive help. He was a door down from their bedroom and normally the first one up and about whenever Bora cried and he was always the first one to perk up when he heard noises from the crib that was currently in their bedroom. It was cute to watch Jungkook turn into the big brother he was meant to become.

The big brother had just returned from a schedule at HYBE where they were planning their next comeback and had taken a shower, picked up Bora from her crib where she had taken a nap and woke up hungry and handed her over to Grace.

“Thanks,” Grace chuckled as she took her daughter and went to the living room.

“Hyung! Want help with dinner?” Jungkook asked, turning on his foot to head to the kitchen.

“When are you moving out?” was the usual response but Seokjin wanted Jungkook there as much as Grace did. They had become a little family the past two weeks.

There was the sound of squabbling in the kitchen, the sound of pots and pans being moved around from where they were stored and the sound of Jungkook chopping the vegetables on the counter while he told his big brother about the day at HYBE.

Grace glanced down to her daughter who was more than content to suckle, her eyes wide open while her fingers wrapped around one of Grace’s. “You’ve got a big appetite like your Dad,” she laughed and let her daughter have her dinner, her attention flitting between the TV and the noise from the kitchen.

It sounded like a regular family on a typical Seoul night.

The father and son are in the kitchen, with the mother and daughter on the couch. And while they were everything but blood, Grace had to admit that to the outside world, they were just a typical South Korean family at the best of times. In a way, Jungkook was always going to be their ‘son’ since the two of them with the help of the rest of BTS had taken Jungkook under their wing the moment he arrived in Seoul and had never let go.

Even if he was a man now, a successful military career behind him, a very successful solo career still in the palm of his hands and every bit the golden maknae still. To Seokjin and Grace, he would still be Jeon Jungkook of Busan rather than JK.

Once her daughter had finished eating and properly burped, the sound making Grace laugh, and dinner was being plated up, Grace settled Bora on the rocker that was in view of everyone as they settled down for dinner. Another ‘family tradition’ that started from the early days of BTS - there was to be a family meal together at the dining room table.

By the end of the night, the three of them were sprawled on the couch with Bora fast asleep on Jungkook’s chest who was just about awake and Grace leaning against Seokjin’s side who let out a large yawn.

“Is everyone awake?” he asked, reaching up to rub one of his eyes as the other one took a glance around the room.

“About,” Jungkook yawned back as his tattooed hand secured his sister and the other came up to ruffle his hair.

“Any schedules we need to worry about?” Grace asked, stretching out tired and still sore limbs from having given birth two weeks ago.

Seokjin let out a grunt as he opened his phone and tried to get his eyes to focus on the shared calendar between the eight of them and company but gave up completely and handed his phone to Grace.

“Wow hyung, definitely getting old,” Jungkook murmured with a grin. Seemed he still had the energy to tease his favourite member.

“No breakfast for you then,” was the reply which made Jungkook laugh under his breath, careful not to wake the sleeping baby.

“No schedule, but Namjoon has one in the evening,” Grace finally clarified. “So you know that will mean everyone will be over for lunch tomorrow.”

“More mouths to feed. Do they think we run a restaurant?” Seokjin groaned as he sat up, stretching. He walked over to where Jungkook lay and reached out to pick his daughter up.

“Nooo, not yet,” Jungkook pouted, knowing Seokjin was going to put Bora to bed.

“Yessss,” Seokjin replied as he grinned. “You need to go to bed, you’re dead on your feet. We all are. Come on, get moving,” he gently kicked Jungkook’s foot.

Off he went to put his daughter to sleep and to give himself a shower, which just left Jungkook and Grace to haul themselves off the couch and to bed. Jungkook sighed and knew if he was at home on his own, he’d be on LIVE with ARMY, three beers in and staying up till 6am but here, they kept on a proper scheduled pattern. Feed, drink, sleep and repeat.

“Come on noona,” Jungkook rolled onto his feet and wandered over, taking the hands that were already held out. “I can’t wait to have you back with us.”

“I can’t wait to be back either,” she sighed as she helped turn off the TV, lights and closed curtains but left the hallway light on for any nighttime wanders into the kitchen. “It’s nice having time off but god it is boring.”

Chapter Text

Bora was 10 days from turning one year old and the Easter weekend had arrived with sunshine and warm weather, meaning she could be released in the small garden that belonged to Grace and Jin’s home. While South Korea didn’t go all out when it came to Easter, that didn’t stop Grace or her mother from going all out for what was going to be Bora’s first Easter.

A family meal had been planned for Grace’s parents, Seokjin’s parents, his brother and his wife with their two sons and obviously Grace and Seokjin with Bora. But for now, Grace was trying to get the little one into her baby bunny costume.

“Don’t pout, JK,” Seokjin gently teased as he took the fluffy bunny ears that were on a headband and stuck them on the young man’s head.

“I’m not pouting,” Jungkook grumbled while straightening the ears.

“There we go,” Grace sighed as she pulled the hood over Bora’s head and grinned, taking a step back to look at her daughter and then her adoptive son.

“My two baby bunnies.”

Seokjin snorted to himself and hid his smile behind his hand, relishing in the sight of a flustered golden maknae and his young daughter who had no clue what was going on as she reached to touch the ears that were flopping into her vision.

“What are we doing?” Jungkook asked, ignoring the both of them in favour of picking up his baby sister and trying not to smile when he saw her reach for his headband.

“I’ve done a little easter egg hunt for her in the garden,” Grace said as she handed over the basket. “Go and be a nice big brother and help her look for them.”

She was expecting more of a fight but Jungkook did nothing other than sigh, take the basket and turn to open the sliding doors, letting in the warm Seoul weather. Off they went, with Bora holding tightly to Jungkook’s tattooed hand as she took slow and unsteady steps along the grass.

Chapter Text

ARMY had been surprised and delighted when it had been announced that a new series of In the Soop was ready to be released in a matter of weeks. There had been talks for ages about doing another series or at least, something similar to the original that took place all those years ago.

However, there would be a slight change this year. Grace was nowhere to be seen on any of the promotional videos that had been released in the weeks to the premiere date and she hadn’t been seen on the official posters either. It had been expected though as Grace had only given birth to her and Seokjin’s only daughter, Bora, a month ago.

But ARMY should have realised that what you see on trailers and photos, isn’t what you normally get.

The first episode was pure BTS chaos.

The third episode came with major surprises.

As the camera panned along the various rooms, there were signs that maybe the boys weren’t alone as the viewers thought. There was a box of nappies, freshly opened, near the bathroom and in the hallway, there was a brand-new baby stroller and various other items dotted around.

However, when the camera switched to the living area, there was no baby to be seen.

“Waa? What the fuck?” Yoongi yelled at the TV, where the LA Lakers had just lost a crucial point.

“Hyung,” Hobi shushed him from the end of the couch but the basketball player paid him no mind.

No one paid Hobi any attention, their eyes either on the TV screen or on their phones. While they weren’t exactly big basketball fans, they could enjoy the sport and Yoongi’s reactions at the same time so it all equalled great entertainment.

The room became silent when the small monitor on the coffee table came to life.

“Looks like someone is awake,” Seokjin grinned as he pushed himself off the couch and shuffled towards the stairs, straight to the room that he had commandeered for himself, Grace and their little one.

“See,” Hobi warned as he pushed at Yoongi’s good shoulder. “Told you that you were being too loud.”

“I don’t think hyung going ‘what the fuck?’ would have woken up Bora,” Namjoon grinned as he checked the small monitor himself. “Looks like she needed to be changed,” he added as he turned the monitor around to show the rest of them.

All went silent as they watched Seokjin change his daughter and pick her up, holding her close to his chest as he left the bedroom. They could hear his footsteps along the landing, down the stairs and the shuffle as he headed towards the living room.

“Jungkook, take her for me while I get a bottle sorted.”

The young man didn’t need much encouragement as he all but jumped over the back of the couch, and landed without falling over. Quite impressive for a young man who had downed a bottle of soju already and had eaten his weight in pizza. Large hands cradled the small body and Jungkook held his baby sister to his chest, sensibly walking around the couch this time to where he had originally been lounging between Yoongi and Taehyung.

“Was Hyung too loud?” Taehyung teased, reaching out to take a little hand.

Yoongi frowned as he had already turned down the noise from the TV the moment Seokjin had disappeared upstairs and had turned on the subtitles so he could read what was happening instead. If anything, he had been a considerate drunk uncle.

“Who wants to feed her?” Seokjin asked, coming in with a fresh bottle.

Four hands shot up immediately.

Jungkook was more than happy to have Bora in his arms and Yoongi didn’t dare take her in case something happened on the TV that made him jump which left Namjoon, Hobi, Jimin and Taehyung.

“Here you go,” Seokjin said as he handed the bottle to the winner.

Hobi wiggled in his seat in a mini happy dance as he took the warm bottle and with ease, took Bora into his arms and gave her the midnight snack. Jimin, not to be left out of the bonding experience with Bora, sat next to Hobi and quietly asked her how her meal was, and did it taste nice.

“Hopefully Gigi will be up to joining us tomorrow,” Namjoon commented as he stole the last slice of pizza and ignored Jungkook’s narrowed gaze. “It’s been odd not hearing her nag at us.”

“We had to wait for this little one to be ready to join us,” Hobi grinned as he put the empty bottle on the coffee table and Jimin stole her away, a towel over his shoulder to help her burp.

“I’ll for one be happy to have her back, looking after you six is a right pain in the ass,” Seokjin commented as he finally sat back down, content in the knowledge his daughter was in the right hands.

He did, however, ignore the complaints coming from his brothers.

Chapter Text

Someone told her that babies at 30 weeks were the size of a cabbage, and Grace could certainly see that as she turned to the side, bending slightly so the make-up artist could put the finishing touches to her lips. BTS were due to be on stage in 10 minutes to start a long day of interviews, photo opportunities, and conferences. It was going to be a long day for the band that had been practicing nonstop for the past few months for what was going to be over a year-long tour.

Grace’s pregnancy was smack bang in the middle, and she would (hopefully) give birth well before Seokjin was due to fly out to America to start the American leg of a long-waited tour. She wouldn’t be joining the guys until a month later, and she wouldn’t fully be back to her idol career for another year. There was no way they were going to let down ARMY, who had been excitedly waiting for this mega-world tour since they all got back together in 2015 once Yoongi’s military career had finished.

And she knew, as much as she wanted to be on stage, there was no chance for her to do so.

Right now, the idol persona had to be locked away, and Grace would have to trust those maternal instincts that had started all the way back in 2011 when a very young Jungkook walked through the door. Now those maternal instincts would be used on her soon-to-be daughter.

Her hand rested on her stomach, and she got a foot in return. The Bangtan Baby was awake and getting comfortable, it seemed. Her daughter was rarely active during the early morning and would spend her time shifting around from afternoon to evening, settling down in the night when Seokjin would spend his time telling his daughter about his day and what her uncles were getting up to, what her big brother was getting up to, and even what Min-Ji had brought in from the garden.

They were all excited for their baby girl’s arrival, counting down the weeks to days, and now that Grace was at the 30 weeks, it meant that action stations and plans were now put into motion in case she went into labour.

Fingers were subtly crossed that today wouldn’t be the day.

The press were also excited. Grace was one of the first, if not only idol, to still be an idol while pregnant and not hide it. She hadn’t left the group; she hadn’t hidden it away; she hadn’t hidden away the father. She had been completely open and transparent with everyone, from her company to her fans to the media.

Many had welcomed the transparency. It had opened the door for many female idols to not feel like they had to hideaway what should be one of the most important journeys they would go on and for companies to be more accepting of their female idols and what they should naturally go through. It also opened the door for Grace to be more open with interviews and to talk more about what life was like behind closed doors, especially now that she was pregnant.

And while many of the press today were here to talk about the big BTS comeback and the big tour, everyone knew the most, if not all, of the questions would be directed to Grace.

Grace took a deep breath and stood from the chair, smoothing down the black dress that had been specially made for her. It was comfortable but formal; the material of the dress weighed down so it wouldn’t blow upwards but was tight enough to show off her 30-week bump. All the boys were dressed in matching black formal shirts and trousers.

After this week, she would have one more appearance, and then she would be done until after giving birth. It would be hard to say goodbye, even if it was only to say ‘see you later.’

“You ready?” Namjoon asked after he handed back the list of people who would be at the conference today.

“No,” she answered truthfully and got a grin in return.

She wasn’t sure if it was nerves or her daughter getting comfortable, but Grace let out a deep breath and tried to relax. It wasn’t like she had done this before.

“What time is lunch?”

Of course Jungkook would be thinking about his stomach, which broke the tension and made everyone laugh.

“I take it you didn’t eat a big enough breakfast,” Yoongi chuckled but rolled his eyes at their maknae’s behaviour.

“I did, but I know noona gets peckish quickly, and I can’t see any snacks on stage either.”

That made Hobi and Jimin coo at the young man, who blushed and shoved at his hyungs shoulders.

“Don’t worry, I’ve got it covered.” Seokjin grinned as he opened his blazer to show the inner pockets were stuffed full with snacks for his pregnant partner, who saw one of her favourite yoghurt bars and quickly stole it.

Taehyung snorted and stole a similar bar from another pocket, ignoring the hit to the arm he got in return.

“Right, let’s deal with this conference,” Namjoon clapped as he went into leader mode. “We’ve got a full day, and we know every question is going to be directed at Grace, so let’s deflect as much as we can because this is the last week the world is going to see her apart from two weeks time.”

Grace took another deep breath after finishing her bar and put her hand in the middle of the group, Seokjin’s on top of hers, followed by Jungkook. The rest followed naturally and turned to her as she smiled.

“Bang.”

“Tan!”

Chapter Text

Grace thought the bug she’d picked up two weeks ago was lasting far too long for comfort.

At first, she brushed it off - a bit of nausea here, a dizzy spell there, a lack of appetite that she chalked up to stress. But now? Now it was creeping into every hour of the day, into her bones, into the back of her throat like a shadow threatening to ruin recordings.

The nausea had almost crippled her. It didn’t just appear in the morning. It came in waves at random - during recordings, having her make up done, listening to Namjoon talk about their comeback, staring at her tea while trying not to gag. Ginger biscuits, more tea, crackers, even wrist pressure bands had not helped.

The doctor had simply said bug and stress when she had briefly described her symptoms. It would pass.

Yet it was the fatigue that was worse.

She was the one member of BTS who would always get a decent amount of sleep or run on four hours and be able to function without any caffeine. But lately, she could barely drag herself from studio to studio. Her limbs felt like stone, and her eyes stung no matter how much sleep she got. She didn’t feel burnt out; she felt just off, like her body was running on the wrong frequency.

No one had said anything, as they knew this comeback was one of the biggest ones the group had done. They were officially back as eight, and the world was at the door, begging for any little piece they could give. Recording RUN BTS, recording BANGTAN BOMBS, Festa Videos, preparing for the album, studio nights, studio mornings, concept photos, meetings, and more meetings.

She was needed everywhere, and all she wanted to do was crawl into bed and simply die.

If Grace had been in the right frame of mind, truly thinking clearly, she would’ve seen the answer staring her right in the face.

Her head was foggy, her body felt foreign, and the fatigue clung to her like a second skin. So when she walked into another meeting room at HYBE that morning, she wasn’t mentally prepared to look deeper. She wasn’t reading between the lines. She was just surviving hour by hour.

This meeting was quieter than most, just her and Hana.

Each BTS member had their own personal manager. There was also the group manager who oversaw the collective schedule. During Grace’s solo period, Sejin had returned to the role of her lead manager - the logistics, the muscle, the public shield. But Hana, she had been brought in to handle Grace specifically.

She was calm, smart, sharp-eyed, and fiercely intuitive. Hana was the one who would notice when Grace needed a ten-minute break without asking for it.

The office was quiet except for the hum of the AC and the one or two notification sounds coming from Hana’s laptop. Behind her, a whiteboard was filled with scribbled deadlines: BTS comeback content in red, Grace’s brand contracts and upcoming campaigns in pink. It looked horrifically overwhelming.

“How are you feeling?” Hana asked, eyes tracking Grace’s movements.

“Still feel yuck,” Grace muttered as she sat down in the chair, dropping her bag into the seat beside her. “Seokjin made me a light breakfast of toast, and that ended up in the toilet the moment we got here.”

Hana winced in sympathy. “You haven’t eaten properly in days.”

“Nothing stays down,” Grace shrugged. “It’s just a bug.”

Hana hummed but said nothing, watching as Grace shifted and moved, taking in the pale complexion and the way she held herself.

Grace pulled out her diary and flipped it open, then checked her phone against the synced team calendar - the one that the members, their stylists, choreographers, vocal coaches, and managers all shared.

Everything was colour-coded chaos - each member had their own colours, each matching their microphones, and the team colour was purple (of course). For Grace, her brand deals were layered in, sandwiched between comeback content and recovery windows in orange.

As Grace scanned, Hana opened her own calendar - the private one she shared only with Grace. This one held all the important dates: birthdays, anniversaries, doctor appointments, family dinners, days she carved out for Seokjin specifically, self-care days and days with her parents.

She tapped on one entry and frowned.

“Grace,” she said slowly. “Your last cycle?”

Grace glanced up in time to see Hana turn the phone toward her and show the highlighted red entry dated six weeks ago.

“Oh.”

There was complete silence in the room as Grace stared at the screen like it were in another language.

“I didn’t even notice,” she whispered. “With all the solo stuff, the comeback, and everything else, I just thought it was stress.”

Hana let out a soft but heavy sigh and put her phone down on the table. While it might be all of that, there was only going to be one way to find out, and she would have to do it without anyone knowing.

“Let me go and get you a test,” Hana said as she stood. “That should clear anything up, and if it isn’t that, then we can organise a face-to-face appointment with the doctor.”

“Right now?” Grace asked, glancing towards the door and the hallway beyond it, to the idea of someone overhearing, catching on and seeing the way Hana was moving.

“I’ll be back in 10, no one will notice,” Hana said calmly as she slipped her coat on, putting her phone and purse into the tote bag. “Just pretend to work for a few minutes.”

Grace wanted to protest but she knew she needed to know the answer and so she nodded, slumping back in the chair.

“You’re not alone in this, Grace. No matter what it is,” Hana paused at the door and gave her a small smile. And then she was gone, the click of the door closing far too loud in the quiet room.

The ten minutes felt like an hour, and Grace watched the clock, slowly ticking away each second. Her mind wandered, and it nearly sent her spiralling into a panic attack. She dragged herself away each time, focusing on what she should be doing, but the calendar stared at her mockingly.

When the door opened again, Grace almost leapt. Her manager stepped inside calmly, closing the door behind her like nothing had happened, though in her hand she held a bag from the bakery round the corner.

Hana slipped her hand inside her tote bag and pulled out the pharmacy bag, putting it on the table while she sat down beside Grace.

“I’ve got us some sweet things,” Hana said as she slipped off her coat. “Hopefully you can keep it down but I thought you might need the sugar.”

Grace stared at the bag and said nothing, doing nothing to grab it until a rush of courage ran through her and she took hold of the bag with shaking fingers. There were two boxes inside - two different brands. One digital and one standard.

“Two options,” Hana said gently as she took the empty pharmacy bag. “Only takes three minutes apparently. Maybe try both.”

Grace nodded and clutched the bag to her chest, wobbling slightly as she turned toward the private bathroom connected to the meeting room - a rare luxury in HYBE’s upper-level floors.

“I’ll be right here,” Hana said from where she sat.

The bathroom felt cold, even though there was heated flooring, and the light felt too bright. She could see the wear and tear this was taking on her face, pale skin and dark eyes.

Taking a deep breath, Grace opened the boxes and read the instructions twice, then again just to make sure. Her hands weren’t steady by any means, but she did what she had to do.

Three minutes, that’s all it would take.

She set the tests on the sink counter and washed her hands slowly, drying them on the towels provided. After setting the timer on her phone, Grace paced and waited.

Three minutes. One hundred and eighty seconds.

She didn’t look at the test until the timer reminded her. Her back was to the sink counter, facing the tiled wall of the bathroom, and something settled over her body. Either way, this would answer every question.

When she opened the door, Hana was already standing, her expression soft but she was bracing herself for what was to come. They would have a doctor’s appointment either way, and whatever came after that, they would deal with it as a team.

Grace didn’t say anything as she walked into the room, slowly and carefully, and handed Hana the tests.

She sat down with a heavy thump. Her mind was far behind, staring at the test in her manager’s hands, her heart thudding loud enough that it hurt.

Hana placed the tests on the table and wrapped her arms around Grace, holding her tight so her head was on Hana’s shoulders.

“I’m going to be a mother.”

And for the first time since the nausea began, Grace finally let herself cry.

Everything spilled out in the slow tears, the kind that welled up and spilled over before she could stop it. Tears tracked silently down her cheeks, her chest rising in shallow but even breaths.

Hana didn’t say anything; she didn’t rush her, and she didn’t fill the space with clichés or questions. She simply held the idol who meant more to her than she would ever know.

“What do I do now?”

It was a loaded question and one with no right answer. Right in the middle of a comeback, in a world where a female idol who was pregnant would be hidden away and her career would be classed as over. What would be the next step?

“You live,” Hana leaned back to take hold of Grace’s hands. “You breathe. You take it one step at a time. And you let me worry about the rest.”

Grace nodded, eyes red but calmer now and a little stronger.

The weight of the secret was still there, but now, it didn’t feel so heavy.

Chapter Text

It had been hard—nearly impossible—keeping the secret of the century. Harder still when your partner was practically vibrating with excitement, ready to blurt it out to anyone who so much as glanced in his direction.

Grace had lost count of how many times she’d had to nudge Seokjin under the table or shoot him the look in group settings: eyebrows raised, jaw tight, that subtle but unmistakable “shut up before you ruin everything” expression.

And every single time, Seokjin would flash her that soft, goofy smile. The one that screamed: I have a secret and I don’t want to keep it anymore.

But they’d made a promise—to each other and to the tiny life growing inside her. As her doctor had gently advised during that first early scan, they were waiting until the twelve-week appointment to share the news. That first confirmation, when she saw the tiny bean on the screen, was enough to make her believe it was real. But this scan? This one would show a baby. A heartbeat. Arms. Legs. Movement. Life.

It wasn’t superstition. It was a precaution. After everything they had both been through, separately and together, this needed to be theirs for just a little longer. A private joy, unshaken by the noise of the world.

Seokjin had taken the waiting game in stride… or tried to. In truth, he’d been counting down the days like it was a second debut. He had a sticky note countdown on the fridge, complete with doodles and motivational quotes like “You’re doing amazing, fetus!” He had multiple reminders set on his phone, and at one point, he even updated BTS’s shared calendar with the phrase “BABY BLAST OFF” stamped across the date. Grace quickly deleted it before anyone could see.

The appointment had been booked weeks in advance at Asan Medical Center. Seokjin had done his research—poring over forums, texting quietly through his connections, asking for recommendations under fake names—wanting nothing but the best.

And, as always, Hana had pulled off a miracle. Grace’s entire schedule was cleared: no interviews, no rehearsals, no shoots, no press. A miracle in the middle of comeback prep. Somehow, she made it happen.

The rest of BTS had also been given the day off under the vague and harmless excuse of “rest and recovery.” Taehyung had booked a massage and facial. Jungkook made early tattoo plans. Yoongi disappeared into the studio without explanation. Namjoon packed up and vanished into the mountains before sunrise. No one suspected a thing.

The morning had started early, not because they had to, but because neither could sleep. Grace had wandered into the kitchen before the sun rose, barefoot, half-distractedly making toast she didn’t eat. Seokjin emerged minutes later, hoodie slung loosely over his frame, blinking at her like a sleepy puppy. He didn’t say a word, just wrapped his arms around her waist and buried his face into the crook of her neck, letting out a hum that vibrated through her back.

Now, just after 10 a.m., they were in the car and on the way. The roads were quiet, and autumn had arrived in full. Yellow leaves drifted lazily across the asphalt as Seokjin took the longer route, just for the extra minutes.

He drove one-handed, the other resting on her thigh, thumb rubbing small, even circles into the denim of her jeans. The stereo played low, some instrumental piano piece Grace couldn’t name, but had been the only thing soothing enough to make it onto the drive-to-the-scan playlist.

Every now and then, Seokjin glanced sideways, checking on her, checking that she was still breathing, still okay, still real. And every time, she’d give him a soft smile, squeezed his hand and anchored him.

Neither spoke much, but they didn’t need to.

Today, they would hear their baby’s heartbeat. Today, they would see the shape of something they’d barely dared to hope for. Not just an idea or a dream whispered in the dark. But a real, living, growing someone. The first chapter of everything that was still to come.

As Seokjin pulled into the discreet underground car park, Grace’s grip on his hand tightened. The car slowed, eased into the space. Seokjin turned the engine off and exhaled, his thumb still drawing that same, slow circle into her jeans.

“Ready?” he asked gently, turning to her. His voice was soft, but thick with emotion.

She looked at him, eyes bright with something between awe and fear. And then she smiled, small and sure. “Let’s go meet our baby.”

They walked hand in hand through the private entrance of Asan Medical Center, where they were greeted by a soft-spoken receptionist who clearly knew exactly who they were and didn’t say a single word about it.

Discretion was part of the reason they’d chosen this place. No paparazzi lurking by elevators. No excited murmurs from staff. Just quiet professionalism and calm efficiency. People here had done this a thousand times for high-profile clients who needed their private moments to stay sacred.

The elevator ride was silent. Seokjin watched the light-up numbers climb like they were ticking down to a rocket launch. Grace leaned into his shoulder, their fingers tightly laced. She could feel the tension in his posture which was normally so composed, so silly and playful, now reduced to soft breathing and nervous stillness.

When they reached the right place, a nurse guided them into a softly lit room that felt more like a spa than a medical office. Neutral tones, warm lighting, and a quiet hum of classical music playing low through ceiling speakers.

A few minutes later, the doctor entered. Grace recognised her immediately. It was the same woman who had done her early scan, calm and competent, with a reassuring smile that didn’t waver. She greeted them both with polite warmth, unfazed by who was sitting in front of her. It wasn’t about who they were in the outside world. In here, they were just another hopeful couple.

They spoke briefly about Grace’s symptoms since the last visit. “All-day sickness?” the doctor repeated sympathetically, glancing at her notes. “That’s common, especially with first pregnancies.”

Grace nodded with a sigh. “Morning sickness was a lie. This is a 24/7 party.”

“And the fatigue? Any bleeding?”

“A few nosebleeds,” Grace replied, “but nothing heavy.”

The doctor nodded, scribbling notes. “Your blood work looks good. Hormone levels are right on track. Let’s take a look and see how baby’s doing.”

Grace shifted on the exam bed, tugging up her shirt as a nurse dimmed the lights and prepared the equipment while the doctor tapped away at the keyboard for the computer and her notes. Seokjin pulled his chair closer to her side, instinctively reaching for her hand. He rubbed his thumb across her knuckles while the cold gel was applied to her belly, making her flinch with a quiet hiss.

“Try not to hold your breath,” the doctor said gently. “Breathe normally.”

The probe touched her skin, and the screen flickered to life.

For a moment, nothing.

Just grey static and grainy outlines that didn’t mean anything. Grace’s heart began to pound. Then, just as Grace was starting to panic and just as the doctor frowned as she moved the wand, there it was.

A tiny body. A flickering light. A beating heart.

The image cleared, sharpened. Little arms. A strong curve of the spine. The faintest movement, like a stretch.

“There they are,” the doctor said with a soft smile. “And everything looks perfect.”

Grace’s breath caught in her throat.

Seokjin didn’t say anything at first. Just stared at the screen, eyes wide and lips parted. Then a sound escaped him, half laugh, half sob, as his free hand reached for his face. “That’s… that’s really there,” he whispered.

On the screen, the flickering heartbeat pulsed steadily, filling the room with its quick, rhythmic thrum. Their tiny universe, living and growing inside her.

The doctor gave them a moment, quietly noting down measurements and printing a few images and let Seokjin record the sound of the heartbeat on his phone. Grace’s eyes stayed glued to the screen, memorising every angle, every detail. The shape of the head. The flutter of movement. The steady beat filled the room like a song only the three of them could hear.

“They’re measuring exactly where they should be,” the doctor said warmly. “Twelve weeks and two days. Strong heartbeat, beautiful positioning. Everything looks wonderful.”

Grace let out a breath she hadn’t even realised she was holding. Relief flooded her body, followed quickly by awe. It was real now. Not a faint line on a test, not a hopeful what-if, not a mistake. A baby. Their baby, healthy and growing and there.

She looked over at Seokjin. He was still staring at the monitor, lips parted in amazement, eyes glassy but joyful. Then, slowly, he turned to her, his expression crumpling with overwhelming love.

The doctor gently wiped away the gel, offering a towel and started turning off the equipment to give them a few moments alone. She printed out a few extra ultrasound photos before she shut off the computer and handed them over with a knowing smile. “Take your time. I’ll be back in a bit.”

Once the door clicked shut, Grace held the photos in trembling hands. Seokjin moved beside her, his arms wrapping carefully around her shoulders as they looked at the images together.

“She’s going to be just like you,” Seokjin said, completely serious.

Grace snorted softly. “You’re already calling her a girl?”

“She already has your spine,” he teased. “Strong, stubborn, probably plotting a dramatic entrance.”

Grace leaned into his shoulder, her cheek pressing against his hoodie. “Then she’s definitely ours.”

And for a moment, everything else - the world, the noise, the idol career, the comeback, the pressure - fell away. It was just the two of them sitting in a quiet clinic room in Seoul, clutching black-and-white snapshots of the future.

A future that they hadn’t planned but had always talked about. A future that they didn’t think would be happening so soon. A future that obviously wasn’t going to wait any longer.

Chapter Text

The twelve-week scan had confirmed what the symptoms and tests had already suggested: life wasn’t going to wait any longer. In just a few short months, Grace and Seokjin were going to be parents.

For most people, and for them as well, it was joyous, long-awaited news. They had hoped for this moment, dreamt of it quietly amidst the chaos of their careers. But there was one small issue. Well, not small. Quite a big one, actually: their careers.

BTS had returned as eight. One album was complete, a comeback had already lit up the charts, and the second album was nearly finished. The world tour was set to begin just two months after Grace’s due date. That meant dancing, singing, promotional schedules, sleepless nights, and international flights, gruelling demands for anyone, let alone a pregnant woman or a new mother.

And up until now, everything had been kept secret.

They hadn’t told anyone yet, not their parents, not the members of BTS. No one. But that was about to change. There were many who would later ask, “Who did you tell first? Grace’s parents? Seokjin’s? The group?”

It wasn’t any of them.

The first to hear the news were Bang Si-hyuk, Bang PD himself, and the current CEO of HYBE. The couple had requested a private meeting with both men, an unusual move in itself. The last time the two eldest of BTS had made such a direct call had been after Grace’s world tour wrapped up and Seokjin returned from his own solo tour. The executives arrived looking unexpectedly tense, as if they sensed something was coming, something that might change everything.

And, in many ways, it would.

Of course, they were overjoyed by the news. Bang PD, ever the mix of sentiment and humour, quoted Jurassic Park with a laugh: “Life finds a way.”

No changes to the tour or comeback plans were made yet. The others still had to be told. For now, everything would stay under wraps while quiet, behind-the-scenes preparations began. More than anything, the priority was Grace’s health and privacy.

Next came their families. Over dinner with Seokjin’s brother, his wife, and their two little boys, Grace and Seokjin shared the news. Angela, Grace’s mum, and Seokjin’s mother both screamed with joy, jumping up to hug each other in pure elation. Seokjin’s sister-in-law immediately crossed the room to embrace Grace, thrilled that her future sister-in-law was now expecting. The men, naturally, turned to Seokjin, grinning, clapping him on the back, and congratulating him with pride.

Every single one of them was sworn to secrecy: No pictures. No social media hints. No baby shopping.
And now came the last, and in some ways, the most daunting step: telling the boys. The six men who had long joked about Grace making them uncles. The ones who, in quieter moments, had spoken of wanting to see her little family grow, whether it was with Seokjin or not. Jungkook had once teased that he wanted a little brother or sister, but they all knew how unlikely starting a family was in the whirlwind of their careers.

“How do we tell them?” Grace asked Seokjin one night, as they drove home from rehearsals.

“With food,” Seokjin replied, half serious, half joking.

With that in mind, they arranged a family dinner for all eight of them. They gave various reasons for the gathering: a little break before the chaos of another comeback, the fact that they missed having dinner together, and Seokjin joked that he had simply bought too much food.

Grace, ever the planner and always thinking one step ahead, had gone out and organised special gifts to break the news. Each item had been carefully chosen for the person it was intended for, complete with a matching gift box, handwritten tag, and personal card.

The normally quiet house, usually home to just Seokjin, Grace, and their cat Min-ji, was now filled with noise, laughter, and music. The dining table overflowed with food and drink, different cuisines scattered across platters: Korean, Japanese, British, American, and Thai. No one even noticed that Grace had stuck to water all evening; she was never big on alcohol, after all.

Dessert disappeared within fifteen minutes, and talk turned to playing a card game. That was when Grace quietly slipped away and returned with three boxes, placing them gently on the table before disappearing again to retrieve another three.

“What’s all this?” Namjoon asked, glancing at the boxes. They were decorated in soft purple with white ribbons. His box was on top, so he reached for it, setting it in front of him and beginning to undo the bow.

“Not yet,” Seokjin said quickly, moving around the table to hand out the remaining boxes.

They all exchanged glances, curiosity rising. Had they missed an important anniversary?
Even Jimin pulled out his phone to check the shared calendar and saw nothing on the schedule that would cause all this. “Did we miss something?” he asked, glancing at all the boxes.

“No, but you’re about to find out,” Grace said as she put the last box in front of Yoongi and stood behind Seokjin’s chair, resting her hands on his shoulders.

After years of elaborate pranks, surprise parties, and last-minute filming chaos, it was only natural that they looked a little wary. More than one of them had been ambushed by glitter bombs or pop-up cakes in the past. They half expected confetti to burst out, or something to leap from the boxes when opened. But what they found inside, none of them could have predicted.
Namjoon was the first to begin unwrapping his box, moving carefully, fingers hesitating as if bracing for impact.

“Just open it already,” Yoongi muttered, impatient. “It’s not a landmine.”

Namjoon pulled back the tissue paper and slowly lifted out a soft, navy hoodie. Across the front, in detailed stitching, it read: ‘Uncle Joon’, surrounded by tiny embroidered books, vines, and little plant pots climbing along the hem of the hood.

He froze.

That was all it took for the others to tear into their own boxes.

Yoongi’s hoodie was a smooth slate grey with ‘Uncle SUGA’ stitched in clean, classic lettering, framed by miniature embroidered pianos, sheet music, and tiny cats perched on the cuffs.

Hoseok’s was bright sunflower yellow, with ‘Uncle Hobi’ looping across the chest in white. Scattered sunshines glowed along the sleeves, and a tiny stitched Louis Vuitton logo peeked out near the hem, a playful nod to his favourite fashion house.

Jimin pulled out a pure white hoodie with ‘Uncle Chim’ in delicate silver script across the front. Feathers drifted across the shoulders in embroidered swirls, and a pair of tiny dance shoes dangled from the pocket seam like charms.

Taehyung’s was deep forest green with ‘Uncle Tae’ stitched in starry gold thread. Tiny saxophones, constellations, and abstract art symbols dotted the sleeves like a personal galaxy.

And then Jungkook lifted his, black with violet trim, but instead of the word uncle, his read:
‘Big Brother Kookie’, stitched in soft lilac. The hoodie was decorated with embroidered Dobermans, boxing gloves, and a single tiny bunny in the corner of the hood. The moment he read it, his throat tightened. His hands clutched the fabric. Tears sprang to his eyes before he could stop them.

And beneath each hoodie, tucked carefully in the box, was a single white envelope with gold-embossed lettering that read: ‘Coming Soon.’ They each opened the cards slowly. Inside, glued to one side, was a black-and-white sonogram image.

On the opposite page, written in soft gold script, were just three words: ‘Bangtan Baby – April.’

For a moment, everything went still. No one breathed, no one spoke, no one dared believe that this was happening.

Six pairs of eyes landed on Seokjin and Grace, both of whom were waiting for the outburst.

Then came the first crack in the silence.
“You’re serious?” Jimin finally breathed, the card shaking in his hand. His voice wavered, caught between disbelief and overwhelming emotion. “This isn’t a prank?”

Grace shook her head gently, her eyes already misty. “No prank,” she said, voice soft but certain. “Scan and everything confirms it all.”

The room erupted.

“WHAT?!” Hoseok shouted, nearly leaping out of his chair. He whirled around the table, pulling Grace into an exuberant hug before she could react. “OH MY GOD, OH MY GOD!” he chanted, bouncing in place like he might explode from joy.

Jungkook made a soft, strangled sound, half-laugh, half-sob, as he stared down at the hoodie in his lap. His fingers traced the words Big Brother Kookie again, slowly, reverently, before he looked at Seokjin with wide, tear-filled eyes. “Hyung, really?”

Seokjin nodded, his voice low and thick. “Really. You’re going to be an uncle, Kook-ah. And a big brother.” Jungkook didn’t speak again. He just stood up and hugged Seokjin tightly, wordlessly, like the words wouldn’t come even if he tried. The man who had been there since day one, whom he saw as an older brother/father figure, was now becoming a father properly this time.

Taehyung stepped up next, lifting Grace off the floor with a dramatic spin as he hugged her tightly. “You’re going to be a mum,” he whispered, awe in his voice. “This baby’s going to be the luckiest in the world.”

Yoongi, who had been uncharacteristically quiet, stood slowly, card still in hand. He walked over, looked Grace straight in the eyes, and pulled her into a surprisingly warm hug. “Now we know why you’ve been so tired and pale,” he said, which caused Grace to laugh and gently nudge him.

Namjoon had stayed seated, the hoodie resting on his knees, the card still open in his hands. He looked from the sonogram to Seokjin, then back again. A slow, proud smile spread across his face.

“You’re going to be an incredible father,” he said at last. “Both of you, you’re going to do this beautifully.” He stood and hugged them both, one arm around each, firm, grounding.

And then there was Jimin, who simply burst into tears.

“I don’t even know why I’m crying,” he sobbed, laughing through it as he wiped at his face. “I’m just, this is the best surprise ever.” He walked over and wrapped himself around Grace in a hug that was part celebration, part emotional meltdown. “I’ve never been this happy for anyone in my life.”

Seokjin looked around at the chaos, the shouting, the hugging, the laughter, the tears, and couldn’t help the lump rising in his own throat. Grace returned to his side, and he reached for her hand, threading their fingers together.
They could have panicked about the comeback, they could have worried about the album, they could have gone into a meltdown over what this could mean for the group. That could all have happened, as Grace had expected the reaction to be. But of course, in pure Bangtan style, they had surprised her yet again.

They were overjoyed, especially for the two people who had led the group from behind the scenes, who had been there for them since day one, who had guided them through some personal issues and public issues. For a couple who had to hide their relationship, now everyone knew, and it would only be a matter of time before this news was announced.

But as Grace watched them pull on their hoodies with pride, cramming in front of Jungkook’s camera to take a photo that would end up in the group chat for everyone to change their photo to, she realised one thing: this was family and always would be.

Chapter Text

While not unusual, it was becoming harder and harder for Grace to find time with her mother. Comeback plans, endless meetings, recordings, filming, every demand piled up, and trying to carry it all while twelve weeks pregnant drained her energy faster than she could replace it.

Still, the plan was holding steady. Big Hit knew. The boys knew. Their families had been told, along with a handful of close friends. The world, however, remained in the dark. The small swell of her stomach could still be disguised: loose clothes, careful camera angles, or simply someone standing in front of her.

So when a rare day off finally arrived, Angela had only one wish.

Baby clothes shopping.

But how do you shop for onesies when you’re one of the most recognisable idols in the country and no one knows you’re expecting?

You slip quietly into a shop in the Dongdaemun District, owned by a Korean-American couple. If they suspected who Grace was, they didn’t show it. They barely blinked when two bodyguards and a manager went in first, followed by the two women who were there for something far more ordinary than fame.

Angela drifted straight to the racks, hands brushing through rows of impossibly tiny clothes: soft cotton rompers, pastel knit hats, and socks no bigger than a thumb. She let out a breathy laugh. “Can you believe this? You wore things like this once.”

“I think the nineties were a lot brighter and neon,” Grace chuckled as she followed. She and Seokjin didn’t know what they were having yet; they hadn’t even figured out the nursery (though Grace had a vision forming), and it felt too early to be buying anything. But with her mother, once she started, there was no stopping.

Sejin tagged along quietly, more bag-carrier than chaperone, though his eyes lingered on certain items as if filing them away for later. At one point, a rug ended up in his arms, a play mat covered in an animal alphabet print, big enough for a child to sprawl across. Angela rolled it neatly and handed it over without hesitation.

Then came blankets and then hats. Grace let her mother run wild, wandering over to the racks of bodysuits. That’s when she spotted it and burst out laughing the second her eyes landed on the embroidery. She snatched it up and turned, holding it aloft for Angela, Sejin, and even the stone-faced bodyguards.

Sejin’s reaction was exactly as expected: a slow headshake before he turned away. But Angela’s mirrored Grace’s perfectly, full of uncontained laughter.

“Oh, you have to get that,” she giggled. “That’s hilarious.”

It was a pale yellow bodysuit, embroidered with a pair of cartoon boobies and the words 'I Support My Local Dairy Farmer'.

The mood of the trip shifted right there. At first, Angela had been drawn to soft pastels and blankets, but once Grace spotted the Dairy Farmer bodysuit, the two of them went hunting for the most outrageous slogans they could find.

Grace pulled out a hot-pink romper that read ‘Party at My Crib, 2AM. Bring Bottles’. She doubled over laughing before it even reached the pile.

Angela retaliated with a tiny grey one stamped in bold letters: ‘I Only Cry When Ugly People Hold Me’. She wagged it at Grace like a trophy.

“Nooo, Mum, we can’t get that,” Grace laughed, her shoulders shaking as she tried to maintain some kind of sensibility. “You’re evil.”

The bodyguards shifted awkwardly nearby, trying and failing to keep straight faces as Grace unearthed a white piece that simply declared ‘Poop Machine’. Another, in black with neon-green lettering, read ‘Straight Outta Mummy’.

By the time they were done, Sejin could barely see over the mountain of shopping bags. The normal baby haul, blankets, bibs, and socks, was buried somewhere under a pile of slogans bold enough to make any parent blush.

Back at the townhouse, the spare room that was now going to become their nursery looked like Amazon had exploded inside it. Boxes, bags, and rugs crowded every available surface.

When Seokjin came home from a day out with friends, the first thing he noticed was the mess. He opened the nursery door, blinked once, and promptly shut it again with a shake of his head.

“Did you buy the whole place?” he asked as he came into the kitchen, setting a takeout bag on the counter. The smell of fried chicken and tteokbokki drifted up, rich and spicy.

“Mum nearly did,” Grace said cheerfully, pulling chopsticks from the drawer. She reached over, lifted one of the shopping bags from the pile, and handed it to him with mock ceremony. “But we had to buy a couple of items I think you’ll like.”

Suspicious, he set down the food and peeked inside.

Seokjin tugged another item from the bag, expecting something harmless. What he unfolded instead was pale yellow cotton, soft and innocent, until his eyes landed on the embroidery.

Two cartoon boobies. And the words, stitched in cheerful block letters: I Support My Local Dairy Farmer.

He froze, blinking hard, as though maybe the letters would rearrange themselves into something wholesome if he stared long enough. They didn’t.

Slowly, very slowly, he lifted his gaze to Grace. “Really?” His voice cracked on the word. “This is what you spent money on?”

Grace was already doubled over, one hand clamped over her mouth, the other reaching for the counter to steady herself. Her shoulders shook with uncontrollable laughter.

Seokjin turned the romper over in his hands like a detective examining a suspicious piece of evidence. Then, instead of scolding, his lips twitched. He cleared his throat, dead serious.

“Well,” he said, holding it up at arm’s length for dramatic effect, “at least our child will grow up knowing the importance of supporting local business. We’re teaching economics from birth.”

She couldn’t help but let the laughter burst out, food completely forgotten as she leaned back in the chair for support, laughter so loud that their neighbours could probably hear her.

Seokjin wasn’t finished. He draped the romper over his chest and struck a pose, chin lifted. “Should I wear it on the next live? Very educational. ARMY will respect me more for my commitment to… dairy.”

Grace completely lost it, tears spilling from the corners of her eyes as she gasped for breath. “Stop, it hurts!”

He dropped the pose and laid the romper flat on the counter with a solemn pat, as though it were a priceless relic. Then he leaned against the counter, picking up his food as if nothing had happened.

“If my mother ever sees this,” he said, finally chuckling, “she’ll disown both of us. No inheritance, nothing. Just me, you, and our little dairy farmer.”

Grace managed to choke out, “Worth it.”