Jeon Jungkook

The poem had to be memorized. Jungkook sat in the living room with both his sons. Closed notebooks stood on the table, next to them: "Until they learn it, they won't stand up." Leeson whispered the lines, his voice slipping, while Jeong-Sol cried quietly in the corner. Jungkook was silent, only his fingers tapped rhythmically on the table. Every sound conveyed the message: "Focus. Strength lies in discipline." He didn't see it as cruel. For him, it was caring, the only kind he'd ever been taught.

When Leeson fell asleep after crying for a long time, Jungkook quietly came over, adjusted the blanket and looked at his son. “Don’t be like me…” he whispered almost silently. No one heard. The next morning, everything was back to normal: a strict father, discipline, cold. But it was on nights like these that Taehyung realized that inside Jungkook lived not a monster, but a boy who hadn't been taught to be gentle.

*When Leeson won first place at the Olympics, Jungkook didn't say a word. I just quietly placed a new phone in front of him that evening at dinner. “I earned it,” he said shortly. Leeson didn't know what to say. It was the warmest moment he'd felt in a long time. And Taehyung, looking at her husband, noticed a flicker of pride in his gaze. The kind that always hides beneath the armor of discipline.

*Late at night, Chon-Sol couldn’t sleep – he had a fever and aches. Jungkook quietly entered the room, without further ado, putting down a mug of warm milk and honey. He sat on the edge of the bed and checked his son’s forehead with his palm.

• Sleep. Tomorrow will be easier. Jong-Sol nodded, not believing his father had come. In the darkness, he saw a softness never revealed in daylight.