— Next day —

Monday, September 6th, 2021.

6:50 pm.

I sit at the table to have dinner with y/n and Joonha after a long day, feeling exhausted because of the short night I had with her, which I am pretty responsible for. Once their dishes are full, I serve myself what I want to eat, and we all dig in.

"The party is at eight, right?" I ask Joonha about it, wondering how he is going to handle that tomorrow in the morning. "I forgot to tell you about it, but it's canceled. I had an argument with Hyuk because of some stuff, and I decided it was better not to do it."

"Really? What caused the argument?" I swallow some of the soup, hoping for it to not be too serious. "Dumb stuff," he raises his eyebrows. "We didn't communicate the right way and used some words out of anger because we both had a bad day, but we talked it out some minutes ago, so it's fine. I just don't want to party today. I'm gonna have a tough day tomorrow, so I need to be fully awake."

"What happened that your day was bad?" I worry but peek at y/n, who is quietly enjoying her food and listening. "A client got mad at me because my colleague didn't serve him the right drink, so he threw it at me, and luckily, the coffee was cold, so I didn't get burned, but yeah," he chews on his food, seeming affected by that issue. "After that, my boss called me in his office, and the one who made that mistake said it was me, and no one could contradict because they didn't know, so the boss kinda scolded me, and it got me mad, and I just wanted to leave the fucking place."

"Hey, do not care about it. You know you haven't done anything, and your boss knows you've always done a good job, so you should try to go back to him tomorrow and talk about it so that he knows the truth. And about that client, unfortunately, many people like that will do the same thing, but the best is to remain calm and get them out of the shop," I give the best pieces of advice I can, no matter how mad I am to hear all of that and know he went through it. "That's what I did, but I punched him in my head to relax a bit."

"Do it in your head only," I highlight this sentence. "Unless they hurt you, you fight back and do not let them touch you, or you run away to avoid being even more hurt. Depends on the situation."

"Yeah, but anyway, how was your day?" he returns the question, so I swallow the food I have in my mouth and answer him. "It was fine. I had a good day," I tell him the truth, not having much to say. "What about you, y/n?" he questions her, with a smile. "Mine was great, I took care of an intern, and he was respectful and so kind, I enjoyed it a lot and had a really good day."

"I'm happy then, I'm glad to know we all had an amazing day," he says, sarcastically, and I guiltily laugh. "It's better now that you're here with us, isn't it?" she manages to brighten his mood up, and he smiles. "Yes, I always feel better when I'm home."

"Then try to just think about that, the moment with us, and not those bad people," she softly gives him advice, being adorable and so loveable that I want to hold her in my arms. "Talk about what happened exactly with the intern then, I want to hear you."

"Nothing special, honestly. I forgot to tell you though, I'll be visiting Moosaeng this weekend, so I won't be able to go skating on Saturday," she warns him and reminds me of what I have been thinking about since last night. "All day long?" he already pouts. "Not all day long, but almost because his daughters will want me to stay with them and play."

"Hm," he chews on some rice and vegetables. "Was he the one you were on the phone with last night?"

"Yes, it was about that, the intern, and the fact he wouldn't be there for work today," she nods. "Damn. I don't think I've ever stayed on the phone for that long with anyone," he expresses what I kept to myself. "I already stayed for much longer, that's not so long to me."

He raises his eyebrows at her, feeling the same way as I do. "Jeez. He must love your voice a lot to stay on the phone for that long."

"Who wouldn't?" she smiles and gets him to do so. "You're slowly getting as arrogant as I am, I love that. I taught you well."

She giggles but does not even deny it, and I quietly enjoy my meal.

— Next day —

Monday, September 7th, 2021.

2 pm.

I leave the bathroom after taking a shower to get rid of all the sweat and strain from my workout, and I button my shirt up but fall upon y/n, who is having a late lunch after sleeping in.

I decide to not go to my office yet but join her. "Hey," I bend over and kiss her, seeing each other for the first time today. "Hey," she takes a spoon of cereal, and I sit down next to her to have both sides of the table in front of me. "Did you sleep well?" I tease her about the long night she had, not surprised given what happened before we slept. "I did, and you?" she smiles.

"I did, I had an amazing night," I comb my damp hair back, still feeling good about it. "Y/n!" Joonha yells from upstairs. "Look at your phone, you brat!"

Without shouting back, I take my phone and send him a text. "Do not answer him."

[ get your butt down here right now >

"He's in trouble," she grins and looks up at me while sipping some milk in the spoon, and I lick my lips. "No," I tell half of the truth, and once the concerned one is here, I snap my fingers and gesture him to sit down in front of y/n. He does it and forces a smile. "I sent you a text, I wanted you to read it, but I think you were too busy counting the cereal left in your bowl."

"I was just enjoying my food," she chews on it. "If you see that she hasn't answered you, you go towards her and talk to her like a normal human," I remark, and he listens, carefully. "I will, dad, but I was just playing and getting killed."

"It's not real life, so I don't care," I do not show empathy, knowing he will not take this too seriously. "Well, some things could give me heart attacks because of how intense it—"

"Let's not argue on this. Tell her what you wanted to talk about. Unless this was private, but I don't think anything should be private between you two," I intertwine my hands over my crotch. "Well...there is some stuff we only talk about with each other."

"Hm, alright, then I'm leaving you alone," I move to stand up, but he stops me. "It wasn't private, no need to. It's just about tonight, and now that you made it awkward, it's weird, but whatever. I just wanted to know if you're coming to the party tonight because I'm counting the people that will be there."

"I'm not coming, I won't feel comfortable with your friends, alcohol and stuff like that around, I never liked parties," she answers with something relieving. "Oh, alright. It's fine, I just wanted to be sure."

"We can do something just together to celebrate your birthday if you want, but I won't be comfortable with the guys I saw yesterday," she tells him, in one of the softest manners, always speaking with gentleness. "I know, don't worry. You wouldn't have had to care about those guys though because I talked to them this morning and told them they were disgusting towards you and that I didn't appreciate it, so Hyuk apologized, but the other asshole didn't, but I didn't even invite him for tonight. If I had seen this guy, I would have smacked the shit out of him."

"The one you told me about last night and that I saw?" I ask to identify which one it was, and he nods. "Yeah. He's lucky mom was there, or else I wouldn't have controlled myself. I was mad as fuck."

"Violence won't solve the problem with such people, they have no education, they're immature, show no respect to women, so you can't do anything other than showing you're much smarter than them," I notice y/n slide the bowl towards Joonha. "Do you want it? It tastes like chocolate milk now, I know you love it."

"Don't you want it?" he does not take it right away. "No. I can't anymore," she shakes her head, and he thanks her and drinks it. "Are you going to be busy?" he asks her, stirring the liquid. "I don't know, why?"

"Do you have time to play with me?" he gulps down the rest of the milk, and she nods. "I have all day to play, so yeah. What game do you wanna play?"

"Minecraft, we can build some stuff together, or a horror game, and I close all the curtains, it's up to you," he leans forward and grabs her spoon to put it in the bowl. "Sure. I wanna play Minecraft," she smiles, and I feel my lips copy the same shape.

I love to see Joonha have someone to play with, spend time with, and enjoy the same hobbies.

"I'm gonna get some cereal before going back to my room, you made me want some," he stands up from his chair and heads to the kitchen with her bowl, and she lifts her arms up to stretch but moans out of pain. "My body hurts..." she mumbles so that Joonha cannot hear her, and I smirk, making eye contact with her. "I'm sorry," I whisper and apologize since I am guilty of that physical pain.

She smiles and looks away, and she takes a peek at Joonha. "Have you talked about what you're hoping for to your dad?" she brings up what I do not know about, and Joonha pours the milk but seems confused. "About what?"

"You know it. The sibling thing," she gets me to frown and be quite surprised, and once I glance at Joonha, I feel even more astounded. "Oh. Well, it's better not to talk about it."

"I want to know," I ask for an explanation, and he grins but comes back. "I just told her I wanted a sibling. That's it," he sits down to eat. "A sibling? Why out of the blue like that?"

"It's not out of the blue, I never talked about it because you were single, so you couldn't make a baby on your own, but now that you're with y/n, you know, I can talk about it," he struggles to say the words, and I chuckle. "You know we don't have kids so early in a relationship, and you have a baby already. Have you forgotten about your baby boy?"

"Of course not, my baby boy is my number one baby, but I want a baby sibling, so it's different," he clarifies, but I still cannot believe what I heard. "You'll think about that when you have a wife, or girlfriend if you don't want to get married."

"What if I don't ever find someone good who loves me and doesn't cheat on me?" he fears to remain single until the end, and I sigh. "You'll find someone good. Not everyone is like the ones you dated. Look at your mom, she's always been faithful, and look at me now, I'm forty, and I found y/n, who's an amazing woman as well, so you'll find someone good as well."

"I hope so," he puts a full spoon into his mouth. "But whatever, let's go and play," he leaves the table with his food, and y/n follows him. She grabs her phone, and she walks by me but wraps her arms around my neck from behind and kisses my cheek. "What are you doing to do?"

"I'm going to work and get everything done for tomorrow's classes," I touch her arm to caress it as Joonha went upstairs. "Alright, don't overwork. I'll come and check up on you to make sure you have a break anyway," she presses her lips on mine, and she walks away. "Have fun."

•••

5:30 pm.

'JUNGKOOK'S P.O.V'

I send the last email I had to take care of but hear someone knock on my door, so I tell them to come in, and I watch y/n step inside.

I smile and run my fingers through my hair, and she walks up to me, so I rotate my chair, and she sits down on my lap and put her arms around my neck. "You already took a break, right?"

"I haven't, I was too much into it," I stroke her thigh and hold her by the waist. "But I'm having one right now, so it's okay."

"Hm, I told you not to overwork though," she points out, and I have nothing else to say. "I know. I'm sorry, baby."

"It's okay," she rests her head on my shoulder, and I brush my fingertips over her thigh, finding comfort in this. "I received a message today," I tell her. "I have to go to the police station tomorrow for the investigation interview."

"Really? I'm glad they did it," she expresses some relief. "I hope the woman who listened to me will be the one you have, not the other jerks," she thinks like I do about it, and I smile and fix my glasses on my nose bridge. "I hope too, but I don't want to worry about it. I just want to go and talk about what happened. I won't think too much or pay attention to their opinions or assumptions."

"That's the best thing to do, but at what time will that happen?" she skims my cheek with her finger as if I had a plush or eyelash on it, and I look into her eyes. "At six in the afternoon. So right after work, I have to drive over there."

"Can't you come here and pick us up to go with you?" she asks to join me, but I do not approve. "No, I'd rather be alone and get over with it as soon as possible."

"You'll tell me everything that happened once you're home then, you don't have a choice," she lays her hand on my chest, and I nod. "I will. I can't wait for the court though, I know you'll be stressed out, but this is very important, and I want this to end."

"I want it to end too, so it's hard to wait," she toys with my shirt buttons, and I press my lips against her forehead. "Everything will be alright, just enjoy every day as it is and do not worry about anything else anymore."

"I know, I enjoy every single day now that I am with you and Joonha," she tells me words that mean the world. "And Choco as well, he's the cute baby of the house."

I smile and pamper her with caresses. "We all enjoy every day as well because of you. You brought and still bring us so much happiness, you're our happy pill, and we'll always be there to protect you and make sure you feel good and have us when you're having a hard time."

The delight and joy show on her face, and she wraps her arms around my neck. "I love you."

"I love you too," I drop a kiss on her neck and rub her side. This feels so good to be able to tell each other those words, to reassure, hold, and show love to one another. This is the most precious and special thing in life to me.

— Three weeks later —

Saturday, September 25th, 2021.

5:30 pm.

I set the table to get everything ready for this special dinner, and I listen to what y/n is saying to Joonha, who got dressed up, which does not happen often since he does not love suits and ties a lot.

"Is he as tall as I am?" he questions her about the man, who will be there soon. "No. He's a bit shorter."

"And is he wrinkly?" his idiot remark gets me to chuckle, and y/n laughs. "Are you dumb? He's only thirty-five. He's not wrinkly," she walks away from him to head towards me. "And he's not more handsome than I am, right?"

"I won't answer your stupid questions anymore, Joonha," she refuses to say it when I wanted to hear her opine herself on that, and before any of them could say one more thing, our guest rings the doorbell, and I become even more nervous.