"Who is this handsome gentleman?" your mom said with a Cheshire cat smile that left you feeling uneasy. She carefully observed Jimin from head to toe, looking at his sleek black boots, fitted black jeans and grey zip up cardigan over his tight black t-shirt.

Feeling uncomfortable, he quickly bowed to greet her and covertly glanced at you confused about what was really going on here.

"It's so nice to meet you, eomeonim" he said and before he introduced himself, you spoke first.

"Jimin. This is Jimin, eomma. Did Jeonghyun not tell you?" you played dumb. You never really told your mother Jimin was in fact a man*, so you used it in your favor.

"Oh, of course, Jimin" she said giggling like a teenager with a crush and boldly patted his wrist as if trying to apologize for her supposed forgetfulness. She wouldn't admit she truly had no idea.

"It's nice to meet you too, I've heard a lot about you" your mom quickly added.

Was you mother on crack? That was a lie, she knew nothing about Jimin and for good reason. At least she hadn't said a word to you about how you looked so far. She urged you both to come in and after you took off your shoes, you were lead to the living room.

"Do you want something to drink or eat, darling?" your mom squeezed Jimin's shoulder as he now sat on the couch next to you and he looked up at her with a polite smile.

"I'll have some water, please" he said with a little nod and turned his head to you, "would you like something?"

"Do you want something to drink, dear?" there she was. You were starving, but she wouldn't offer food to you. It was late and you shouldn't be eating after dinner time, she'd object.

"Sure, thank you, eomma" you mumbled looking down at your lap and sighing. Maybe she is right, you shouldn't eat anyway, you thought running your hands up your thick thighs.

When your mom walked away, Jimin put his hand on your back and rubbed it carefully. He looked in your eyes worriedly and you pressed your lips together.

"Aegi, you should eat something. Your body needs it, anything, even if it's just a bit" he encouraged you softly as you had only asked for water.

"Well, mom doesn't think so" you huffed frustrated, but he didn't know her well so he wasn't sure why you came to that conclusion.

Your mother came back with a tray with two glasses and a small plate with crackers and some topping she quickly whipped up. No one asked for it, but she'd make sure her guest was comfortable. Specially if it was a man, she loved coddling good-looking men.

Jimin thanked her for the food and drinks and spread some of the paste on a cracker to offer it to you. Looking at his hand and then over at your mom's warning gaze, you decided to challenge her and take the cracker. You nibbled on it happily, avoiding eye contact.

Your boyfriend smiled satisfied as he prepared one for himself not to seem rude, since this had been prepared for you two, or so he thought. You could feel the tense air of your mom judging your choices when Jimin put his hand on the small of your back.

At the gesture, your mom smiled brightly. She was so annoying, you wished she'd just go away. The sooner you got to bed, the better, so you wouldn't have to deal with her or anyone until the morning. Having a break from your thoughts sounded really nice right now.

"So, friends?" she asked clasping her hands together in front of her, much like you would, Jimin noticed. He felt you stiffen under his touch.

"Jimin is my boyfriend, eomma" you informed her calmly in contrast to how you felt, hoping that would leave her speechless once more.

"Oh, that's wonderful!" she exclaimed looking at Jimin adoringly. You just rolled your eyes at how exaggerated her whole attitude was, but she didn't spare you a glance. That was good.

As you prepared another cracker for yourself, you could feel your mother's eyes burning a hole through your skull, but you did your best to ignore it. Whenever Jimin glanced her way, she instantly lit up as if she hadn't been giving you the stink eye.

"I wish I'd known, I wouldn't have prepared the guest room" she commented as you made your way upstairs and to your old bedroom once you were done.

"Make yourself comfortable, darling" she told Jimin as she urged him to walk in first and held you back for a second.

"I'm glad you haven't gained more weight, I got you something that's perfect for tonight. Wait here" at her words your heart sank and you wrapped your arms around yourself feeling uncomfortable. Jimin briefly looked your way and saw this.

You had gained weight, but these last few weeks you'd been so sick you'd lost it and it suddenly felt like a blessing. Not that it mattered to your mom, she had no idea, it made no difference to her. The issue here was that you had not dieted as she had instructed and hadn't dropped the kilos.

She came back and handed you a small pile of silky sleepwear motioning to the the bathroom so that you'd go change into them. You sighed looking at it, what had she got you? It would surely be uncomfortable even if it was soft.

Looks above all, her voice resounded in your head. Or were those your dark thoughts? Sometimes it was hard to tell them apart.

"If you need anything, you let me know okay?" your mother offered kindly and placed something on the dresser next to the door, "I thought you might need these."

After looking at both of you with a knowing eye, she wished you good night and left. You quickly went to get changed and once he had put his pyjamas on, Jimin walked over to the dresser curiously to inspect what your mom had left for you.

Jimin stifled a laugh as he held one of the small packets between his fingers amused. You saw him when you walked in the room and ripped it off his hand all flustered.

"God, this is so embarrassing, I'm sorry" you apologized grabbing the rest of the condoms and throwing them all into a random drawer that you shoved closed.

Jimin giggled seeing you furiously blush. Your mom seemed to be very open, he didn't think anything of it.

"It's okay, baby" he said finally getting a good look at you and admiring your pyjamas.

The chiffon and lace nightdress sexily draped over your breasts leaving a generous part of your neckline and cleavage exposed. From your shoulders fell a robe that you kept wrapped around yourself as you hugged your waist shamefully.

"What if we need those?" he teased you with a little smirk and your face flushed again when you saw the playful spark in his dark eyes.

"Forget about it, I'm sure we won't" you said walking away and incidentally giving him a good look of the shiny fabric sliding down every part of you. He sighed captivated by the sight, but he wasn't going to insist. He was just joking initially.

"Mimis, Jiminie. Come to bed" you urged him as you laid down and pulled the covers over yourself promptly. This thing was uncomfortably short and too light for winter. You shuddered trying to gather some warmth.

"Are you cold, aegi?" Jimin purred as he got in bed and snuggled closer to you. He wrapped his arms around you and made sure every part of his warm body was in contact with the back of yours. His hands ran up and down your upper arms trying to warm them up.

You hummed content as you could feel the temperature of your skin rising little by little. Jimin made sure the covers were tightly wrapped around you after a while and then spooned you once more.

"Thank you for being here with me" you said with a soft voice as you both slowly drifted off and a sleepy smile spread across your boyfriend's lips.

"I'm always here for you, aegi. Whenever I can" Jimin said that second part a little hesitantly.

He didn't always have the time to be around. He couldn't just drop everything and come to you, but he was grateful that this weekend that you needed him he was free. Thankfully most events had been at the end and beginning of the year, they had a breather for now.

-

* There are no true third-person pronouns in Korean. The normal way to refer to someone in the third-person is to use a surname with a title, a given name or full name under certain restricted circumstances, a kinship term where appropriate or some simple noun phrase.