It was warm.

Not the temperature.

Her life.

It felt warmer, somehow. Like God had turned the thermostat up or something. But it was a pleasant warm, a warmth that made her tingle inside and out, a warmth that felt cozy and safe and like home.

Lisa was home.

Or at least, she was really really really close.

"Yes, yes, Jungkook looks adorable in that picture," Jaebum intoned lifelessly as Lisa held up (yet another) photo for him to admire.

"You're not even looking!" she protested. "And that isn't Jungkook, it's Taehyung!"

Jaebum looked over for a second and squinted before looking up at Lisa. "Are you sure?"

She sighed, exasperated, before plopping down in her chair and spinning a full rotation. "Yes, Jaebum, I'm pretty sure I know which one is Taehyung and which one is Jungkook."

"First off, they aren't my kids, and second, they aren't your kids either," he reminded her, turning back to his computer. "You don't even actually live with them."

Lisa glared at Jaebum's back. In the beginning, he'd been so quiet and nice and polite, if a little intimidating, but the longer they worked together (which they presumably always would, as they were known as the P-Squad, P for Paperwork, since they screwed up so many small legal technicalities that they did more paperwork to cover up for their mistakes than actual investigation), the more sass Jaebum gave her.

Probably because he was more comfortable around her now, but also quite possibly because she was always cramming photos of Namjoon's children down his throat, not that he paid much attention at all because she never let up.

Lisa was about to show Jaebum a picture of Jin in his last football game when she heard the iconic sound of booming laughter that managed to fill the entire station. "Hey, I think your roommate is here to pick you up," she said, all annoyance with Jaebum forgotten. Such was the magic power of that laugh.

Jaebum sighed before stretching his arms above his head and standing up, cracking his back twice and wincing. "You're in charge of the paperwork on the last case, you know that, right?"

"Right, right..." Lisa mumbled, already scrolling through her camera roll to see what other cute pictures she'd taken of the kids recently.

"And you know that it's due Monday, right?"

Lisa nodded, finding a picture of Jungkook doing a push-up with Taehyung sitting on his back, casually reading a book. "Mmh- MONDAY?" She looked up, blinking. "Nuh uh. No way."

"Yep," Jaebum said, already grabbing his stuff because he knew how Lisa got when they had to come in to work on Saturday afternoons: absolutely unproductive. "And it's your turn because I did it last time. And let me remind you that if you turn it in late - again - we'll be put on some stupid case like last time, stuck picking up dog shit in the community park to make the area safe for the public."

Lisa groaned, sending an anxious glance toward the thick manilla folder on her desk. "Well, how about you-"

"Nope," he immediately dismissed just as the source of the laughter appeared, grinning at Jaebum. "Hey, JaeJae."

"Hey, Jae," Youngjae said, smiling, and Lisa felt a bit of her anxiety disappear as an aura of happiness invaded the station. Youngjae and Jaebum were flatmates, and to save on gas and insurance, they shared a car, which made it Youngjae's responsibility to pick up Jaebum. "Hi, Lisa," Youngjae greeted, and Lisa smiled back, waving.

"Hey, Youngjae, do you want to-" she began, only to be cut off by Jaebum, who grabbed Youngjae's arm and quickly steered him away from her.

"No, he doesn't want to look at every picture you've ever taken of Taekook's ankle," he said, and Lisa frowned.

"It's Jungkook and Taehyung," she corrected, but Jaebum was already gone.

Lisa sighed again before turning to the stack of paperwork and opening the folder, grabbing a pen and starting to fill it out.

Every now and then, though, she'd hesitate and send a glance toward her phone. She knew she was too involved with the kids and that it was probably improper of her to act as their substitute mom when she had no real stake in the family, but she couldn't help it. She felt like a proud aunt, wanting to show her nephews to everyone so that everyone would see how adorable they all were.

Except maybe Yoongi.

In all the pictures she had of him, he was frowning, scrunching his nose, and glaring at the camera. Even when she'd tried to take secret photos of him, he always seemed to know and made the same disgusted expression.

Still, she cared for the kids deeply. She understood on some level why Namjoon didn't want to make any permanent decisions about their relationship while the kids were still in high school and going through so many big changes, and she was okay with that.

She finished up the paperwork in a few hours and handed it in at the front desk, waiting while the clerk pulled a few folders.

"There are a few ongoing cases that the P-Squad can look into," the clerk said, flipping through the printouts. "It looks like there was a home invasion last week but nobody was injured, although County wants us to send over an officer to do a routine check-up. Aside from that, someone's claiming destruction of property...something about the neighbor's dog ruining their vegetable garden...and what looks to be a standard, run-of-the-mill case of domestic abuse, although there isn't much information on that one, just a phone record over a tip line but no contact information or address. So, which one does the P-Squad want?"

Lisa sighed before sweeping the three folders up in her arms. "I'll look over them with Jaebum and return the others. We'll start Monday."

The clerk nodded, and Lisa brought the folders back to her desk, inserting them in the top drawer before shutting the drawer and locking it with her key. Then she stood up, grabbing her jacket and purse, and headed out to her car before heading home.

Home, of course, was not her apartment, although she technically still slept there occasionally and most of her belongings there.

She walked through the front door using her other key and was met with a few glances. "Hey, kids, I'm home!"

"It's not your home if you aren't paying rent," Yoongi said sassily, turning back to the television, and Hobi smacked the back of his head lightly.

"Hi, Lisa," he said, grinning. "How was work?"

Lisa sat down in a chair, fanning herself with a fan. "Exhausting." she smiled before leaning forward and ruffling Jimin's hair, as he was the closest to her and was sitting on the floor. "How's it going, Jimin?"

Jimin blinked before looking over and up at Lisa, his lips curling up slightly. "It's g-going," he said, and Lisa smiled.

"DAD," Yoongi yelled without looking at Lisa. "YOUR ESCORT IS HERE." He turned slowly to look at Lisa with narrowed eyes. "Oh, sorry. What's your name again?"

Lisa crossed her arms. "Kim Yoongi, I swear I-"

"Hey," Namjoon said, emerging from his room, and Lisa felt herself soften at the sight of him, immediately forgetting about how much she wanted to have the authority to ground Yoongi for the next three lifetimes.

"Hey yourself," she said. He still managed to throw her off her stride and make her sound socially inept even though he was no silver tongue either.

"I was thinking date night tonight?" he asked, leaning against the door frame, and her heart fluttered involuntarily. She couldn't remember how she'd ever had the confidence to confess to him or do any of the things that had sparked her relationship considering that even the sight of him in an old t-shirt and sweatpants made her pulse race, and she'd been dating him for half a decade.

Maybe cause we're taking it so slowly, she thought, and although it hadn't been what she'd expected, she'd loved it. She hadn't had many serious relationships before this one, and she enjoyed the lack of rush and pressure. "Sounds good," she replied, smiling, and he smiled back, and they stared at each other until-

Yoongi coughed. "Please, stop. Please please please stop. I will pay you if you just leave and stop making gross heart eyes at each other. Please. It makes my stomach lurch."

Jimin giggled to himself, hiding his mouth behind his hands, and Hobi grinned mischievously as Namjoon just threw his hands up in the air.

"Looks like we're staying home all night and playing a four-hour game of Monopoly with the kids," Namjoon said with an equally devious grin, and Lisa smirked.

"NO. TAKE YOUR ROMANCE SOMEWHERE ELSE," Yoongi insisted loudly, and Namjoon gave in, laughing as he disappeared into his bedroom to change.

When he came out, he stood in front of his kids. "Now, I know you're all in high school, but-"

"No, Dad, we don't need a babysitter," Yoongi complained. "I'm sixteen for crying out loud."

"Fine, fine," he relented. "But Mr. Lee said he has to travel for a business trip tonight, so his sons will be spending the night here, okay?"

Yoongi nodded, disinterested, but Jimin smiled happily. He didn't like bringing friends over to their mom's house, so the only time he could hang out outside of school with his friends was over the weekend or if they invited him over.

"All right, we'll be going now. Don't stay up too late! And let the Lees in when they get here!" Namjoon said before guiding Lisa out the door.

***

While in the car, Lisa checked her phone and scrolled the most recent photo, one she'd snuck of Yoongi.

It's like some sort of twisted magic.

His nose was scrunched up to accompany the scowl on his face as he glared at the camera, arms crossed.

updates will be slow because i have a lot going on as school is almost over so enjoy this for now

also, we already did a q&a, but should we do another one from their older perspectives? not sure...