Baekhyun accompanied Jinsu back as far as the rail station when his parents decided enough was enough and that Jinsu ought to be getting home at a sensible hour, but she reckoned it was the most enjoyable, relaxed evening she’d had in years, and definitely one of the most fun birthdays, from the kisses to the food to Baekhyun running around the kitchen table attempting to escape his father and yelling at the top of his voice that his presence was Jinsu’s birthday present since money could never buy love.  Byun Byunghyun’s main source of entertainment appeared to be winding Baekhyun up, but it was obvious that Baekhyun also enjoyed it just as much.  It was pretty clear that Baekhyun’s mother was the one who was actually in charge of the household, but she seemed pretty laid back as well, even if she sometimes tutted and shook her head at the antics of the Byun males.

One raucous edition of Happy Birthday and a beautiful set of jade earrings later (“it’s a gift, dear – I was wondering why Baekhyun had been taking such an interest in my jade jewellery making recently”), Jinsu was happily ensconced on Baekhyun’s lap on the train back.  His father had leant her one of Baekhyun’s hoodies as another birthday present – he was obviously where Baekhyun had inherited his playful nature from – the hood of which she had pulled up to make herself less identifiable, though she sat facing towards Baekhyun anyway so it wasn’t like many people could see who she was in any case.

“I like your parents,” she told him.  “They’re nice.”

Baekhyun flicked playfully at one of her jade earrings.  “Good, because they like you.”

“Your dad didn’t seem so keen when he first walked in.”

“He wasn’t,” said Baekhyun, totally candid.  “I didn’t tell him we were dating because it was enough for him to swallow that we were even on speaking terms when we got back from the Attayear trip, but he said that if I was that gooey-eyed around you despite who you were, you had to have something good going for you.  I did sort of mention vague stuff about your family because they wanted to know where I went last night and how I ended up sleepwalking to Chanyeol’s and obviously he knows you’re involved in the court case stuff, but until he met you I think he would have preferred it if I’d been interested in someone else.”

“But he’s okay with me now?”

“Totally,” Baekhyun assured her.  “He thinks you’re sweet.”

Jinsu breathed a sigh of relief.

“He did tell me to wear armour if I ever plan on meeting your parents, though.”

Jinsu laughed, but she couldn’t help thinking that Baekhyun’s father had a point.

It was quarter to eleven when she got back into her house, and it had stopped raining.  Humming to herself and in a thoroughly good mood, she crossed the hall to the stairs and began to climb, the Baek Jin bears tucked under one arm and her school bag with her washed uniform, courtesy of her aunt, other presents and school work hanging from her opposite shoulder.

She bumped into her mother, who was looking down at her phone, at the top of the stairs and was instantly swept into a hug.

“Happy birthday, darling.  Have you enjoyed yourself?  I was just about to ring – we were worried about you being out so late.  Mira said you were with friends rather than them.”

“My friends took me out for dinner,” Jinsu fibbed smoothly.

“That was nice of them, dear.  Which restaurant?”

Jinsu deflected the question by pretending she’d forgotten the name and wriggled out of her mother’s grip, mumbling something about being tired and wanting to go to bed.

“We’ve got cake downstairs for you if you’d like,” her mother said.  Normally, it would have tempted Jinsu, but she’d already had two large portions of cake that day and the thought of more made her teeth feel rotten.

“But I’ve already eaten so much cake, Mother.”

“All right.  Well, I’m sure it’ll keep for a day.  I hope you don’t have plans for tomorrow, though, because we’ve barely seen you and that’s not really the way to celebrate your birthday.”

Jinsu grimaced.  “It’s not like we really do the whole family thing when it comes to birthdays.”

Her mother hesitated, but the truth of it had evidently struck home.

“I suppose not.  I think your father wanted to talk to you, darling, but sleep well.”

She gave Jinsu a brief hug, but mention of her father drew Jinsu’s attention to her mother’s cheek.  There was no mark there, to her relief, but it didn’t change what had happened.

Her mother noticed the direction of her gaze.

“I’m fine,” she told Jinsu quietly.  “I think he was more shocked than I was.  He’s apologised more than once.”

Jinsu wondered if he’d ever apologised to Jimin.  She wasn’t sure she’d ever actually heard an apology leave her father’s lips.  Her mother clearly wasn’t interested in talking about it further, though, so she dropped it and headed for her room.

It still felt a bit odd to walk in and see the drapes on the wall, but after spending time in Baekhyun’s home, she had to admit that they really did cheer the room up and give it a bit of character.  She paused for a few moments to look at them again.  One of them had Persian-inspired designs while the other was so neatly geometric that just looking at it made her feel calm and happy.

She was still drinking the geometric patterns in when there was a soft knock at the door.  Jinsu whipped around just as her father poked his head around.

“Can I come in?” he asked.

That in and of itself was a surprise.  Jinsu didn’t know whether she was more taken aback that he was asking permission for entry (though she didn’t know whether he’d accept a refusal) or the fact that he’d deliberately sought her out in her room.  Normally he wait