"Husband's here." Taehyung points, but his best friend has her attention elsewhere,

"I want to go meet the elders first," Hope exclaims, pulling him towards a group of older women.

"Hope Park." Someone calls, she turns towards the guests with a fake smile. However, her smile turns genuine and she practically runs to hug the older male,

"Hope!" Taehyung warns, seeing her slightly stumble but she simply brushes him off. 

"Dad, I missed you." Hope cries, tightly hugging the older male,

"I missed you too, but sweetheart you need to be more careful." The older man says, patting her head.

"Pa." Taehyung walks over with open arms,

"Tae." His father chuckles, pulling his son for a hug, while Jongin wraps an arm around his wife, pulling her close to him.

"You shouldn't be running." Jongin gently chides,

"I'll be careful." She mumbles, avoiding his eyes,

Confused with her behavior, Jongin cups her cheek, "Bab-

"Who the fu*k hurt you?" Heeyoung fumes, ghosting her fingers over the poorly concealed bruise under his right eye,

"It's nothing, love." Jongin tries to assure her, but she slips out of his arms,

"How dare he!" She storms off with Taehyung following after her.

"Heeyoung-" Jongin calls, but he's ignored as she's already located her target.

"She's not used to caring for herself." The elder beside Jongin chuckles, watching Heeyoung drag her target away with a firm grip on his tie.

"I know, that's what worries me more." Jongin sighs, turning to the elder, "It's nice to finally meet you, Mr.Kim. Heeyoung speaks highly of you."

"I mean she has to, considering I took on the role of her parent, after her mother's accident." Mr.Kim explains,

"I'm certain Heeyoung considered you a father figure long before then." Jongin honestly replies, knowing his wife looks up to the elder.

"Kim Taejoon." Someone calls slipping an arm around Mr.Kim's shoulder, "Of course, you wouldn't miss your youngest's party."

Mr.Kim laughs, "How have you been, Boston Song?" 

"As good as I can be." Mr.Song greets as Jongin's youngest uncle joins them,

As the four are conversing, Chairman Jung interrupts, "Why did the youngest abduct the kids?"

"It might have to do with him." Mr.Song nudges his head towards Jongin,

Mr.Jung visibly winces, "Shouldn't you try stopping her before she disfigures someone?"

"It's either Haechan or Jaemin, she won't hurt Haechan much." Boston Song states,

"What about my son?" Jisung asks.

His friend shrugs at him,

"Let's go." Jisung drags Taejoon with him to check on their kids.

~

"Pregnant women are fu*king strong." Jaemin grumbles, pressing an ice pack to his cheek with another resting on his shin.

"Good thing, I came prepared." Seol chirps, opening up her make-up bag.

"Next time, don't punch my husband's face, especially before an event we're hosting." Hope winces as Taehyung applies ointment to her knuckles,

"I'll keep that in mind, for next time." Jaemin smirks at her,

Hope seems ready to jump at him when the door to the room slams open,

"Thank god, he's not disfigured." Jisung relievedly sighs, seeing his relatively unharmed son,

"Good job, Hope." Jisung gives her a thumbs-up, ignoring his son rolling his eyes.

"Had Haechan and Bomi not been here, Jaemin would be sporting many, many marks." Hope sweetly smiles at Jaemin,

"Babe, I'll happily wear all your marks." Jaemin sleazily replies.

Hana smacks him on behalf of everyone.

"Jaemin Kim, aren't you-"

"I need a drink." Jaemin stands up, pausing behind Hope to drop a kiss on her cheek on his way out.

"What's with him?" Taejoon frowns, watching Hana and her father hurry after Jaemin.

"Who knows!" Hope frowns, confused while her friends share a knowing look,

"As fun as this is, we should head back." Taejoon states, turning to Hope, "Your husband is searching for you."

Hope visibly cringes, while Taehyung loudly laughs.

"What's wrong?" Taejoon asks her,

"Someone's avoiding the husband." Taehyung snickers,

Hope immediately refutes, "I am not. I'm tired and there are too many people and-"

"I never said it was you?" Taehyung teases, causing her to turn bright red,

"You-"

"Children." Taejoon groans, giving his son a scolding look before turning to his daughter, "Princess, this is your anniversary party. You need to be out there with your husband. If it gets tiring, you're pregnant, take advantage of that."

"Hope is avoiding you." Jaemin chirps, amused, slinging an arm around his cousin's neck. 

"Jaemin Kim. Don't take his words seriously, Jongin." Bomi tries to assure Jongin, while glaring at Jaemin to keep his mouth shut.

Jongin humorlessly chuckles, gulping down his drink "She's not exactly subtle, either."

"Jongin." Bomi tries to call, but the male determinedly walks over to his wife, who's talking with his parents.

Since she has her back to him, he manages to sneak up on her and wrap a firm arm around her waist.

"Kim Jongin." His mother angrily calls,

"What did I do now?" Jongin sighs, preparing for her scolding,

"Why are you insisting on sending my grandchild to daycare, when your father and I are still alive and well?" Inhee scolds.

Heeyoung squeezes his arm, stopping him from rolling his eyes.

Jongin tries to explain, "It helps prepare children for school, Mom. It's-"

"Jongdae and you didn't attend daycare and you've turned out okay." His mother argues,

"What Jongin means is, he doesn't want to trouble dad and you." Heeyoung steps in, 

"Nonsense, Jaesuk and I are very much idle these days. Spending time with our grandchild will keep us active." Inhee gently smiles at Heeyoung, oblivious to her son scoffing at her double standards.

Jongin tries to advocate for a daycare, but his father jumps in and he's forced to accept his defeat. Heeyoung cutely scrunches her nose at him, trying to cheer him up and though Heeyoung is uncomfortable with PDA in front of their elders, he can't stop himself from kissing her forehead.

"You're avoiding me," Jongin whispers in her ear,

"I'm not." She denies,

"Babe, you run off as soon I look your way, nor have you looked me in the eye once."

She clears , "I. There's just, many people I haven't seen in forever." She lamely retorts,

"Then why haven't you been home the past few days?" He pouts, knowing his wife can't resist kissing it. She can't as she pulls him down for a peck.

"I texted you. Taehyung and I were babysitting Jayden, while Seol and Myeon visited his grandmother." She explains,

"So, you'll be home tonight?" He asks, but she's looking at something going on over his shoulder.

"What-"

"Jae!" The eight yell as Minsup shoves Jaemin and he retaliates with a punch.

"Jayden." Heeyoung is relieved to see the Songs carry him out of the room, while Taejoon Kim instructs the guards to clear the hall of unnecessary eyes.

"Do my words hurt? Your sl*tty sister does take after your who- OWWW!!" Minsup screams, clutching his fingers to his chest,

"Oops!" Hope blankly looks at Minsup's fingers, coming to stand beside Jaemin,

"You bi*ch!" Minsup's mother yells, pointing an angry finger at Heeyoung,

"Rather than scolding me, use that same energy to educate your children." Hope calmly states,

"You insolent brat! Sister-in-law, control your mannerless daughter-in-law before she ruins our family name." Mrs.Go snaps, but Inhee nonchalantly nods, angering her further.

"Aunty, your children are the ones in need of manners." Seol rolls her eyes,

Mrs.Go scoffs, "After giving birth to a bastard, you have the confidence to act freely?"

"Not a word against Seol or our son." Junmyeon snarls, wrapping a protective arm around Seol,

"Myeon is so cool!" Heeyoung swoons, Jaemin has to do his absolute best to not roll his eyes,

"Son? Are you sure that bastard is yours, nephew?" Mrs.Go questions,

"This b-" Jaemin clenches his jaw, while Heeyoung lightly scoffs,

"Kim Misoo!" Junmyeon's father yells,

"See father ever since Jisung-"

"He looks wealthy." The speaker booms, drowning out Kim Misoo's voice,

"He isn't. Mom managed to have us receive their dividends. But can you believe that old man, even after throwing them out, he handed Jisung uncle 10%, while my mom barely got 5?"

Misoo hurries to explain herself, but Chairman Kim levels her with a sharp glare, "I want all five of you at the residence within an hour." 

The elders hurry over to the Kim residence, leaving behind their children.

The door hasn't even shut before Mina is charging at Heeyoung. Jaemin deflects the attack, but the force of the slap sends him to the floor.

"Hope!" Taehyung sprints over to his best friend, holding her back from attacking Go Mina.

"Whopper! Think about Whopper." Taehyung reminds her,

Hana doesn't have anyone holding her back and lands a slap on Mina. Minsup tries to push Hana, but Eddy catches her. Hope slips out of Taehyung's grip, kneeing Minsup in the groin and landing a punch on his face.

"You sl-" Minsup tries grabbing Hope, but Jaemin kicks his arm away.

"Don't you ever touch her." Jaemin shouts, kicking Minsup and scaring everyone but his friends with his aggressiveness.

"Jaemin." Hope and Hana pull him away and Haechan steps in front of a coughing Minsup.

"You fu*king idiots managed to lose your last source of income." Hana tsks at the Go siblings,

"You won't get away with this," Mina yells, watching her brother cough up blood.

"Between you and us, who do you think has more power?" Jaemin scowls,

"Yo-"

"Go Minsup initiated contact by grabbing Jaemin's collar and shoving him. Go Mina charged at a pregnant lady with intentions of physical harm and had Jaemin not stepped in, I fear Heeyoung would have to be rushed to the ER. If that wasn't enough, Minsup attempted to grab Heeyoung's leg, once again with intentions of harming her child and her. Jaemin simply retaliated to defend his pregnant friend." Haechan calmly states,

"What? Cat got your tongue?" Hana mocks,

"We've already wasted too much time on them," Bomi states, turning back without a glance at the Go's and heading to the exit. Haechan catches up with her with two steps and the rest of their friends follow them.

"Years later and I'm still amazed." Sera blinks at their retreating backs.

"Will they be okay?" Hyeri asks, glancing over the Go's.

"They should be fine, they usually avoid vital points." Jackson innocently blinks, happily eating his ice cream as if he's used to seeing this scene every day.

"What?"

"Among the eight, Jaemin and Hope's fighting skills are ranked the lowest," Jackson states,

"That's the lowest?" Seungwan wonders, pointing at a beaten Minsup. 

"Among the eight, yeah." Jackson nods, focused on his cold treat, oblivious to the stares.

"Damn Jong, you better find a way to get Heeyoung to stop avoiding you or else?" Jongdae teases,

"Heeyoung is avoiding you?" Everyone looks at Jongin,

Jongin loudly groans, "I'll talk to you guys later."

"You're home." Jongin startles when his wife walks in a little after midnight.

"Where else would I be?" She softly chuckles, heading to their room.

Jongin enters as Heeyoung walks into the bathroom, leaving the door wide open.

Recognizing the unspoken invitation, Jongin removes his pajama pants walking to the bathroom.

Heeyoung hears him before his arms wrap around her. He runs his hands over her rounder stomach, pressing kisses along her shoulder.

"Baby, I-" Heeyoung cuts him off with a kiss.

"We've started with the next phase." The words echo in the empty conference room.

There are only two people physically present with three others on video call.

"I've heard the CEO of KJC is expecting a child?" The elder on the middle screen scowls, the men avoid eye contact, while the only lady quirks an eyebrow at the elder.

"Grandpa is upset because he had to hear the news from others." The male on the left screen says,

"Maybe if you answered my phone ca-" Heeyoung trails off as her phone rings with an incoming text.

She heavily sighs, reading over her message before looking at the screen, "I have somewhere to be. I'll talk to you later."

Jongin stares at his apartment door, dreading returning to an apartment without his wife. He assumed he would explain himself in the morning, but by the time he woke up, his wife had already left and none of his texts were answered beyond a single word.

"I'll wake you up once dinner is ready." He's surprised to hear his wife before a door shuts close.

He's in the living room when Heeyoung walks into the open space.

"You're home." She acknowledges, heading to the kitchen.

He follows her, wrapping his arms around her and burying his head into her hair, "Now I am."

Heeyoung momentarily freezes, "Jihyun's here." She informs him,

"What's wrong? Is she okay?" Jongin asks, worried as he did hear sobs walking in.

"No, she's not." Heeyoung sighs, slipping out of his arms, "You should go change." She suggests.

~

"Can you wake Jihyun up, dinner will be ready in a few," Heeyoung asks, her eyes on the boiling soup,

"Of course," Jongin says, heading to the bedroom when the loud beeping of their front door unlocking sounds.

Heeyoung walks out of the kitchen, while Jongin contemplatively glances in the direction of the guest room and the door.

However a loud call for "Hope" has him walking back to the living room where he's met with the sight of his cousin hanging off his wife.

"My Hope" Jaemin slurs, his attention on Jongin, smugly smiling at the dark bruise on his cousin's face,

"Are you drunk?" Hope scrunches her nose at the heavy stench of alcohol,

"I didn't want to, they forced me." Jaemin whines,

"They, who?" Heeyoung asks, but Jaemin's occupied scratching the red marks on his neck.

"What's with the marks?" She frowns, keeping his hands away from his neck.

"They're mosquito bites, I promise I haven't been with anyone since you left me. Not even the psycho." Jaemin quickly defends himself.

Heeyoung chuckles, "I know they're mosquito bites, idiot. I'm wondering why you have so many."

"Oh!" Jaemin pauses, "I mistakenly fell asleep at a park last night."

"I know Baekhee is wrong, but calling her names isn't right." Baekhyun frowns, walking into the apartment.

"Aye yo, Byun Baek! How does it feel always been overshadowed by the great CEO Kim Jongin?" Jaemin loudly asks,

"Jae!" Heeyoung scolds,

"Seriously, bro, your wife slept with him, your half-sister sleeps with him and your baby sister wants to sleep with him. How do-"

"Oomph!" Jaemin groans, landing on the floor with a loud thud. He wearily blinks his eyes as Heeyoung rolls her eyes at him. Baekhyun and Jongin have their jaws hanging open after witnessing the pregnant lady shoulder throw her friend.

"Jaemin Ortiz Kim." Hana storms in with Eddy and Seol.

"I go out every night and sleep all day since you took your love away." Jaemin sings, pulling Heeyoung on the floor with him.

"What's going on?" Jihyun walks in, rubbing her eyes.

"I miss you so much, It fu*king hurts. I love you so much, It fu*king hurt-" Jaemin trails off, pressing his head against Hope's stomach,

"Jaemin," Hana calls, noticing her cousin's darkening expression at the sight of Jaemin hugging his wife.

"There's seltzer water in the fridge," Hope informs them, running her fingers through Jaemin's hair.

Seol hands the bottle to Hope but Hana snatches it away. She tries to pull Jaemin away from Hope, but her twin stubbornly sticks to Hope.

"Jaemin, let's go home," Hana says, looking at her fiancee for help.

Eddy steps forward as Jaemin declares, "I am home."

"Jaemin, listen to Hana." Hope softly suggests as Eddy and Seol help pull Jaemin up.

Jongin steps forward to help his wife stand.

"Don't touch her." Jaemin smacks Jongin's hand away. Gently helping Hope to her feet and dragging her to the foyer.

"Jaemin." Hope tries to pull away, but Jaemin pinches her chin and mumbles, "The one he loves is here, he doesn't need his rebound."

The words stun Hope, allowing Jaemin to easily drag her away.