A few weeks go by and Seungcheol and Jihyo have fallen into a comfortable relationship; they’re still nothing defined, yet everything remained as clear as day to them. They both about their days as they usually do: Seungcheol picked the kids up before heading over to get Jihyo, and more often than not, he and Hansol would stay over for dinner; however, there have definitely been some changes in their routine. Most importantly, Jihyo and Tzuyu have gotten into the habit of staying over at Seungcheol’s place on the weekends and Seungcheol and Jihyo talk a lot more frequently throughout the day, sending texts whenever they can (Seungcheol gets terrorized by his friends a lot, but it’s worth it).

With the change in their relationship, Jihyo and Seungcheol opened up to each other a lot more as well. In Seungcheol’s opinion, Jihyo has been showcasing her cute side a lot more despite the woman abhorring anything related to acting cute—the only thing that inspired her to continued doing so was how weak Seungcheol was to those sorts of things. Seungcheol, on the other hand, revealed himself to be a lot more playful than he has previously shown.

(“You’re such a child,” Jihyo has said to him on more than a few occasions with heavy sighs, and yet, Seungcheol simply responded to her with taunting laughter.

“You’re not the first to say that to me,” Seungcheol would reply, tongue sticking out mockingly. It always ended up with him being attacked with pillows, though.)

And of course, in the mix of all of their relationship changes, the two parents started getting closer to each other’s children as well.

Jihyo caught on quick to Hansol’s subtle love for singing; at first, she simply thought it was something that he did unconsciously, nothing much out of the ordinary for anyone—especially not a child—but she watched the way his mood would brighten whenever she hummed a tune or actually sung a song under her breath. She also noticed how Hansol mouthed along to the songs she would sing him and Tzuyu at night whenever they stayed over, and how she would catch him singing them to himself the next day. Jihyo was elated to teach Hansol all kinds of songs, and the young boy was just as excited to learn them.

On Seungcheol’s end, Tzuyu never failed to join him whenever he started playing a game—whether it was on his phone, on his consoles, or even a quick basketball game between his friends. Tzuyu always wanted crawl into his lap (or, in the case of a ball game, sit on the sidelines) and watch him play. Which didn’t bother Seungcheol in the slightest, since Tzuyu was good company (she caught on to a lot of useful items and clues whenever he was playing phone or console games). Of course, Seungcheol helped Tzuyu learn how to play several games as well, but her favorite games to play were definitely ball games.

All in all, things seemed to be going well for the two for the first time in what seemed like a long time. That is, until a terrible storm hit the city and caused the apartment complex Jihyo and Tzuyu lived in to suffer from long-term damage.

“Cheol? Are you—are you busy right now? Wait—I’m sorry—I know it’s early, I just—” Seungcheol rose from his seat the dining table, telling Hansol to keep eating his breakfast. The young boy looked at him with curious eyes, but he did as he was told. Seungcheol ruffled Hansol’s hair before heading into the other room.

“Jihyo? Are you okay? Did something happen?” Seungcheol asked, his voice worried, but hushed.

Jihyo’s voice wavered from the other end of the phone and Seungcheol was already beginning to prepare himself for heading out. “No, I’m not okay, everything’s ruined , Seungcheol. This ty apartment can’t even handle a stupid ing storm—”

“Woah, Hyo, calm down...please.” Seungcheol guided Jihyo through a few quick deep breaths. “I don’t know what happened, but I’ll be there soon, okay? Do you need anything?”

There was a heavy sigh on the other end, and Seungcheol wished it was like all of Jihyo’s other ones—playful, light-hearted, anything but this . “I just want yo—” Jihyo cut herself off, and Seungcheol could hear her clearing . “If it’s okay, can you bring any kind of bags or whatever to pack stuff in?”

“Yeah, of course, I’ll see what I can scrounge up.” Seungcheol started walking back to the dining area to retrieve Hansol, but he stopped himself for a second. “Before I go...just know that you’ll be okay, Jihyo. I got you no matter what. It doesn’t have to even mean something more than just friends,” Seungcheol said, and he resigned himself with dealing with Jihyo’s unenthusiastic response later before they said their goodbyes and hung up the phone. Seungcheol stared at his phone a bit longer, as if he was trying to analyze Jihyo through it, but then he sighed and ran a hand through his hair before going back to the dining area.

“Dad?” Hansol turned towards Seungcheol from playing with his food. Seungcheol disposed of whatever Hansol didn’t eat, then picked Hansol up.

“We’re going on a little trip, Sol. I think Jihyo is having some problems...or maybe a lot of problems…” Seungcheol explained to his son before he went to go tidy them both up a bit and gather whatever bags he could find (which was nothing much, just some suitcases, sports bags that he used for going to the gym, and oversized bags he’d use for his groceries). After grabbing everything he needed, Seungcheol left the house with Hansol in tow and hurried over to Jihyo’s place.

Or, what was left of Jihyo’s place.

When Seungcheol arrived a few moments, he saw what Jihyo’s panic was about. The apartment building wasn’t as great as it could have been before, but it was a mess now—all kinds of residents stood outside of the building, lamenting about flooding or broken windows. Seungcheol knew the storm last night was bad (it was enough for Hansol to startle in the middle of the night and cry to sleep with him), but he didn’t know it was that bad. Seungcheol made a beeline towards Jihyo with the bags that she requested in hand, trying not to look at her too pitifully.

“Oh, you’re here already?” Jihyo asked a bit dazedly. She looked stressed, and Seungcheol knew she had to be on the verge of tears, but he also knew that Jihyo would hold onto her tears until everything was settled and she could find some time to be alone.

“Yeah, might’ve broken a few laws to get here, but I’m here.” Seungcheol tried to joke, managing to bring out the smallest of smiles from Jihyo. “Shall we get packing?” Seungcheol’s suggestion was cautious; he hated having to remind Jihyo of her situation, but he figured it’d be better to salvage what they could now rather than later.

“Y-yeah...let’s—let’s go. If you’re okay with it, Tzuyu is waiting with one of the older residents I’m close with, so Hansol can wait with them. I didn’t want to take her back in there, there’s so much water damage and broken glass everywhere…” Jihyo motioned over to an older lady that had Tzuyu resting in her lap. Seungcheol had never seen Tzuyu so distressed in her life.

“She looks like he could use a friend right now, too. How about it, Sol?” Seungcheol looked down at his son who was visibly very confused. Despite his confusion, Hansol nodded at his dad anyways, and without waiting, he ran over to the older woman and Tzuyu, determined. He greeted the woman politely, then greeted Tzuyu with enthusiasm. Seungcheol and Jihyo watched as Tzuyu’s face brightened considerably, and she crawled out of the older woman’s lap to hug Hansol, excitedly introducing him to her neighbor. Seungcheol smiled and looked towards Jihyo who seemed to relax at the sight.

The two parents continued on their mission to salvage whatever they could from Jihyo’s apartment. Jihyo instructed Seungcheol on which things to take (he picked up most of Tzuyu’s favorite toys and books, Jeongyeon’s lego sets, and any photobooks with a green sticker on the front). After packing up what they could, Jihyo organized any remaining things that she needed in the living room and kitchen before they headed back down to load Seungcheol’s car.

“Alright, everything’s loaded. Time to head out,” Seungcheol shut the trunk of his car with finality and began making his way to the passenger’s side of the car to open Jihyo’s door for her, but she stopped him.

“Actually, you can just take Tzuyu with you. The girls are on their way over as well with boxes for me to pack the rest of the stuff up in, so I’m staying here,”

Seungcheol turned to face Jihyo. “Do you want me to stay here with you until they come?” He placed his hands on her shoulders and massaged them slightly. Jihyo grinned softly and fell into the gentle motions for a moment.

“I’m not going to get attacked, Cheol, I’ll be fine. I probably won’t even be waiting long,” Jihyo placed her hands on top of Seungcheol’s and slid them off of her shoulders casually. Jihyo stepped closer to Seungcheol and cupped his face with her hands before pulling him down and kissing him quickly.

“Probably isn’t very reassuring, but I see you’ve made your points,” Seungcheol mumbled against Jihyo’s lips when they pulled away. Jihyo chuckled shortly, stepping away from Seungcheol completely to go gather the children. Seungcheol watched Jihyo go as he leaned against the car; he didn’t know how well he was helping her keep it together, but he figured small smiles and short bouts of chuckles weren’t too bad. Jihyo returned not too much later with the children clasping onto each of her hands.

“Alright, kids, I’ll see you both soon okay?” Jihyo bent down to the kids heights when she spoke to them. The two children nodded, and they both hugged her goodbye. Before they totally parted ways, though, Jihyo gathered Tzuyu up into her arms. “You know we’re going to be okay, right, Tzu?” Jihyo asked her daughter worriedly.

Tzuyu nodded quickly. “Will you be okay, Mommy?” Jihyo raised her brows at the question. Tzuyu looked at her mother with her classic, unwavering stare. Jihyo glanced at Seungcheol who was watching over the two of them, then looked back at her daughter with the biggest smile she could muster.

“Yeah, I’ll be okay, baby.” Jihyo kissed her daughter on her cheek then buckled her up in her car seat. Seungcheol gave Jihyo one last kiss to her forehead before he got into the car and finally headed out.

Moving into Seungcheol’s place was more of an ordeal than it should have been, and Seungcheol supposed it had something to do with Jihyo’s friends. From them complaining about why it was his place she was moving in to, to making a big deal about the look of his apartment (they said it was plain, Seungcheol insisted that he was a minimalist ), to making subtle jabs at the things Jihyo chose to save—they side-eyed a few photobooks with red stickers on the front, seemingly insignificant trinkets, things of that manner.

Jihyo managed to keep it together, though, from what Seungcheol could tell. There were many times where he caught her holding in deep sighs or snappy remarks. More often than not, he and Jihyo would share a look and he’d have to calm her down silently. Seungcheol didn’t necessarily despise Jihyo’s friends, but he tried his best to relieve the stress that Jihyo was under earlier, and they didn’t nothing but stress her out more. He figured that they figured that it was only friendly teasing, or rather helpful remarks even, but one look at Jihyo—or the entire situation, really—and one should know that now wasn’t really the time for all of that.

“Finally, we’re finished,” Nayeon groaned and plopped down on Seungcheol’s sofa. Sana curled up next to her wife and the television. Jeongyeon began sorting out her Lego collection onto Seungcheol’s shelves, while Mina sighed and shook her head.

“Yeah, finally,” Jihyo mumbled under her breath, quickly excusing herself before hurrying back towards the guest room that was now serving as her room. Seungcheol glanced back at the women who were already immersed in their own business to make sure they really weren’t paying attention then followed Jihyo down the hall.

Seungcheol entered the guest room quietly, his heart breaking at the sight of Jihyo kneeled at the end of the bed, sobbing. He hurried over to Jihyo and wrapped his arms around her, wordlessly. Seungcheol let Jihyo cry until her sobs began to die down, and then he tried to turn her towards him.

“It’s fine, I’m fine—” Jihyo choked out, pushing Seungcheol away.

Seungcheol pulled back, but he didn’t leave. “Jihyo, you’re not fine. Nothing about this is fine, but that’s okay,”

“It’s not okay, though!” Jihyo’s voice rose, but she was careful not to yell. “I hate this, always feeling like such a burden. It’s always you whose bending over backwards for me, but what can I do? I couldn’t even afford a decent enough apartment for my child to live in, let alone try to pay you back for everything,”

Seungcheol, a fan of actions rather than words, pulled back into Jihyo and kissed her deeply. “Jihyo, you don’t need to worry about any of that, I promise you. Helping you and Tzuyu, it’s not something that I feel like I have to do, it’s something I want to do, you know that. I’ve been at the place that feels like the bottom before, I know what regret and burden feels like. It’s a hellish feeling, even when I had a good source of support. I don’t want that for you, because I care for you,”

Tears began spilling over from Jihyo once again. “I’m sorry,” She managed to get out before burying herself into Seungcheol. Seungcheol hugged Jihyo tightly, pressing firm kisses to her head.

“Don’t worry about it.” Seungcheol replied, Jihyo’s hair. To help placate her further, Seungcheol listed out all of the positives that could come from this. From Hansol and Tzuyu having permanent playmates, to being able to watch their favorite dramas togethers, to how convenient living with him would be for her. “We can even go shopping together now, and all of the aunties can finally see me with the girlfriend they’ve been wishing upon me,” Seungcheol and Jihyo—now having calmed down and cheered up—share a laugh.

The two of them share a few more soft kisses before they head back out to the living room (Jihyo groaned, but Seungcheol gave her encouraging squeezes to her shoulders). Jihyo is pounced on as soon as they return, because it was glaringly obvious that she had been crying.

“You really—” Nayeon started to scold Seungcheol, but Jihyo stopped her with a sigh.

“Cheol, you should probably go watch the kids,” Jihyo turned back towards Seungcheol and he saluted, hurrying back towards Hansol’s room. He closed the door behind him with a quiet sigh, then he settled down on Hansol’s bed; he wasn’t sure what kind of talk Jihyo and her friends will have, but he had a feeling that it was going to take a while, so he decided to get comfortable and watch as Hansol and Tzuyu showed Dahyun, Chaeyoung, and Momo around Hansol’s room.