There is a knock on the door and everyone looks up.

It’s Thursday afternoon, after school, and all of the boys have come over to Himchan’s apartment to keep Jinri and Jinah company. They’re all crowded around the glass coffee table in the living room, playing a board game – Himchan loves board games, Jinri has come to learn – and so they’re not expecting anyone.

“Is someone else supposed to come over?” Youngjae asks in surprise. He’s squeezed between Daehyun and Jongup, squished with his knees up to his chest since there’s not all that much room.

Himchan frowns. “No, I didn’t invite anyone else. It’s probably just one of the neighbors or the landlord or something. I’ll go check.”

He disappears into the hallway and the others resume the game, already losing interest.

“It’s your turn,” Junhong tells Yongguk, his long legs stretched out under the coffee table because, even though he’s the youngest, he’s by far the tallest and his legs need the most room.

Yongguk, who’s got Jinah in his lap and is happily making faces at her, shrugs indifferently. “Roll for me then,” he says.

Jinri purses her lips. Though she loves that Jinah is finally getting attention from male figures, she hates that it’s mostly from Yongguk. There’s no doubt in her mind that he’ll disappear from their lives one day, once he gets bored of ing Jinri no doubt, and then Jinah will be devastated.

There is the sound of muffled voices from the entryway, and then Himchan reappears looking grim. But he’s not alone. He’s followed by two uniformed police officers, who are looking almost as grim.

Jinri panics at once.

“I’m sorry, Jinri,” Himchan mumbles apologetically. “I tried to tell them you weren’t here but they already knew that you were. I’m so, so sorry.”

Jinri forces herself to stay calm. “It’s okay,” she says bravely. “It’s not your fault.”

One of the policemen clears his throat. “Miss Ha,” he says. “Your parents are quite worried about you and the little one there. We’re here to take you home.”

“Yeah, real worried,” Jinri mutters sarcastically.

The second police officer isn’t nearly as nice as the first. “We could arrest you for kidnapping charges, you know,” he snaps. “So get your things and come with us. We’re taking you and your sister back to your parents.”

“Wait, sister?” Himchan repeats, looking from the police officer to Jinri and back again. “Jinah is Jinri’s daughter.”

“No, she isn’t,” the second police officer replies testily. “And we’re not wasting any more time here. Come now or we will forcibly remove you. Does it need to come to that?”

Jinri glares at him. “No. I just need some time to get our things together.”

“You have five minutes,” the second officer says in annoyance. “You better hurry.”

Jinri stiffly gets to her feet and heads back into Himchan’s bedroom, where she has made herself a home in the past couple of weeks. Himchan follows her, worried, concerned.

“Jinri,” he begins, but she holds up her hand to stop him.

“Don’t,” she answers with a pained voice. “Just don’t, Himchan. Okay? Thank you for everything that you’ve done for me and for Jinah, but I guess it’s time to go back now.”

“You can’t,” Himchan insists. “What if they hit you again? What if they hit Jinah? What if-”

“I won’t let them hit her,” Jinri says stiffly. “They can hit me all they want, but they will never lay a hand on her.”

Himchan’s expression softens into one of almost pity, but he doesn’t say anything more.

When Jinri returns to the living room with her things, Yongguk wordlessly hands over the toddler with an unreadable expression and she follows the police officers out of the apartment without looking back. 

So I know this is so so so short and I"m really sorry! But it's sort of an important chapter because a lot of you have been asking about whether Jinah is Jinri's daughter or sister. I left it ambiguous on purpose, but now you know ^^