Jungkook held Zhen against him until far after she’d stopped sobbing. She had wrapped her arms around his neck and nestled her face into the crook of his neck, breathing in the intoxicating scent of him.

Cho Hee had been at the door when Zhen had first woken up. She moved to rush to Zhen’s side, but Jungkook told her he had it taken care of. He then asked Cho Hee to make Zhen a cup of tea, to help settle her nerves. Cho Hee hadn’t been back since, leaving Zhen and Jungkook to sit in the dark, clutching to one another. Zhen had, after a bit, wished she’d been wearing something other than a tank top and a pair of flimsy dog paw printed pajama shorts. She really wished she’d slept with a bra on, especially when she had herself pressed against Jungkook, but she wasn’t ready to let go. Not yet.

Jungkook kissed the lobe of her ear before saying “Your parents might get suspicious.” He whispered, which tickled Zhen’s ear, so she flinched away, and he snickered, blowing at her ear again.

She laughed and pulled away. He smiled, grabbing her hands and pulling her back to him, pressing his lips to hers. “It’s nice to hear you laugh again, Zhen Ai. You cried for an entire hour.” He said, running a hand through her hair. “It must have been a really bad dream.”

Her stomach dropped at the thought of it. “It was.” She said lightly, and he pulled her towards him, onto his lap. He kissed her cheeks, and then her lips, and she looked down. “What are you even doing here.”

He smirked. “Happy Birthday?” She frowned. “Cho Hee asked me to come for moral support, since you’re making your decision today.”

The decision. She’d forgotten there for a moment, since she was caught up in her dream, and the boy sitting on the foot of her bed. She noted that there were dark spots on the front of his sweatshirt, where her tears had streaked down her face and onto him. “Sorry about your sweatshirt.”

He shrugged and tore it over his head, handing it to her. “It’s a little cold. I don’t want you to stab anyone’s eye out, or anything,” He said, pointing at her chest. She punched his shoulder and he laughed. “I’m just saying.”

“.” She said, pulling his jacket over her head.

The moment her head peaked through the top, and she’d pushed her arms into the sleeves, Jungkook crashed into her, knocking her back onto her pillows. He pinned her hands on either side of her head with his, locking their fingers together as he pressed his lips to hers. “It’s not y if we’re in a relationship, Zhen Ai,” He said, trailing kisses down to her neck.

Zhen squirmed underneath him. “My parents are downstairs!” She squeaked, twisting away from him. My parents. It felt weird in , but she knew it was the truth.

At least, it would be, after that day.

Zhen sat at the table, with Jungkook at her side and Mr. Kim in front of her. In the kitchen, hurriedly doing dishes as loudly as possible, possibly to drown out Zhen and Mr. Kim’s conversation, were Dae Hyun and Cho Hee.

She reached for Jungkook’s hand, which he gladly offered. When her hand was folded in his, he gave it a light squeeze. “So,” Mr. Kim continued. “It seems that the Hwang family is very adamant on your adoption going through this weekend, and they won’t be giving you an adjusting period, like the Shins so kindly did.” Zhen nodded in understanding. “So if you don’t decide to sign today, I am required to bring you to meet the Hwang family, and if you haven’t decided by Saturday morning, at exactly midnight, I’m going to have to sign off on the Hwang family’s adoption plans.”

“Why can’t you just sign off on the Shins adoption? And why haven’t you already?” Zhen asked, knotting her fingers with Jungkook’s.

Mr. Kim nodded. “The Shins decided to give you the final decision. We have to honor that. So if you don’t physically say that you want to stay with this family, that’s it, you’re with the other family. Shall I give you a little background on them?”

“No,” Zhen said, shaking her head. This caused Cho Hee and Dae Hyun to stop moving in the kitchen. “It won’t be necessary, because I’d rather live here, with Cho Hee and Dae Hyun. They’re my family now.” She looked to Cho Hee and Dae Hyun and smiled. “I’d like them to be my parents.”

When Mallory had returned to her apartment the night before, Jaspar was sitting on the couch, waiting for her. It was  about ten, nearly eleven, when she’d finally made it home, so to see her brother there was a bit of a shock. He should have been asleep already, with Elize. But no, he waited on the couch for her.

She didn’t get the chance to close the door before he began asking her questions, demanding to know where she was, and who she was with, because he knew she wasn’t out that late with Zhen, who would have had to be home for curfew. Mallory had shared with him the nights events and, when he asked if she finalized her contract, she told him it was none of her business.

So she was only slightly surprised to see Claude Vandam sitting on her couch in his god awful dark blue suit. Mallory immediately noted that he was, in fact, wearing shoes on her carpets, and she frowned. “Are you a barbarian?”

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