JIMIN’S POV

I somehow managed to convince my wife to go with me to BigHit’s private gym. It was kind of exclusive; civilians weren’t typically allowed. When I snuck her past the staff, only a couple of other idols were using the elliptical machines or lifting weights. My wife had nearly left the building when she spotted the members of Homme weight-training together. As a fan, she couldn’t let them see her sweat. Or so she said. I told her no one would even be looking at her.

About an hour into our routine, Jin and Namjoon had sauntered in, wearing distressed tank tops that were cut so low in the sleeves you could see their entire chests when they moved. They waved at us and my wife flushed crimson and quickly looked away.

“What?” I asked in a low voice. “Are you embarrassed to be sweating in front of Jin, too?”

She glowered at me from her position on the mat. I was in the midst of forcing her to do sit-ups and she was already angry at me without me asking stupid questions.

“Not for any romantic reasons.” She hissed. “I’m embarrassed to be sweaty in front of anyone! But especially people I know.”

“Don’t worry, guys are into your sweaty gym look. I’m sure Jin will have a fantasy about you wearing those leggings and that sports bra later tonight. With sweat running down your body and your hair all mussed.” I paused for a moment. “Actually, I have fantasies about that. You’re really killing this gym look. No one would think you pushed a baby out of you two months ago.”

She sighed and fell back against the mat. “You’re impossible.”

“And you’re not allowed to stop yet. Twenty more and then the elliptical.” I gripped her ankles firmly and gave her a stern look.

“Can’t we go swimming instead? We’ve been working out forever.” She whined. “I hate it.”

“Do it.” I ordered. “And I’ll make you vegan peach galette.”

“Can’t I just eat the vegan peach galette without doing anything else?” She batted her eyelashes at me.

“No.”

My wife pouted for a minute.

“Jay Park.” I prompted.

“Ugh, fine.” She struggled to lift herself up to her knees.

“ in your stomach and tilt your chin. You’re straining your neck.”

She suddenly turned red and stopped exercising. I glanced behind me to see Jin and Namjoon hovering over us. Namjoon was smirking and Jin was staring at my wife.

Or, to be more specific, at her exposed skin.

I let go of my wife’s ankles and helped her to her feet.

“Hi.” She said breathlessly, waving to the two of them. “Nice to see you.”

“Working out, sunshine?” Namjoon asked. His eyes scanned her body for a quick second. Jin was still too busy staring at her cleavage to say anything.

“Yeah.” She shyly tugged on her sports bra. It was the wrong move; her post-pregnancy s popped out even more.

Jin’s cheeks turned red and he ducked his head down. Like a teenaged boy. I supposed he’d never seen her without a shirt on, besides at the beach. He stared at her at the beach, too.

Namjoon elbowed Jin in the ribs and said in a very audible whisper, “Stop drooling.”

Jin and my wife both flushed. She shifted nervously to stand behind me, so I stepped slightly in front of her and smiled at Jin. He rubbed the back of his neck and muttered something under his breath.

“You trying to get back in shape after having a baby?” Namjoon asked.

“No, she’s trying to get back in shape because she wants to sleep with Jay Park.” I said with a grin. She smacked me, turning crimson.

“You jealous, Jimin?” He turned to me with a little smirk.

“Nah. He’ll never look her way.” I pinched her cheek. She protested quietly.

I wasn’t sure how I felt about her being so shy in front of Jin. He was still staring at her. Was she like…flirting with him? Or uncomfortable? I couldn’t tell. I did wish that he would stop looking at her.

I mean, I liked her when she was shy. She got all sweet and pink-cheeked and something about her attitude made me want to wrap her up in a hug and protect her from all the things that made her embarrassed.

“Who’s watching your kids?” Jin asked suddenly, addressing my wife.

“My parents.” I answered for her. Jin sent me a sidelong glance before fixing his gaze back on her.

My wife tugged on my arm and whispered in my ear.

“You bein’ shy, sunshine?” Namjoon laughed. “Rather unlike you.”

“She’s embarrassed to be sweating in front of you guys. She hates to sweat in front of people.”

Jin chuckled. “You’re fine, sweetheart. Don’t worry about it.”

“Easy for you to say.” She muttered. “You look great when you sweat.”

Jin awkwardly coughed and ran his fingers through his hair. “You look great, too.” He nervously met my eyes. I raised my eyebrows before flicking my gaze away. I caught Namjoon’s eye and was forced to see his knowing little smile. He laughed when I turned my face to the ground and angrily scuffed my shoe against the floor. Stupid friends.

Why was Jin awkwardly flirting with my wife in front of me? She was a mother of two, for crying out loud. It wasn’t like she’d suddenly appeared as the spunky twenty-two year old that Jin and I fell in love with. There was no need for him to be tripping over his words and blushing like he’d never clapped eyes on her before.

On the car ride home, I broached the subject of her and Jin.

“Alright, so you can tell me the truth.” I started from the passenger side of the car. She wanted to drive home; I had a sneaking suspicion we were going to grab junk food or something.

“Uh-oh. That doesn’t sound good.” She smiled, crooked teeth shyly making a quick appearance.

“Don’t get mad.”

“You know I get mad every time you tell me not to get mad.” She flicked on the blinker and turned into the parking lot of a Chipotle. I made a noise of protest, which she ignored as she parked the car and switched off the engine.

I placed my hand on her thigh and looked earnestly into her eyes. “Baby, no. We can’t eat this.”

“Jimin, yes. I need protein. I need beef and rice and beans all wrapped up together.”

“I’ll make you a sweet potato burrito at home.”

“Jimin, no!” She rested her forehead on the steering wheel and looked dolefully at me. “I can’t eat vegan anymore. I don’t want to.”

“Alright.” I held up my hands. “As a trainer, I’ll let you have a Chipotle burrito if, as your husband, you will truthfully answer my question.”

“It depends on the question.”

“I’ll throw in chips and guac.” I wheedled.

“Fine.” She surrendered. “Just don’t ask anything that we’d have to bring up in marriage counseling.”

I took a deep breath. “Do you…” I hesitated, chewing on my lower lip before finishing my sentence. “Do you have a crush on Jin?”

I thought I saw something flicker in her eyes. “Jimin, we’ve been over this.”

“No, no, we haven’t.” I said hurriedly. “Having a crush and being in love are two very different things. Crushes are normal, natural. Everyone has crushes. Being in love is like, well, maybe like you’re going to leave me for him and take our kids with you.”

She studied me for a moment. “Can I eat before we have this conversation?”

“You’ve got a crush on him, don’t you?” I pointed at her. “You do!”

“I wanna eat first.” She placed her hand on my arm. “I wanna eat first because I’m starving and because I feel like this is very important to you and I wanna be present for the conversation.”

I shrugged and moodily played with the strings on my sweatpants.

She sat down at a table while I ordered the food. I glanced back occasionally to see her talking on her phone. She looked nervous and kept playing with her hair.

“Sul, I’ve gotta go. I’ll talk to you later, okay?” She abruptly hung up as I brought over the food.

I sat and passed her food across the table. After a few bites of burrito and about eight thousand chips, she wiped with a napkin and spoke to me.

“Jimin.” She reached across the table and took my hand.

“My love.” I squeezed her palm against mine.

“People are photographing us right now because you’re famous, so please don’t freak out and shout about me being in love with one of your friends. Okay?”

“Okay.” I nodded.

“Jimin.” She said again. I bit my lip as she paused. “I do not have a crush on your friend.”

“Are you sure?” I asked quickly. “Because you’ve been getting all red and shy and embarrassed around him.”

“Because I am embarrassed around him.” She murmured, looking into my eyes with sincerity. “I love you, Jimin. It’s embarrassing to me that one of our best friends is seriously in love with me. Okay? He loves me, like, the way you love me. That’s…I have a hard time with it. I don’t know how to deal with it.”

“In like a ‘why can’t I have two guys?’ kind of way or in a ‘my best friend is in love with me and I never knew’ kind of way.”

She gave me a look.

I took a sheepish bite of my burrito. “I’m just wondering.” I mumbled through a mouthful of food.

“No, I just want you, Jimin. I don’t want two guys or any other guys besides you.”

I sighed and attempted to steal a chip from her bag. She smacked my hand. “I just feel like maybe it’s not going to be that way forever. Like how can I compete with him? Six years of unrequited love? Come on. That photo album? Those beautiful, beautiful pictures of Haru? He adores you.”

“Jimin.” She leaned forward and pressed a hand to my cheek. “I have adored you since you first dropped me off in front of my shabby little apartment and were too shy to kiss me. I adore you. I love you. That’s why I married you. And I want to stay married to you.”

“Do you?” I shuffled my fingers through my hair. “Because you threaten divorce a lot.”

She rolled her eyes. “Okay, but the two times I did it were pretty well-warranted.”

I stole another chip and a hefty portion of guacamole. She gasped and slid the container away from me, guarding it possessively as I laughed and tried to take a second dip.

“You love me?” I asked as I wiped a crumb off of my lip.

She looked up from her burrito with a small, dimply smile. Those beautiful brown eyes shone out at me from underneath her curly, black lashes.

“You really gonna make me confess to you again in the middle of a Chipotle?”

I stared down at the brown table, speckled with bits of rice and a couple of black beans. “Yeah. I am.”

I felt her fingers underneath my chin and looked up. She had a soft, serious look on her face.

“I hate that you feel this way.” She murmured. “I want to make you feel secure, but I don’t know what you need. What can I do for you?”

I reached out and cupped her face in my hands, pulling her in for a heartfelt kiss. Surprised gasps sounded from either side of us, and I heard the telltale click of cameras. I knew this picture would be uploaded to my fansites later on, but all I cared about in that moment was the melting sweetness of my wife’s kiss.

When I pulled away, her cheeks were stained rose. Her blush grew deeper as she realized that many people were staring at us. She put her elbows up on the table and raised her arms to cover her face, shooting me a look that was both pleased and irritated. I grinned and quickly packed up our food; I knew she wouldn’t be able to finish her meal in that kind of environment.

I grabbed her hand as we made our way out, and she interlaced our fingers. I couldn’t stop the biggest smile from spreading across my face and I threw up a couple of peace signs to squealing fans before my wife tugged on my hand with a low laugh.

“You’re such a ham.” She declared as soon as we made it to our car. “You probably only kissed me for the shock factor.”

I tugged on her hand and spun her into my arms. I touched my forehead to hers and kissed her once more, lingeringly.

Her hands clasped onto the front of my t-shirt and she pulled me closer. I drew away to catch a breath and she blinked up at me in a kiss-daze, her skin dusky pink amidst the freckles.

“I just like to see you blush for me, baby.” I whispered as I nudged my nose against hers. I stole a quick kiss and felt her smile against my mouth.

HER POV

When we arrived home, we found Jimin’s mother sprawled out on the couch with Sun Jae near her head. She traced lines from his nose to his chin and back up again, a sweet, fond smile on her face. Yukon lay curled up on the floor next to them, his head resting on top of his paws. He regarded me lazily with his big brown eyes, then his paw and sighed back into a snooze.

Haru and Jimin’s father had snuggled up together on the reclining chair with a book, but both were sound asleep. Jimin cooed and snapped a picture of the two of them.

I sat cross-legged next to the couch and laid my head on the cushion, reaching up to hold Sun Jae’s tiny hand.

“He looks like you, love.” Mrs. Park said softly. “He’s got your eyes.”

“Jimin’s ears.” I ran my finger along the shell of his little ear. “And Jimin’s nose.”

“He’s got your mouth. I can almost picture him with your impish little smile.” She smiled herself, then affectionately tousled my hair.

“He’s perfect.” I kissed his foot. “Absolutely exquisite.”

Jimin sat behind me and pulled me into his lap. He placed his chin on my shoulder and softly kissed my ear.

“I just love this little boy so much.” He whispered. “Can’t even believe how much I love him.”

Jimin’s mom sat up and stretched, yawning hugely. “We’ll get out of your hair.”

“You don’t have to go.” Jimin rested his head on her knee. “You’re not in our hair. Plus, Dad’s sleeping.”

She bent and kissed the crown of his head. “Sweet boy.”

I scooped up Sun Jae and cradled him lengthwise in my arms. I touched our noses together and he rewarded me with a smile.

“I just wanna eat him.” I said, settling for smothering his little face in kisses.

Jimin lazily his fingers across my shoulders as he laid his head on his mother’s knee. Such a mama’s boy, but I secretly loved it.

“Do you wanna finish your burrito, baby?” He asked me sweetly. “You hungry?”

“Yeah. You want the rest of yours?”

Jimin leaned forward and kissed my cheek. “I’ll get it.”

I watched the curve of his back as he walked away into the kitchen. He looked so good in his tight workout shorts and stylish tank top. It was covered in palm trees; I’d picked it out in Forever 21 one day last summer. Jimin didn’t like that store, said the clothes were cheap in quality, not only price. He also hated going in there because he usually got swarmed by teenage fan girls. I forced him to go because I wanted a cheap crop top to wear to a concert in Hongdae (before we moved there) and he always went to H&M without me.

Also, I liked when his cute fangirls took pictures of us together. Jimin got so shy and embarrassed and always, always picked out a snapback to hide his face.

I kissed Sun Jae’s nose and thought we should take him to H&M to buy him some kids’ clothes. I wanted a stylish baby to match his stylish father.

Jimin caught me staring at him and smiled widely at me.

“Hey, baby girl. You’re looking at me like you’re going to eat me up instead of this burrito here.”

I flushed in embarrassment. “Not in front of your mom!”

Mrs. Park patted my shoulder. “Sweetheart, I’m really used to it.”

I groaned, then rubbed my nose against Sun Jae’s. “Jimiiiiiin, you’re torturing me in front of your mom.”

He strode in casually with two plates and guacamole on his nose. “I think you should be used to it by now, too.”

“You’ve got dip on your nose.” I pointed out. Jimin bent and wiped it off on my shirt, giggling as I shrieked. I tried to hit him, but he dodged me and kissed my exposed skin, still laughing.

“Are you two parents or lovers?” Jimin’s dad asked gruffly from the recliner. He cleared his throat and yawned. “Woke me up from my nap with all that noise.”

“Shush, Dad. All your rumbling is going to wake up my precious daughter.” Jimin flopped onto his back and kissed my knee. I ruffled his hair and he smiled at me, looking so much like the sun on a bright summer’s day. He tickled Sun Jae’s little foot and our baby boy let out the cutest little giggle.

Haru stirred and looked around confusedly for a moment. She spotted me sitting on the floor and ran to me.

“Mama!” She flung her arms around me, then slumped down tiredly against me. Her little burst of energy had dwindled.

Jimin rubbed her back as she nuzzled her face into my neck. She nearly toppled me over with her weight, but when Jimin tried to take her away from me, she screamed and clung tighter, nearly choking me.

“No! No, I want Mama! Mama, Mama!” She pulled my hair in frustration. My mother-in-law tutted quietly behind me.

“Haru, love, you need to be gentle with Mama. Okay? She’s holding Sun Jae, you need to be careful.” Jimin said soothingly. “Wanna sit with Daddy? Okay? We’ll read a book, what do you think? Wanna read a book?”

“No!” She shrieked. “No book!”

Sun Jae began to cry at his sister’s noise.

“Haru, let’s get a snack.” Jimin insisted. “C’mon, don’t make me pry you off of Mama’s neck.”

Haru giggled. “Pry me. Pry me off, Daddy.”

“Haru, you’re hurting me.” I complained.

Her grandfather groaned as he got up from his chair and lumbered over. “Park Haru, are you bothering your mother?” He grumbled.

She looked up in alarm, her lower lip quivering.

“Are you bothering your mama, Haru?” He repeated.

She nodded and a few tears slipped down her face.

“Is that a nice thing to do?”

Haru shook her head. “Nooo.” She whimpered.

“Let go, okay? Let go of Mama and say you’re sorry.” He crouched down and patted her curls. She threw her arms around him and cried into his shoulder.

“Grandpa, I’m sorry! I’m so sorry!”

“Oh, it’s okay, little love. But tell Mama you’re sorry.”

Haru wiped her snot on his shirt and turned to me. “Sorry, Mama.”

I ruffled her hair. “It’s okay, baby. But next time Daddy tells you to let go of me, what are you gonna do?”

“Let go of you.” She said sadly, a pout forming on . “I love you, Mama.”

“I love you, too, sweetheart.”

Haru took her grandpa’s hand and he led her into the kitchen. Jimin rested his cheek on my thigh and traced my stretch marks with the tip of his finger. He pressed his soft, full, parted lips against my skin in gentle, open-mouthed kisses. A wave of gratefulness washed over me when his mom stood and left the room with just a fond pat on my head and a knowing smile.

“I love you.” Jimin gazed up at me sideways with partly-lidded eyes, lips still pressed against my thigh.

I Sun Jae’s forehead with my thumb, a soft smile on my face. “I love you, too.”

“You promise?” He lightly touched the opal on my engagement ring. “Forever?”

I took his hand and loosely tangled our fingers together. “Forever.”