Taehyung crunched on a cracker, deftly swinging his snack away from Jungkook's lightning-fast hands. They were back in the company van, on the way home from the variety show shoot. It was 11:50 pm and dinner was still at least half an hour away. He grabbed a pack of fish chips from the grocery bag in front of him and tossed it to the group's maknae. "My cracker." 

Jungkook glared at him and he happily ignored it. "I want a cracker," the youngest whined, but opening the foil pack anyway.  

The other members were quietly doing their own thing, with Jimin and JHope watching videos on their phone, Yoongi shutting everyone off with his earphones jammed tightly in his ears, and both Jin and Namjoon lost in their own world at the back, one staring off into space and the other scrolling through his Ipad. Manager Myungwoo was sound asleep beside the driver, snoring. Only Taehyung and Jungkook were really awake enough to care about food at that moment.  

V munched thoughtfully for a minute, remembering what happened in the meeting room that morning. Chin-noona was going to have a baby—the whole conversation was so weird. "It's hard to think noona's preggers, yeah?" 

Jungkook nodded. "Heol. Couldn't imagine there's someone growing in her belly." He stopped chewing, facing his fellow member. "Do you think she's okay? She didn't seem too happy. I felt bad we didn't even know she broke up with Sung Jae-hyung." 

"Why are you calling him hyung? You barely know the guy," Taehyung countered. They've been with Chin for years, both in their professional and personal lives, but her boyfriend—ani—ex-boyfriend was someone who stayed out of their circle, and V used to find that odd, if not suspicious. Now they've split up and Chin was going to have a baby—something didn't quite feel right and he would bet his dinner it was because of Seung Jae.  

The maknae shrugged, frowning. "Just 'cause he's older." He tilted the foil bag over his mouth and let the last remnants of the chips slide in. "I never liked the guy," he confessed, folding the pack into a small triangle and shoving it into his pocket. He swallowed, sighing. "It's just weird. We've been so busy things just kind of... you know, faded into the background. Then boom. Chin-ssi's knocked up." 

Taehyung pursed his lips. When was the last time they had time for friends? He hadn't even visited his parents in months. "When we focus on something, there's always something we neglect," he agreed. The guilt that he felt was a familiar tug on his gut—being an idol meant they had to put away parts of their lives even if they didn't want to. He clicked his tongue and fished his phone out from his back pocket. He quickly opened it and tapped away furiously.  

Jungkook peered over his shoulder. "Who you texting?" 

"Chin-noona." 

The younger member checked his watch. "Ya, It's late. She'll be asleep." 

V ignored him, resolute. He suddenly missed how close they were with their noona, and if there's something he could do to make her feel better, why not try?  

Noona-- 

"Aish," he muttered, deleting the honorific. He should really stop calling her that.  

Chin-ssi, you awake? Don't reply if you're tired. Sorry about this morning. 😑 

I'm really happy for you. Babies are blessings, and you'll be the best eomma in the world. 🤗 

Don't cry, don’t get too tired, and if you need to rest and take it easy, you tell us. You take care of us so we'll take care of you, too. 😋 

What do you want to eat? We'll buy you yummy food. Think about it and sleep now. Don't text back until you get 8 hours! We love you, noona Chin-ssi 💓💓💓 

"That's a lot of texts," Jungkook smirked. 

Taehyung grabbed the surprised maknae and pressed their cheeks together. "Pali pali. Let's send her a selca." 

Jungkook huffed, but willingly made finger hearts and flashed a big bunny smile at the camera. 

Jhope saw the activity at the front and immediately popped his head above theirs with a duck face.  

"Ya ya ya, jjakaman," Jimin demanded, squeezing in beside Hoseok. "Me too. Hearteu Chin-ssi." 

"It's not a video," Jungkook said drily, without losing his camera-ready grin.  

----- 

Chin smiled, despite the tears rolling off her cheek and into her pillow. She shifted onto her side, rereading Taehyung's text messages. Aish that kid.  

She felt less alone and less lonely, looking at the photo her dongsaeng just sent her. Taetae, Jungkookie, Hoseokie, Jiminie—they sent her big smiles and finger hearts, even though she could tell from their sleepy eyes that they were dead tired from their shoot. Even Yoongi, caught in the background, was looking nonchalantly at the camera from where he hunched at the back, discreetly joining in with a "v" sign.  

She tapped her phone screen twice, zooming in. The four members hogging the foreground didn't even know the rapper was in the frame. Her smile widened, but faded when she saw the back of the van. It was dark, but she could see Jin sitting at the very end, looking out the window. He looked worn out next to Namjoon who was looking down on his Ipad.  

Memories of this morning in her office were still fresh, try as she might to push them into a box in her mind labeled, "Do Not Think About Until Ready." She didn't want to read too much into her conversation with the oldest Bangtan member, and she definitely didn't want to think too much about how he behaved. Her free hand reflexively traveled to her wrist, remembering how Jin grabbed her and all but dragged her into the room.  

Her phone buzzed, breaking into her thoughts. Her heart skipped a little at the message that popped up on her screen:  

JIN-HYUNG: Don't mind Taehyung-ah. Just sleep and rest.  

She stared at the text, blinking. Her cheeks were turning into a shade of pink that it had no business turning into. Why was she blushing? It's just Jin. Yeah. Just Jin.  

Impulsively, she tapped on her screen to reply:  

It's okay. You need to rest. Yo