“Wait… what? Why would Dayeon be here?” Namjoon questioned as if Jin was supposed to have a valid answer. He was wondering the same exact thing.

“I don’t know. She said Hoseok’s name and she asked for you. There’s no other explanation,” Jin sighed, running a hand through his hair. He wanted to tell Namjoon to make her go away and never come back, but that would be rude.

Maybe she had something meaningful and important to say. Or she needed some help. But judging by that expensive dress and that expensive car she was driving, there wasn’t really any other reason for her being here except for… Hoseok…

“Alright,” Namjoon sighed. It was obvious that Namjoon wasn’t too pleased by this woman’s- Dayeon being her name it seemed- presence either. It made Seokjin feel a bit more accepting of his own feelings.

“Can you tell the kids to go to Hoseok and Yoongi’s room?” Namjoon asked suddenly.

“For what?” Jin frowned. He really wasn’t going to invite Dayeon inside their home , right? She had no place in here.

“We’re going to talk to her.”

Jin doesn’t want to talk to her! He wants her to go away. God, Jin felt so… he doesn’t even know what he’s feeling. He just doesn’t want this.

“No. I don’t want her in here. In our home.”

“Jin, please,” Namjoon said softly, caressing Jin’s arm in a plea. For some reason, Namjoon pleading with Jin to let Hoseok’s mother- Namjoon’s ex- into their home only succeeded in making Seokjin even angrier. But, he guessed Namjoon was right. The woman could be here for any reason.

“Fine.”

Jin didn’t wait for Namjoon to even thank him, just walked away. He wanted Namjoon to know how displeased he was about the situation. And Jin was satisfied when he heard Namjoon give an exasperated sigh at Jin’s actions. It was petty, sure, but Jin was just in that mood.

“Kids,” Jin called as he entered the living room. “We need you to go to the back for a little while. There is something important that we have to take care of.”

“But Apppaaa,” Hoseok drawled, lying spread eagle on the floor dramatically. “I don’t want tooooo.”

“Yeahhhh,” Jimin said imitating Hobi.

“But we really need you to. If you do get up, I’ll let you all have a few snacks from the candy stash,” Jin reasoned. That seemed to do the trick because all of the kids were standing and taking their toys with them as they rushed towards the hallway. Well all of them except Jungkook, who was still silently playing with his Hoseok’s power ranger.

“Kookie, honey?” Namjoon asked from behind Jin. Joon tried to snake his hands around Jin’s waist but Jin gently grabbed the younger’s wandering hands and removed them.

“Yes?” Kookie looked up innocently.

“Can you go to the back with the other kids?” Jin asked again.

“Oh! Okay,” Jungkook exclaimed, standing and running towards the hallway to join his siblings.

“You’re mad, aren’t you?” Namjoon accused as soon as they heard the kids’ door shut.

“Just go invite her in,” Jin dismissed, moving to sit on the couch. Namjoon looked as if he wanted to say more but he didn’t, just obeyed Jin’s words and went to invite Dayeon inside. Jin stayed sitting on the couch, waiting for the two to return.

He heard as soon as Namjoon opened the door, Dayeon begin talking. “Oh, so you do live here still?” She sounded amused and relieved. Jin had to sit on his hands to keep himself from throwing the framed picture on the side table next to the sofa.

“Come in, Dayeon,” Namjoon said. “The living room is that way.”

And in moments time, Dayeon was entering the living room. Yet again, the smile on her face diminished when she seen Seokjin. “Well, hello. I’m Dayeon,” she introduced with a light bow.

“Yes, I’m Seokjin. You can sit over there,” Jin said monotonously gesturing to the love seat. Namjoon came in a few seconds later and sat next to Seokjin while Dayeon sat down across from them. Subconsciously, Jin scooted closer to Namjoon, despite how irritated he was with the latter.

“Alright, so why are you here?” Namjoon began. His body was rigid and tense.

Dayeon waved the white envelope she was holding in her freshly manicured fingers and placed it on the coffee table. “I was just bringing this,” she said lightly.

“Why didn’t you just put it in the mailbox like you’ve been doing for the last four years?” Namjoon retorted sharply. At the tone, she sighed heavily, her posture slumping into a slouch.

“I also wanted to apologize,” she began. “I’m sorry for not taking responsibility for Hoseok. For leaving you all alone with him without even a proper goodbye while I went off and-”

“Left me for another guy,” Namjoon finished for her in a firm voice.

“What?” She mumbled. “I-”

“Dayeon, you weren’t exactly being secretive about your relationship with that rich guy you met when we were together. I knew about your affair with him,” Namjoon said. But this time, his voice was becoming softer, more pained. “I mean, how else could you afford to dropout of college and still drop hundreds of dollars in the mailbox every month? It seems like you are still with him judging by the car you’re driving and the clothes you’re wearing.”

Seeing his pain, the frustration that was previously residing in Jin’s chest slowly disappeared, replaced by a sudden bout of empathy. Jin placed a hand over Namjoon’s and squeezed it. Dayeon swallowed thickly.

“I… I’m sorry. I hope you can forgive me.”

“No. Dayeon, I can’t forgive you in two seconds. You have no idea how lost and heartbroken I was. I was a sophomore in college and a broken, single dad of a one year old. I was lucky if I got two hours of sleep some nights while you were living the good life with some rich guy you met at work. So no, I don’t forgive you. Not yet at least.”

Dayeon’s gaze was continuously flickering from looking at Namjoon to Jin and Namjoon’s interlocked hands. It was quiet for a moment. Jin didn’t know what else to do. He just kept squeezing Namjoon’s hand… Should he ask Dayeon to leave now?

“And if this apology is your way of trying to get back into Hoseok’s life then no to that too,” Namjoon added after a moment. It seemed like Namjoon was right about that because Dayeon sighed heavily before a hand in her hair momentarily.

“Namjoon, I really am sorry. But I want to be a part of my son’s life.”

Jin really squeezed Namjoon’s hand now, keeping him grounded. He knew that it would upset Namjoon to hear Dayeon say something like my son because it, honestly, pissed Seokjin off. It felt like a punch in the gut as a wave of anger washed over him. So if he was angry about then, Namjoon must be seriously pissed.

“You gave up your right to my son when you left,” Namjoon gritted. Namjoon was squeezing Seokjin’s hand now. Hard. hard enough that it almost hurt Jin but Jin didn’t mention it.

“I went through eighteen hours of labor to give birth to Hoseok,” she retorted, growing angry at being denied.

“And we put in years of hard work, love, and dedication to give Hobi life,” Seokjin found himself saying. He knew it wasn’t his fight at first but when it came to Hoseok, now it was his fight. “No offense, Dayeon, but you’ve done nothing but drop money in the mailbox before going on with your life. You don’t get up in the middle night when he has nightmares or kiss him a billion times when he falls down and there isn’t even a scratch there. You don’t do that. We do.”

Dayeon scoffed and leaned back against the couch cushions and crossed one of her legs over the other. “And who the hell do you think you are? You think that since Hoseok calls you ‘Appa’ that you have some sort of significance. You will never take my spot as his mother. You’re nothing but help.”

Jin suddenly wanted to… Run away. Because he wasn’t Hoseok’s mother. He was… an extra that came in when Hoseok was three. She gave birth to him. Something he could never compete with. Now he knew what he was feeling. He felt threatened. Invalid.

“Do not talk to Jin that way,” Namjoon warned. “He’s been here for Hoseok for years now, doing what you should have been doing.”

“Look,” her voice quieted down a little when she turned to Namjoon but she was still evidently angry. “I am his mother whether you like it or not. I want to be in his life again. And you know what,” that cocky smile returned to her face as she reclined back on the sofa again. “I can get Hoseok if I wanted. You know this house is still in my name, Namjoon. I could kick you out.”

“We’re moving actually. So in two months, you can do whatever the hell you want with this house,” Namjoon groaned. His grip on Seokjin’s hand loosened a bit, finally.

“I can take you to court. And you definitely don’t want that. I’m his mother. I have money to support him for the rest of his life, and I’m not in some homoual relationship. The courts will definitely be in my favor.”

Jin’s eyes widened. She was right. Right about all of it and just the thought of losing Hobi to Dayeon made Seokjin sick to his stomach. And that mocking smirk on her ing face made it so much worse.

“Dayeon,” Namjoon chuckled. Jin frowned and almost gave into his urge to slap Namjoon for laughing. “I have so much dirt on you that if you even step foot in the courts, you’ll be in jail for the next few years.”

Both Daeyon’s and Seokjin’s faces fell at the words.

What type of dirt was he talking about? And how does Namjoon know about it? Gosh so much was running through Jin’s mind that he was getting a headache.

“Fine,” Dayeon growled finally. “Fine. You better believe that I will be there in Hoseok’s life whether you like it or not. And I don’t need the courts to do it.” With that, Dayeon was standing on her own and making her way for the door without neither Jin or Namjoon escorting her out. Jin didn’t breathe properly until he heard the front door open and slam close.

At the sound, Seokjin exhaled everything and immediately curled within himself to weep. He pulled his legs up to his chest and buried his head in between the gap. Wanting nothing more than to disappear. Namjoon was pulling him into his arms in seconds, already knowing what was hurting Seokjin so much.

“Don’t listen to what she said, sweetheart,” Namjoon cooed pressing a kiss to his hair. Jin couldn’t help but remember the words the struck him so hard. It hurt.

“It’s t-true,” Jin hissed in between heaves of breath.

“No, it isn’t. Sure, you didn’t take place in making Hoseok nor did you give birth to him. But you damn sure are his father. You know as well as I do that being a biological mother is not the same thing as an actual mother. Hobi calls you Appa because that’s who you are, Jinnie. The one who cooks his dinner, scares away the monsters, helps him with his homework, and makes his favorite cookies when he had a bad day. That’s a parent.”

Jin wanted to respond but he only continued to cry, trying to think about it the way Namjoon was. When he finally did raise his head after crying for some minutes, Namjoon quickly pressed kisses to his cheeks.

“I love you so much,” Namjoon whispered.

“I love you too,” Jin sighed, sniffling still while wiping away at his puffy eyes.

“Daddy! Appa! Look!” Yoongi yelled. The stampede of footsteps following was evidence that all of the other kids were right behind him. Jin tried cleaning his face a bit but there was no hiding the fact that he’d been crying so he just smiled. With his puffy eyes and flushed cheeks and all.

“What is it, Yoongi-Bear?” Namjoon questioned. One by one they all came jumping on the couch. Yoongi forced himself in between Namjoon and Seokjin with a sheet of paper pressed against his chest. Jimin was quick to jump on Namjoon’s lap while Jungkook jumped on Seokjin’s lap. Hoseok and Taehyung giddily sat on the floor in front of them, excited for Yoongi to reveal the picture.

“We drew… a picture!” Jungkook clapped for himself as Yoongi removed the paper from his chest and showed Jin and Namjoon.

It was another family picture. But this time, Jungkook, Taehyung, and Jimin were in it, no longer just flowers. It was no longer a ‘maybe’ there would be new brothers. Now it was official. It was obvious that the picture had been drawn by all five of them but that was what made it all the more perfect.

“That’s all of us!” Jimin giggled.

“We drew it smaller so everyone can fit.”

“Hmm… Is this our family?” Namjoon asked. Jin was already bringing his hands up to his ears to cover them because he knew what was coming. And indeed, he was right.

All of them began to scream the word “Family!” like there was no tomorrow.

Maybe that’ll become their thing.