“Come here my sweet babies!” Tzuyu exclaimed as soon as he set foot at the Yoo residence and heard the small paws heading his way. “How are you my sweeties? Did you miss daddy? Daddy missed you all as well.”

“You do understand they are not your pups and you are far from being their official designated dad, right?!” Seungyeon laughs from down the hall.

“Oh, semantics. I’m their favorite and everyone knows it.”

“Jeong, why are you dating this brat again?”

“I don’t know either, sis. But let’s not tell him the dogs have chosen dad as their owner.” Jeongyeon has moved towards the kitchen to greet his sister.

Everyone in the Yoo family, and in the Chou family, knew Tzuyu would always stop for the pets before addressing any humans that could be present. Jeongyeon just stopped minding it about a week into their relationship, Seungyeon was still having a hard time getting used to it. The young woman was a freshly graduated psychologist and was still working on not analysing just everyone in her life, it was hard but she was getting there, and both Jeongyeon and Sujin hated it with all their might, the eldest Yoo had been subjecting them both to her ‘hare krishna’ talk since she entered college and everything must be solved through conversation and reaching deep inside, some times her brother and sister just wanted to eat a tub of ice cream and watch sad movies.

Tzuyu, on the other hand, loved it, his older brother had moved back to Taiwan when he went to college and decided to stay there, he had been feeling very lonely since, and having Seungyeon willingly sit down and talk to him was just great. He could never be her official patient, but they did have a lot of heart to heart late night conversations that both enjoyed thoroughly. The other yoo kids thought that connection was great, and it distracted Seungyeon from her brother and sister, who were very happy to be left alone. Not that the two didn’t enjoy having such an understanding and accepting older sister, they just felt smothered more often than not and were always thankful for the fresh breath.

“You alright, little brother?” Sujin greets from the island, she was testing another recipe, it seemed.

“I’m great, how about you? I heard you come in very late last night and the sound of you coming up the stairs told me you were half dead.” Jeongyeon chuckles.

“Not just half, but I’m alright now. Slept until lunch and now I’m doing very well with this test here.”

“I’m glad you rested. Now, give me some of that, it smells great.”

“Where’s Tzu? I’m sure I heard him.”

“With the dogs. He’ll be here soon.” Jeongyeon dismisses quickly, he was hungry. “Now cut me some of that meat and let me make a sandwich before I drool all over this.”

The Yoo sisters laugh, but Jeongyeon was very serious about the drool, which he cleans promptly when it does indeed come out a little. The guy was hungry and the roast his sister had come up with was just making him all the more hungry, so he moved to make himself and his boyfriend his own sandwich. Even if he didn’t say anything and was still playing with the dogs, Tzuyu was very hungry too and Jeongyeon knew it, he also knew the younger one would steal his food if he didn’t provide him anything. 

“Hey!” Tzuyu greets the Yoo sisters as Jeongyeon is finishing their snack. “Sujinnie, I heard you had a hard day yesterday, are you feeling better now?”

“I’m great, Tzu.” Sujin kisses the boy’s cheek as a greeting.

“How about you, Seungyeonnie?”

“I’m good too, Tzutzu. Now go wash your hands before mr grumpy over there loses his patience. He’s been waiting for you to eat together.” Seungyeon hugs the tall young man and whispers her instructions.

The three giggle and Tzuyu does move to the sink to wash his hands, he was very hungry and he knew Jeongyeon could get very snappy whenever he was kept hungry uselessly. Only Tzuyu knows how many times he snuck snacks in for his boyfriend when they attended some formal event that would take too long, be it Seungwan’s debate competitions, Jihyo’s piano recitals, Sana and Mina’s martial meets, you name it. If food was forbidden, Tzuyu would bring snacks for Jeongyeon anyways because he knew the boy would lash out at the minor annoyance when hungry.

Sujin was a chef apprentice, she was halfway through culinary school and was the one to take over after papa Yoo, not that Jeongyeon couldn’t, but she really wanted to so they let her. The boys’ favorite days were when she was home and testing recipes, no matter how much she messed something up, they’d be willing subjects to eat it all. Not that anything came out inedible, but she was doing her internship under a two Michelin stars chef, and anything below flawless was a miss. The family would often spend hours in the kitchen just eating whatever she dismissed as a failure as dishes after dishes were made and carefully analysed. She’d photograph the ones she was satisfied with and take notes on everything, the rights, and especially the wrongs of each dish.

Today’s theme seemed to be beef, Tzuyu just sent his parents a message that he was going to eat at Jeongyeon’s and they told him they’d pick him up after their dinner date, then. A lot of times mama and papa Chou would join the Yoos and their son for tasting nights, but most times like this, they’d take the time for themselves and go out on a date. The couple had been together for over twenty years already, but still dated like they did when they first began going out. The passion, the effort, the excitement never died down and neither was willing to let that happen anytime soon.

The siblings and Tzuyu were gathered around the table, just talking about anything when Seungyeon decided it was time for her to meddle. They were all used to it, it was her way of showing her concern and that she cared for them. 

“So, are you two using protection or should I take you both out to buy some?” 

At this, Tzuyu choked and wheezed, Jeongyeon froze and got to an unhealthy shade of red, Sujin broke out laughing and the dogs started barking.

“What? No need to be like that.”Seungyeon was completely unbothered. “You are both healthy boys and you both have your natural needs, I’m just making sure you are safe and taking care of yourselves.”

Tzuyu, now, couldn’t look anywhere other than his food, which he didn’t feel like eating anymore. Jeongyeon recovered enough to glare at this sister and answer her.

“Sis, I appreciate the thought, but we aren’t doing what you think we are doing.”

“Oh, great, then we can have a conversation about it before you both jump into things blindly.” Seungyeon was just too excited about it.

“Just accept it and humor her. Trust me when I say it will be even more painful to try and fight it.” Sujin, still very entertained, advises. She’s had this conversation with her sister AND their parents herself before.

“Fine, but do it before mom and dad are back.” Jeongyeon agrees, he knew the look in Sujin’s eyes and knew to agree for his own good.

“Great! So you say you both aren’t there yet.” Seungyeon quips.

“We aren’t ready.” Tzuyu mumbles, still not looking up. 

“But you both spend a lot of time closed in Jeong’s room, and I know naughty sounds when I hear them.” 

“Okay, first, ew. Stop listening to us. Second, we spend private time together, the closed door is just to keep the pets out. The door is always unlocked and you could just go in at any time.” Jeongyeon tries to scold his sister.

“Nah, I’d rather not just go in. But how about the many times I’ve passed you both in the hallway and you were very, ahm, happy?”

“Again, ew.” Jeongyeon starts, but Tzuyu chimes in before he continues.

“I know you are great at noticing everything, Seungyeonnie, but please stop mentioning this, as you said, we are healthy boys. Just know that nothing like that is happening.”

“Fine.” The woman relents. “But I still want you both to know that being safe is important, and I’ll be taking you two to buy protection and some other necessities on saturday. No arguments.”

The boys relent and agree, then Seungyeon launches into a full on class on safe , the importance of using protection even if they are both boys, the other things they might need like lube, toys all that jass. Made both promise that they would come to her if they ever felt like exploring something potentially dangerous, things or if they ever had any doubts in general. All in all, it was by far the strangest experience the boys ever had, but both appreciated Seungyeon and her way of taking care of them, even if it was very invasive and unfiltered. They understood and loved her for it, despite all the awkwardness and discomfort. 

When mama and papa Chou heard about it from their son that evening, both laughed like there was no tomorrow, mama Chou had to run to the bathroom at some point, or she would wet herself from laughter. Papa Chou took that moment to tell his son he was also available if the boy preferred to go to him about anything but assured his kid that Seungyeon was very right in everything she said, and he was more than happy that she was willing to help the boys out with everything. Reminding Tzuyu to buy supplies to keep at their own home for the times Jeongyeon spent the night. Having open and supportive families was great, but neither Tzuyu nor Jeongyeon had been able to move past their utter shyness about talking intimate things with them.