After being sufficiently embarrassed by his mother and her photo albums with all the baby pictures of himself, Wooyoung was glad when dinner time rolled around. And he couldn’t help smiling proudly as Jieun helped his mother prepare the meal, chatting away with the woman like they were old friends.

He busied himself setting the table, keeping the pair in within earshot just in case he needed to stop his mother from doing anything else embarrassing. “What time does dad get it in?” Wooyoung asked absently, staring at the fourth the plate he’d just set down on the table.

“Tch. That man,” Mrs. Jang mumbled with a shake of her head.

Wooyoung raised his eyebrows at his mother’s back. He knew his parents’ marriage had never really been ideal, seeing as how they disagreed about every little thing, but he wasn’t expecting her to be so dismissive. Especially in front of Jieun. They had their differences, but Wooyoung hoped they could look past them for this particular important visit.

Jieun sent Wooyoung a quiet look when his mother wasn’t paying attention and it took him a moment to realize that she wasn’t asking him anything in the silence. She hadn’t talked much about her own parents’ relationship, but Wooyoung knew enough about it. Enough to know that Jieun had picked up on the sourness in his mother’s few words, because she’d practically drowned in the bitterness and resentment that seeped from her own parents’ volatile relationship.

“Jieunie, could you finish stirring the jjigae?” Mrs. Jang asked suddenly, breaking the quiet staring contest. “I need to check how my son did with the table.”

Smiling, Jieun gave the woman a quick head bow and immediately took over stirring. She missed the proud look Mrs. Jang gave her, but Wooyoung didn’t.

He dropped an arm around her shoulders when she came to inspect the table, smiling when she muttered something about crooked plates. “You like her,” Wooyoung stated simply in a quiet voice.

Mrs. Jang gave her son a quick nudge and didn’t deny the obvious assessment. “You better not mess it up. I bet there’s a whole line of men waiting to take her out.”

Wooyoung grinned. “I’m lucky that she still chooses me over everyone else. That line is a long one.”

Scoffing, Mrs. Jang cut her eyes at him. “You’re blessed, son. So you’d better make sure you marry her. And I want grandchildren.”

“Shouldn’t you be telling Noona these sorts of things?” Wooyoung asked, referring to his older sister, Junhwa. “She’s the one engaged.”

“She’s talking about she doesn’t want to have babies right away. I don’t have all the time in the world, you know? I want grandchildren.”

Wooyoung kept grinning down at his mother. “Me and Jieunie aren’t getting married and having babies any time soon, mom. She’s four years younger than me and both of us have careers. And I still have to enlist.”

Mrs. Jang huffed and wiggled from underneath Wooyoung’s arm. “Excuses, excuses,” she complained as she began straightening out the plates Wooyoung had set out. “Go help Jieunie.”

“…I don’t think she needs my help stirring, mom,” Wooyoung said, amused over his mother’s clear lack of subtly.

“Who says she’s the one that needs help? You’re the one that can’t even set a table.”

Wooyoung kissed his mom’s cheek and narrowly avoided getting hit as he made his way to the kitchen area to bother Jieun until dinner was ready. The three of them settled down at the remade table and Wooyoung watched and listened some more as Jieun and his mother talked comfortably with each other.

His mind drifted to his father and for a moment, he allowed himself to worry just a little bit. His parents sounded on the out, which wasn’t unusual, but knowing how much all of this meant to Jieun, he hoped everything continued moving smoothly. So far, things had been going amazingly well, if the happiness on Jieun and his mother’s faces were enough proof.

He just hoped they stayed that way.