On the train ride back to Seoul, Wooyoung found himself feeling more grounded. His mother had gone to the station with him and Jieun, sending them back with enough food to feed an army and kisses and meaningful looks at each of them (silent apologies to Jieun and pleas of marrying the girl someday aimed at Wooyoung). As unhappy as he had been about his father’s behavior, Wooyoung couldn’t help taking it in stride. Jieun hadn’t balked at all.

They spent their last day in Busan with his mother and Wooyoung resumed his spectator role from the day before, watching as Mrs. Jang and Jieun’s relationship easily flourished. And he just couldn’t help thinking over and over how much Jieun fit. How they’d found each other in this crazy world made up of flashing camera lights and screaming fans and idols. And found each other when it was the right time too. Looking back on it, they’d had so many missed opportunities, but Wooyoung wasn’t bothered by it, because if things had gone any differently, they might not have been where they were now.

“I can hear you thinking.”

Blinking, Wooyoung was brought out of his thoughts by the sound of Jieun’s voice and he turned to find her giving him a curious look. His smile came naturally and her curiosity turned to confusion.

“What’s wrong?” she asked.

Wooyoung shook his head, still smiling over at her.

It was Jieun’s turn to blink at him and she reached up to press her cool hand into his forehead. “Are you feeling alright?”

He captured her hand, stopping only to press a gentle kiss against the palm, before tangling their fingers together on the armrest. “Can I tell you a secret?”

There was more blinking from Jieun, but she nodded and pressed her lips together carefully, clearly preparing herself for some sort of bombshell. And Wooyoung almost laughed.

He didn’t though, opting to lean over instead to carefully brush his lips against Jieun’s left ear. “I love you,” he murmured, before pulling back to grin at her.

Jieun immediately let out a sharp gasp, before falling back into her seat dramatically, making Wooyoung laugh. She bit back her own laugh as she playfully cut her eyes at him. “That was your secret? Seriously? I think everyone pretty much knows that already. Based off the thank you’s from 2PM’s last album alone.”

“My Pilsukie: the greatest gift Kirin could have ever given me,” Wooyoung said, recalling his own words. “It was as mushy and cheesy as management would allow me to get, but still not a public declaration. It’s a far cry from your song ‘Off the Pages’, which nearly broke the internet.”

“Yah!” Jieun exclaimed with a laugh and a blush.

She didn’t have much of an argument though, because that particular self composed song from her last album sent everyone in a tizzy with the blunt honesty. The song was about a fictional love becoming real, with revealing lyrics about falling in the warmest love despite the December chill. Listening to it, Wooyoung was immediately taken back to the cold winter when they’d filmed Dream High, recalling how his makeup noona always tried to cover the flush in his cheeks, assuming it was from the cold.

“My manager tried to talk me out of recording the song. He kept saying it was too revealing and that it was going to draw unwanted attention.” Jieun smiled to herself as she sank down in her seat. “I hate fighting with my team, but I really wanted that song to be on there. And it’s not like everyone doesn’t already know how we met.” She tilted her head at Wooyoung. “My mom complained about it too.”

This was news to Wooyoung and he raised an eyebrow at her.

“She likes subtly,” Jieun explained with a shrug. “My dad loves the song though.”

“Your dad loves the love song you wrote about me?” Wooyoung asked, both his eyebrows rising this time.

“My dad loves anything that makes me happy.”

“And your mom doesn’t?”

Jieun shrugged again. “My relationship with my mother…it hasn’t always been the best. That probably isn’t the right thing to tell you, since you’re going to be meeting her soon.” She looked over at Wooyoung and flashed him a tight lipped smile. “Sorry.”

Wooyoung blinked and shook his head at her. Over the course of their relationship, the topic of Jieun’s parents hadn’t been brought up much. Wooyoung knew she was close to her dad and that her relationship with her mother had been strained when her marriage to Jieun’s father went through a rough patch. It was general information though, things Jieun had shared on national television. She hadn’t really talked to Wooyoung about it much, except for a few passing comments about her mother nagging her about choosing her career over college.

“You…the two of you don’t get along?” Wooyoung asked slowly. “Is that why we’re doing this so late?”

Jieun snorted. “You mean meeting each other’s parents? Part of it is because of our schedules. But we probably really should have done this a long time ago.”

“But…I was hesitating because of my dad.”

“And I was hesitating because of my mom.”

Wooyoung squeezed Jieun’s hand, which he still hadn’t let go of. “I’m sure it won’t be so bad. Look how things went with my parents,” he started with a slight shrug. “It got a bit rocky with what happened with my dad. And it wasn’t as perfect as we’d hoped it would be, but it was okay. More importantly, we’re okay.”

Jieun looked like she was contemplating that for a second, before her face relaxed. And Wooyoung was glad to see his favorite smile appear. “We are okay, aren’t we?” she asked, turning towards him with a grin. The kind of grin that let Wooyoung know that she believed him; believed in them.

And recognizing that made him feel invincible. Like they could handle anything tossed their way now. All of the apprehension he’d had a few moments before was gone and Wooyoung dropped a kiss against Jieun’s temple and kept grinning to himself.

They were okay.