Serin liked her nephew well enough, but there had been more than one incident when he'd caused her a lot of grief. Right now was one of those times.

“Woohyun,” his mother admonished, “how could you put gum in Serin's hair?”

The boy shrugged and smiled, unaware that he'd done anything wrong. Serin sat staring at Yoobin, in disbelief that her sister-in-law would allow her son to behave so disrespectfully. Seeing that she was just going to let his behavior slide, Serin cleared . “What do you say to me, Woohyun?” she asked.

He simply buried his face into his mother's leg, hiding from Serin due to her stern tone. “He's too shy to be talked to like that,” Yoobin explained.

“He was not too shy to come up to me and put the gum he was chewing in my hair,” Serin insisted. “He owes me an apology.”

“He's only three years old. He doesn't know any better.”

“Then you need to teach him better,” Serin replied, irritated. She took her napkin off of her nap and let it fall on her empty plate, and then she stood up and headed for the door. She wasn't necessarily angry, but she was most certainly irritated at Yoobin for not having the common courtesy to even pretend she was displeased about her son's rude behavior. Seunghyun grabbed her arm, pulling her around to face him before she got there.

“I'm sorry,” he apologized. “Please don't leave.”

She didn't want to disappoint her oldest brother, least of all on his birthday, but she needed to prove the point that Woohyun's behavior was unacceptable and one of his parents needed to step in to fix it. “I'm sorry, Seunghyun-oppa. I am too upset to stay, especially if your son isn't going to apologize to me for putting gum in my hair. I know he is fully capable of doing so, and he needs taught better manners if you expect him to grow up to be a respectable person.”

She pulled her arm away from him and marched out the door, leaving her family in a rather stunned silence.

Hyunsaeng broke the silence after a moment. “She's right, you know. Woohyun does need more discipline. And an apology is not too much to ask for. She obviously spent a lot of time making her hair look nice tonight.”

“She's just an overly sensitive bit—snob.” Yoobin said snottily, stopping herself from being derogatory towards Serin while her family was around.

Hyunsaeng glared at her, ready to fight (he hadn't missed the fact that Yoobin had nearly called his dear sister a ), but it was Jaehyun who retorted back, “She's been nothing but nice to you. She's tried to be kind and understanding, and all you ever do is give her the cold shoulder. You're the only I see here.”

“Enough, Jaehyun,” Hyunsu admonished. All of them fell silent. Angering Hyunsu was not a good thing. “I expect that kind of behavior from Hyunsaeng, not you.” Finished with reprimanding his youngest son, he turned his attention to the others. “We all need to get along. Yoobin-ssi, I hope you understand that Woohyun will never be a part of my company if you do not raise him with proper manners. And don't think I haven't noticed how hostile you've gotten towards Serin since she got married. Attacking my daughter will not gain you favor with me.”

Yoobin sat sulking, prompting Seunghyun to pat her arm reassuringly. “Father,” he said, “I'll take responsibility for this evening. I'm sorry to have ruined the celebration.”

Hyunsaeng and Jaehyun both cast glances at him. They weren't exactly sure why Yoobin had recently gone from being nonchalant and aloof around Serin to decidedly more negative, but they both mutually suspected that is had a lot to do with the fact that Serin had married Hoon, a celebrity, and she viewed it as a threat to both her position in the family, as well as Woohyun's. Of course, if she'd ever bothered to actually talk to Serin, she'd have known how incorrect her assumption was. Instead, she was causing underhanded disturbances at family events, all designed to make Serin look bad. With a sigh, Hyunsaeng said, “Your is getting old, Yoobin-ssi.”

“Hyunsaeng,” his father reprimanded, “there are children present. Watch your language.”

–

Serin sighed in relief when she finally made it home. Changing into her pajamas, she went to find ways that she could get the gum out of her hair without having to cut it out. The most convenient one, though she thought it a bit gross, was to put mayonnaise in her hair and work the gum out. It was late enough that she knew Hoon would be home before too long, so she headed to the guest bathroom, the one accessible from the hallway and not the one attached to their bedroom, to work the gum out after retrieving the mayonnaise from the refrigerator. She knew he'd want a shower, and she wasn't sure how long the dislodging process would take. She wanted to make sure their bathroom was free for Hoon's use.

She closed the door behind her and pulled the offending chunk of gummy hair away from the rest. The short curls she's spent just shy of an hour perfecting now looked rather limp, and she grumbled over Woohyun's lack of discipline as she worked the mayonnaise into the gum. She washed her hands and let the hair soak in the oily mayonnaise for a bit, staring at her reflection in the mirror and picking out her flaws. The scar on her chin that no one ever noticed that she'd gotten when Hyunsaeng had pushed her down the stairs at 5 years old. The slight unevenness of her eyes. The way each arch of her eyebrows looks just slightly different from the other. That her roots were growing in.

She was startled from the thoughts when she heard Hoon get home and wander through the hall to their bedroom. She grabbed a comb then and gently worked the gum out. Successfully rid of the gum, she put the mayonnaise away before going back to the bathroom to wash her hair. She carefully kept only her head under the stream of water as she washed out the mayonnaise residue. She towel dried her hair, ready to head over to their room to take off her make-up and wash her face. She opened the door, stepped out, and Hoon, who had just passed by the bathroom door on his way to the living room, screamed, scurrying away from her.

“AHHHHHH!!!!!”

Serin initially jumped in shock, both because she hadn't expected him to be there, and his reaction frightened her. But then it clicked. Kiseop had told her (and the fans) that Hoon was easy to scare if you jumped out at him and surprised him. Though it was done unintentionally, that is what she had just done. She felt bad immediately, and as he was still moving away, she quickly followed after him, calling his name. “Hoonie! Ah, Hoonmin! I'm sorry. I didn't mean to scare you. I didn't know you were there.”

He stopped and turned to face her then, taking a breath, trying to calm himself down. “I didn't know you were home,” he explained. “You really really scared me.”

“I'm so sorry,” she apologized. “I came back from Seunghyun's thing earlier than expected.” She walked up to him and hugged him reassuringly. Feeling his heart pound and hearing his elevated respiration made her feel worse. “I'm really sorry about startling you.”

“At least you feel apologetic,” he said, wrapping his arms around her as he tried to relax. “The members always do it on purpose so they can laugh at me.”

She giggled softly. “Well, I can imagine that they'd find it a bit funny. Your reaction is a bit over the top. But I didn't find this amusing. It's not fun to me, I guess.”

“Thank you,” Hoon whispered to her. “I'm just glad you don't find tormenting me fun.”

“Of course not. I love and respect you too much.”

He kissed her forehead, finally at ease. “Why is your hair wet?” he asked, pulling away. “Your make up is on, and your hair is wet.”

“I... had to rinse it out. Woohyun got gum in my hair,” she explained with a sigh.

“Oh,” Hoon said. Though technically the boy would call him uncle, he felt no such attachment, having only see him two or three times total. Yoobin and her son were very reclusive, and paired with how busy he was, he'd only met them a handful of times. “Did you get the gum out?”

“I did,” she said.

Hoon could tell she was upset about something, very likely the gum thing, but he didn't want to press the issue. “I'm glad you got it out,” he told her with a smile. “I wouldn't want to start playing with your hair and get gum all over myself.”

“Mmhmm.”

She was still being rather distant, and it bothered him. “Why don't we go to bed?” he suggested.

“I'm actually... really hungry,” she told him.

Hoon was puzzled. She'd gone out for dinner so it didn't make sense that she'd be home and hungry. He said nothing and simply led her into the kitchen, arm around her waist. He sat down and watched her while she served herself a simple bowl of rice and an assortment of side dishes. “Do you want anything?” she asked casually.

“No,” he told her, and she brought her food to the table and sat down next to him. “I ate with the members before I came home. Since you were going out, I didn't think you'd have any leftovers for me.”

“That was a good idea,” she told him.

He wasn't sure if he wanted to ask her why she was home early and obviously hadn't eaten. Fortunately, she answered it without having to be asked. “I'm kind of sad I missed out on the meal. But Yoobin is just... insufferable,” she announced before she took a bite of rice.

“Insufferable?” Hoon asked, curious.

“She's trying to make me look bad. Who knows why? But she wouldn't make Woohyun apologize to me about the gum thing. And it just really got under my nerves. I made a scene. It'll be a mess whenever I see my dad or her or Seunghyun again.”

Hoon just nodded his understanding. “I'm sure it was warranted,” he told her. “You have never lost your temper over something unreasonable that I've ever noticed.” He smiled at her kindly, head propped in his hands as he watched her eat. She vented to him as she ate, and he listened, though not super carefully. He was too tired and too busy admiring her appearance, but he understood her perspective and didn't find her walking away from the situation uncalled for. He stole kimchi from her as she spoke, something she didn't mind, and before long, she was done, and they walked to their room together.

The instant the door closed, they were entwined together in heated passion, tugging off each others' clothes and making steady progress for the bed. Pants and gasps left Serin's lips as Hoon moaned, lowly whispering to her between s, kissing her fervently. It was careful, done with meaning, and when they were finished, Serin felt much more positive and at ease. With Hoon's arms draped over her waist and his breathing slowing as he fell asleep, she drifted into a restful slumber beside him.