This is 'Outro : 그게 말이 돼?' that is, 'Outro : Does it make sense?'. The last track of their album, 'Dark&Wild'.  

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"Jungkook-ssi, is everything okay?"

Areum was confused. The maknae of Bangtan was eating with them; sitting opposite to her on the dining table. While he was eating considerably well; bowls after bowls of banchan and an additional helping of jiggae that Jimin had just transferred into his plate when Jungkook was not looking. The problem here was his expression. He looked, well, angry. Brows furrowed and lips turned upside down as he kept shovelling down bite after bite.

"What's the matter? Is something wrong with the food?" Areum was worried that maybe he did not like the food, but was stuffing his face to appease her mother. 

Hearing her question, everyone on the table looked up. Taehyung from his plate; noodles halfway to being slurped, Ms. Hwang from piling more food onto Jimin's already full plate and Jimin from whatever he was saying to Ms. Hwang from beside Areum. The subject of the conversation himself looked up, his frown disappearing from surprise and then making a reappearance at her question. 

"No, Areum-ssi. Everything's fine. Why'd you ask?"

Now Areum felt awkward. She was sure he was not satisfied with the food, and wanted to make her intentions clear. "Oh, since you looked angry... I thought..."

Before she could say anymore, Jimin and Ms. Hwang surprised her by laughing. Taehyung was giggling too, cheeks bulging with his recent bite. 

Jungkook looked a bit embarrassed, saying "It happens when I like the food too much. My face just does this." He explained, making cute little hand gestures. 

He was adorable. So cute. Who'd say that when they looked at his all black outfit and chunky, big black shoes that looked like they weighed a ton? Areum, apparently. And her mother. And Bangtan, too. Jimin and Ms. Hwang cooed at him, Taehyung reaching out to softly cluck him under his chin. Jungkook's ears went completely red.

"Oh, I'm so sorry for assuming." It was now Areum who was embarrassed. 

"No-no, it's fine." 

Why was it that anytime she and Jungkook had a conversation, they both ended up getting as red as tomatoes? 'Well, isn't this awkward.' Areum thought.

"Noona, you should be concerned about the food only if he does not look angry. Ms Hwang asked him the same question when she brought us home made food for the first time." Jimin laughed. Jungkook was now covering his face with both his hands, his brothers' and Ms. Hwang's laughter infectious. Areum couldn't help but giggle too. 

Ms. Hwang looked around the table, observing. Her laughter gradually faded, smile turning from amused, to fond. Her eyes softened, looking at her children laugh and smile. It did not matter that Areum and Jungkook were embarassed again, or Jimin had almost fallen off the chair laughing or that Jimin's antics and Areum and Jungkook's situation had almost caused Taehyung to choke on his food, still giggling while clapping his hands. 

They made a beautiful scenario together, so happy. That was all she could ask for. For these kids to be so, so happy, laugh so hard, that they lost control over their bodies; not knowing where to put their hands and where to lean. 

To her delight, the light that Ms. Hwang noticed appear in the boys' eyes whenever they were with her, she could see the same with Areum. 

Sometimes, when they visited her, Min-ah could detect cold auras surround them, and their eyes dulled, smiles that were real just enough. Min-ah had a feeling that the dull eyes would be entirely lifeless, if the seven did not have each other to rely on. She often wondered what they went through between their visits for their conditions. The same dull eyes Sang-Yeob carried with him, too.

When she first brought up her concerns with Sang-Yeob, he opened up about the adoptions of his sons. She did not know until then, that the kids had a life much rougher than what they had now. He told her that when he first adopted them all, one-by-one, they had eyes darker than black holes, until they started bonding with each other. 

Sang-Yeob, after that, admitted many times that there was something they were all hiding from her and Areum. When they first started dating, he told her they were hiding a few big things, but it was not right time to tell her, not until all his children were comfortable with her and sharing the secret they all kept. 

'It's something that might make you hate me later on, and want to pull away from me. I do not want that. But I also cannot tell you yet. My sons share this secret with me, and it is not something I can divulge without their knowledge or consent.'

It was a rainy day, and they were sitting in his car, parked outside their office. It was one month after they started dating.

'I already adore you so much, but this is something that will surely take time. It may make you hate me. Are you sure you still want to be with me?'

Min-ah was deep in thoughts. She knew, she'd fallen too deep to be able to leave him, and the way Sang-Yeob's fingers trembled where they were holding her hands in a delicate but firm hold said it all. She knew her answer right away. 

'Yes. I'm willing to wait.'

.

By the time they had all finally calmed down, everyone was done with their food. Areum got up to help Ms. Hwang clean up the dishes, all the boys following the suit. They then relocated to the living room again, everyone making themselves comfortable on the old blush-pink cushions. 

"Yoongi Hyung should be here in about an hour." Taehyng informed, looking up from where he was checking notifications on his phone. 

"Oh, is he done with the meeting?" Min-ah asked, peeking over Taehyung's shoulder at his phone. Jungkook and Jimin did the same from either sides of him. Min-ah stood behind Taehyung as they read Yoongi's message. 

Areum took the opportunity to just... look at the four. 

It was the first time she saw her mother with the boys from that perspective, when she was not overwhelmed. It was also her first time actually looking at the maknaes of Bangtan, not just glance at them in panic or in a fleeting manner, because there was a lot going on in her head at the dinner, too much to actually be able to process.

They were extremely close, that much was obvious. It was obvious in the way they gravitated towards eachother whenever in proximity, in the way they did not even need to say something for the other to understand- like when Jimin handed his youngest brother a glass of water without even looking, before Jungkook could even open his mouth to ask. It was obvious in the ways they communicated through their eyes and eyebrows, seemingly having developed some sort of sibling telepathy.

To Areum, who'd grown up a single child, it was very intriguing. She'd always seen her friends complain or talk fondly of their siblings. Sometimes, it was amusing, sometimes she felt relief, being the only child. But other times, she was envious. Envious of how they had one person close to their age to talk to, play, and bicker with. She had no one. 

Areum grew up introverted, and was unable to share much with her mother despite their close relation, because witnessed the difficulties Min-ah faced alone, after the passing of her father.

 She was a quiet child that hated causing trouble, even after Min-ah assured her countless times that, '-no, honey, it's okay to make mistakes. You're not troubling me, baby.' Even when she smiled at her daughter at the time, Areum could see the new-normal-eyebags under Ms. Hwang's eyes, smile lines replaced with frown lines and dull eyes. 

It hurt her, even when she was a child. Children are often more perceptive than adults expect them to be. The said grown-up seem to underestimate the young in that very context.

One of the biggest contributors to 'Reasons Areum was fine (happy, even) with Kim Sang Yeob dating Hwang Min-ah' was the positive change she could see in her mother. The smile-lines that had disappeared made a booming comeback, the shine in her eyes glowing anew, and, the general happy aura that had started surrounding Min-ah. 

The first time this realization hit Areum, it was 2.24 a.m., on a Saturday. She'd cried, but that was a secret only her pillow and whale plushie knew. Besides, her old purple whale plushie had heen her cry her eyes out too many times already, be it for second-male-leads in dramas, or over her assignments, or tears of happiness. This was the latter case. 

"What should we do while we wait? Do you want to continue with my project?" she suggested, getting a bit excited at the prospect of being able to continue her explaination about the importance of good lighting in a house. Her voice made the four look up from Taehyung's phone. She felt a bit of her blood rushing towards her ears in an embarassed blush at the sudden attention. 

"Sure. Why not, honey. What do you think, boys?" Ms. Hwang replied, turning to the three guests for their opinions. Her eyes twinkled with mirth.

"H-how about a movie? I think I'm too full to be able to concentrate on your explaination, noona." Jimin said, sounding a bit rushed. "I like watching movies!" Jungkook chimed in with more enthusiasm than he showed the entire evening. "Aww, but I wanted to hear more!" Taehyung said, looking right back at Ms. Hwang. Areum felt it was a bit weird, but decided not to think much of it.

"Let's go with a movie, then." she said, as the majority of the guests wanted to watch one. She saw Taehyung pout a bit at her. She melted immediately, brain scrambling for solutions to fix the pout, however cute it was. "We could save the explaination for your next visit, Taehyung-ah." Taehyung and the other two recognised the blanket invitation to Rain as it was. The second-youngest gave her one of his brightest rectangular smiles, making Areum smile with him.

"What are your genre preferences like?" Areum asked the boys, getting up from her seat to turn on the television. Ms. Hwang ruffled Taehyung's hair and moved to sit in Areum's place. Taehyung stood up to browse through the choices with Areum.

"Anything's fine, Areum-ssi." Jungkook said, looking at them with big eyes. He looked very cute. Areum wanted to pat his head. 

"Oh, what about this one?" She looked at the movie Taehyung and Jimin, who'd decided to join in, pointed at over her shoulder. 

Jurrasic Park. 

It was the perfect movie to watch together, while they did not know each other well. The maknaes wanted to see how well she could handle gore. While the movie did not have as much or graphic violence as they saw on a regular basis, it was enough to gauge the ladies' reactions. 

It was a doubt that had been bothering them lately. The truth untold would come out one day. Even if Ms. Hwang and Areum did, by some miracle, still accept them, what if they could not handle the side effects of their business? Of course, they'd protect them; but it was certainly impossible to hide all of it. What if, upon getting exposed to the underworld, they get scared and then decide to leave? It'd be hurtful. 

Hence, like the genius he was (Jimin did not agree), Taehyung decided to judge their reactions like any other sane person! (Jungkook was doubtful.) By watching movies! If a person could handle the violence in movies, they could surely handle at least some of it in real life, Taehyung was sure of it.

"Oh, Jurrasic Park! Wonderful choice, Taehyung. Areum likes watching it a lot. Pretty sure she has the dialogues memorised." Ms. Hwang commented, getting up to fetch some snacks for the movie. They'd just had lunch, but movies demanded snacks. Besides, she had youthful company. The kids likely had a strong metabolism. She left to the kitchen, leaving Areum alone with their guests.

The trio turned to Areum, mildly surprised. While it was still a family movie, Areum did not seem to be the kind to be into the genre at all. Her ears flared up in a pinkish-red tinge on the sudden attention. 

"Let's watch it?" she asked, just a little embarrassed. Jungkook thought it was cute. While he and Taehyung agreed her personality matched a lot with Namjoon's, he also thought him and Areum were a lot alike in many mannerisms. She was shy, and while he hated to admit it, Jungkook was shy, too. Her room was organized, and Jungkook's was as well, unlike the rest of Bangtan except Hoseok. Hoseok was, to put it mildly, a clean freak. Which was part of the reason he rarely went on field for their jobs, instead opting to do take over the hacking and software part of it. His degree of choice only cemented it. 

While they played the movie and put it on pause to wait for Ms. Hwang, Jungkook observed the three others. They all had settled back into the soft pink cushions of Ms. Hwang's cosy settee, Jungkook saw his Hyungs play rock-paper-scissors for something and Areum looking at them with mild amusement. Apparently, they were playing to decide who sat where, because within a minute, Jimin was making a whooping sound before sitting next to her. Taehyung grumbled a bit and sat down next to him, right beside Jungkook that way. His phone vibrated in the pocket of his dark jeans. It was a message from Jin. They'd finished work and were headed home. They had a new assignment, too. 

Since the message was sent on their group chat, he knew Taehyung and Jimin got the message, too. When he looked up, Taehyung was talking to Areum animatedly about her project, and Jimin was already looking at him. A look of understanding passed betwwen them. He knew then, as Ms. Hwang came back with a tray full of snacks, that it was going to be an interesting night for Bangtan.

Hi, everyone. 

Apologies for the late post, and thank you to all of you who waited so patiently. It was a hectic few months. But hey, I'm back! This book reached 2.9k reads, and it's awesome. 

Hope you enjoy reading this part.

Should there be a 3k special chapter?

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