It was excruciatingly embarrassing for Yoongi to step into his office the next morning with Hoseok, Jin hyung and Jungkook plus Namjoon waiting for him to spill everything on why he went missing with Hana on Christmas Eve.

"No one could contact you either." Jin hyung said.

"Spill!" Hoseok pressured him.

"Hyung, seriously. Everybody wants to know." Namjoon said, waving his hands at everybody.

Yoongi groaned. It didn't make matters easier since they saw him and Hana came to the office together.

He eyed the boys in front of him. "We..." he paused for effect, "are together."

There was an uproar of hoots and fist pumps. Yoongi had to shush them, in case other staff might hear them.

"FINALLY!" Jungkook dramatically kneeled down, his hands up in the air, as if thanking God for this revelation.

"We," Yoongi paraphrased in his head, "are together with no strings attached."

Namjoon looked at him funny. "What do you mean?"

"It means we are not dating with the intention of having a future together."

"You wanted it?" Hoseok asked.

"No. She did." Yoongi looked down. He didn't know why but he was suddenly... sad.

"You're okay with that?" Jin hyung asked.

"Hey, I have been doing that for years. I'm the expert at dating with no strings attached."

"So why do you look so down?" Hoseok looked at him.

Yoongi frowned. "What? I'm not down. I'm completely okay."

"Uh-huh." Jin hyung responded.

"She did mentioned to me, remember?" Jungkook said. "Noona said she didn't want to get married again."

"Well, I guess it could change. Who knows she might change her mind in the future." Hoseok said.

"Yeah, you guys have only known each other for, what, a couple of months?" Jin hyung asked rhetorically.

"Actually," Yoongi chipped in, "we've known each other for almost ten years."

"What?" Jungkook's eyes were wide he looked so shook.

Yoongi turned to Namjoon. "You remember the incident in high school?"

Namjoon frowned for a second before nodding.

"She was one of the girls." Yoongi smiled at the fate that brought them together.

"No way." Namjoon's jaw dropped.

"Yes way." Yoongi's smile widened, showing his gum.

"What is this about?" Jin asked in all curiosity.

They spent the whole morning talking about Yoongi's past experience and how he had actually met Hana years before.

__________

A few days later, Hana, Yoongi and Taehyung were sitting in his office again, with the lawyer present.

"We've reached an agreement for shared custody." The lawyer said.

Hana's body limped with relief. Taehyung was sitting to her left, Yoongi to her right.

"So how's the arrangement?" Taehyung asked, his hand slowly rubbing Hana's back. Yoongi smiled a little at how he felt okay with their touchy relationship.

"Ha Young will be with you on weekends, birthdays and public holidays." The lawyer spread out papers in front of them. "Your parents," he spoke to Taehyung, "will have her on weekdays."

Hana nodded. Yoongi could see she was still a little bit down. He knew how much she wanted Ha Young to be with her all the time.

"You're okay babe?" Yoongi asked Hana when the lawyer left after she signed the papers.

She nodded. "I knew I wouldn't be able to have full custody." She smiled at Yoongi. "At least this is better than nothing."

"I'm sorry." Taehyung said, his head hung low.

"What for?" Hana asked.

"I'm sorry my parents are doing this." Taehyung

"No Taehyung ah. Don't be sorry. It's not your fault."

-----

"So what's the deal between Taehyung and his parents?" Yoongi asked as they entered his apartment.

"They sort of... Prefer his brother over him."

"Wow."

"And they make it a point to make it obvious."

"Ouch." Yoongi arranged the groceries they bought on the counter top.

"Yeah." Hana took out a few things for dinner. "Can you put all these," she pushed the ones for breakfast to the other end of the counter, "in the fridge?"

"Yeah." Yoongi unbuttoned his sleeves and folded them to the elbows. "Why do they do that?"

"His parents? Well, for one, his brother was smarter. But Taehyung has more empathy in his little toe than his brother had in his whole body." Hana said while washing the vegetables.

Yoongi placed the chopping board and knife on the counter for Hana. "That's it? Just because he's not as smart as the brother?"

"There's also the fact that Taehyung is dating Jimin." Hana chopped the ingredients.

"Ah. That. But come on. We're living in 21st century. That shouldn't matter." He placed all the chopped onions and vegetables in a colander.

"Right?" Hana filled a pot with water for the soup. "His brother also was more successful - before his business went down."

"Hearing all this, makes me appreciate my parents more." He breathed out while turning on the rice cooker.

"You should." Hana was stirring the stew while sighing.

Yoongi went behind her to hug her waist and rest his chin on her shoulder, looking over at the simmering stew. "I like this."

"The stew?"

Yoongi laughed. "No dummy. Why would I like the stew?"

"So you don't like the stew?"

"What? No! Wait— it's not about the stew!"

"You're not making any sense!" Hana laughed at Yoongi's silliness.

"Wait!" Yoongi had started laughing too by now. "I'm saying I like this. Us. I feel like we're an old married couple." Yoongi bit his lower lip in anxiousness when he felt Hana going stiff in his arms.

"Yoongi ah..."

"I know I know. No marriage. I'm just saying I like us being like this." Yoongi smiled when he felt Hana's shoulders relaxed.

"Me too." Hana rested her head on Yoongi's shoulder. "So do you like the stew or not?"

-----

The weekend came and Yoongi spent it alone since he wanted Hana to spend it with Ha Young and solely on her daughter.

"Yoongi ah." His stepmother said through the phone.

"Hmm?" Yoongi answered, the phone cradled in the crook of his neck while he was drafting for his blueprint.

"Come over for dinner tonight."

"I have work, mom."

"Come over before one of your parents die, okay?"

Yoongi gulped. "Okay okay. No need to be dramatic."

"Your dad said bring your girlfriend."

"What?" Yoongi's head shot up from the papers on his table.

"Namjoon told us about the lovely girl you met."

Yoongi cursed his brother mentally. "She can't. She has... Plans this weekend."

"Throughout the weekend?"

"Yes."

"You want me to call Hoseok for her number just to make sure?"

"No!" Yoongi now mentally cursed Hoseok for being buddy-buddy with his stepmother.

"Great! Tonight. Dinner. Remember. Before one of us die."

Yoongi sighed inwardly. "Fine."

"We'll see you soon."

Yoongi stared at his phone for a good deal of time before reluctantly calling Hana.

"Hey there!" She chirped through the phone.

Yoongi could hear the TV playing kids songs. "Hey babe. How's everything?"

"Everything's great! We're baking cookies. I'll bring you some on on Monday. If there are extras since our Ha Young here has been stealing the cookie dough."

Yoongi heard giggling in the background. He couldn't help but smile. "Hana..." He cleared his throat. "No need to wait for Monday."

"Hmm?"

"Bring some for my parents tonight."