Present Day
22-Years-Old

Yoongi stood up and stared at Aera. Neither of them moved. Eventually, however, Yoongi shakily pulled the ring from its box and held it up.

"May I?"

Aera smiled and held out her left hand. Yoongi slid the ring onto her finger. It was exactly her size. Of course it was; Yoongi knew everything about her.

"A, I..."

"Yeah?"

"I love you. And for the first time, I say that as more than just a friend."

Aera smiled. "I love you, too, Yoongs."

And Yoongi couldn't hold back any longer. He reached forward, placed both hands on her cheeks, then quickly placed his lips on hers. A small sound of surprise erupted from the back of Aera's throat, but she quickly melted into the kiss. Yoongi pulled back, but only for a moment. He began kissing her again and again. Short pecks to make up for all the years he hadn't. And then he was kissing her deeply. And Aera sighed.

When they finally broke apart, they looked at each other shyly.

"That, uh..." Aera stammered. "T-That was a lot better than our first kiss."

Yoongi chuckled. "I have to agree," he said softly.

"Mommy an' daddy are in yove?"

They both looked over to see Jungkook peeking around the corner at them.

"Yes, Jungkookie," Aera said, crouching down and holding her arms out to him. He quickly ran into them. "Yes, we are."

"Yay!"

Yoongi smiled. Aera looked up at him as she hugged Jungkook. "Yay," she said softly with her own smile.

-

The three of them had dinner, though Yoongi and Aera didn't eat much. They were both still shocked at what had happened. They were engaged. They'd never thought they'd be in this place. They'd fully convinced themselves they didn't love each other beyond friendship for fifteen years. And now all of that had changed.

They instead chose to watch Jungkook eat. He was hungry, as he was paying attention to nothing else other than his food. He devoured it quickly, then finally looked up at Aera as she asked, "Jungkook, did you have fun at the park today?"

Jungkook's brow furrowed. "Didn't go to the pawk. I hepped daddy!"

Aera looked over at Yoongi, who avoided her eyes.

"What do you mean, Jungkookie? How did you help?"

"We yooked at wings!"

Aera eyebrows rose. She looked at Yoongi again. "He...helped you pick out this ring?"

Yoongi shrugged, embarrassed. But Aera laughed softly. "Well, now I love it even more."

Yoongi finally met her eyes. He smiled. "That's also why I've been staying late at work. I wasn't actually working. I was looking for rings.

"You've been planning this for awhile, then?"

"Ever since that night," he replied, referencing when he'd picked her up at the bar. "But I didn't start seriously looking for rings until this past week. I found a few I thought you'd really like, but I wanted Jungkook to make the final decision. That's the one he chose."

Aera looked over at Jungkook again. "Thank you, Jungkookie! I love it."

Jungkook beamed at her. "Welcome!"

Shortly after dinner, Aera gave Jungkook a bath, then got him ready for bed. She was tucking him in when he looked over at her.

"Don' wan' go to bed," Jungkook said with a pout.

"You need your rest, Jungkookie. Sleep is important."

Jungkook sighed loudly and Aera laughed softly. "You've got to get enough rest to be able to play with your friends tomorrow."

"Pway?"

Aera nodded. "And with mommy and daddy after we get off work."

Jungkook smiled. "Wan' pway wif mommy an' daddy now."

"Nope, we're going to bed soon, too."

"I wan' daddy."

Aera rolled her eyes. "I'll go get him."

But as she stood, she saw Yoongi leaning against the doorway, watching them with a small smile on his face. He winked at her as she moved past him and out of the room.

"Jungkook-ah," Yoongi said. "I'm not going to give you a different answer. Sleep now, play later."

"But – "

"Goodnight, Jungkook," Yoongi said as he leaned over and kissed Jungkook's forehead. "Sweet dreams."

He then turned and exited the room before Jungkook could argue any further. He walked into the living room and saw Aera standing there, staring at the bed he'd pulled out from the couch. Her brow was furrowed.

"What's wrong?" he asked.

"You're sleeping out here?"

Yoongi sighed. "A, I'm not having the argument again. You sleep in the bedroom. End of conversation."

"No," Aera said. "I..."

"You?"

"Well, I figured my fiance would want to sleep in the same bed as me."

Yoongi blinked. He'd almost forgotten they were engaged now. He looked at Aera. "Are you, uh...are you sure?"

"What does that mean? Of course I'm sure, you idiot."

Yoongi grinned at the mischievousness sparkling in her eyes as she rolled them. This was his Aera; the sassy, cheeky one he loved the most.

"Okay," he said, picking up his pillow. "Lead the way."

But before he could move, she reached out and took his hand. "Only if you want to, Yoongs. If it's too weird right now, we don't hav – "

"Now you're trying to talk me out of it? Right after I agreed?"

Aera smacked his arm. "Shut up!"

Yoongi laughed. "What do you want, A? What makes you most comfortable?"

She looked at him shyly. "I-I'd like to cuddle."

Yoongi smiled. "Then lead the way."

-

"Congratulations!"

Mrs. Kang fawned over Aera's ring.

"Thank you," Aera told her.

Aera had decided to call out of work to pay a visit to Mrs. Kang. She'd come up with an idea the night before, after Yoongi had fallen asleep with her in his arms.

"Is it that young man who stood up for you in court?" Mrs. Kang asked with a small giggle.

Aera blushed. "Yeah, that's him. His name is Yoongi."

"He said you were friends..."

"We were," Aera said. "I mean, we still are, of course. But somewhere along the way, we fell in love."

"That is so sweet! What a great love story!"

Aera smiled. "Thank you. But there's one more thing to do to make this love story complete. That's why I'm here."

"Oh? I can help?"

"Yes, you're the only one who can right now."

Mrs. Kang clapped her hands excitedly. "What can I do to be a part of your love story?"

"Well, if we're going to be married – to be a family – Jungkook needs a father, too."

Mrs. Kang gasped. "You want to file for a joint adoption?!"

"Yes," Aera replied with a smile. "Please."

Mrs. Kang jumped up and hurried over to a file cabinet in her office. She skimmed through the files inside before she pulled out some forms.

"Yoongi will need to fill out and sign his own form, too, but then you'll both need to sign this form saying that even though you aren't married yet, you want to file for a joint adoption because you will be soon."

Aera nodded as she took the papers from Mrs. Kang. "Thank you so much."

"There's been talk of the judge announcing a decision within the next couple of days. Fill those out as soon as possible, and I'll deliver them so I can attach them to your application. I think the judge will love to hear of this most recent turn of events!"

"I'll take them to Yoongi right now. I'll get these all back to you before the end of the day!"

"Great! Hurry along now!"

Aera smiled as she left the office. She then hurried out of the building and to a bus that would take her to Yoongi's work.