Present Day
22-Years-Old

"Yoongs?" Aera said as they were riding the bus back to their apartment.

"Yeah?"

"Can we stop at the daycare before we go home? I want to pick something up."

"Of course," Yoongi said, squeezing her hand. "The next stop will be closest."

Aera simply nodded. Once they'd made it to the stop, they got off the bus and walked, hand in hand, to the daycare.

"Ms. Seong, Mr. Min," the daycare manager said as they walked in. "What can I do for you?"

"Um," Aera began. "There was a drawing that Jungkook made that I saw hanging up a few days ago when I picked him up. I was wondering if I could have it?"

"Oh, of course! I remember you gushing to him about it! It's right over here." The manager gestured for Aera and Yoongi to follow her. She then gently pulled down the drawing of Aera, Jungkook and Yoongi holding hands and handed it to Aera.

"Is that all you need today?"

"Yes," Aera said quietly. "Thank you so much."

The manager smiled as Aera and Yoongi headed to the door and left the daycare. They silently decided to walk the rest of the way home. They were still hand in hand; Yoongi couldn't bring himself to let her go since they'd left the courthouse. In her other hand, Aera clung tightly to the drawing.

When they finally made it home, Yoongi began digging around in his storage and finally emerged with a frame that the drawing would fit in. Together, they put it in the frame, walked around the living room trying to find a place to hang it, and both stopped in front of the same place. They were still very much in sync with their thoughts. They finally looked at each other, smiled, and hung up the drawing.

"Yoongs, I'm scared."

Yoongi wrapped his arms around Aera from behind. "I know," he said, kissing her shoulder.

"What if – "

"Shh," Yoongi interrupted. "Let's not talk about it any more tonight. Let's decompress and do something to get our minds off of it. Just for tonight. Okay?"

Aera was quiet for a few moments before she finally sighed. "Okay."

She turned around in his arms and looked up into his face. "I'm sorry I've been so moody and out of sorts. I... I've never wanted something more than this. The only other person I've loved more than him is you. I never ever expected this to be the place I'd end up, but..."

"I understand, A. I really do. You don't need to be sorry for anything."

"But I feel like all I've been doing lately is worrying. And crying. And... I'm just the complete opposite of myself lately. I hope you know I don't like it any more than I'm sure you do."

"Aera," Yoongi said with concern. "I'm not upset with you in any way, shape or form. I'm sad that you're sad, and I worry about you when you worry. But I love you, and I'm here for you. That's why I feel these things. I'm not upset about it. I know it just means I love you very much."

"I'm sure you miss the real me, though."

Yoongi sighed. "This is a part of who you are, A. It's not a side you've ever shown often. But it's always been there. And I love every part of you."

Aera's eyes filled with tears. "You idiot," she said. "You've made me go and cry again."

Yoongi laughed. "I know, I know. I'm terrible."

Aera cracked a small smile, then her face became serious. "You know I love you, too, right?"

Yoongi smiled. "Yes, I do."

"I mean it."

"I know."

"Yoongs, I..."

"Yeah?" Yoongi said after a few moments of silence.

"I don't really know how to approach this..."

Yoongi furrowed his brow. "Is everything okay?"

"I...think so."

"A, just spit it out," Yoongi said teasingly.

But Aera seemed to have suddenly become nervous. Her cheeks had turned pink and she was avoiding Yoongi's eyes.

It took Yoongi a solid three or four minutes to begin to assume what she might be wanting to say. He was surprised; Aera didn't usually hold back about anything, and he'd have thought she'd trust him enough to say it out loud.

"A, are you...ready?"

Aera again dodged eye contact.

"What do you mean?"

"Aera." He waited for her to look at him. When she eventually did, he was smiling a kind smile. "Do you want me to make love to you?"

The pink on Aera's cheeks deepened into red. She looked away from Yoongi yet again.

"I...I mean...I-I dunno."

Yoongi chuckled softly. "Well, I would like to. But I'm happy to wait until you're ready."

"It just feels... I don't know, inappropriate?" Aera said. "Maybe that's not the right word. But, because there's so much going on, I feel like we're supposed to be sad. And so, would we be disrespecting Jungkook and everything if we do it? It just feels wrong somehow."

"Love, there's nothing to be ashamed of if you're ready now. We are already sad about Jungkook, yes, but it doesn't mean we're obligated to be. We just are because we love him. But that doesn't mean our whole lives have to stop – "

"But I feel like mine already has."

"If that's the case, I want to help make your world start turning again. But I will never pressure you into doing something you don't want or aren't ready to do."

Aera stared into Yoongi's eyes, then squeezed him a bit tighter as she laid her head on his chest. "Thank you," she whispered.

Yoongi kissed the top of her head. "Of course."

"M-Maybe not right now. But soon. I really do want to do it. I-I want you."

Yoongi lifted her chin with a finger, then lowered his head and kissed her deeply. "I want you, too," he said when they broke apart.

Aera blushed again, but smiled. "You're still my best friend, you know."

Yoongi smiled back at her. "And you're still mine. Now, come on, let's get some sleep. That'll help us escape from the terrible reality of our situation, too."

Aera nodded. "Will you cuddle with me?"

"I'd love nothing more."

-

The next day, there was a knock at the door at 1:00 PM on the dot. Yoongi and Aera looked at each other from their spots on the couch, both of their brows furrowed.

"Are you expecting someone?" Aera asked.

"No," Yoongi replied. "Are you?"

Aera shook her head, but stood up to answer the door. When she did, she found herself face to face with the adoption committee. "Uh, hello," she said.

"We decided to do an unannounced home check," Mrs. Kang told her. "Just to make sure things are still in order. May we come in?"

"Of course," Aera replied, opening the door wider and stepping aside.

Yoongi, who had sat up and was listening to what was going on, greeted the committee as well. Aera then joined him on the couch again as the committee began going from room to room, checking on things.

"Oh my god," Aera suddenly whispered to Yoongi. "We didn't make the bed this morning. Ugh, that's embarrassing."

Yoongi chuckled. "It's okay," he whispered back. "It's our home, it's lived in. That's nothing to be ashamed of."

After awhile, the committee entered the living room to say their goodbyes to Yoongi and Aera. The man stopped short in front of the drawing they had picked up from the daycare. He spent a few long moments looking at it, then finally turned and joined the women standing with Yoongi and Aera.

"Thank you so much for your cooperation," Mrs. Kang said. "I'm sorry we showed up unannounced, but this was a better way to make sure nothing was amiss."

Aera nodded. "It's okay. I'm glad you stopped by."

Mrs. Kang smiled. "We'll be seeing you again soon."

"Thank you," Yoongi said as he showed them to the door.

After they'd left, Yoongi turned around and he and Aera looked at each other.

"It went well, right?" Aera asked.

"Yes, I think it did."

Aera smiled. "I think so, too."