"i guess?" lily shrugs her shoulders, not giving another glance to the shy boy who has already been shifting nervously in his shoes. he must be really scared to have him wiping his hands on his shirt every once in a while probably to get rid of the sweat that lily's causing him. his chubby cheeks and thin lips, compliment a smile when lily agrees— well, doesn't disagree with his proposal of becoming his girlfriend.

according to what the boy said, he has been crushing on her ever since last year, maybe around the time of their final exams of sixth grade. he used to sit two seats away from lily and ironically she didn't know his name because he never came out to play with her and her friends. even in class his presence was subtle, the teachers never pointed him out, not to praise and never to complain either. he was, and still is, one of those quiet, cute kids everyone has in their classes but nobody knows.

it took lily a good number of months to start realising that this boy, minsu, is in her class and now also her neighbour since he moved in the new house near their mansion. one thing she knows about him now, is that he's definitely not poor. because if he was, his family wouldn't be able to afford a house in that area of seoul. his dressing sense is nice too, cute pastel colored sweaters, t-shirts and hoodies, jeans and trousers. in fact, lily thinks his big round glasses suit him the most. he looks adorable with the thin black frame touching his cheeks until he sighs and forces them back up to their place. in short, he's cute.

"really?" he beams, gulping down his excitement as his hands curl into a fist like he's about to do a mini 'yes!' of accomplishment.

"yeah," lily nods, taking a step closer to him and pokes his cheek, smiling at him, "i think you're cute, and you never get in trouble. you're one of the good boys in class,"

"thanks," he turns red on the compliment from his crush and lily giggles.

"so, let's have lunch together?" she asks.

"sure! i'd love that!" minsu nods quickly, following her out of the classroom and towards cafeteria where he realises that they're not supposed to be alone. lily already has her friends waiting for her at their regular place. she waves at them with a smile, glancing at the nervous minsu and holds his hand, ignoring the look of discomfort slowly taking over his features on approaching the bunch of people he isn't familiar with.

"who's that, lily?" alec asks, arching up a brow at minsu, just like the boy next to him.

"oh, he's minsu," lily says, sitting down next to jenny and pats the seat on her left, "sit down, minsu. they're my friends. i'll introduce you guys, so they can be your friends too okay?"

"uhm okay," minsu nods slowly, sitting beside his girlfriend of two minutes and greets the other kids with an awkward smile. "hi, i'm- i'm minsu,"

"i'm alec," alec starts first, holding out his hand which takes minsu a moment to register and give it a week handshake.

"i'm jenny, if you remember? we were together in music before... uhm summer break?" she tries to remember and minsu nods, recalling the time when he was paired with her for a recital, which was more or less musical.

"oh! you're that minsu..." alec and the other boy hum, nodding slowly, "okay, now i know you,"

"i'm yohan," alec's friend says with a smile, "i know you, but you probably don't know me,"

"i know you," minsu mumbles, "you're the one who plays soccer, right?"

"a lot of guys play soccer," jenny laughs, "even me and lily play soccer,"

"yeah, you're right. i'm sorry— i didn't mean—"

"hey, it's okay," lily tells him, taking her lunch from jenny who brought it here from her bag probably to save time. "oh you don't have your lunch? you can get it quickly, we'll wait," she looks at minsu, who blinks a few times before shaking his head. "have you eaten already?"

"no," he shakes his head again, getting confused looks from the group.

"then what's the problem? go and get your lunch," alec says.

"i uhm, i didn't bring my lunch," minsu says, staring at his lap, cursing under his breath for not thinking and just agreeing to eat with lily like a dumb person.

lily on the other hand sighs softly, opening her lunch box and places it between herself and minsu, tapping his arm to make him look at her, "we can share, or you can get something from the counter. whatever you want," she says, picking up her fork like alec and jenny while yohan is using chopsticks.

minsu hesitates a bit shaking his head as he refuses to do either of the two options, making alec frown, "why? you don't have money with your or what?"

"alec!" jenny kicks him under the table, eyeing him to not say rude things to their new friend.

"what? i'm just asking," alec defends himself, "you don't have money, minsu?"

"no..." the boy looks down.

"oh..." lily stops to take a look at minsu again and nods, "that's okay. i said we can share mine,"

"yeah, you can have mine too," jenny offers, sliding her lunch box towards minsu and stands up, "wait, i'll see if i can get some chopsticks for you from there," with that she walks up to the counter, leaving the two boys and lily with him.

"you guys are nice," minsu smiles, "thanks,"

"everyone's like that," lily giggles, "i love sharing food. not with koo, but my friends, yeah. koo eats a lot. he eats everything and then there's nothing left for me," she sighs.

"i remember," alec laughs, "he took your part of the pastries,"

"he was scolded for that," lily huffs, "if i don't have jiminie and tae oppa at home, koo would eat eveything that's mine,"

"i eat jenny's food too. it's just what brothers do, lily. why do you sisters don't just get used to it?"

"my little sister steals my snacks," yohan shrugs, "i think you can do it too, lily. you're a little sister after all,"

"i do steal from koo," lily nods with a mischievous grin, "and i think that is the reason he eats my snacks. y'know to have revenge,"

"at least you admit your mistake. jenny never does," alec clicks his tongue.

"jenny never does what?"

alec chokes on his food, frowning at his sister and shakes his head, "nofing," he muffles out, lips pressed against the rim of his water bottle as he takes a sip. lily and yohan start laughing, giving each other a high five while jenny rolls her eyes at her twin, handing the disposable chopsticks to minsu who is sitting quietly in his place, never attempting to join in the conversation. he doesn't even know who lily's talking about, but hearing yohan and alec's words, he concludes it's some sibling stuff.

"are we still hanging out today?" yohan asks, eating his food as the rest of them start eating as well.

"er, i don't think so," alec scrunches his face, "chae's being really weird these days. i think she has a boyfriend,"

"why's that weird?" lily asks, "i have a boyfriend too. i just got one today!"

"what?!" her friends exclaims.

"yes," she nods proudly, pointing at minsu, "i forgot to tell you that minsu just asked me to be in a relationship with him. and now he's my boyfriend,"

"but..." jenny gulps, "aren't you too young to date? and jungkookie oppa already said that you shouldn't get close to boys,"

"who is telling him?" lily scoffs, "and it's not like he doesn't have tons of girlfriends. tae oppa just broke up with this actress he was working with. and jiminie oppa— well, i've never heard a dating story of him,"

"uhm you're right," alec nods, "we're twelve it's fine, jenny. stop talking like old people,"

"so can i ask aleena to be my girlfriend?" yohan asks.

"yep," lily nods, "good luck,"

"thanks, i'll go right now," yohan stands up, waving at the kids and jogs out of the cafeteria to find the girl.

"jimin oppa never dated anybody?" jenny tilts her head, "that's hard believe,"

lily shrugs her shoulders, "he never mentioned anything like that. koo and tae oppa are very open about their relationships. but y'know, i have a feeling he's seeing someone these days,"

"really? how do you know?" alec says.

"uhm he comes home later than usual sometimes and he's also using his phone a lot,"

"that's suspicious," jenny grins, "what if he has a girlfriend?"

"i think so," lily giggles.

"what if he's dating chae?" alec gasps, "she's uses her phone a lot too!" jenny and lily both squeal together, imagining the possibility of their elders being in a relationship.

maybe it was possible. lily had noticed the way jimin would try not to miss any notification or call on his phone unlike earlier when he used to be sick of his managers and assistant calling and the buisness related emails. his attention has really diverted and he has started being less stressed about work and other stuff in general. he would smile more, especially while talking on the phone, which often gave lily a chance to make him say yes for odd-time snacks, even tricked him once into saying yes to take jungkook's ipad forever.

jungkook must've noticed it too if lily has. because no matter how much it offends lily, she isn't the smartest at home and still is considered an innocent little child, which more or less she really is. if jimin is actually dating chaeyong, it would be a great thing. for one, lily gets to spend more time with jenny and alec. two, both jimin and chaeyong are good looking. and three, it would be good for jimin to have a normal love life out of taking care of lily, home and work all the time.

as the kids are done eating, their conversation takes a few random turns, ending up with how they would like it better if they had three sundays in a week. the bell rings and they head back to their class, lily offers minsu to sit with her for the rest of the day until they're ready to go home.

lily and minsu often talk between the class, still getting to know each other with little things like their favourite color, movie, if they like disney or not, music taste and favourite game to play. unfortunately for lily, the boy is not at all interested in things that she lives for. he doesn't watch disney, doesn't match her taste in music, their favourite movies are completely different genres, and he doesn't even like videogames or outdoor sport either.

lily suddenly finds him less cute.

she presses her lips into a thin line, telling herself that it's okay and everybody has their own likes and dislikes. yet she couldn't help but ask by the end of the day, "do you know my family, minsu?"

"uh no," the boy nibbles on his lip, having some idea that she must be rich, considering that she always has the best stuff, good food, and just gives off elite kid vibes.

lily giggles softly, shaking her head as she picks up her bag and stands up, "nevermind. bye, i'll see you tomorrow," she waves at him, "bye-bye, boyfriend!"

"b-bye lily...! uhm girlfriend," minsu heaves out a breath, shaking his head for always being so nervous around lily.

the girl joins her friends by the door, heading outside the school where they already spot their guardians, lily her brother and chaeyong for alec and jenny. surprisingly they're both together, standing by jimin's car near the school gate, giving many ideas to the three kids.

"now i'm sure they're dating," alec grins, "wow, chae isn't single anymore,"

"shut up," jenny snacks his shoulder, "she's older than us. don't talk like that about her,"

"hey," jimin smiles at the kids, opening his arms as lily takes a few quick steps, jumping forward for a hug. "had a good day?"

"yes," the sister nods, tilting her head up to look at him with a wide smile, "how are you here today?"

"yes, and how are you here today?" alec looks at chaeyong.

"i'm here to take you both home. your dad is at work. he'll pick you up later from my place," she replies, "let's go?"

the twins nod, although they stop abruptly when jimin gestures chaeyong to sit in the front while the kids should take the back seat. "where are we going?" jenny asks.

"i'll drop you guys home," jimin says, taking a brief glance at chaeyong and then the kids, who are all squinting at him with a questioning gaze. jimin frowns at that, arching up a brow, but before he asks, chaeyong's already turning her head to face the kids.

"what's wrong with you three today?" she asks, smiling a little.

"nothing," jenny mumbles, shifting closer to lily and pulls alec closer by the neck, making a small room for discussion, "i think you were right... they're probably dating,"

lily gasps, covering her mouth as she peeks at her brother who is looking at chaeyong, saying something in a very low voice only for to hear, while the girl is shaking her head, probably trying to refuse to whatever he had offered. lily gulps slowly, shifting back in her seat and nibbles on her lip, "so are they gonna marry now?" she whispers.

"i think so," jenny shrugs her shoulders, "i've heard from somewhere that when big people date and they talk like that, they gonna get married,"

"yeah..." alec nods too, "uhm then, will you marry minsu too, lily?"

lily's face scrunches up as she quickly shakes her head, "no!" she cringes in her place, "i don't like him that much!"

"what?" jimin looks over his shoulder, "what are you guys talking about?"

"lily made a boyfriend today," alec sniggers, "i was asking if she will marry him or not,"

"wha— a boyfriend?" jimin repeats, glancing at his little sister, "really, princess?"

"mm-hmm," she nods, "he's cute and he's a good boy. but— but i don't wanna marry and go away with him,"

jimin and chaeyong chuckle hearing her thoughts, and the former just shrugs it off as a mere childhood liking, which is still full of misconceptions since lily believes that she'll have to marry him if she didn't break up with him.

"i'll break up with him tomorrow," lily hums in determination, and so does alec and jenny, supporting their friend's decision within a heartbeat. "oppa? can alec and jenny go with me? we'll play together,"

"sure," jimin nods, glancing at chaeyong who virtually asks him not to agree, but jimin just smiles, giving her an assuring nod. "it's okay. they won't bother us,"

"it's not about that," chaeyong whispers, "i have some work at home,"

"stop making excuses," jimin shakes his head and looks at the kids through the mirror, "we'll go home and you guys can play or do whatever you want. have fun together,"

"yes! thanks opps!" lily chimes,

"and what will you and chae do?" alec asks, getting a look from jenny and lily as well. lily nods slowly, not as excited as before, focusing on alec's question and waits for an answer since they're already suspecting the elders to be dating.

jimin laughs nervously, glancing at the boy and then at his aunt, "we can sit and talk? like how people do?"

"yes, exactly," chaeyong nods quickly, glaring at the young boy and mouths him to shut up and sit quietly if he really wants to go and have their playdate.

"just talking?" lily asks this time, making jimin choke on his saliva.

"what is up with you kids today?" he breaths out, "yes, of course talking. you're not expecting me and chae to have a tea party are you?"

"not tea party," the sister mumbles, giggling with her friends as the three are squeezed together in the middle of the seat despite the sides being empty and spacious.

"lily, what's all this? am i supposed to understand your code language?" he sighs softly. lily laughs at him, exchanging glances with her friends and leans forward, sitting on the edge of the seat. jimin lends her his ear, knowing she wanted to whisper something although she only giggles again. "tell me what is it, baby?"

"we think you're dating," she mumbles, grinning mischievously at the brother as jenny and alec nod their heads in agreement, both joining lily closely.

"me? how— and why?" jimin clears his throat, subconsciously looking at chaeyong who looks like she's going to combust anytime soon from all the awkward questions coming from the kids.

"you and chae," jenny points out clearly, "we have a feeling,"

"yes," lily hums, "are you both dating?"

"we uh..." jimin gulps, biting on his lip as he grips the steering tightly, never making the mistake of looking at anyone, especially the three kids who are all smiling at him and chaeyong like they knew all the ins and outs about them. "what makes you think we're dating?" he asks smartly, sighing in relief when he feels three pairs of eyes being diverted from him, giving him sometime to calm himself down.

"it's so hot," chaeyong mutters, turning up cooling of the air conditioner, fanning herself with the free hand. "i think we should hangout some other day, jimin. please just take us to my place,"

"but—"

"quiet," she scolds alec, "we'll go home and that's all. if you don't behave yourself then i won't take you anywhere,"

"stop saying that!" alec pouts, "i'm not a kid. you can't tell me to behave all the time,"

"he's sorry," jenny says quickly, "i wanna go to lily's house. let's go there, please?"

"yes," alec nods as well, the pout still resting on his lips as he stares down at his lap, "i'm sorry, chae,"

"i'm sorry too," lily mumbles, peeking at jimin's face and he nods assuringly, making her smile. "so are you dating?"

"goodness!" jimin groans to himself, although a faint blush paints his cheeks when he tries to fight back a smile. his eyes glance at chaeyong, shrugging his shoulders.

"what?" chaeyong tilts her head in confusion, seeing the smile slowly becoming evident on jimin's lips, making her gasp, "are you serious?!"

"i mean, the kids wanna know..." he says softly, "but, i'm okay with whatever you decide,"

chaeyong covers her eyes, taking a moment to think deeply and also help herself stop blushing so much especially when she knows alec is watching he probably won't shut up once they're alone. she takes a deep breath, drawing jimin's attention and nods slowly, "you tell them," she mumbles.

jimin chuckles, slipping his hand to hold chaeyong's and gives an assuring squeeze, as he glances back at his sister and her friends, "we're dating," he admits, surprised when the kids all squeal and cheer in happiness, hugging each other before going to hug the elders.

"i'm so happy for you, oppa! chae noona is so nice!" lily gushes, hugging jimin's arm and he laughs at her words.

"i know right?" he looks at chaeyong who's being hugged by her twins too. "so are we all cool about this?"

"yes! i'm happy that you both are dating!" jenny smiles widely, "jimin oppa is the best, but from today he's the bestest!"

"aw, thank you, jenny," jimin smiles at her, "okay since we dropped such a big news and all of our babies are so happy, let's have a quick ice cream treat?"

"yes! yes! yes!" lily claps her hands, "we're gon' get ice cream! you should give us good news everyday, oppa!"

"sure," jimin chuckles, ruffling her hair and pulls up in front of an ice cream parlour. the kids rush out quickly, while jimin and chaeyong take their time, happy and relieved on having a positive reaction.

"i feel so good right now," chaeyong says, leaning onto jimin's side as he wraps his arm around her waist, leaning down to kiss her cheek, then her lips.

"when are we telling your brothers?"

"pretty soon," jimin hums, "we can tell them today itself. i'm sure tae will be jealous,"

chaeyong laughs at his words, hitting his arm for she knew the joke between the brothers, jimin and taehyung specifically, ever since chaeyong became their friend. how jimin's genuine interest in her had taehyung complaining that he was trying to keep chaeyong all to himself. jimin always dismissed it until today, but now he might just mock at taehyung and admit with a smug smile that he was keeping chaeyong all to himself indeed.

nonetheless that doesn't change the fact that both taehyung and jungkook will be happy and support his relationship with chaeyong. jimin might even have to throw his boys their special all-alcohol-party later, but he'd be more than just happy to do that, considering that he has been living a lot better than he used to do thanks to chaeyong's lovely presence.

"oppa, come fast! they're asking for money," lily motions her hand for jimin to come inside fast and give the cashier the sum they asked for so she can have her favourite ice cream.

chaeyong stands by his side, taking a small cup of strawberry ice cream when jimin insists that she will have to take something at least. lily glances up at chaeyong and smiles, "since when you are you dating my oppa?"

"six months," chaeyong replies, "it was a few days before your birthday. so november,"

"oh that's long," lily gasps, "how come we noticed only now?"

"well, we weren't trying so hard to hide it now," she chuckles, "uhm lily, are you really okay with me dating your brother?"

"yes, of course. i like you," she nods with a sincere smile at chaeyong, "i've never seen or even heard about jiminie oppa's girlfriends. maybe you're th first one? i don't know. so, please love him a lot okay? uhm i know you will, and i don't have to say it— but, i saw how happy he was these days and it made me happy too,"

chaeyong smiles fondly, patting lily's head, "i will," she whispers out in a tender voice, glancing at jimin who's busy having a conversation with alec, probably about something that caught alec's attention. she sighs softly, focusing back on lily and leans down to hug the young girl, "you're the sweetest little sister your oppas can have,"

"you're sweet too," lily giggles, "have you told tae and kookie?"

"not yet. but we're going to tell them soon. so please keep it a secret from them. we wanna talk to them ourselves,"

"sure," lily nods, "i'm so happy for you and oppa— you should get married!"

"is that so?" jimin's voice makes the girls gasp. lily turns around quickly, seeing jimin standing behind her with another cup of ice cream. "we should get married?"

"yeah," the sister grins, "you both are so pretty. so your baby will be pretty,"

"lily!" chaeyong blinks a few times, "we're not having babies just yet, sweetie,"

"you should," jenny and alec grin from behind, giving lily a high five when she agrees with them.

"kids these days," jimin shakes his head, "okay fine, we'll leave the baby with you guys to look after. is that okay?"

"we'll play with the baby," lily says.

"and what about doing his work? you'll have clean the mess he makes, change the diapers and feed him,"

"no," she pouts, "that's boring. you do that. but i'll play with the baby,"

jimin chuckles at her, bringing her in a hug and leans down to nuzzle his face against lily's cheek, making her laugh, "lily's my little baby, isn't she?"

"yeah," she kisses his cheek, never letting go of him now that he's holding her, "i wanna eat noodles, oppa,"

"hm, you must be hungry," jimin strokes her back, "let's go home. then you and your friends can have whatever you like, yeah?"

"mm-hmm," she nods. "koo is— is he home?"

"i think so. i haven't called. why?"

"because me and koo will paint today," she says, turning to her friends, "i'll show you the new paintings koo made,"

"yes, please. he's amazing!" alec nods quickly, "i wish i could paint like him, and sing like him, and do everything like him,"

"i know, me too," lily nods.

"yeah, same," jenny agrees, "let's go. we haven't seen kookie in a long time,"

"we saw him in the morning," alec grins.

"that was on the tv.," jenny shakes her head.

"alright alright, we'll go home," jimin announces, patting lily's back as she steps forward, editting the store forst with her friends getting in the car. "they're so excited," jimin chuckles, opening the door for chaeyong to get in.

"they're still young," she smiles, getting in, "thank you,"

"that dry?" jimin arches up a brow, leaning down with his elbows resting on the window frame and clicks his fingers to get the attention of the kids as he kisses chaeyong's lips. lily, jenny and alec claps their hands, cheering for jimin, making chaeyong blush.

"what are you doing?" she mutters to him.

jimin, instead of answering her, turns to the kids, "jenny and alec, i have a small request for you both," the twins hum, and jimin smiles, "since chae spends more time with you than me. i want you guys to make sure everyone knows she has a boyfriend okay?"

"wha—"

"hush," jimin winks at his girlfriend, focusing back on the kids, "if you think a guy is trying to flirt with her, please tell him that she's taken,"

"i can—"

"do that yourself, i know," jimin hums, smiling mischievously, "but it's fun like this, don't you think?"

"i'll tell them that she's our mom and you're our dad,"

"you don't have to go that far!" chaeyong massages her temples, "gosh! you guys— learn something from lily,"

lily looks at the elder girl, smiling nervously, "no, noona. i was thinking that i should make jiminie oppa my daddy too and you can be my mamma..."

"my child," jimin holds in his laugh, patting his sister's cheek, "noona doesn't get us, right?"

"yeah," the kids nod together.

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a/n- i'm losing readers. sigh. maybe because i don't update that frequently? or maybe is it because the book isn't as interesting as the last one? (judging by the number of votes and comments on the chapters)

but those who are here, thank you so much. your support means a lot to me and i promise i'll try my best to update whenever i can. thank you for being here. ❤️✨

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