•••

4:20 pm.

I drop my car keys on the kitchen island after driving the boys back home, and I wash my hands while they are both talking.

"Are you doing your homework here?" Minjun asks his older brother, but Jungkook's answer does not make him happy. "No, buddy. I gotta stay in a quiet room to focus," he brushes past me as I stepped back, and he opens the fridge to grab a drink.

"I'll be quiet, I promise," he tries to keep him here, loving his big brother's company. Jungkook fills a cup with milk and smiles, probably feeling soft. Noticing something odd, I brush my fingers over his skin while he puts his cup in the microwave and ask him what it is. "Nothing. Just a friend who had fun drawing on my skin."

"A heart? What type of friend?" I remark to tease him, and he leans back on the counter. "Just...She apparently got a crush on me, but I'm not into her."

"Oh, why is that?" I turn the faucet to wash the dishes I neglected earlier before leaving the house. "I'm just..." he cannot give an answer right off the bat. "I'm into someone else, so...Yeah," he gives the reason why. "Oh. I see," I leave him alone and only focus on my task, and he takes his cup out to make the hot chocolate he is craving. I would rather not ask him anything more about this.

"Would you mind helping me with something later on, please?" he asks in a lower voice as if he did not want Minjun to hear him. "With what?"

"I've got some work to do in science, but it's pretty difficult," he does not pick the worst subject, so I agree gladly. "Of course, I'll do my best to help you.

"Thanks," his sweet tone exudes all his gratitude, and he walks away with his warm drink. "I'll do a bit of work here, then head to my bedroom to study, alright? he stays for his little brother, caring about him more than himself, and this adorable one voices his happiness out.

•••

5:20 pm.

Sticking to my words, I knock on Jungkook's door, making sure he knows I am here. As soon as I hear him respond, I open it and step in.

"I'm here," I smile and walk up to him. I sit at one of the two desks that does not have a computer. "So, what is the hard work about exactly?" I sit down on the chair he already placed next to his for me, and he hands me his science book. "I need to answer those questions, and the answers are supposed to be in the chapters before. They purposely made them complicated and pretty implicit though."

"Okay, let's do it together. We'll find the answers to all those questions, don't worry," I reassure him and read them to understand the topic more in depth. "Do you even understand anything at least?"

"I do, a little," he does not seem fully sure, making me smile. "So, if you answer to this first question, what do you say?" I lay the book on the desk, and he leans forward.

"How does SCNT differ from the natural way of making an embryo?" he reads it, and he picks his pen up. "This is the only one I know," he writes everything down, so I read over his shoulder to know the answer, and slowly wait to say it out loud. "The difference between fertilization and SCNT...lies in where those two sets come from."

"I won't go into details, this short answer is good," he pushes the top of his pen against his lips, and I cannot help but add one more question. "I'm sorry, but what does SNCT mean again? I forgot."

"It means Somatic Cell Nuclear Transfer, so that's a method used to produce a clone of a human or animal, just a living thing," he shows how serious he is with his studies, how smart he is. "Alright, I'm gonna be less dumb because of you," I feel a smile grow on my face but watch the same expression form on his, and he drops his attention to my lips. "You're not dumb. It's somewhere in a corner of your brain, but you just need to be reminded of it."

"Hm, if you say so. You know better than I do anyway, right?" I say it before he could, knowing him and his personality enough to predict his actions now, and he laughs, softly. "Exactly. You learn fast, I see," he becomes playful and makes it difficult not to be amused, but in order to not be a distraction that will keep him away from his work, I drag his focus back on the book.

30 minutes later...

"Here, that's my answer," he shows me what he wrote for the last question that we had a hard time dealing with, and I give him mine to compare. I check the few sentences he left on the paper but realize we both made the same summary of the paragraphs we read together.

"I'm using yours," he steals my idea instead of keeping his, and I look at him copying every word. "Why mine? Yours is great."

"No, I like yours better. You pointed something out that I forgot to mention," he continues what he started, and I let him do so silently.

"Your handwriting is so pretty," he never misses a chance to flatter me or what I do, but I do not think alike. "What do you mean? Yours is so much prettier."

"It's not," he shakes his head and puts my answer down, done with his work, and he sets his eyes on me after focusing more on me than the answer he had to give, which did not seem as hard as he told they would be. "From now on, I'll pay you to write my notes."

"You think I'll do it just because of some money?" I cross my arms, expressing some feigned disappointment. "Well, instead of taking care of that asshole called Hugo, you'll write my notes, isn't it a good deal?"

I scoff at his cute ignorance and obsession. "Him again," I close his book to help him tidy up, but he startles me by placing his hand over mine. My body freezes at this unexpected gesture, and I glance at him to ask what he is doing.

"Are you scared of him and his dad?" he nearly whispers, not dropping this matter. "I want you to be honest with me, y/n. I know I must be nothing but a dumb kid to you, but I take this seriously. I often act immature, but I'm not when something like—"

"Jungkook, it's okay," I take my hand away from his. "I know you're not just a dumb kid. You're a smart and considerate person, but I don't want you to talk about this anymore."

"I care about you. A lot. You know that, right?" he stares into my eyes, his words emotionally touching me. I smile and nod. "I know. I care about you a lot too, but everything's alright. So stop worrying so much about this. If I was scared of them, I would find another family."

"You told me you're always stressed out when you go to their house," he memorizes the wrong information that goes out of my mouth, and out of defeat, I rise from my chair. "Stressed out, but not scared," I specify, but he does not take it as a valid answer. "Y/n...I don't want to annoy you or go too far, but if you only take care of him because the father pays you well, I'll tell my dad about it, and he'll pay as much as he does."

Not finding the right words after this, I shake my head and still do my best to hide my emotions. "Please, Jungkook. I don't want to say it again."

His eyes not drifting away from mine, he keeps his stare steady and causes me to break eye contact. I glance down and push my chair forward to put it back properly.

"I'm sorry for insisting like that, I just don't want you to get hurt," he apologizes when he does not have to, always being so respectful towards me. "Don't say sorry, but no need to worry about this anymore. If something wrong happens, I'll take care of it. Okay?"

He hesitates before replying, but he eventually nods. "Yeah. I trust you."

"Come with me now, you should eat dinner," I walk up to the door and open it, and he follows me downstairs.

"So, about the private teacher you have now?" I change the subject, but he does not seem to really want to talk. "Good. He's cool," he goes away and sits at the table, and I head to the kitchen to warm the food up for dinner. It is evident that he is upset about my lies.

— Next day —

Tuesday, January 23rd, 2024.

4:50 pm.

After coming back with the boys and helping Minjun with his homework, I walk upstairs.

Jungkook has been sulking since last night's talk, and I know he does not mean to be acting like that, but I hate to see him do so.

"Can I come in?" I knock on his door, but he does not answer me, so I wait for a few seconds in case he might be busy or not able to open, but once it becomes too long, I knock again. "I'm gonna come in if you don't answer me, Jungkook."

For the second time, no answer is given, so as I said, I open the door and step inside his room, but slowly so that I do not come across anything unwanted.

When I see him at his desk wearing headphones, I realize he was actually not ignoring me. I close the door to give us privacy. Then, I walk up to him and gently pull down his headphones. "Hey."

He raises his head up in a startle and straightens his back. "Hey, I'm sorry. I didn't hear you."

"It's okay," I do not scold him but focus on something else. "So, are you going to keep sulking for a long time?"

"I'm not sulking," he denies it, doing it while pretending not to. "Why are your lips so pouty then? Hm?"

"They're not, I'm just naturally cute," he manages to make me smile against my will when I am here to be serious. "You are, but less with that behavior."

"What behavior?" he does not decide to be sincere, avoiding the evident problem. "Come on," I sigh and cannot help running my fingers through his fluffy hair. "You've been acting like that since yesterday, and it upsets me too because that means you don't believe or trust me."

"You told me not to talk about it anymore, so I'm not," he uses my words against me, making me annoyed, but at the same time, hurt. I love to know he cares, but I wish he did not.

I do not respond to this but heavily exhale, and I brush his hair back properly. "Fine," I do not go any further, do not push, I leave him alone and give him time to calm down and stop thinking about this.

I return to his door, walk out of his room, and then go downstairs. At least I can have a short break today to relax and unwind for a bit. No matter how short this will be, that is better than nothing.

•••

5:40 pm.

Dinner time getting close, I leave my phone on the coffee table before me, but someone walks down the stairs, meaning I will not have to get them both to leave their bedrooms.

I peek at who it is and see Jungkook wearing his usual hoodie and sweatpants. I stare at him without saying anything as he inches closer to me and sits down next to me. Hiding his head in his hood, he slides his hands in his pockets and drops his head on the back of the sofa.

"I'm sorry," he finally lets something out and ends the silence. "I know it's wrong to stick my nose in your business, but I do it because I care about you a lot...A lot more than I should."

I smile without replying yet, feeling better now that he understands my point of view as well. "You don't hate me because of that, do you?" he turns his head to make eye contact. "I don't. You know I wouldn't hate you for caring."

He never glances away, his features softening with relief. "Good. I just...still have a hard time knowing how to deal with my emotions when I can't have any control over a situation that upsets me."

"I understand, don't worry," I stand up. "Sometimes it's hard being a good person," I smile and move up to the kitchen, and he does not stay too far, he always makes sure the distance between us is not big.

"Minjun! Dinner!" he yells to not have to go back upstairs, and the little one shouts back to answer, so I get the dishes out. "How did the test go today?" I ask him now that he is willing to talk to me. "Good, I think, but this doesn't always mean something positive."

"You worked hard, so no matter the marks, you did good," I cheer him up, giving him the confidence he never has when needed. "Yeah, I hope so," he does not accept it as the truth. "But this is all because of the very intimidating woman who was there for me."

I raise my eyes up to his bright ones and fall into them, and we both smile, but I shake my head. "I'm not intimidating at all."

"You are," he thinks otherwise. "You really looked good in those high heels. You were very intimidating," he mentions what caused me pain for a few hours, and I fill the dishes with the food as Minjun went at the table. "Did she tell you anything that you're talking about this?"

"No, my friends did though," he scoffs but gives me a hand. "They fucking made fun of me for looking like a kid with you."

"A kid?" I laugh, wondering why they would think such a thing. "You were the same height as me with those heels if not taller, how could you look like one?"

"You know how people of my age think, you know," he hands me the last empty dish to help me serve faster. "I don't, actually. I need you to enlighten me," I tease him, despite how aware I am of their mind and how it works around that age.

I look up at him but notice how flustered this makes him, and he smiles, broadly, averting his eyes from mine. "You know, like the 'mommy' joke, they're dumb."

I nervously grin, not even surprised by this revelation. "Hm. I see," I do not share my opinion but place the ladle down after serving us three. "And what did you say to them?" I trick him into exposing himself, and as soon as his eyes meet mine, he smiles and walks away with two dishes, but I do not follow. I wait for him to come back to annoy him a little more.

"You can start eating," he tells his little brother and steps towards me. "I didn't hear you," I cross my arms and continue, but he avoids my stare and grabs the last dish with the fork. "I didn't say anything."

"You sure? Because if you talk behind my back like a mean boy, I want to be aware of it," I step right in front of him to make sure he cannot go forth, and he looks down at me.

/ flashback \

'JUNGKOOK'S P.O.V'

I hurry to pass by the doors and go back inside to join my friends in the hallways after seeing y/n leave, and I quickly fall upon them waiting for me.

"Hey," my best friend, Leo, smirks at me, already starting while Noah is silently doing the same. "Mommy's defending her little boy, uh?" he makes fun of me, playfully, earning a hit in the chest.

"Shut the fuck up. She just wanted to make sure I'd be able to repass my test," I lead them both to our classroom, and they sneer at me.

"Yeah. And that your baby lips aren't chapped? That you're not cold? Hm?" he uses a ridiculous voice, not leaving me alone but embarrassing me. "She's fucking caring, alright?"

"I saw that," he acknowledges and looks in front of him. "And I also saw how much of a bottom you were, dude."

I bite my lips that still taste like cherry. "Fuck you. I'm not a fucking bottom."

"Except for Miss Blakes," Noah gives his two cents when I thought he would keep quiet. "Yeah, whatever you say," I stop myself behind our classmates that are waiting at the door, and I lean back on the wall to glare at Leo, who enjoys pissing me off with this.

"What? We both know you have a crush on her, it's fucking obvious," he tells what I cannot ever be honest about, even with myself. I shake my head and avert my eyes from him.

I do not like this feeling of vulnerability. She makes me crave her attention all the time, and I hate to be so needy.

"Do you know if she's single?" he does not put an end to this conversation, but the door already opens, and the students in front of us move forward. "She is."

"Oh, so you got a chance," he gives me hopes that I never believe in. "I don't. She's twenty-six, she'll never date me."

"You'll be twenty soon, it's not that bad. Just wait until then to ask her out or make a move. She already has a soft spot for you, so who knows?" he drifts apart from me to get to his desk, and I do the same.

I desperately wish he was right.

/ end of flashback \

"I just told them that they're dumbasses," he claims and walks back to the table to dine, so I let this go but trust half of his words.

•••

6:30 pm.

"I win again!" Minjun throws his arms up to celebrate his victory against me for the second time, and I smile. "You're really good at this," I unlock the bottom of the rack for all the yellow and red pieces to land on the table, and he slides his disks towards himself while I gather mine before me. "You are too," he attempts to make me feel less of a loser.

The worst about this is that I am not even letting him win, I am actually losing against a seven year old.

"Wait before starting, I have to pee," he leaves the table in a hurry and runs to the bathroom, so I do not drop the red disk in the rack but toy with it in my hand. Curious about what Jungkook is doing and why he has been so quiet since we started playing, I turn my head to the left to check up on him.