“SOMEDAY SOMEONE WILL BRING DOWN THE MOON FOR YOU IN THE SHAPE OF THEIR LOVE.”

Mr Kim took the main seat as the head of the family, Mrs. Kim sat across from her husband, and the children jumped up on their chairs and wiggled next to each other, Seok Joong and Ahreum took their seats across them and meanwhile, Seokjin sat next to his brother and Yoon Min chose to sit beside the kids. The air was filled with the nostalgic aroma of home-cooked meals, which brought back fond memories for Seokjin.

As they settled in, the conversation flowed naturally, filled with laughter and shared stories from the past. They mostly reminisced about the time when Seok Joong and Seokjin were little, picking up fights all the time. Mr. Kim decided to share all of their embarrassing stories and every time he mentioned an incident, Seok Joong had to keep his red face low and Seokjin had to cover his red ears. Why did his father think telling Yoon Min about the time he slipped on his own urine was a good idea?

Thankfully, the boys started messing with their food so Ahreum had to interrupt and scold them, which was a pretty good distraction. The topic changed to the children, now talking about how they liked to play around. Meanwhile, Mrs Kim seemed to pamper her son's friend by telling her to eat more and more, sometimes even feeding her by her hands. Seokjin wanted to laugh at how uncomfortable Yoon Min looked. She tried not to hurt his mother's heart and accepted her feeding.

Honestly, she didn't seem uncomfortable. All of them wanted to tell her something and she listened with interest all the time. Her genuine interaction with the family, her warm smile, and her attentive presence were a source of comfort for Seokjin. It was clear that she was embracing the sense of family that surrounded her, and it warmed his heart to see her fitting in so naturally.

At one point during their long lunch, Mr. Kim cleared his throat and looked at him. "Seokjin, there's something I must talk to you about."

His voice didn't sound friendly like it was a minute ago.

"When are you getting married?"

Seokjin choked on his food and started to cough. The kids giggled at his reaction. "W-what?"

"Your father's right, Seokjin. You're well over thirty by now. Surely you're thinking of getting married, aren't you?" Mrs. Kim, which is not surprising, took his father's side.

He could feel his brother smirking beside him. It was his idea, wasn't it? He must have told their father to remind him of this ridiculous thing again. Seokjin tried not to look at Yoon Min even though he could feel her heavy gaze on him.

"I want you to have a family too, Seokjin. I'll be relieved if I know someone will always be there for you. I'll be relieved if I know my little boy has also become a father. Is that too hard for you?"

"Your father thinks he won't be able to die in peace without seeing a new set of grandchildren." Mrs Kim rolled her eyes. "And do you think you're gonna be young forever? You may look handsome now, but after a decade, you will have wrinkles all over your face and grey hairs will be the only thing that will greet you in the morning. No one will find you attractive anymore. You'll be old and ugly and fat."

Seokjin couldn't believe his parents decided to bring up this topic at lunch. “Eomma, I told you I'll still be handsome even after my death. I'll look beautiful even as a corpse. And Abeoji, stop thinking you're gonna die. You still play with your grandchildren's toys. If your heart is young, that means you'll live long."

Mr Kim seemed satisfied with his answer as he dove back into his meal. But his mother wasn't done.

"Stop joking. I'm serious this time. All of your friends are married, even your cousins are expecting babies. You're the only one who is far behind the race!"

His own brother betrayed him. "I agree. One of my employees got married last week. I also heard our old neighbour's daughter's dog is pregnant. It seems like our Seokjinnie is the only one who hasn't even started the race yet."

That caused waves of laughter across the table.

"Hyung, you too? What's wrong with all of you? Can we go back to the embarrassing moments instead? That was so much better than this topic." Seokjin knew his face was red.

"Son, is it because you haven't found anyone yet? You don't have to worry about that! I can arrange a list of eligible bachelorettes only for you!" Mrs Kim suddenly sounded excited.

He shook his head. "No. I told you—"

"Yoon Min-ah, do you know who they are shipping with my son now?"

Seokjin choked on his food again. He finally had the chance to look at her, and she looked exactly how he assumed. Yoon Min was taken aback by the sudden throw of a question at her. Her eyes were wide, not blinking and her cheeks pink.

"W-what do you mean?"

"C'mon, you know what I'm saying. I know the internet ships random girls with my boy. I'm asking who's the top candidate for him."

He couldn't believe his mother just said that. "Eomma, have you gone mad?! Where did you learn that?"

She spared him a single glance before returning her gaze. "My son thinks I don't keep updates on him. He's naive. Don't mind him."

Seokjin gasped at the insult. Before he could react, he saw Yoon Min clearing her throat. "Well, there's plenty on the internet actually. Fans love to see him with women around his age or younger. And—"

He couldn't believe she was actually answering. "Hey, why are you speaking? This is not something you should answer—"

Yoon Min ignored him. "So I think right now, the top candidates are Jisoo from BlackPink, IU, Irene from—"

"Did you say IU? Oh my God, I love her!" Ahreum squealed and took out her phone. "Eomeoni, let me show you her picture. You're gonna love her!"

"Noona, what the heck?" He glared at his sister-in-law.

"Uncle is gonna be married?" One of the kids asked excitedly.

"No, I am not!"

"Yay, we are gonna get cake!" Another kid screamed.

"No, what did I just say?! I am not—"

He heard his father whispering to Ahreum. "You think my son is gay?"

Everything was happening so fast.

He stood up from his seat, grabbing everyone's attention as he roared. "Stop it, all of you!"

The entire table turned dead silent upon his burst of anger. Ahreum put down her phone, the kids stopped asking questions, Mr Kim stopped eating, Seok Joong's smile faded, Mrs Kim and Yoon Min stared at him in surprise.

"I don't want to hear another word about this nonsense! I'm not getting married, and that's decided!"

His mother retorted, "You don't have to get angry. We can talk about this another time. Right, Yoon Min?"

It triggered him more. "Eomma, respectfully, leave Yoon Min out of this."

"She's just asking some questions," Surprisingly, Yoon Min replied.

"And I didn't bring you here to answer her questions. That's not your job."

She seemed offended. "Your mother is just being concerned for you. She's only looking at options for your marriage."

"Options? I don't even know those women!"

"That is why, they are options. Your mother will go through them first, then you will get to choose whom you want to marry."

"And what if I want to marry you? Is that an option?"

Seokjin couldn't believe what had just come out of his mouth. It was like his words had a mind of their own, escaping before he could even think. He realized his foolishness but the damage had been done.

Yoon Min's facial expression was priceless. Her expression turned from shock to discomfort, her face pale white in seconds, mouth parted in surprise. She looked like someone slapped her face.

His family members exchanged looks with one another.

He had to fix this quickly. He didn't mean it, not at all. Why would he say he wanted to marry her? They were just friends. They will never be anything more than that. He should've known better to control his mouth.

He explained, "I was kidding. That was a joke. This is what happens when you bring a sensitive topic like this at lunch!"

He sat back down, picked up his chopsticks and started eating like nothing happened. But the rest of the family still looked at each other, the awkwardness lingering in the air.

Thankfully, his brother attempted to lighten the atmosphere. "Alright everyone, I think we went a little too far. Let's finish our lunch and talk about other things."

"Yeah, I agree," Ahreum replied.

Mr and Mrs Kim nodded their heads and the children were never that interested in their conversation in the first place. They dove back into their meals like hungry animals.

Seokjin's heart was still racing inside his chest. He couldn't even swallow his food. This wasn't supposed to happen, he wasn't supposed to let himself be this careless. And he was more frustrated at himself because it wasn't even a slip of the tongue.

Because those words felt unreasonably right to his heart.

He couldn't even look at Yoon Min. He felt a deep sense of disappointment in himself for putting her in such an uncomfortable position. He ruined everything again. He brought her here to make her feel better and instead embarrassed her.

It took him a great deal of courage to take a peek at her face. Her head was lowered, the radiating smile vanished, and she was barely eating. The sight of her looking sad and hurt tugged at his heart. This was the result of his stupidity.

Seokjin prayed silently, hoping for a chance to bring back the smile on Yoon Min's face.

✦✧✧ - ✧✧✦

After lunch, Seokjin didn't find the time or chance to talk to Yoon Min. She was driven away on a house tour with his parents. They kept her busy for a long hour. When the tour was finished, it was Ahreum's turn to whisk Yoon Min away with her to discuss girl stuff in her bedroom. He patiently waited for her but his brother came and insisted on playing video games with him. Hesitantly, he agreed but he didn't forget about Yoon Min. He kept an eye around for her, hoping to talk to her as soon as possible.

"Relax. My wife is probably dressing her up. She loves that," Seok Joong said.

He couldn't describe how restless he was feeling without her. He tried to convince himself that it was the urgency to clear up the misunderstanding, but deep down, it occurred to him that this was happening because he hadn't seen her for almost two hours.

Though he resumed playing with his brother, he wished to see her as soon as possible.

After some time, he heard his sister-in-law's chattering voice in the living room. He told his brother he needed to go now, and ran out of the room.

When he arrived in the living room, he found Ahreum showing off Yoon Min to his parents like a trophy. But something was different about her.

"Abeonim, Eomeonim, look what I did to our Yoon Minnie! Doesn't she look pretty?"

Seokjin didn't join them. He remained hidden behind a wall and noticed what Ahreum was talking about. She gave Yoon Min a full makeover, even dressed her prettily and styled her hair. He had to admit, that his sister-in-law did a good job because this look of Yoon Min just took his breath away.

She wore a full-sleeved checked midi dress with a black belt around her waist. Her hair being open, looked luxurious and fell over her chest. With average makeup applied, she looked elegant and modest, at the same time, she looked like the most beautiful person he had ever seen.

This was the first time he realized he never noticed her feminine glow and beauty before. She never dressed up or used makeup excessively around him. So far, there were times he thought of her as a pretty girl, but right now, she was far beyond pretty. She looked beautiful, like a woman.

No matter how hard he tried, he couldn't move his eyes away from her.

"Aigoo...Yoon Min looks so beautiful. Such a wonderful girl!" Mrs Kim hugged her.

"T-Thank you, Mrs. Kim. This was all Ahreum Eonnie's idea." Yoon Min blushed hard.

Mr Kim also gave a compliment. "You look amazing, dear."

She bowed to him with a smile.

They chatted for a while until Mr and Mrs Kim had to attend to some gardening matter and Ahreum had to check on the boys.

"Feel free to do whatever you want! I'll be right back." His sister-in-law was the last to leave the room, leaving Yoon Min finally alone for the first time.

Yoon Min released a loud sigh as if she was relieved to be alone. It made Seokjin chuckle quietly. She had no idea he was watching her.

He saw her looking around by herself. First, she checked the photo frames hanging on their wall for a long time, then she moved around until she reached the piano. This piano had been in his family for as long as he could remember. It was the best sight in the living room.

Knowing she liked pianos, obviously, she would check that out. He saw a huge grin on her face when she touched the keys, brushing her fingers slowly. For a moment, he found it hard to believe she was here inside his house. He found it hard to believe she had grown so close to him, unlike anybody.

He decided to come out and show himself to her. After all, he needed to talk to her and this was the best opportunity.

He walked to her, clearing his throat which made her turn around. Her elegant aura and mesmerising beauty stopped him a few inches away from her. She looked even more beautiful this close. He found it difficult not to stare.

Thankfully, she smiled at him. "Jin-ssi!"

"Hi, Yoon Min. You look different. Are you shorter?" He liked to tease her.

Her smile turned into a scowl. "Your sister-in-law worked so hard on me. At least admit I don't look ugly."

You look breathtaking, he thought.

Smiling, he stepped closer to her. "Shame...is this the best she can do?"

Yoon Min shook her head in disapproval. "I knew it. It's impossible for you to call someone beautiful other than yourself, right?"

"Absolutely."

It took them 5 full seconds to erupt into chuckles.

Seokjin decided to move on with that matter. The sooner he cleared it up, the better. And she was in a good mood too.

"About earlier—" Both of them spoke up at the same time.

He pointed his hand. "You first."

She hesitated before asking, "You didn't mean it, right? When you said..."

"Of course not! I have no idea why I said that. It was a mistake. You know me...I speak rubbish when I'm excited. I swear I have no intention of..."

She nodded her head. "Good. Because what you said didn't make sense."

If he was honest, then it slightly hurt him to lie and hear her say that. When he said he wanted to marry her, the thought tasted so right to his tongue, sounded dreamy to his ears and felt perfect to his heart. In fact, when he told her it was nothing, he felt like a liar.

But who was he kidding? His feelings were starting to become complicated.

No longer wanting to dwell on that matter, he quickly changed the topic by motioning at the piano. "You know how to play this?"

She glanced at the piano. "No. But I always wanted to play."

"Really? Why don't I show you something?" Saying, he took a seat on the black bench and patted the space beside him.

She smiled before sitting beside him, their shoulders touched.

He took a deep breath and moved his fingers closer to the keypads. Then he pressed a key twice, moved to the next one and thus played out a familiar tune on the piano.

"Hey, it's Twinkle Twinkle Little Star!" Yoon Min exclaimed.

Her response made him smile. She figured it out sooner than he thought.

"You are a pro, Jin-ssi!"

"I haven't played in a long time." He added with a hint of pride.

Suddenly, Yoon Min gasped in excitement. "Can you play Epiphany?"

His smile faded and he looked at her. "I'm not sure I can play that perfectly after all this time." Seokjin rubbed his neck.

"C'mon, it'll be fine. Just a little bit?"

Epiphany was one of his famous solo songs which drew on the importance of self-love. Fans loved it because of the sense of going backwards and forward, through time and different versions of one's self. The lyrics were profoundly beautiful and his voice in that song was particularly striking and dreamy. He used to get praised for his Epiphany performance in their concerts.

He didn't remember the last time he sang it, let alone played it on piano.

Still, she requested it and he was still feeling guilty for making her uncomfortable at lunch so it was the best way to make it up to her. Also, he was aware she specifically chose that song because she knew it would bring back the memories, and help him remember how he used to feel being on stage. She was a fool if she thought he wouldn't know her intentions by now.

So he cleared his throat, flexed his fingers and took another deep breath. When his fingers touched the keypads, he automatically remembered the notes and played the song out. Soon the silent room was filled with melodious music, bringing peace and comfort.

It was strange; the song spoke of self-love and acceptance. He couldn't help but think whether he loved himself. If anyone asked this question before he met Yoon Min, he would've confidently denied it. The incident broke his confidence, his aura and made him grow resentment towards himself. But now he wasn't so sure. He loved it when he helped that kid unite with his mother, he loved it when he sang quite beautifully in the karaoke room, he felt proud of himself when he fought against his seizures and helped those homeless people. He was so happy with himself when he listened to his heart and hugged Yoon Min. Was it possible to love himself again? Did he deserve that?

Maybe he should ask Yoon Min. He opened his mouth but she silenced him by resting her head on his shoulder. As always. his stomach clenched with the feeling of butterflies and his heart picked up the pace. What was this effect she had on him?

She seemed very comfortable with her head on his shoulder. "Jin-ssi?"

He didn't dare stop playing the piano. He was worried she would hear the sound of his intense heartbeat.

"Thank you for bringing me here. For the first time in my life, I feel at home."

Those simple words overwhelmed him, deepening his feelings for her. As she closed her eyes and listened to him play, he felt a deep sense of contentment knowing that she had found her home with him. And maybe, just maybe, he was starting to believe she was a part of his home too.

☆THE FAULT IN OUR STARS☆

THANK YOU FOR READING
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