**Another double update today, chapters 52 and 53 because they were getting too long but needed to be posted together. Enjoy. **

Chapter 52

Marley POV

"Let go. Oh my word, I love it! And Bulletproof the Eternal makes me cry every time I hear it," I said to him, "so many layers." We are sitting on the floor of the lounge, feet stretched out and brushing against each other from time to time as we ate some raymen from oversized bowls. He'd come home for a few hours to eat dinner before heading back for a very late night. Sophia was in bed and I knew the car was coming to collect him soon. We were talking about the list of their songs he'd given me to listen to that I might not know. I was still growing my list of favourite songs they performed, adding new ones daily.

"You know that song was written for ARMY?" He asked and I nodded as he continued. "Will that be OK, that ARMY is always in my heart? You would need to be OK with sharing me. I wouldn't have met you if ARMY hadn't existed."

"I get it, you guys are amazing so unless they're climbing in through our bedroom window, it's good with me."

I heard it as I stopped talking, the silence in the room and I frowned, trying to work out what I'd said before realising. It was saying 'our' bedroom window, like we had one together. How had it become so easy to think of us as a 'we' instead of separate people with separate lives? Looking up through my eyelashes, a tint on my cheeks, I saw he was smiling.

"It will be hard for them to climb in 'our' bedroom window since security is so good and we're up high but I'm glad you're OK with ARMY."

"I am ARMY now, didn't you know," I asked, winking at him.

"You're the only one I'll let inside my bedroom window and my bed, from now on." He put his bowl down and slid forward, knees either side of mine as he caged me in. I leaned forward to rest my elbows on his knees.

"That sounds perfect to me."

Kissing me softly, he played with the hair falling around my ears, twisting it in his fingers. "You do know you've changed my life?"

I sighed into his touch. "I can't imagine you not being in mine."

"You don't have to imagine that jagi, this is forever."

He was looking at me without looking away, into the depths, all the places he had invaded. "Forever is a long time."

"I know? Isn't that amazing, to think we get to do this life together?"

"Every time you say things like that, my heart seems to grow a little more. Just the thought of waking up with you, everyday? The life we could create together?"

"The children we could create together...," he stuck his tongue out a little, biting down.

I laughed at him, leaning closer to touch his lips lightly with my finger. "You just want to practice making the children, the raising of them takes a whole lot more time."

"We can take our time more with the practice if that's what you wish," he said, nipping my finger with his teeth and pulling me closer.

"I wasn't complaining. At all," I breathed into his mouth.

"I wish the car wasn't coming so soon."

"I wish you had a little more time off to go somewhere," I answered, a little pouty.

He pulled back. "I have booked something for the three of us to do in a few days. It was going to be a surprise but maybe we need something to look forward to together?"

"I sound like a child, mianhaeyo. Sophia and I have been grateful to be able to do a few things while you worked and I have enjoyed meeting your family and friends." Tae's Wooga Squad had come round late one night, none of them surprised by the midnight hang out, making the effort to be there, all of them charming. I had deliberately not Googled anything about them until after the fact, wanting to greet them as his friends and not anything else. That had proven to be a good move, I would've felt intimidated if I'd known how famous they all were but they had been very down to earth and loud, causing Sophia to come out and say hello, woken from her sleep at 1am. She hadn't been going back to sleep anytime soon so had entertained them, taking some of the heat off me. But I'd seen how fond they were of Tae and Choi Woo-shik had stayed until last, a few more drinks under his belt meaning he spilled some of the things they got up to off camera, regaling me with stories until he ended up sleeping it off in the spare room for the rest of the night.

"They all think you're good for me and that Sophia is a doll. I did not tell my friends what I used to call you. I'm the baby of the group, they already treat me that way sometimes so would tease me if they knew I called you baby doll."

"I liked them all Tae and I love that they love you."

"My members are the family I love, my friends also understand my crazy life given they are also in similar work. I feel like myself when I'm with them all."

"I could see that, your whole body was relaxed."

"Like when I'm with you," he said, reaching to press a kiss on my forehead.

"I'm going to get distracted again if you keep doing that and it can't go anywhere with so little time," I sighed. "What were you saying about something you've booked?"

"Do you want to know or keep it as a surprise?"

I thought for a moment, unsure but decided knowing it might help me plan, especially around Sophia. "Tell me please," and he laughed.

"Sure aein, I've booked a few hours at the Ice Museum. It will be just us, we'll have the place to ourselves so, dress warm. Winter is my favourite season and one day you'll get to experience that here but for now, that's the closest thing I can show you."

"Oh how fun, that does sound like something Sophia will enjoy. I've never taken her to anything like that back home and she's never seen snow."

He looked shocked. "Never seen snow?"

"Well, not in person, she might've seen it on TV. It doesn't really snow often where we live so you need to drive to find some or go skiing."

"Oh, this will be fun then! You probably don't have anything with you to wear somewhere really cold but we can buy some things and they have jackets and mittens they give you to wear while you're inside."

"I'm going to have to look up pictures once you've gone of what it looks like."

"You can do that now if you want," he answered and I shook my head.

"There are other things I'd rather do in the few minutes we have left," and I stood a little, dropping my body down onto his lap and savouring his lips until his phone beeped to take him away for the rest of the night.

"You do know how to give me things to think about while we're apart," he said as he put his phone in his pocket, holding my hand as I followed him to the door.

"That's the idea, just enough to smile at but not enough to take your mind off work."

"You're evil, in the best way," he said, one more taste of me before he closed the door behind him.

I touched my swollen lips as I walked in to gather our dishes, walking them into the kitchen, thinking he was definitely good with his mouth.

"Too cold mama," Sophia said when we were hit by the first blast of icy cold and Tae had laughed, picking her up and tucking her into his jacket.

"The cold can be beautiful too BugBug, lets go take a look," and she wrapped her arms around his neck, snuggling into his warmth as we walked in to see the ice sculptures. Once she saw the princess carriage, she didn't seem to care that her cheeks were bright pink or nose turning red. She waved her little mittened hands in the direction and asked to be put down, kicking her legs against him in her excitement.

Security was with us and had made it very clear that having the place to ourselves didn't mean we were safe, our photos still fresh in their minds. They were also keeping an eye on the staff, asking for all their phones to be put in a specific place so no photos could be taken which they politely complied with, already knowing it was a VIP booking. There were only a few staff present, not many required for our party of five and they made themselves scarce after telling us they were available if we needed anything. With masks and warm jackets zipped up, we were bulkier than normal, mostly hidden under layers with minimal skin showing to reveal who we were. I was sure Tae was recognisable anywhere in Korea though, even covered up the way he was. His eyes and the way he moved were very distinctive. Or maybe it was just because I had studied everything about him in minute detail.

Sophia was caught between excitement at all the pretty things to see and shivering from the cold, keeping us on our toes to stay away from the things she wasn't allowed to touch. When we found the ice slide, we spent a happy half hour taking turns on the mats, sliding down towards each other, our phones capturing more memories. Staring at one particular image, Tae's whole face lit up, Sophia on his lap as they slid towards me, I didn't think you could see two wider grins and my heart seemed to thud offbeat at the sight of them together. He had his arms wrapped around her, holding her safely in place, dropping his head to press his cheek against her jacket hood. The image was beautiful and they looked so content together, Sophia secure in his arms.

There was a room that created a snowstorm, security offering to watch Sophia while Tae and I went into the storm without her, knowing it would be too cold for her to enjoy. We left her happily making them chase her around the ice slide, adding extra layers of jackets provided for the storm in the outer room. Entering the storm room, it was cold but not terribly and I turned to Tae, taking his gloved hand in mine. "It's not that cold," I said and he laughed, pointing at the big button on the wall.

"Are you ready," he asked, hand hovering over it and I nodded, wondering what was about to hit. Turns out lots. As he pushed down, he pulled me close, wrapping me tight as the snow fell around us, swirling and fierce, temperature dropping rapidly. The sign said 2 minutes but you could stop it at any time if you wanted to. I looked up at him, face barely visible in the white surrounding us and buried my face back in his chest, the warmth of all our layers and his arms enough to last out the storm.

When it died away, we looked at each other, cheeks red above our masks, ice crystals covering our clothes and sticking to our hair.

"You have ice on your eyelashes," he said, leaning in to breathe on my face, melting them with his breath. It sent a heat through me and I pulled down my mask, doing the same to his as I caught our lips together quickly. He pulled me in closer, losing himself in our embrace. I could taste the bibimbap he'd had for dinner, mild and savoury on my tongue and told him.

"I'll never not love your watermelon lipbalm," he said as he pulled away, lifting our masks back into place. He played with my hair for a few moments, twisting it around my ears. "I can see so many snowflakes in your hair. I know each one is different but I wish I could look closely and see, I find nature so beautiful."

"I love that you still find pleasure in the little things oppa," I said, reaching for his hand as we walked out of the storm room.

"I find pleasure in all sorts of things," he said and I poked him in the side as I rolled my eyes.

"I'm well aware of that," I replied, laughing as we walked into the open area, dropping hands as we did, just in case.

Our time was almost up and we could see Sophia was sitting on the floor, talking to security as they fed her snacks from her backpack. I was very grateful that the BTS staff seemed to just jump in when things were needed, knowing many were married with children so probably knew what was required of a 3year old. "Shall we take a photo before we leave, the three of us in front of that sculpture over there," Tae asked and he handed his phone to security to take some for us.

Dropping our masks so you could see our smiles, we posed for what felt like hundreds of photos, Sophia quickly getting bored with standing still, ending up in Tae's arms for some of them as I leaned in close. An older staff member walked past and then did a double take when he saw us as we were lifting our masks back into place.

"Oh Kim Taehyung-ssi, I didn't know it was you here. I hope you enjoyed your time."

Tae looked slightly alarmed, looking to security before answering politely. "We did, thank you for a lovely few hours."

"My daughter is ARMY, you are her bias so I know who you are."

Security were exchanging looks now and Tae was zipping up his jacket again, preparing for us to leave, sooner rather than later. "ARMY is always dear to my heart. Please, if you mention to her that I was here, can you just mention security coming with me and no-one else?"

He looked between us, where I was crouching down to zip up Sophia's sweatshirt and bowed again. "Of course. I have always thought the members must have very complicated lives and I would not wish to harm any of you. And it would probably break her heart to tell her anyway, she's convinced you're all single," he finished with a wink.

Tae blushed a little at his words and their implication. "That is very kind, I will leave something for you to give her," and he reached for a pamphlet on the counter and a pen, signing his thanks for the evening." Handing it to the staff member, he bowed in response to the multiple thank yous and bowing coming his way, handling it all smoothly like he'd probably done multiple times before. Security looked relieved, their eyes settling above their masks and now I supposed we just had to trust he would be honourable with his words and not mention that Tae was there with Sophia and I.

The car was brought round to the back of the building and we left without incident, no-one had tipped the media off we were there so there were no photos of me carrying a sleeping Sophia on her shoulder and buckling her carefully in as Tae climbed quickly in. He looked apologetic and I knew he'd like to help with Sophia but it was better he was tucked in the back of the car in case someone did somehow decide to drive around to the back of the ice museum on a Spring evening, on the lookout for some kind of scandal.

I climbed through to the back, buckling in next to him as security climbed in too, all of us heading away in the little dark bubble of the company car. Tae pulled out his phone and scrolled through to look at the photos we'd taken. "This one is my favourite I think," he said as I focused on what he was showing me. All our smiles were huge, cheeks a little red, Tae and I had full lips from kissing in the snow storm room and Sophia had messy pigtails framing her face. But we looked so happy and like a family and I swallowed, breath catching in my chest. Was he thinking the same, wondering what that could be like for the three of us? "I love that one, I'll put it on the desk in my studio."

"I love it too Tae," I answered, leaning my head against his shoulder and closing my eyes as the scenery sped past.

Our time in Korea would be up soon, he needed to spend the last few weeks before they left for promotional work fully focused and so those flights home were booked. The news of their hiatus would come out in the next week, they needed to be 100% available to be members of BTS and I did need to go home. Sophia should have some kind of normal, if it was possible. As the car hummed under us, wheels spinning us to Tae's home, I smiled. There were still some big discussions to have in the future but as he pressed a soft kiss to my forehead, whispering 'sleep jagiya' into my hair, I felt the most hopeful I had in a long time. I could see us as a family, the dream of what that looked like was just on the edge of my fingertips and I was content to let it play out, however it needed for us to be together.

**Please note, I have combined some things from a local indoor ice place with the one in Seoul so some of these things might not have been able to happen IRL**