"So, you gonna tell me what's been on your mind or...?" Crystal asks, casually dribbling the basketball in her hand.
This was their last full day in Korea before they'd catch their flight to London for the next few shows and Yoongi thought he'd done a good job acting normal, but he should've known that he could never hide anything from his soulmate. She'd see right through his best poker face.
"What do you mean?" he asks, stealing the ball from her and going for a lay up on the goal they had mounted above the garage.
Victorious, he smirks, but it drops when he turns around and sees his soulmate with her arms crossed, her face very much telling him to cut the shit. He makes his way over to her, the ball resting on his hip.
"I mean what I said, and if you don't want to tell me then just say that; but don't deny that you've been thinking pretty heavily about something," she says, pushing the ball through the opening his arm made and starting to dribble it again.
They had fun, relaxing family time the day before—ending it in a family paint and sip as well as using the telescope to see the constellations. It was great, but Crystal noticed that a few things were off, starting with his absentmindedness.
"I mean, I know it must not be too bad. This is a bit of a reach, but does my mom know about it? Both of y'all have the same energy right now," she says, looking over at her mother, who was planting flowers with the kids.
Yoongi cursed himself in his head for freezing, all the words he'd rehearsed incase she questioned him flying right out of his mind. His mouth opens and closes, his reaction her confirmation.
"Ah, so both of you are hiding something big if you're so tight lipped about it. What am I gonna have to do? Play you for answers?" she asks, propping the ball on her hip.
Getting some semblance of normalcy back, he scoffs; looking at her up and down.
"All you've done is dribble since you've been out here Crys. Besides, what your mom and I talk about isn't just my business to tell," he says, attempting to knock the ball through her arm like she'd done him earlier.
She anticipates it though and bounces it behind her back, catching it in the opposite hand and dribbling it at a medium pace.
"Then better odds for you right? And I'm sure you two have no business without me being involved so...can I at least get a hint? I'm not big on surprises so I hope this isn't where this is going," she says, backing away from him, her other arm extended to guard the ball.
"I wouldn't call it that," he says, stealing the ball from her and going for another lay up.
"Then what would you call it?" she asks, recovering the ball and stepping back to make a shot that would've been a 2 pointer in a real game.
Yoongi recovers the ball this time, impressed with her speed.
"Something that's not mine to tell, like I said before," he says, dribbling out further on the paved surface before pulling up to make a shot that would've been a 3 pointer.
Crystal recovers the ball again, stepping back for another shot. The ball circles the rim before going in and she grabs the ball again, dribbling out the where he was.
"I can't tell if you're just being annoying or if this is something serious," she says, dodging an attempt he made to steal the ball.
He ignores her "question" as he successfully steals the ball, making her huff and chase after him. All in, he goes for another shot, but Crystal manages to block it last minute right before it gets to the goal. Seeing him coming at her, she holds the ball close to her and pivots—faking left, but going right instead and making her first lay up and still maintaining control of the ball.
Yoongi nods, an expression of approval on his face. If the stakes were different, he'd be much more vocal right now about how impressed he was at her skills. He would've never thought she'd be good at basketball, but that's Crys—always full of surprises. It really did no good to underestimate her at all, in any context. However, this topic was far more serious than this impromptu game and he wasn't budging on any details because he felt it wasn't his place. Her mother had planned to talk to her tonight after dinner and he was worried for her as he didn't know how she'd react to the news.
"You okay?" she asks, rubbing up and down his arm.
He hadn't even realized how still he'd been and Crys could see he was out of it, worry coming through clearly to her now.
"Yeah," he says, giving her a tight lipped smile.
"Yoongi, you don't have to tell me anything. I didn't know it was affecting you this way. I'll stop pressing," she says, looking up at him, her eyebrows dipped in concern.
"Don't feel bad Crys. You have every right to be curious, but the only thing that I can tell you is to wait until after dinner okay? It's news, but nobody's in danger or anything like tat" he says, smoothing her expression with his thumb.
"Okay, I was about tired of kicking your ass anyways," she sighs, making his jaw drop.
"What? Give me that ball," he says, making her laugh.
"Come take it," she teases, holding it away from him.
The two play one on one until it's time to freshen up for dinner, both pouting like kids because they were tied. It was so intense that the kids placed bets, Chey recording for them so they could send videos to their group chat. Unfortunately, there was no winner to crown so no one got the bragging rights they wanted.
Throughout dinner, Crys sensed how tense her mother was, but ignored it for the sake of making the last dinner fun with the kids. She and Yoongi's showdown was still the topic of discussion and she was hurt that Chris was the only one betting on her, so she'd showed him extra affection at the table, declaring him her favorite sibling.
After dinner, there was an unspoken exchange between Yoongi and Nadia to which Yoongi gathered the kids so they could pick a movie or three they wanted to watch together. Crys helped clear the plates and took them over to the sink to rinse before putting them in the dishwasher while Nadia handled putting up the leftovers.
Crystal couldn't help but really worry when Nadia broke out the wine. The last time they had a glass together was the night she'd come back from the concert with what she thought was a death sentence on her arm. Wine meant serious business for Nadia.
Anxious to know what was going on, she quickly loaded the dishes and turned the dishwasher on before making her way over to sit across from her mother at the table.
"Ma, what's going on? I'm super worried now," she says, taking her glass and setting it down in front of her.
"I'm sorry for making you worry, but this threw me for a loop and I didn't want to mess up your trip, which is why I waited until now to tell you. I'll just come on out with it. The first night you were here, your father contacted me," Nadia says, making Crystal frown.
"As in...you had a dream again?" Crystal asks, thinking she was speaking of Jihoon.
Nadia used to have dreams of him a lot after he passed.
"No baby, not Jihoon. You're biological father called me—"
"What? How did he even get your number?" Crystal asks, taken aback with her answer.
"Chile, I don't even know," she says, taking a hefty sip of her wine before continuing.
"He called from a Georgia number so maybe he ran into someone in the family," she says.
"Hm, well what did he want?" Crystal asks, frowns still very present on her face.
She couldn't understand why he would possibly reach out to her mother after over 26 whole years of no contact at all.
"He says he wants to get to know you, make up for "lost time"," Nadia says, making Crystal scoff.
"Lost time? Is that what he said? Wow," she chuckles humorlessly, picking up her wine glass for the first time and downing about half of it.
"If nothing else, he always had audacity," Nadia says, holding back everything she wanted to say because she didn't want to negatively influence Crystal's decision.
"And a lot of it if he thinks he gets to redeem himself after purposely not being in his child's life since conception—and now that we know he's alive, he's either a bum that worked under a different identity so that child support wouldn't catch up to him—or a bum that didn't work at all. I'm good on him," Crys shrugs, sitting back in her chair.
Nadia looks over at her daughter and can't help but agree; but at the same time doesn't want her to regret not at least talking to him for the sake of telling him how she feels if nothing else.
"Crys, you're angry and rightfully so, but I don't want you to make a decision based off emotions. What if later on down the line, you regret not talking to him—"
"Mom, with all due respect, my decision isn't simply rooted in emotion. I've thought about this a lot growing up—like what if he pops up out of nowhere and wants a relationship with me? Even then, with the thought of him actually having good intentions, my decision was always to pass. What he did told me everything I needed to know of his character. Now, I know for a fact that his intentions aren't in the right place. You think it's a coincidence that after I've been introduced to the world as a successful entrepreneur and soulmate to a filthy rich, world renowned musician that he tries to contact me now? This isn't about me at all. This is about money, media, or both and I'm not falling into it," Crystal says, finishing the rest of her glass and pouring herself another.
Yoongi peaks in at that moment, wanting to check on her as he felt the rise in her emotions and she pats the seat next to her while Nadia grabs a glass for him as well.
"I see why you didn't tell me, would've definitely been weird coming from you," she says, relaxing in her seat a little more as he places a hand on her knee.
"Definitely, I don't have to ask how you feel but are you okay?" he asks swiping a soothing pattern across her knee.
"I'm fine, just aggravated. The man is clearly an opportunist but he won't get a dime or a crumb from me. I promise you that," she says.
"I don't blame you. What he did was unacceptable, but don't you want to tell him that? Get some closure?" Yoongi asks before thanking Nadia for his wine.
"I know how stubborn this sounds, but honestly, I don't need closure. I don't know anything about this man other than his name and what he did; and that's his fault. He chose not to be a part of my life, disappeared like he never existed and lived like I didn't. Why should I waste time and energy on this person at all? He clearly has a motive and I'm not feeding into it. Picture this—I call him, we talk—I tell him how I feel; and not 24 hours later it's outed to the media or edited or some crazy mess like that. Or, picture this—he actually apologizes after I chew him out and gets close to me just for the money and fame. Both of those are very possible and very much things I don't want to deal with. He's a risk I'm not willing to explore. It's more beneficial for me to go on with my life like he doesn't exist, just like he did me. He doesn't deserve anything else," she explains, more level headed now.
"Well, Sweetpea, you know I'll support whatever you decide; but do you want me to hold on to his number just incase?" Nadia asks.
"Text him and tell him I have no interest in meeting him: You can keep it saved, but block it—just incase he tries something," she replies.
"Now you've got me thinking. If he linked up with any of my family in Georgia—and he had to to get my personal number—they've got be up to no good," Nadia sighs, swirling her wine in her glass.
"Exactly. You only talk to Aunt Tabitha and she would've never given it to him without asking you first. You know how the others are. They've probably seen me on TV now and one of them gave him your number out of spite. He just gonna have to hold this L and deal with it," Crys shrugs.
"What if he tries to speak out about it?" Yoongi asks, knowing the nature of media hungry people and the platforms they could be given.
"I'll hit him with a cease and desist and slap a defamation lawsuit on the table so quick he'll think he's paying back child support. If he knows what's good for him, he'll stay in the shadows and leave me the hell alone," she smirks, finishing the rest of her glass.
"Enough about him, let's go watch these movies," she says, pouring herself another half glass.
Yoongi and Nadia share a look and he nods, the message coming through loud and clear. He'd be extra attentive after today. He'd respect Crystal's decision and he'd be there for whatever she needed if this went left. She'd have nothing to worry about.