They had dinner fixed for Saturday, 10th April for both families and after much thought, Namjoon and Yoo-rim asked the members to join them for the family dinner as they had an announcement to make.
Everyone knew it was a big deal when Namjoon didn't allow anything slip as he was the type to let something slip when he was overly excited. No matter how the members grilled him with questions, he kept his mouth shut until most of them gave up; Jin and Taehyung refusing to back down.
Getting information out of Yoo-rim was the same as talking to a stone wall. They didn't bother after the first hour as she was quick in slamming her room door in their faces and focusing on her manuscript instead.
She was meant to resume work that week but she had asked for an extension which had been easily granted to her; Taecyeon deciding to also stay one extra week as he was having difficulty concentrating. For Young Do, it was annoying as he just wanted to meet Yoo-rim and demand an explanation as to why he was being treated like trash.
Saturday came quickly and the dinner was to be hosted by the Kims at their Seoul home. Su-ryeon and Yeon arrived first, Su-ryeon excitedly helping in whatever way she could while the men; Yeon and Ji-Hoo caught up in the living room.
Unlike the dinner they first had outdoors with Namjoon and his family when Yoo-rim accepted the engagement at the Lee mansion, the Kims decided to do things indoors. Their dining table was big enough (something Namjoon and Kyung Min never understood) to fit everyone and all they needed to do was add a few more chairs.
The members arrived at exactly 6:15PM, each one of them carrying one present or the other which had Ga-Eul, Ji-Hoo and Kyung Min flustered.
"We aren't late, right?" Yoongi asked.
Ga-eul shook her head. "No, not at all. Joon and Yoo-rim aren't here yet."
Taehyung let out a relieved breath. "Thank God. I thought they were inside."
Ga-eul laughed, shaking her head once again. "No, Taehyung. They'll be here soon."
At 6:30, Namjoon and Yoo-rim arrived. As she got out of the car, Yoo-rim told herself she was never going to get used to Namjoon driving. For someone whose license was still so new, Namjoon was a really daring driver but he was careful when they were riding together (most times, at least).
They were all excited to see them and soon enough, all chairs around the table were occupied. Taehyung loosened his tie, breathing a little easier. "I think I overdressed."
Jimin smiled devilishly. "I told you."
"You look good, oppa." Kyung Min stated. "I like the suit."
Taehyung smiled cutely. "Thank you, Kyung Min."
Namjoon scoffed in disbelief, staring at his sister. "You never compliment me."
Kyung Min faced him, her chin held up high. "Neither do you."
"Yah!"
She smiled innocently, looking past him. "You look so good, Yoo-rim."
Yoo-rim smiled back. "Thanks, unnie. It was Joonie who picked the outfit."
While Namjoon had a proud smile, Su-ryeon raised a brow, curious. "Joonie, huh? You've never called him that in front of us."
Yoo-rim acted really innocently. "I haven't?"
Ji-Hoo shook his head. "You haven't." He leaned forward. "And you two are way closer than we thought. It's been so long since we saw you two together."
"And it's been long since we spoke too." Yeon added.
The members were doing their possible best to not laugh or smile as they recalled nearly every single moment in the past two weeks; Namjoon and Yoo-rim's kisses, the touches, and the hickeys that had surprisingly disappeared. The first time they saw the hickeys, Yoongi's jaw refused to leave the ground.
"I think it's a really good thing." Su-ryeon said, her smile beautiful. "I'm glad you two are settling well with each other."
"We are." Namjoon said truthfully. "We actually wanted to tell you all something really important."
"But let's eat first." Yoo-rim said, causing most of them to groan. She smiled innocently. "What? I'm hungry."
Yoongi was nearly snapping his chopsticks in two. "I have waited so patiently for this and now we have to eat first!?"
Yoo-rim nodded. "Yes."
They tried to argue but when they saw that Yoo-rim wasn't budging and neither was Namjoon, they gave in. They were halfway through their meal when Namjoon calmly said "Yoo-rim and I are planning on setting a wedding date. We want to get married soon."
Cutlery fell and people choked, glasses of water being picked up and emptied as they all struggled to calm down
"What," Jin wheezed out, "did you say?"
Yoo-rim leaned back in her seat, repeating Namjoon's words. "We want to get married soon."
Su-ryeon wanted to believe she wasn't hearing properly. "Soon!? Weren't you the one who said you wanted to take things slow!?"
"We aren't getting married immediately." Yoo-rim stated "We just want to have a date set."
"B-but," Yoongi stuttered. "You said you're both taking things slow!"
"I guess plans changed." Namjoon calmly replied. "So, we chose to tell you before we tell the company."
Ga-eul blinked repeatedly. "Wow...This was unexpected."
Yoo-rim swallowed back a gasp as she felt Namjoon's hand on her thigh. Beside her, he had a warm smile on his face as he asked "What were you expecting, Mother?"
"Well, clearly not this." Ga-Eul replied, gesturing her hands towards him and Yoo-rim. "Maybe something along the lines of the both of you being in love or something else."
Jungkook picked his glass of juice. "They said I love you already."
The eyes of the parents and Kyung Min couldn't get any wider and Su-ryeon screeched. "Lee Yoo-rim!"
Yoo-rim tried to not think about Namjoon's fingers that traced invincible patterns on her thigh as she turned to her mother, her voice and expression innocent. "Yes...?"
Ji-Hoo took a large gulp of water while Yeon let out a laugh of disbelief. "Wow..."
"Let me get this straight." Kyung Min began, leaning forward. "You both got engaged in the early part of February, moved in together in March, and you're saying you want to get married soon in April!?"
Namjoon nodded, his hand still on Yoo-rim's thigh underneath the table. "Yes, that's right."
"Yoo-rim," Yeon finally said. "You were against this at first."
Yoo-rim nodded. "I was."
"You asked to take things slow when you finally said yes."
She nodded again. "I did."
"What changed?"
Yoo-rim thought about it for a moment before she spoke. "I really don't know, Father. A lot of things did change and I'll be very honest, it was really hard to adapt at first but it got easier thanks to Namjoon and the other members. It's honestly easy to fall in love with Namjoon and I'm so glad I said yes to this engagement."
Faces softened and she continued. "He's worth it all and it made me see just how much time I wasted with Young Do."
The members hissed and one couldn't miss how the faces of the parents changed as the accident was something they now all knew about.
Yoo-rim sighed. "Everything still scares me but I like how this is going for me and I really want to get married to him. It might sound crazy but I really want this."
"Namjoon oppa obviously wants it too." Kyung Min said, tearing up while Namjoon simply smiled.
Su-ryeon reached for a tissue with a sniffle. "I'm so proud of you, sweetheart. I told you that Namjoon was the right guy."
Yoo-rim laughed. "Yes, you did."
Hoseok was nearly crying as well. "You're actually planning on settling down, Namjoon...Why am I crying?"
That caused them to laugh and there were some more tears as the reality of everything dawned on them. That was when they started asking questions like when they wanted to get married and who the best man will be, the location, and those that would be invited
Yoo-rim laughed. "We don't have any major plans yet. We just wanted to pick out a date with all of you before we start thinking of everything."
"It can't be a big wedding." Jimin pointed out. "The world doesn't know about all of this."
Namjoon nodded. "We don't plan on having a big wedding so it's all good."
"Just something really simple." Yoo-rim added. "And with a few but important people."
"We'll have to work together with your company," Ji-Hoo said. "You know that."
Both Namjoon and Yoo-rim nodded and Jungkook spoke "July sounds nice."
"Or August." Taehyung suggested. "July or August sounds perfect. We don't have much scheduled for now."
"I like July." Su-ryeon said, wiping away her last tear. "It's perfect."
"July sounds really nice." Jin said.
"I'll go with July." Kyung Min said. "August can be for your honeymoon."
"Exactly!" Jungkook agreed.
They went with July, having it at the back of their minds that it was subject to change if the company had things scheduled for them then. After a lot of arguments and near punches (playful, of course) in the case of Jin and Jungkook, they settled on July 31st. As for the location, they decided to pick between Seoul and Geochang which was Yoo-rim's hometown as well as Taehyung's.
Dinner came to an end around 8:45 and they all helped in cleaning up. Saying goodbye was hard since no one wanted to leave as they were all excited for the wedding they were starting to plan. Eventually, they left one after the other and Namjoon drove Yoo-rim around Seoul just for fun before they finally headed home.
They ended up going to the company the next day and the meeting was long. The entire management team for BTS was there alongside the legal advisors and if she had been the only one, Yoo-rim would have been really intimidated but Namjoon was with her and that calmed her a lot.
"Honestly," Bang Si-Hyuk began. "We didn't expect this announcement to come this early. Sure, we knew it would come at a point but this is way sooner than we expected."
"That's not a bad thing, right?" Yoo-rim asked, voice tinier than she had hoped.
The older man smiled and shook his head. "No, not at all. I'm really glad the both of you are so close now that you have decided to get married and for Namjoon, you're settling down so we're proud of you."
Namjoon smiled and so did Yoo-rim. Si-Hyuk continued. "As for the date you proposed, I don't think there's anything wrong with it. You don't have anything scheduled for the time being so it can work. You know you have to let the company know everything though."
Namjoon nodded. "Yeah, we do."
Si-Hyuk turned to Yoo-rim, his smile turning sad. "You already know there are going to be a lot of changes, right, Yoo-rim?"
She nodded, her smile sad as well with a bit of nervousness. "I do."
"We'll draw up another contract." Mi-ran, the female lawyer that had visited Young Do, said. "We'll try to make it as flexible as possible so you don't believe we're trying to take your life again."
That caused Yoo-rim to laugh lightly. "You remember that."
Si-Hyuk nodded, smiling widely. "Yes, we do."
"It's not going to be all roses and sunshine." Mi-ran continued. "It's going to be worse than everything you've faced while being engaged. If word leaks, and that's something we might not be able to completely prevent, you will be harassed and you will be a target for hate."
Yoo-rim felt raw fear; one that she didn't bother to hide. Namjoon squeezed her hand reassuringly, letting her know that he was there and that he was always going to be there by her side.
Mi-ran carried on. "Some might create petitions, asking for you and Namjoon to break up or get divorced. Namjoon wouldn't be spared either but you'll take the greater part of everything. We, as a company, would do our best to protect you but you just need to prepared."
"What's the worst case scenario?" Yoo-rim asked, already knowing that she wouldn't like what the reply would be.
"You might have to give up every single thing." Si-Hyuk replied after a moment. "Your work, your social life, everything."
Namjoon's heart broke as he watched Yoo-rim try to appear brave. She managed a smile and no one could miss how shaky it was. "I guess I was expecting that."
"We'll do our best to ensure that doesn't happen." Mi-ran promised. "You'll be fine."
Yoo-rim could only nod. They then spoke about the potential venue and other things before they went over more precautionary measures for the both of them. They filled her in on everything with Young Do's case; the restriction order had been gotten and her bodyguards had been doubled to ensure maximum security.
When the meeting ended, Namjoon led her to his studio and her knees gave way once the door closed, Namjoon catching her just before she fell. She smiled apologetically as he helped her sit. "Sorry."
"I should be the one apologizing." He said, squatting in front of her. "I'm sorry, Yoo-rim."
"I'll be fine, I promise."
"Just –" He exhaled. "Just let me know when it gets hard and I'll do what I can to make it better."
She nodded. "I will." She looked around. "Your studio's lovely."
"I'm still ensuring things are placed in the right place."
She kept looking around. "I love it." She turned back to him. "I mean it, Joonie, I'll be fine."
"I'm just scared and I don't why. That's making me wonder just how you feel right now."
She said nothing for the longest moment before she sighed and pulled him to sit beside her, her lips finding his immediately. Namjoon kissed her back softly, cupping her face with his hands.
When she pulled apart, she took a moment to catch her breath before she said "I'm terrified, really terrified... But I'm going to get through this." She smiled beautifully. "I have you, our parents, Kyung Min unnie, and the members so I'll be perfectly fine."
"I love you. Don't ever doubt that."
Her smile widened. "I won't ever do that... I love you too."
He kissed her again and she smiled against his lips. She was going to get through everything as long as he was there with her. She was sure of it.
On Monday morning, she forced herself out of bed, leaving him to sleep in for a little longer before he had to leave for the studio to add finishing touches to a song he was featured on. She had a quick bath, oiled her skin and got dressed, settling for a pair of white loose, high-waist trousers and a mauve coloured turtleneck long-sleeved shirt which she tucked in. For shoes, she picked up the boots he had gotten for her; the same ones she had worn for the You Quiz on the Block recording.
She walked back into his room once she was ready just so she could pick her phone and the movement caused him to wake up. She smiled and pecked his lips. "Good morning."
"You are going already?" He asked, his voice husky.
She nodded. "Yep, came to pick up my phone."
She pecked his lips again but he deepened the kiss and she was nearly giving in until she remembered she had to leave. She pushed him back. "I have to go."
"You don't have to."
She smiled. "I need to...Bye, Joonie!"
"Stay safe."
"I will!"
She headed out and went straight downstairs. The driver Hybe had gotten the day before after the meeting smiled at her. "Good morning, Ms Lee."
She smiled back as he opened the back door for her. "Good morning, Mr Han."
She got in and he closed the door before he got into the driver's side, asking "The office?"
She nodded. "Yes, the office."
The car ride was one that she liked and she took the opportunity to take in everything they drove past. Once they got to the headquarters, she got out of the car and thanked him before she made her way into the main building.
She bowed her head at employees who did the same and she was getting close to the elevator when a familiar voice rang out.
"Lee Yoo-rim!"
She turned around and nothing braced her for the hit she received from a fuming Choi Young Do. Back at Seongbuk-dong, Namjoon was on the phone with her driver.
"Please tell her to eat breakfast." Namjoon was saying. "I'm sorry I'm making you turn back. I just completely forgot to remind her this morning."
"It's alright, Mr Kim"
Back at the tvN headquarters, Yoo-rim was on the ground and a crowd was gathering. Choi Young stood with a wide, manic smile. "I found you."
Upstairs, Taecyeon had been informed and he was rushing down, hoping Yoo-rim was okay. Back downstairs, Young Do tried to reach for Yoo-rim but one of her bodyguards who had arrived beat him to it. In mere seconds, Young Do had been pinned to the floor.
Yoo-rim was helped up and one could tell that she was about to experience a panic attack. The other bodyguard carefully led her away, saying "I think we should head back, Ms Lee."
Young Do screamed, trying to break free. "Come back, you wench! Lee Yoo-rim!"
She didn't have the strength to argue and the driver was pulling up just as they stepped out of the main doors. Taecyeon caught up with them when she was being helped into the car and the bodyguard assured him that she was fine. Taecyeon hated how dazed Yoo-rim was and he saw the forming bruise on her face; a result of the hit.
The ride back to the house was quick and the moment they drove into the compound, she stepped out of the car, hugging Namjoon who had been waiting for them. His embrace was tight "Are you okay? Did he do anything else?"
She shook her head, allowing him hold her tightly. "I'm okay. I'm not going there for a while."
He nodded, cupping the back of her head. "You won't, I promise."
She tightened her embrace, finding solace in the peace and security that his embrace offered. Back at the headquarters, a handcuffed Young Do was being led to the police vehicle while at Hybe's headquarters; a pissed off Mi-ran was heading down alongside Seok Jung.