The Bangtan Baby

maternity clothes

If Grace were being honest, she'd been stealing from the boys' wardrobes for the past month.

A hoodie here, a T-shirt abandoned after rehearsals, a pair of joggers that stretched without asking questions and anything from Seokjin's side of the closet that he didn't immediately notice was missing, though he seldom minded. If anything, he looked vaguely pleased every time he caught her in one of his jumpers, like it meant something deeper than comfort.

She'd stopped reaching for her own clothes without even meaning to. Her wardrobe was full of things that used to fit like a second skin, but now they felt like a trap.

The boys' clothes didn't.

Their shirts hung looser, their waistbands forgave, their hoodies made space for her stomach without making it a problem. They let her breathe, let her eat, and let her sit through meetings and rehearsals without constantly adjusting the fabric, as if she were trying to hide a crime.

Because the bump was there now, real enough to change the way she moved and the way the public was now fully aware of what was going on behind the scenes.

She was wearing one of Jungkook's many black T-shirts that afternoon, the cotton soft from a hundred washes, when he looked her up and down and frowned. "Yah," Jungkook said, pointing at her as if he'd just solved something. "That's mine."

Grace didn't even flinch. She just lifted her tea to her mouth, calm as anything. "Is it?"

He stepped closer, squinting at the neckline as it might confess. "It's literally mine. That's my favourite one."

"You have fourteen favourites," Grace said dryly. "You've got about twenty black t-shirts of the same make in your closet."

And that had been that.

But Hobi, ever nosy Hobi, had caught on and one day at a meeting had clapped his hands and declared that Grace needed to go maternity shopping. The moment the words had come out of his mouth, Grace had sighed heavily and sunk into her seat because she knew what that meant. It wasn't a case of picking something off the shelf and putting it in the basket. She now had to try stuff on because this bump wasn't going to stay this size, and that was something she'd had to adapt to.

Seoul didn't exactly overflow with dedicated maternity shops, but online, there were plenty of options, and once Hobi had decided on something, it became a mission.

Two weeks later, Grace was called into HYBE.

When she stepped into the styling room, it looked like someone had raided a warehouse. Bags lined the floor in neat rows, and the stylist team were already slicing through packaging, shaking out fabrics, and hanging pieces on rolling rails. There were soft knits and wide waistbands, flowy dresses and structured sets, coats, jackets, trousers, and even underwear, all in colours that felt deliberately gentle. A few bolder pieces that screamed Hobi had opinions.

"Did you buy everything?" Grace asked, entering the room as Hana and Sejin followed, with Seokjin bringing up the rear with a bag that came from their local coffee shop.

Hobi barely glanced up. He grabbed the nearest bag and tore it open with the enthusiasm of someone unboxing a new phone.

"This is everyday stuff," he announced, already shaking out a soft knit like it had personally offended him by being folded. "The BTS maternity wear? Designers are on that."

Grace snorted and dropped into the nearest chair, accepting the tea Seokjin handed her with a grateful hum. "Of course they are."

Ever since the pregnancy announcement, every designer they'd ever worked with had been calling. And calling. And calling again. Red carpets, interviews, airport looks, and finale stages – everyone wanted their name attached to Grace's "maternity era". It had almost turned into a bidding war, polite on the surface and feral underneath.