Just A Few Numbers Away

Chapter 112

The Gold and the Grain

​The routine had become a comfort.

As they did most weekends, Yoongi pulled his car up to the familiar curb of his parents' neighborhood.

​"I'll be back in three hours, Jagi," Yoongi said, his hand lingering on the steering wheel.

"I'm going to head to the studio to 'clean up some old files.' Don't let my mom talk your ear off while I'm gone."

​Aen smiled behind her mask, clutching her bag.

Inside was the traditional undergarment she needed for the Pyebaek practice, but she kept it hidden.

"I handle logistics and office admin all day-I can handle a few hours of tea and conversation with your mother, Yoon."

Aen giggled.

"Go work on your 'files.' I'll be waiting for you here."

​"Right. Files," Yoongi murmured, the melody for the wedding march already looping in his mind.

He watched her walk to the door, a quiet, supportive look in his eyes before he pulled away.

***

Once the door clicked shut behind her, ​inside Yoongi's family home in Seoul, the scent of traditional tea and medicinal herbs filled the air.

Yoongi's mother was a woman of precise grace, and over the few weeks Aen would visit there, she had become her mentor in all things Min family tradition.

​The Pyebaek rehearsal was grueling, but Aen performed the bows with a sincerity that made the older woman's eyes soften.

After they finished, his mother pulled out a small, polished wooden box.

​"You've mastered the ceremony, Aen-ah," she said softly.

"But there is one more thing. This was passed to me when I joined the family. It belongs to a Min wife."

​She opened the box to reveal a binyeo crafted from white jade, crowned with a delicate, carved amethyst flower.

It was a stunning bridge between Yoongi's signature white aesthetic and Aen's love for purple.

​"It's for your traditional fitting," she whispered.

"So you remember that you aren't just marrying a celebrity. You are home here."

​Aen felt a lump in her throat as she touched the cool jade.

It felt like the final seal on her identity.

Thanks to the Global Name Synchronization, she was already a Min on paper, but this hairpin made her feel like a Min in spirit.

"Thank you, Eommonim. I'll wear it with pride."

***

The following weekend—the formalities finally took place.

The true acceptance had blossomed months earlier, under the soft glow of Christmas lights, when they had told Aen she no longer needed to be so formal.

From that moment, she ceased to be a guest; she was family.

They were already legally married months ago, so this wasn't about "buying" into a family, but about honoring the bond.

​Between Aen's heavy logistics at the Korea Yakult office and Yoongi's daily service at the Gangnam-gu office, as well as the wedding preparations, the traditional exchange had been postponed for quite some time.