The Bitch & The Bastard | Jaehyun

𝑒𝑝𝑖𝑙𝑜𝑔𝑢𝑒

'They are really just making fake awards at this point,' Haeyoung scoffed.

'It's a new category,' Jaehyun retorted. 'Does not mean it is fake.'

'Right...' She plucked the brochure from the luxuriously decked table in front of them and read the name of the award for him, 'Sustained Young Entrepreneurial Spirit Award 2024.'

Jaehyun shrugged as if he was not feeling hot under his collar. 'Sounds real to me,' he said. He could not say much anyway with the camera on him and the eyes of almost all the guests fixed on their table.

'It sounds like you gave them money to make an award for you,' she deadpanned.

His practiced grin pasted on his lips, Jaehyun gritted out an inaudible curse.

'Oh, classy, Mr. Jung,' she remarked, riling him up. Haeyoung had made it a point to not say Jaehyun's name ever since their fight in the office that day.

'I have apologized a thousand times already,' he pleaded. 'Can you just call me by my name?'

She looked about her innocently. 'I thought this is what you wanted. You said so yourself, Mr. Jung.'

Under the gaze of the patrons, he could not even groan but he decided to let it go, knowing he will have to deal with it later. 'Where's my speech?' he asked instead.

'How would I know?'

'Haeyoung!' he almost yelled.

'What's the point of sleeping with the boss if I still have to work?'

'Mr. Jung!' An old man came up to them before Jaehyun could bark another inaudible curse. Shaking him by the hand, the man said, 'I am so in awe of your work.'

Putting on his awfully wide winning smile, Jaehyun nodded a humble nod that Haeyoung had seen him practice the day before in front of the mirror. 'I try my best,' he said.

'Oh, you are so modest.'

'Hardly,' Haeyoung snickered.

'Pardon me?' The man tilted his head in question.

It was now Haeyoung's turn to put her practice into play. 'I meant he hardly gets the recognition he deserves, don't you think?'

He man beamed, impressed by her words that might have really etched their place in his heart. 'I agree with you,' he said, a gleam of tears in his eyes.

'And finally, the award we have all been waiting for,' the host, the same as last year, announced from the podium, and Jaehyun breathed a sigh of relief as he finally managed to pull his hand free of the man's clammy fingers.

'The winner of the Sustained Entrepreneurial Spirit Award 2024 is–'

'Why is he pausing?' Haeyoung scoffed. 'As if we all don't know who the winner is.'

'– Mr. Jung Jaehyun!'

'Shocking!' Haeyoung gasped, theatrically, slapping a hand to her chest.

Just like last time, the people in the audience erupted in a deafening round of applause followed by equally loud cheers for Jaehyun, who greeted everyone with a bow and a wave of his hand before buttoning up his jacket and making his way up to the stage. Haeyoung remained seated, unbothered by the cameraman who had panned the camera specifically on her for her reaction.

In the far corner of the hall, the same intern, who was now promoted to a full-time position, turned to her manager and asked, 'Another year and they are still working with each other?'

A sly smile creeped up to the manager's lips as she nodded. 'But I have heard,' she whispered, 'that something between them in Paris again.'

Wide-eyed, the employee watched the big screen– Jaehyun had begun his speech on the stage.

'There are rumours,' the manager said, 'that uh, they made up if you know what I mean.'

'You mean...?' she whispered, going pink in the face.

'Mhm.' The manager gulped down the rest of her drink and called the server for another. 'But these are all rumours,' she said. 'If you ask for my opinion, I don't think that they are seeing each other.'

'Why do you say that?'

'Look at her.' The manager gestured towards Haeyoung seated at the very front of the hall. 'She is not even looking at him on stage. If her boyfriend was getting an award, wouldn't she be up on her feet, clapping for him?'

The employee craned her neck to her limit trying to get a peek at Haeyoung, who had her eyes on the brochure in her lap. But there was a hint of a soft smile on her face and small chuckle would escape her lips every time Jaehyun would say anything even remotely funny.

'I think she is listening to him,' the employee mused, earning a glare from her manager, who was downing her second drink in large gulps. If she had learned anything in her year as an intern was that it was better to keep her mouth shut than go against her senior.

And that is exactly what she did. She did not tell her manager when she saw the two of them laughing together at the bar nor did she speak up when she noticed the possessive way Jaehyun had his hand on Haeyoung's around Johnny. She definitely did not mention when she saw them exit the hall discreetly and had to really suppress the urge to tell her manager when she spotted them kissing in the janitor's closet followed by the scandalous moans she had heard right after.

'What's my name, then?' Jaehyun had asked.

'Bastard,' Haeyoung had scoffed.

'And you, a bitch.'

But alas, who would believe that those two really were in love.

_

THE END

Author's Note:

Was this epilogue needed for the story? Probably not.

But did I need it? Definitely yes. Short or long, it seems that I get attached to all the stories I write and this one was no exception.

Anyway, here we are at the end and I just want to thank all my readers. Your love and support means the world to me! <3 I hope you all had a lot of fun reading this.

Also, thank you morkiebug for requesting a 'light Jaehyun CEO fanfiction' because I had so much fun writing this and I hope you loved your time reading this too :D

The next story is going to be a Jaehyun oneshot, which you can find on the newly created NCT Imagines book on my page. I don't know when I am going to write it though but let's hope that I write it well and publish it soon.

Bye for now. Happy holidays. Take lots of love and have fuuuuuun <33

Until next time,

– riyo