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"Oh," Minhee pauses at the doorstep as soon as she unlocks the front door, eyebrows furrowing. "I d-didn't expect you to be home."
"Why? Wanted to sneak into my office again?"
Jeongguk's fist clenched in perfect tandem with his heart. He didn't mean to bite back such a response. All this time when he's spent avoiding Minhee as if he forgot they live together now— he thought he'll be nonchalant when he faces her again.
But seeing her again, it's unfamiliar the way his heart squeezes and he grows breathless.
Minhee doesn't seem to say anything, Jeongguk is immediately forming an apology. At that moment when Minhee looks at him, something too real, too defensive and too vulnerable flashes in her eyes. He's left speechless when Bam just nuzzles his nose in her thighs.
He knew Minhee would eventually come to like Bam but he didn't expect it to be so fast. Minhee's more liquid than he had thought.
"I talked to your mom..."
"I know." Jeongguk says, voice softening. "She called me...said I should make her a schedule because you asked when she would be free..."
Minhee sees the hint of a smile on Jeongguk's lips. It warms her heart so much. Jeongguk's relationship with his mother is so contrasting to what she had thought before. When they had met to discuss the union, Jeongguk's face was so blank and Mrs Jeon actively came forward to make this marriage happen— she thought his mother was no less than hers.
It's not the case though, then why did she agree to have her son— a son she loves so much— marry someone like her? Someone he doesn't love?
"Yeah, I apologised to her too..." Minhee says, looking at the faint handprint she spotted on the wall. "That day, I wasn't talking about her. It wasn't for her...I was talking about my mom..."
"I am sorry too." Jeongguk cringes as soon as he says it. It hurts him to do so but he knows better, that not saying this would keep him up for nights. Guilt is a destructive weapon. "I should have listened to you, given you a chance to explain."
Minhee shakes her head. It's silent again. It takes them back to the morning— the silence where their breaths were so close, noses against each other and unspoken feelings moulding each other's lips.
And that's enough for them to depart to their respective rooms, keep the silence stretching and avoid each other— until the next morning. It's quiet, unmoving and empty, just like it was before. Jungkook wonders where Minhee went even before he woke up until he notices a note beside their bullshit contract on the fridge.
Did the laundry. Also, have you been eating Bam's food? The packet's empty... — Minhee
Jeongguk scoffs, rolling his eyes and almost crumpling the note in his hand but he stops, brings it up to his eye again and stares. Minhee's handwriting is just like her, a mess.
But it's still understandable.
He nonchalantly keeps it in his pant's pockets and gets ready for work.
...
"Mr Jung will be sending his team today. They will be discussing every look with our makeup professionals' team and finalise the look today."
"Can I see the finalised looks before they are sent for Mr Jung's approval?" Jeongguk says, looking through the sample portfolio his team has created for the models.
"Sure." Secretary Kim says, noting something on his tablet. "Also if you are okay with it then I would like to brief you about your schedule during the Fashion week."
Jeongguk nods, turning all his attention towards the older.
"I will be booking our flights to Paris on the 12th of next month, that's about five from now. We'll only be required to pay for the professional's team that'll accompany us, other expenses will be handled by The Jung's. You will be attending the Runway fashion week as the CEO of BE and as one of the chief guests as well."
"Looks like I won't be having much to do there," Jeongguk hums.
"Now the schedule of your personal endeavours." Secretary Kim says, ignoring the younger. Jeongguk scoffs, "Personal endeavours? What?"
"You will be attending the meet and greet with Illeana Julliete at the L'amour Luminex—"
"—the pronunciation is a bit off—"
"—with Ms Yoon, involving a dinner at the cruise along the Seine river and as if you know French better than me," Kim says, in one breath.
Jeongguk blinks, processing what his secretary just told him. Two things— he'll have dinner with Minhee in Paris. Wonderful. And does Secretary Kim understand the need for voice modulation and breathing while speaking? No. Excellent.
"Can I just get the status about Minhee's schedule during that week?" Jeongguk sighs. "Who is she going with, now that Jung's deal is out for her?"
"No news about that."
...
"People asking for refunds for our new nail colours?" Minhee says in disbelief. "Why?"
"Three people had come yesterday and today we got one thousand unit orders cancelled," one of the employees from the customer service team informs her. "When we tried to find out the reasons, one of them mentioned a video review they saw on Youtube. They returned it because it reviewed our product badly."
"Our product?" Minhee scoffs. "Show me the video."
The employee plays the video on her phone and gives it to Minhee who watches it with her eyebrows furrowed. It's just a bad review, they get it all the time but it's the deja vu that is making her anxious. It's not a good sign.
A young lady in the video pops up with a few cosmetics from Wings placed on her table. "Do you all know that the nail colour isn't the only cheap quality product from Wings. It's mascara too, dries up quickly and hardens on its applicator. Do you see this," she opens the mascara tube and shows the lumps of black mascara stuck on its applicator. Minhee scoffs. "Who would buy such a product? Everyone, choose your products carefully."
Minhee pauses the video, dropping the phone on the table. The employee hisses, takes her phone back and pets it as if asking it did you get hurt.
"It looks like she's trying to sabotage our brand on purpose." Dahyun says, tilting her head. "It's not just a bad review, she's a famous influencer who has brought sales to a lot of brands. People follow her a lot."
"But we don't have concrete evidence...we can't say anything to her, it will backfire." another employee says.
"But there seems to be a pattern," Ha-min suddenly says, shoving his phone in Minhee's face and she glares at him. "She seems to be targeting certain brands and leaves a bad review or two."
Minhee scrolls down her channel and indeed it seems that way. "I can see ON too, did they not take any action against her?"
"In this manner, she gets more subscribers, this type of content gets more views..." Ha-min says, sounding proud.
"What do we do?" the employee asks, sounding worried. "This way, our brand image will be damaged...and since it is a new launch, it would influence repeat customers too..."
Minhee looks outside the window, towards the city. She has to do something this time.
...
Surprisingly, Jeongguk is already home when Minhee arrives, sitting on the floor as he brushes Bam's teeth. The dog is hugging Jeongguk's thigh, sleeping so still that it is almost funny. Seeing Minhee, Bam attempts to move but one command from his dad, and he's still, again.
Minhee is on a call with Dahyun as she unties laces, her eyes trained at the father-baby duo— her face shows clear disgust at how Jeongguk holds Bam's mouth stretched to brush his teeth.
"Yeah, I don't think we'll be able to meet their needs. Say no to their offer." Minhee says.
"Good Boy, Bam."
"No, no, I think we should send a letter to the Runway team and inform them about our absence," Minhee says, stepping inside the house. "We have a lot to do anyway."
"Delicious right?"
Minhee glares at Jeongguk talking to Bam in baby-like voices but the latter hasn't even looked up at her yet. "Yes, that will be good. Thank you."
"This one's better tasting than the previous one, right?"
"No need, I will tell him myself. He's here. Minhee says, looking at Jeongguk who is determined to get to every corner of Bam's mouth. "See you."
And Minhee hangs up. She is about to step into her room when Jeongguk finally addresses her. "You're not coming to Paris? What about your itinerary?" The man looks up, smirking. "Backing out huh?"
Minhee rolls her eyes. "I am not backing out, we can replace it with something else. I think we have enough content to show to the world how real our bond is."
"Yeah?" Jeongguk chuckles. "Show them, what? Your bullshit contract?"
"Anyway," Minhee ignores him, stepping back to her room. "I was going to tell you that you need not free your schedule for the meet and greet since I won't be there."
"Hmm," Jungkook says, letting Bam go. He looks up at her, "Can I ask why Ms Minhee isn't going to the Runway fashion week, the one she so desperately wanted to go to? Is it because of the Jung deal?"
Minhee sighs. "Whatever." and walks inside her room, shutting the door.
Jeongguk rolls his eyes and then looks for Bam again. "Bam, it's your paw care time."
Nights haven't been easy for Jeongguk, even if he should have gotten used to Minhee living under the same roof with him. Just knowing that she is a few more rooms away from him, gives him an unsettling feeling.
At around one at night, Jeongguk walks out of his room, tired and sleepy. He places a hand on his heart, startled upon seeing Minhee sitting on the floor, with her laptop on the centre table. She is watching something while drinking coffee.
Jeongguk doesn't say anything, walks towards the kitchen and makes himself a cup of tea—the one his mother left for him for better sleep. He is walking out and sits at the dining table, staring at Minhee. What is she watching so ardently that she didn't even take notice of him?
"Fuck this," Minhee suddenly says, removing her AirPods from her ears and placing them on the table with some force. She cracks her neck from side to side when she is startled, seeing Jeongguk on the chair. "Since when have you been here?"
"If we calculate the time before I turned into a ghost, hundred years?" Jeongguk says, sipping the tea.
Minhee sighs, mumbling, "You look like one..."
"What? I look like one?" Jeongguk scoffs, placing the cup on the table. He points at himself, "This handsome face."
"I would call you a Panda but they are cute," Minhee sticks her tongue out. "Ghost it is."
Jeongguk rolls his eyes, standing up and walking towards Minhee. "What are you doing?"
"Curiosity kills the cat, Jeongguk," Minhee says, leaning back to rest her back against the leg of the sofa.
"If the cat is you, I would even want to know how much sugar you take in your coffee to kill you." Jeongguk pushes his hair back as he sits on the sofa. "But first I want to know, why are you watching Jia Zain on Youtube? Forgot your beauty school lessons?"
Minhee sighs. She has no energy left or time to argue with Jeongguk. "She's made a video reviewing our nail colour line and other products, it's bad. People are returning their orders, blah blah shit you know."
Jeongguk didn't expect her to tell him. They never talk about business at home, and have never shared problems they face with each other. He suddenly has nothing to say.
"Satisfied? Go away now."
Jeongguk leans back on the couch, "And you thought, the best way to get back to her is by watching all her videos at 1 AM. Where do they even make a brain like yours?"
Minhee looks over her shoulder to glare at him. "I am trying to find something out..."
"Yeah? Good luck with that because you can spend all night here, wifey," he shifts down to sit beside her on the floor, "Open a channel tomorrow. Beauty Lessons 101 with Min Yoonhee."
Minhee pinches the bridge of her nose. "Can you get lost, please? I already have a headache."
And Jeongguk does. He just flicks her forehead and walks back to his room without a word. If Minhee is surprised, her headache and sleepy eyes don't show it. She watches video after video, curses Jia for making thirty-minute videos with only ten minutes of reviews (but she can't leave a second, just in case).
She closes her eyes for a few minutes, resting her eyes. It feels good, the pain seems to lessen and she leans back further, resting her head on the sofa.
The next thing she knows, she is waking up on the sofa with a blanket over her and a pillow under her head. There is a note stuck on her laptop screen.
Video: Reviewing skincare products from top ten brands, 04:20, makeup bag only in Wings online store. Open your eyes, miss, you watched this video last night. —— JK
Minhee stares at the note, confused but it all makes sense when she goes to 04:20 of the particular video he said.
Did Jeongguk just help her?
Why?
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