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"No, what the hell is this?"
Jeongguk's state of shock and distress is caused by a bunch of boxes in front of him. It's early in the morning and the smell of carton boxes makes him nauseous. Minhee is at the door, paying the delivery man and he can hear Bam barking from somewhere in between boxes.
Minhee closes the door, turning towards Jeongguk who seems to have been frozen. "When I said we should buy a new kennel for Bam, I didn't mean to make a kennel out of cartons."
Minhee rolls her eyes, "Only one box is the kennel." She points at the biggest one and gestures to him to take it away, "Shoo, let me do my work here."
Jeongguk doesn't argue, picks up the box and sits on the dining table instead. Minhee starts with the smallest boxes first.
"Wait, are those the Vernonial sculptures from Ahnso's exhibition?" Jeongguk widens his eyes, almost dropping the cutter in his hand. Minhee blinks her eyes, before staring at the half faced sculpture in her hand, "Maybe?"
"Why have you ordered those?"
Minhee shrugs, "Tomorrow's Chuseok. Everyone's coming over."
Jeongguk blinks, clueless. "Wait, when was this decided—no, who decided this? And who is everyone?"
"Yesterday, your mom and everyone is, our family."
Jeongguk gulps. Minhee said, our family and it's making his heart jump. Fuck. What has he gotten himself into?
Jeongguk sets up Bam's kennel in his room while Minhee opens all the cartons. Curtains, paintings, sculptures and a big family portrait along with smaller frames with Bam's pictures.
"Jeongguk!" she yells. "Can you bring a hammer please?"
And it's so crazy to hear someone else in his house, call his name and actually need him for something. Jeongguk hammers nails and screws wherever Minhee asks him to, whining and complaining about why his house needs a makeover?
But when he walks outside of his office in the late evening, he realises.
"Install heaters, the house is too cold."
This is what Minhee had meant then. The warmth he feels when he walks inside the living room only to be greeted with their family portrait. On the side walls and corners, there's Bam and his parents. Sculptures are carefully placed in areas where Bam or anyone can't knock them over and the most surprising thing— there's a whole shelf filled with Jeongguk's awards and even his Persona cover.
Minhee comes to him with two curtains in her hand, "Which colour would you like in your room?"
Jeongguk doesn't respond. He doesn't know. He hasn't ever done this.
"You like to keep your curtains closed all the time so I think a lighter one would be nice," Minhee says, throwing the darker shade on the couch. "It will filter the Sunlight enough and not keep it dark."
Is this normal between them?
She thrusts the curtain in his chest, "Put them up." and turns around when Jeongguk pulls her back, letting the curtain fall on the ground.
With her back against his chest, Jeongguk brings both of his hands to wrap around her torso. Minhee freezes, her hands awkwardly hanging midair. "Which one do you like?" Jeongguk asks, resting his chin on the shoulder.
Minhee clears her throat. "I put mine up already..."
"Get those off then."
Minhee scoffs, trying to get out his hold, "Can't let me have my favourite coloured curtains in my room now? Why do you want whatever I do?"
Jeongguk chuckles, tightening his hold. "Oh wifey..." he places his nose against the side of her neck. Minhee thinks she'll faint the next moment. "I meant to get those in my room because that's your room too now, anyway." and he holds her wrists while guiding her hands place top of his.
And Minhee blinks, her eyelashes heavy. A kiss is placed on her shoulder and she feels all the air leave her lungs. "I will hang that in my room," it's a picture of Bam, Jeongguk and Minhee. "Call me if you need help."
And his hands slip away, before Minhee holds him back.
I don't know how to unwant.
She smiles, "I hope you don't mind pink curtains Mr Jeon."
And the regret on his face is visible but he doesn't say anything. Minhee laughs, tip-toeing and presses a kiss against his lips. It's a peck but it's enough to make them both flustered.
And without sparing each other a glance, they are off to do their own tasks.
Exchanging kisses is still new for them. Minhee finds any kind of intimacy intriguing, especially the way Jeongguk does it. Having no experience in it, Minhee has seen it only in dramas and movies.
Though upclose, it's different. He does it with so much spontaneity and confidence, there's a meaning behind his every touch. It's like you can see what he feels when he touches you and he makes sure you feel the same.
At night when Minhee sees the bed, it's absolutely weird to imagine Jeongguk and her sleeping here even though the day before she had.
If she makes a pillow border between them again, Jeongguk doesn't question it. He lies down for a few moments before he takes her hand in his and kisses her knuckles.
One step at a time. Maybe one day he'll hold her close until they fall asleep like that.
She squeezes his hand and "Good night," he whispers.
...
"Songpyeon, Songpyeon," Jeongguk sings, sheepishly trying to take one from the ones his mother is making. She slaps his hand away, "These are for Minhee."
Jeongguk scoffs, placing a hand on his heart. "Good, how nice." He says, sarcastically. Then he turns towards Minhee who is struggling to get Bam in a traditional bow tie and says, "Yoon Minhee, how does it feel to be the favourite Jeon?"
"Bam, stay still, I need to get ready too!" Minhee says, finally securing Bam in between her legs and tying the bow around him. "I am sure your mother is the favourite Jeon, Jeongguk."
Jeongguk scoffs, "Aren't you going to get ready?" He glances at the clock on the wall. "Jin Hyung and others will be here soon."
"I still can't believe his name is Jin and not Kardashian..." Minhee mumbles, letting Bam go and walking inside her room. The doorbell rings after a few minutes and Jeongguk answers it, immediately greeting Jin, Dahyun and Eunwoo.
"Where's Mi-so?" Jeongguk asks immediately and Jin rolls his eyes. "Hello Jeongguk, Happy Chuseok." He says first, before greeting Jeongguk's parents at the dining table and turns back to Jeongguk. "Mi-so is at her sister's to help her with her delivery. She sent you something though."
"Sikhye!" Jeongguk exclaims, reaching to take the container from Jin's hands when the older man interrupts, "Here's your unlimited coupon to her friend's spa centre and this would be for you, Sir." He says, handing the Sikhye to Mr Jeon.
"Ooo, every year I look forward to Mi-so's Sikhye." Mr Jeon says and Jeongguk scoffs, staring at the coupon in his hand.
Dahyun and Eunwoo greet them too, instantly being fed with some Songpyeon and lovely Chuseok stories from Mrs Jeon's kitty. "Son, can you see if Minhee is ready?"
Jeongguk hesitates. Would it be questionable if he knocks at his wife's door before entering?
"Knock the door before you go in," Mrs Jeon says, feeding another Songpyeon to Eunwoo.
Alright. Doesn't matter if it's his wife, still her room.
So he knocks on the door and he hears the latch open for a few seconds. Minhee stands there with one hand on the door and one hand holding the ribbons of her skirt.
It's been a couple of days since Jeongguk has started making sense of what he feels for Minhee and he can't deny the effect she has on him every time. It used to drive him insane, and it still does but for completely different reasons. Minhee is attractive and Jeongguk thinks about it even when he's alone.
"A-are you done?" he asks and hisses because it is clear she is not. She is not even dressed yet, why the fuck did she open the door?
"I actually need...help..." She says, embarrassed. "I can't tie the ribbons properly, they keep protruding from the jacket. Would you call Mrs Jeon or...?"
Jeongguk gulps. "Or...?"
Call your mother, Jeongguk, don't say it. Don't do it.
"I can help too..." Jeongguk says, stepping inside the room and Minhee licks her lips. Jeongguk brings his hands up, hovering over her chest. When Minhee lets go of the ribbon, Jeongguk takes them and makes a knot to hold the skirt up. "Is there anything you don't know...?" Minhee mumbles.
Jeongguk chuckles, helping her wear the jacket and tying a knot on it too, "My mom and dad were always keen on making me learn everything and then when dad was ill, I pretty much had to do a lot alone."
"I knew how to tie these but this ribbon is too slippery," Minhee shakes her head.
"Here you go," Jeongguk says, smiling and satisfied with his work. Minhee looks down at the knot, whispering a thank you to him before walking off to her dressing table. "I just need five more minutes."
"Right, call me if you-uh-need more help."
...
The Chuseok celebration continues when Minhee comes out, ready. Jeongguk is sitting beside his mother, making songpyeon when she calls the younger excitedly to join them. Minhee glances at Dahyun and Eunwoo who are playing with Bam before she turns towards the table.
"Eunhye used to tell me that you used to help her in making songpyeons." Mrs Jeon says as Minhee sits down beside Jeongguk. "Ah, I miss her. She always used to sing at our celebration."
Lies. Pretty lies because her mother doesn't know how to cook and Minhee hasn't ever made songpyeons. Minhee heaves a sigh. Songpyeons do remind her of their family celebration where all the cousins used to gather and they paid respect to the ancestors. The food, the games and the gifts. No one called her this time, no one asked if Minhee was doing okay.
Minhee cluelessly starts folding the dough, glancing at how skillfully Mrs Jeon's hands work. Jeongguk is good too, but not quite there. Jin jokes about how he can open a songpyeon house after he retires and his mom instantly says that Jeongguk's already promised to take care of the fifty-year-old tree in their yard throughout his old age.
Dahyun comes to her friend's side not so long after and chuckles, "Are you trying to make dumplings or are those fish from the Finding Dory?"
Minhee huffs, elbowing her friend and Jeongguk presses his lips to stop himself from laughing. The songpyeon is awkwardly tapered at one end and the other has creases of her nails which makes it look like a fish.
It is ugly. Minhee knows it. She feels embarrassed because her mother made a good false impression of her in front of Mrs Jeon and now if they see these, it wouldn't leave a good impression.
"Ha, what are you doing?" Mrs Jeon scolds her husband who is also making some songpyeon now. "Who puts everything in there?"
"My songpyeon, my fillings." He says and starts folding the batter. It folds into a weird, ugly circle with a pointy surface because of the extra filling. "Congratulations Mr Jeon, you've been awarded for being the artist of the ugliest songpyeon ever," Jeongguk laughs.
"Oh thank god," Mr Jeon says, taking a bite. "It tastes good though."
"I thought Mr Jeon always knew how to make them," Jin amuses.
Jeongguk shakes his head, "It's a songpyeon without makeup."
"What do you guys say...No filter, yes... no filter!" Mr Jeon says, chewing on his handmade delicacies.
And Minhee's heart cries. There is an odd comfort in the way all of them laugh together. Even when they play the game of Yut Nori and she loses, even when she can't play jegichagi more than twice and even if she wins the game of Go-stop when Mrs Jeon helps her cheat— everything reminds her of the bits and pieces of her Chuseok holidays.
Those where her dad insisted on going somewhere out, those where they watched Talchum mask dance and her dad covered his face with a newspaper to mimic them, those where her mother got her new hanbok and took her to the aunt's. Those, where the little happy moments of her family are tied to.
She also realises how different Jin's presence feels if he's not around Jeongguk as a secretary and she wonders if it is exhausting to place a line between professional and personal lives. Dahyun and her have never considered that issue, as if it was a given that their boss-secretary dynamics were limited to public interactions.
And when she watches everyone dance to a trot song that Jin randomly played, with glassy eyes and a fond smile, it makes her question if she deserves all of this when she married Jeongguk for a selfish reason.
...
"Your dad needs one of your t-shirts," Minhee says, walking inside Jeongguk's room. Jeongguk hums, taking one from his closet and walking out to give it to Mr Jeon.
It was late enough and even though Jin insisted on driving them back, Jeongguk asked him to take a rest on his holiday instead of driving extra miles. So, Mr and Mrs Jeon stayed back and Minhee willingly offered her room instead of the guest room which doesn't even have a proper bed.
Every year, Minhee posts about her chuseok celebration on her account and wishes the followers in goodwill. This time, though Dahyun seemed hesitant, Minhee posted a picture of Songpyeons they all had made. Totally avoiding the public will be like she is running away and she shouldn't break a tradition she has made for herself.
Dahyun had told her to not look through comments, but she saw a verified sign beside one of the usernames that commented and curiously looked. It was Taehyung, who had simply commented, 'Happy Chuseok, I see a fish songpyeon kekeke.'
And that was that. Minhee just liked the comment but instinctively scrolled down the comments. Unsurprisingly, they were filled with unsatisfied reviews, accusations, insults and some even went far as saying something about her father. Some of them make no sense because there are comments about her getting plastic surgery, some complaint about the fake lashes when Wings doesn't even have that as a product.
"I feel sorry for Jeongguk."
Minhee jumps, phone slipping out of her hand and landing on her ankle making her groan. Jeongguk immediately sits down on the bed in front of her, taking her leg and rubbing her ankle to soothe. "What the fuck Jeongguk? How many times have I told you to stop doing this?"
Jeongguk sheepishly smiles. "I was just curious about what you're seeing on your phone to frown like that. Didn't expect it'd be a comment pitying me."
Minhee picks her phone up and reads the comment Jeongguk was reading.
I feel sorry for Jeongguk. He fell in love with a scammer, didn't even know that and now will get dragged with her. It is a request to all that don't involve BE or Jeongguk in it. :)
Minhee sighs, keeping her phone down. What do they know?
"Rule number of being famous, never read comments after the first two minutes or disable comments for the public, like me," Jeongguk says, mindlessly rubbing his hand to her calves with her skirt hiked up to show her skin.
"Yes, sir," Minhee replies, her voice breathy and tired. "We should make a list of things you're allowed to teach instead of having you throw in a random life lesson when I am trying to get things sorted."
"Ungrateful ass." Jeongguk mumbles, pinching her skin and Minhee tries to kick him but he holds her leg in place. The silence falls when Minhee sighs, feeling Jeongguk press on some parts of her sole and relieving the pain. It seems like the comment doesn't seem to leave her mind, slipping in between her thoughts every now and then because she finally pulls her leg back.
"But it's true though." She says, hugging her legs close. It's a little uncomfortable with the Hanbok still on. "You are getting dragged with me. I don't...I don't really care what people say about me...but I care about your image. I am ruining it all."
It might be the nth time today that Minhee has flicked her eyes to Jeongguk, just to admire him in the navy blue hanbok he is wearing. He looks like a moon, with his eyes smudged with the glitter eyeshadow and contact lenses matching the colour of his dress— Minhee really doesn't deserve to see all of this beauty in his bedroom like this.
"Are you pitying me too?" Jeongguk leans forward. Minhee shrugs, not knowing what to say.
Jeongguk keeps his gaze on her when he takes her hand in his, bringing it up to his mouth and placing a kiss on her ring. "Lie to yourself better, Minhee. You obviously care for what people say about you." He scoots closer and Minhee puts her legs down. "That's how we came together because we care about what people say about us. And it isn't bad," he sighs, "It gets worse when we start revolving our lives around it. Which is what we did and now we have to keep up with it, good or bad."
Minhee gulps when Jeongguk comes close enough to feel his body press against her legs that are folded on the bed as she has her back against the headboard. "They don't need to pity me because I like it's you here with me, Minhee. I'll try better to show you that, or them."
There's a twist in Minhee's heart hearing his words. It's a feeling she has become familiar with, used to roll eyes at but can't quite identify it yet.
Jeongguk grips her chin gently before aligning their lips together. It is just a long press of lips together and Minhee wonders why Jeongguk doesn't do more. She wants more, he makes her want more and everytime it feels like he'll give her that, he pulls back.
But then he's wrapping his arms around her waist, in an attempt to pull closer but Minhee's skirt puffs up in between them, making Jeongguk awkwardly pause midway. They share a glance before bursting into soft laughter. To make it worse, Jeongguk places his hand on the skirt and the air gushes out of the bottom, making a weird sound.
Minhee slaps his hand away, still laughing before she stands up. "I am gonna change."
"Minhee—wait," Jeongguk says, fishing his phone out from his pocket. He stands up and turns on the front camera.
"But I literally look so tired," Minhee says but steps closer to him. Jeongguk smiles, "They won't know that."
He puts an arm around her shoulder, pressing her against the side of his body before turning his face towards her and leaning down to take her lips between his. Maybe it's the shutter sound that, unlike the other times when Minhee melts into the kiss, this time she stiffens, hardly moving her lips against his.
Jeongguk pulls back, looking down into her eyes with a teasing glint in his eyes. "Tell me the truth wifey, you don't really know how to kiss, do you?"
And there's a silly grin on his face, an elbow against his ribs when the shutter clicks again. Then Minhee places her hand on either side of his face, to pull him down to her and the phone slips down off his hand as he tries to balance himself. Minhee is indeed—an awkward kisser, Jeongguk realises... if he's not the one taking the lead.
It's funny to him how she places a big smooch against his lips before darting her tongue out. Her nose bumps against his and he has to hold back his laughter. But he gives in, backing her to the bed and Minhee gasps.
The kiss is not slow or gentle, desperate and demanding. When Jeongguk unties the knot of her jacket, Minhee feels her body go hot and her heart thumping loudly in her chest. She's scared but anticipates his next movement.
But he pulls back as soon as her jacket opens, laughing and resting his head on her chest.
Minhee stares at the ceiling, confused. "What now? Do I have a 'laugh on me' written on my forehead?"
Jeongguk shakes his head, looking up at her. "Your skirt, it's making it funny, I am so sorry."
Minhee pushes him off and Jeongguk falls on the bed, covering his face as he laughs. It's not even that funny, he knows but he can't help it when he feels the cane panels under her skirt keep digging into his skin, making it uncomfortable.
"Ugh, I absolutely hate you." Minhee huffs, her skin flushed and jacket half open which she clutches to her chest before storming off. Minhee huffs the rest of the night and makes the pillow border in between them, even if Jeongguk does give her a good night kiss— just a pressure against her lips.
Jeongguk's laughter fills the moonlit room when Minhee tries to interlock her hands later, unable to keep her act—and it paints it the loveliest shade of purple. And Minhee...Minhee cannot hate him at all, not when Jeongguk turns every place they're in into a home.
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