That day, Inah had an extremely enjoyable day. Of course, this did not include the shock brought by Taehyung's singing
As she was too happy, she drank a little during dinner.
All four of them drank. Jungkook drank the least while the remaining three people drank around the same amount. Minkyu had good alcohol tolerance and did not get drunk while Taehyung and Inah were both tipsy.
Tugging on Taehyung's hand, Inah said, "Do you know, I wanted to steal you home when you were young."
Taehyung answered, "Do you dare to acknowledge me if I call you mom?"
Jungkook lowered his head with a stifled laugh. He ladled a bowl of duck soup for Taehyung. "Don't just drink. Have some food."
"Consort Dog, good job." Taehyung giggled as he stirred the duck soup with a tiny porcelain spoon.
Jungkook narrowed his eyes. "What did you just call me?"
"Consort Dog."
Jungkook wanted to gnash his teeth in anger. He was at a loss of how he should punish Taehyung. When he looked up, he saw his father's head lowered in a chuckle. After laughing, his father said, "Is this how kids these days do it?"
Even his father, a normally good-natured person, was having a joke at his expense... He must have been led astray by a certain person today!
Jungkook grounded his teeth and whispered into Taehyung's ear, "Let's see how I fix you when we get back."
After they finished their meal, they decided to return to the hotel. Inah had booked a hotel resort on Maebong Mountain. As it had great reviews, she booked three rooms to let Taehyung and Jungkook enjoy a stay as well.
Right after they stepped out of the restaurant, Taehyung draped an arm over Inah's shoulders. With how his arm dangled, he gave off both a flippant and domineering presence.
At the side, the Jeon father and son were shaken.
Taehyung said, "Let me tell you the key to short track speed skating. Listen carefully."
Inah nodded. "Yes, boss!"
Just like this, he prattled on about key techniques the entire journey back. They checked in and the three rooms were on different levels. Before Inah— who was held upright by Minkyu— exited the elevator, she turned and waved to Taehyung. "Goodbye, boss!"
Taehyung very graciously dismissed her with a wave. "Off you go."
Minkyu was utterly speechless. Holding his wife, he looked back at his son and Taehyung who stood next to each other. He opened his mouth to speak but hesitated.
Observing his father's hesitation, Jungkook held the elevator doors open and asked, "Dad, you have something to say?"
"Take good care of Taehyung. Mm, keep yourself in check." Minkyu steered his wife away after saying this.
Jungkook could read what his father implied. Hurt, he muttered, "Am I such a beast..."
......
After Jungkook sent Taehyung back into his room, Jungkook had him lie on the bed and tugged up the blanket to tuck him in.
Having tossed his shoes aside, Taehyung slumped back on the headboard and hugged a pillow as he looked at Jungkook while giggling. His two cheeks were pink while his eyes were intoxicated. His vermillion lips were slightly parted, revealing neat and pearly-white teeth.
Jungkook was a little regretful that he was not a beast.
He bent over to draw up the blanket, pulled over another pillow, and commanded, "Lie properly."
Taehyung held onto his neck and with a sudden flip, pressed him onto the bed.
Jungkook felt his heart swing. He lay on the bed, both arms raised in a surrender pose. He steeled his mind and asked, "What do you want?"
Taehyung's elbows were propped on the bed. He looked down at Jungkook in a spirited manner. "Are you here to serve?"
Half of his weight rested on Jungkook's body. Jeon felt that his mouth and throat were parched. He stared into Taehyung's eyes and asked, "Do you still recognize who I am?"
"Yes."
"Who am I?"
"Consort Dog."
"......"
Jungkook let out a breath and rolled his eyes. "You scoundrel mmhm..."
Taehyung kissed him. He kissed him once before lifting his head and licking his lips. Feeling like it was not enough, he lowered his head again for another kiss. It was as if he sampled an exquisite dish. He stretched out the tip of his tongue and licked bit by bit until Jungkook's entire lips were damp.
Jungkook's resentment vanished into thin air. Consort Dog? So be it. Right now, he was about to explode, into either wisp of clouds or a firework.
He closed his eyes to welcome his kiss, parted his lips, and stretched out his tongue in response.
Their breaths became heated flames that seemed to sear this kiss into oblivion. The next moment, it melted like butter-soft, silky, and sweet.
As Taehyung ate along, he felt the taste change. He wanted to lift his head and think about it for a while but the moment he moved, Jungkook instantly captured the back of his head and forced him to continue the kiss.
Taehyung had difficulties breathing and his brain was like glue. Originally, he was already dizzy. Now that he could not breathe properly and lacked oxygen, he became even dizzier and... fell asleep.
As Jungkook kissed him, he sensed that Taehyung became still. He let him go and took in his even breathing.
Gasping for breath, he gritted out from between clenched teeth, "You scoundrel."
——
Inah fell into a deep sleep. When she woke up the next morning, she saw that her husband was already awake and was currently boiling water.
"Hubby, what's the time?"
"It's only 7 am. You can sleep in a little more."
"Mm, I'm not sleeping anymore."
After the water boiled, Minkyu used a bottle of mineral water to mix two cups of warm water. The married couple sipped on one each.
"How was your sleep?" Minkyu asked.
"Quite good." Inah thought for a while. "I think I had a dream just before daybreak."
"Oh? What dream?"
"I dreamt that we went fishing."
"It's auspicious to dream of fishes. That's a good dream."
"No, listen to the whole dream. I dreamt that we went fishing and both Taehyung and Jungkook went as well. Then... then, Taehyung sang towards the water."
"Then?"
"Then, those fishes started floating up to the surface bellies up, densely covering the lake. There were a lot of them."
His singing alone could kill fishes... Minkyu wiped his forehead silently. "Looks like the trauma that Taehyung left you with after yesterday is not small."
"Besides being tone-deaf, that child is great in all other areas. Nobody is perfect." Inah nodded slightly before shaking her head. "But I'm not going to sing with him again, mainly because he led me off-tune as well."
"On the bright side, in the future when Jungkook commits any mistake, punishing him to listen to Taehyung sing would be more effective than any other punishments like kneeling on the washing board."
Inah was tickled to hear this. "Hubby, you're terrible."
......
As Inah had other plans in the late afternoon, they booked the noon train back. They spent the morning in the area near the hotel before taking the train back to Lake City.
On the train, Inah browsed through Jungkook's fan group chat out of sheer boredom. She found them discussing a Weibo account.
ID: Little Bird Fly Fly Fly
That account posted the same content every day: Did Jungkook and Taehyung break up today—no.
Inah was fairly displeased. Pointing at her phone, she asked her husband, "What's up with people like this, what does other people's relationship have to do with them? Jungkook is merely an ice hockey player and not a celebrity, can't he have the freedom to date? What's more, Taehyung is so adorable!"
"They're all children. Don't be so petty with a bunch of children."
"Taehyung is a child as well. He may not even be as old as this bunch of people."
"All right, wife, don't be angry. The more you get bothered by these people, the happier they are. As long as Taehyung's relationship with Jungkook is well, who cares about them?"
Though it was accurate to put things this way, Inah was still annoyed. After thinking for a while, she created a Weibo as well.
ID: Shoot Little Bird Fly Fly Fly
First Weibo post: Did Jungkook and Taehyung get married today—soon!
Mm, from now on, she would log in every day to fight against that other account.
——
Inah gave Taehyung a Cartier bracelet as a meeting gift. In the center of the thin rose-gold chain was a tiny orchid carved from pink chalcedony and in the middle of this orchid was a diamond.
Was it extremely beautiful? Yes.
Was it extremely expensive? Also yes.
Though he was thrilled wearing the bracelet, Taehyung felt a little nervous as well. He looked at the tiny orchid bloom on his wrist and asked Jungkook, "Say, auntie gave me such an expensive gift. What if we break mmhm—"
Jungkook kissed him.
Taehyung blinked. In an instant, he felt as light as a feather-like he had stepped on soft and sweet cotton candy.
Remembering what Taehyung did to him last night, Jungkook nipped his lips as punishment.
Taehyung raised his head to dodge Jungkook when he felt pain. "Hey!"
Jungkook commanded, "You're not allowed to say such nonsense."
"I know, I was just joking."
"Even if you're joking you're not allowed to."
"Fine, fine. What a strict boyfriend."
Jungkook grabbed Taehyung's hand wearing the bracelet. He used his thumb and fingers to capture his palm and squeezed. He said, "My mom expresses her fondness by spending money. Just get used to it and don't be too bothered."
"Eh..." Taehyung was a little puzzled. "Didn't auntie say that she sells medicine? Is selling medicine so profitable these days?"
"She's the boss of a pharmaceutical company. Simply put, 'selling medicine'."
"..." Taehyung was able to meet a domineering CEO in this lifetime.