«peep at jisung in the back, tanning from the la sun ☀️»
Na Jaemin's POV
"You're kind of cute." I said as I examined her facial features. I could see her face redden as she got off of me.
"Y-you're joking, r-right?" She stuttered, avoiding my gaze. "You have to be joking."
"No, I'm not." I said, confidence coming out of my mouth.
"You're lying." She covered her ears. "I just know it."
"But you're pretty." I told her, walking closer to her. She looked away from me. "C'mon, it's your birthday! You should be happy!"
"Unless you give me that note!" She smirked and reached for my hand. She snatched the note out of my hand, catching me off guard.
"No!" I whined. "You shouldn't read it!"
"Well, I am!" She stuck out her tongue and began to search the card. "Let's see... I think I left off here." She cleared her throat. "'—but Jaemin's stories of you helps us understand the kind of person that you are. You are a sweet, kind, pretty, cute, and lovely person to be around. At least according to Jaemin. We didn't know what to get you, so we hope that you enjoy this tin of cookies! Love, Mark, Donghyuck, Renjun, and Chenle.'"
"Now you see why I didn't want you to read it?" I raised my eyebrows when I saw her face redden as she continued to read the card out loud.
"They're lying, right?" Jieun eyed me and pointed at the card. I shrugged.
"Let's just open the next gift, okay?" I shifted the attention to something else. She nodded before taking out the tissue paper out of the bag. I heard a small squeal escape her mouth. "What is it?"
"It's a stuffed toy pancake!" Jieun smiled as she pulled out the toy. "Isn't it adorable?"
"Yeah," I smiled. "What else is in there?"
"A box of cereal and a box of mints." Jieun pulled out each item. She frowned at the cereal. "But I don't know why they got me cereal."
"Is there an inside joke?" I tried. She shook her head. "How about the brand the box is?"
"It's Frozen." She frowned again. A second passed before a lightbulb hit her. "Oh! Oh... Why?"
"What do you mean by why?" I asked her, staring at the box in confusion.
"Because Lucas and Jungwoo have this thing with Frozen, but I still don't get the cereal box." She furrowed her eyebrows as she stared at the box.
Ding! Ding!
Our phones went off. We looked at each other before we opened our phones to see the notification.
Mom 😘
Check the news.
I looked up at Jieun, whose face told me that she got a similar message. I pulled up the news app on my phone and saw a 'breaking news' article.
BREAKING NEWS—Na Family and Park Family Marry
April 4, 2018—News has just been confirmed that the heirs of the Park Tech Company and the Na Manufacturing Company are married. We managed to snatch an interview with the mother of the Na heir.
"Yes, it's true," Mrs. Na said. "They are married. We wanted to keep things down on the downlow but as you can tell, news got out."
When we asked about her child and their spouse, she said "no comment."
While interviewing Mrs. Na, we ran across Mrs. Park.
"Yes, I will also confirm that it is true," She said. "However, we would like for the public to not make a big deal about it and to respect their privacy and their marriage."
Congratulations to the newly wedded couple! We hope to be able to see you two prosper with a loving family and happy marriage life!
Jieun and I made eye contact, worry etched across our face.
"Does the press know what you look like?" I asked her. She shook her head. Relief washed over me. "Good."
"But how did this leak out?" Jieun whimpered. I took her in and embraced her.
"I don't know." I told her. I could feel her tears wet my shirt. I pulled her away from me and looked at her in the eye. "What's wrong?"
"It's just that—" She paused. "My mom promised that she wouldn't release this to the press. How could she betray me like this?"
"Hey, hey, hey." I wiped away her tears. "They were probably pressured to. You know how the press is."
"But who leaked it?" She asked, her eyes filled with innocence. I shook my head.
"I don't know." We were ended up cuddling (A/N: 😏, jkjk but since its jaemins pov that's how he views it... jieun... 🤷), in the silence and the sound of her sniffling nose.
"I'm sorry." She said, breaking the silence. I looked at her.
"What do you mean?" I asked her.
"Just..." She sighed. "I feel like I'm overreacting to this situation. I shouldn't be panicking because no one knows who I am except for our families."
"I'll cover for you." I smiled at her.
"What do you mean?" She asked, concerned.
"I'll reveal myself to our friends." I shrugged. "They're bound to learn of the news."
"But wouldn't that also make me suspicious?" She asked me.
"Well, since you keep denying that we aren't a couple, hopefully," I crossed my fingers. "They'll heed your words and not put two and two together."
"But what If they don't realize that you're the heir?" Jieun began, tearing herself away from me. "What if they just think that it's someone else? This way no one will know about us!"
"Jieun—"
"I think we can do this!" She began to repeat herself. "We can do this..."
"Jieun!" I called out to her. She turned to look at me. "They'll know it's me."
"What do you mean?" She asked.
"I, uh," I tried to avoid her gaze. "I invited the guys over here once. They figured it out once they saw the company magnet with my face next to my parents' face on the fridge."
"You're lying..." JIeun trailed. "Please tell me you're lying."
"I'm not." I looked down, ashamed at my words. I heard her sigh.
"Ok, so we just have to convince your friends that I'm not the heir that's married to you and we should be fine." She said. I looked up to see her eyes wet. I tried to go up to her, but she blocked me. "I'm fine. I promise."
"Are you?" I asked her, daring to look her in the eyes. She nodded.
Hey, it's Jeno. Pick up your phone. IT'S JENO, PICK UP YOUR PHONE!
I checked to see that it was Jeno calling me. To this day, I still wonder how he managed to upload his voice recording as his ringtone for his phone number on my phone. We switch phones for one day and this is what I get.
"Hello?" I answered.
"Bro, I just read the news article," Jeno started. "You're married?!"
"Uh," I looked at Jieun. She had her face buried in her hands and was sighing. "Yeah."
"Since when?!" Jeno exclaimed. "And you didn't bother to tell your best friend?"
"Well, I wanted to keep it a secret." I admitted.
"Is it Jieun?" Jeno asked. I could see his eye smile when he asked that.
"No." I lied. "I don't want to reveal her identity until her parents give her consent."
"It's Jieun." Jeno said.
"I said it wasn't." I told him again.
"You suck at lying." Jeno retorted. "I can see your face blushing and your smile happening."
"I always smile!" I complained.
"But blush?" Jeno said. I could see his smile get bigger. "You only blush when you're embarrassed or when you're lying. And you never get embarrassed."
"What about when I do aegyo?" I asked him.
"Are you doing that now?" He asked. I didn't respond. "That's what I thought."
"Jeno," I began. "Whatever you're thinking of doing, you better stop."
"Don't worry!" I heard Jeno laugh. "I won't tell anyone!"
"Except?" I raised my eyebrows. "There's an except in there, I can hear it."
"I didn't say except though." Jeno pouted. "Do you not trust me?"
"I don't." I told him. "Who were you planning on telling?"
"Well, uh," Jeno stuttered. "That's confidential."
"Let me guess," I began. "Mark?"
"How'd you—" He stopped himself. "I wasn't going to tell Mark! Pshh. You're hallucinating."
"Renjun?" I said another name.
"What the—" He stopped himself again. "Dream on! Like I would tell him."
"Hmm..." I pretended to think. "How about we throw in Donghyuck?"
"Now that you mention it, I think I should tell him." Jeno said.
"Wait, you didn't consider him?" I asked, surprised.
"Not really—Ack!" Jeno said. He began to make weird noises on the phone. "Crzz—I—crzz—hear—crzz crzz—signal—crzz crzz—Bye!" And he hung up.
"This guy..." I muttered to myself as I stared at my phone. I began to get a spam of messages on the group chat.
Marky 😊
Congrats Jaemin!
DoNgHyUcK
UR GETTING MARRIED
DoNgHyUcK
AND U DIDNT TELL US?!?!?1
JISUNG PWARK
WHAT?
Le Dolphin
GO TO SLEEP JISUNG
JISUNG PWARK
MAKE ME
Le Dolphin
UR A MINOR
JISUNG PWARK
SO R U
Le Dolphin
I THINK ITS PAST UR BEDTIME
JISUNG PWARK
SAME FOR U
-_-
guys....
BESTIE 💖
i think both of u need
to go to sleep...
BESTIE 💖
renjun seems pretty
pissed....
Me
LANGUAGE
Me
THERE ARE CHILDREN HERE
BESTIE 💖
i dont give a shit
-_-
ITS FUCKIN 2 AM AND
I NEED SLEEP
-_-
WHY DONT WE ADRESS
THIS ISSUE IN THE MORNING?
-_-
THANK U VERY MUCH
Me
LANGUAGE
JISUNG PWARK
*Address
-_-
I DONT FLIPPIN CARE
-_-
GO TO SLEEP
JISUNG PWARK
k
Le Dolphin
k
JISUNG PWARK
One k is enough
-_-
GO TO SLEEP 🤬
"Is this what you guys talk about?" I heard Jieun's voice beside me. I looked over to see her looking at our group chat. "I don't know who to feel bad for, me or you."
"What do you mean?" I asked.
"Just read." She handed me her phone. "The names and text should hopefully explain."
Anna 🏳
GUYS
Anna 🏳
GUys
Anna 🏳
GUYS
Anna 🏳
HAVE U SEEN THE NEWS
Best FRAND 🙃
no
Best FRAND 🙃
nor do I care for it 🤷
THE BEST GIRL IN THE WORLD 💖
Lucas... its 2 in the morning
Anna 🏳
BUT YOOJIN
Anna 🏳
JAEMIN IS MARRIED
Hans (but better)
SiNcE wHeN?
Anna 🏳
SINCE NOW
Anna 🏳
AND IS THAT SARCASM
Hans (but better)
dEfInItElY nOt
Anna 🏳
SHUT UP JUNGWOO
Anna 🏳
SO WHOS THE MYSTERY GIRL?
Best FRAND 🙃
why r u typing in caps ?
Me
Cuz he's lucas and he
always shouts
Best FRAND 🙃
true true
THE BEST GIRL IN THE WORLD 💖
Can we not try to bash on my bf?
Me
But its lucas...
Hans (but better)
HOLY CRAP
Hans (but better)
I JUST READ THE NEWS
Hans (but better)
JIEUN IS THAT U
Me
Bruh -_-
Me
Just bc my last name is park
doesnt make it automatic
that im the one that married Jaemin
Hans (but better)
BUT U TWO ALWAYS HANG OUT
Hans (but better)
DONT LIE TO ME
Hans (but better)
IVE SEENT IT ALL
Best FRAND 🙃
ooh he got u there
Me
U know what
Me
Im tired
Me
Lets just talk in the morning
Best FRAND 🙃
she's guilty guys
Hans (but better)
Yep
Anna 🏳
I second it
THE BEST GIRL IN THE WORLD 💖
Guys just go to sleep
THE BEST GIRL IN THE WORLD 💖
But I approve of it as well
so nct c finally performed.