SCENE XIV | SCENE LXVI

❝PRIORITY❞

THE LOOK JANGMI shot his way instantly made jimin nervous the moment he walked into the kitchen. his eyes widened a fraction as he watched her move around the kitchen, pulling out ingredients for egg toast. he pressed his lips together before finally speaking. "did my dad say anything offensive?" he glanced at rosalie playing with blanche on the floor next to the dining table.

"no, but he said something interesting about a board meeting." she placed the pan on the stove. his eyes rounded at her words. "and um..." he cleared his throat awkwardly, "what did he say about it?" he shoved one hand in his pocket as he approached her from the other side of the island. "what do you think he said?" she redirected, glancing at him as she began to toast bread slices. "no clue. my dad can say anything." he shrugged. she said nothing and just stared at him.

"so the board found out about rosalie, huh?" her gaze moved back to the breakfast she was making for them. her tone was casual but he could hear the slight tension in her voice. so his father had said enough for jangmi's sharp mind to piece together what had happened. "how long were you going to keep it away from me?" she asked softly. he couldn't detect any annoyance in her tone yet he felt apprehensive. "forever?" he replied cheekily, an awkward smile on his face. "i didn't want you worrying about nothing."

"what did they say?" she finally glanced at him, eyes daring him to lie to her. "they were being nosy, trying to find out who you are, trying to find out about rosalie. i told them it was none of their business." he answered truthfully, eyes on her.

her head tilted to the side in shock. "what?" she gasped out. "and what happened?" she questioned only for him to shrug nonchalantly. "i kind of tuned out after answering a couple of questions." he replied quietly. she paused in the middle of moving the bread out of the pan and gaped at him. "you tuned out?" her voice was full of disbelief. "i was getting a nasty headache and their voices were annoying." he took the pan from her and transferred the toasts before they all got charred. "wow, jimin you're unbelievable." she drawled, finally moving on to the eggs.

"i listened to the important bits." he said defensively. "at least, i think i did. whatever conclusion they came to isn't really going to change the way i live my personal life. and if they don't like it, that's too bad for them." he placed the pan back on the stove.

"they asked me what would happen if a scandal broke out over this. and i told them that my first priority would be keeping you and my daughter's names and faces out of the tabloids. the conglomerate may be an artificial person but it doesn't have feelings, you two do. and honestly, i think the worst that would happen if this came out is that not so many women would be itching to marry me. and if some backwards thinker feels that me being a father before a husband somehow makes me unfit to do business with, that's his loss. my priorities will not change. it really only makes them hypocrites because if we're being honest here, a good percentage of these older businessmen have kids outside of their marriages. they shouldn't act like they don't dip their hands in different honeypots because even though everyone knows of their infidelities, no one ever addressed them or put them in the papers."

the snort that jangmi let out surprised jimin a little. "dip their hands in different honeypots?" she echoed with a laugh. "that was all you took from everything that i said." he shot her a dry look, unable to believe how easily she made light of all he'd said. "i'm sorry, you were riding a great wave until you said that." she pressed the back of her hand against her lips as she continued to chuckle unrestrained.

"i hate you." he scowled, grabbing the egg mixture from her and pouring it in the pan. she didn't seem to care as she continued to laugh, tears running down from the corner of her eyes whilst she continued to repeat the phrase. "is this payback for the whole clown makeup thing?" he mumbled, eyeing her amused form next to him. "i think i got payback for that yesterday." she grabbed her phone from the island, rocking it from side to side in her hand to remind him of a all the pictures she had of him with rosalie's version of makeup on.

"i really hate you." he mused, turning the stove off once he was satisfied with the omelets. smiling, she leaned up on her tiptoes and ruffled his hair sweetly. "i love you too." she chimed with one last laugh and turned towards the refrigerator to grab the bottle of orange juice. jimin felt his heart hammer against his chest at her words, glancing over his shoulder at the mirthful woman. oh, how he wished she did.

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update because it's rosalie's birthday in real time y'all! so happy birthday rosalie gijeog han! haha