ACT III | SCENE XII

❝RING❞

KIM TAEHYUNG WATCHED as his best friend nursed his beer. he had suddenly called him up and asked if he wanted to meet up. even though he was surprised - as he had thought jimin would be having a very important dinner - he had said yes.

"i never realised just how haughty and contemptuous my mother could be until this night." he mumbled out, swirling the beer around in the bottle. "how's jangmi?" taehyung queried quietly, remembering how frank and no-nonsense the woman tended to be. "pissed as hell. her face was red at some point."

taehyung pressed his lips together to hold back laughter at the image of jangmi with her face puffed out and red with anger. he failed and a raspberry like laugh escaped his lips.

cupping his chin in the palm of his right hand, jimin's left brow arched in question. "sorry, i just...whenever jangmi got red, she always reminded me of a strawberry." taehyung chortled. jimin's lips quirked up on one side in amusement. it was a bit funny whenever she went red in the face. he used to imagine smoke coming out her ears when they were dating.

"but jimin, when will i get to meet rosalie, hm?" his best friend pouted. "all you do is talk about the girl and i really want to see her. she sounds so cute!" he whined. jimin grinned at his friend. the man was like a child stuck in the body of an adult. moments like this, it amused him to no end how taehyung acted like a big baby especially since he sounded like he'd gone through puberty three times.

"when next i go see her, i'll take you with me." jimin told him. "is that a promise?" taehyung asked. "yes." he smiled. it disappeared a second later. "that's if jangmi lets me see her. i don't know but i'm scared they'll disappear again and i'll be separated from my daughter all because of my mother's brash, prideful words."

taehyung rolled his eyes. "we're talking about han jangmi here. that's not enough to have her running for the hills. if she had an anthem, it would be every independent woman song beyoncé has ever sung."

jimin chuckled at that. funny as it may have sounded, taehyung was right. jangmi had always been a strong, self-assured, independent woman as far back as he had known her. she had her pride which she guarded with leonine ferocity. and his mother had walked all over it without a thought.

holding the bottle by the neck, he twirled it around again, entranced by the hypnotising circular movement of the liquid inside. "stop doing that, it's distracting." taehyung took the bottle out of his hand. "sorry," jimin gave him a small smile. the kind that made the dimple that sat high up on his smile line appear. "so, are you going to do it?" taehyung asked after a moment. "do what?" jimin's brows dipped in confusion.

"put a ring on it." taehyung wiggled his fingers. "tae, we've discussed this. i'm not going to marry you." jimin replied dryly. "not me you dumbass! jangmi."

"what? no!" jimin's nose scrunched. "but why?" the question came out on a whine and jimin leaned forward to flick his friend's forehead. taehyung had always been a big supporter of his and jangmi's relationship and when they broke up, he seemed to be just as heartbroken as jimin.

"we've been broken up more than four years now. we don't love each other anymore. a part of me still gets mad when i see her and i'm pretty sure it's the same for her. plus, i'm not ready to get married, especially to her." he counted off his ringed fingers. taehyung's lips pursed in an exaggerated pout. "you won't marry me, you won't marry jangmi. yeah, you're going to die alone." he remarked playfully.

"tch," jimin clicked his tongue at the man, a smile playing at his lips. he took another swig of the one bottle of beer he'd been nursing since they got there.

"how's your big brother?" he asked when he got uncomfortable with the stare his friend fixed him with. "jin?" taehyung asked. "no, jon. how many big brothers do you have?" jimin replied sardonically. taehyung shot him a dirty look. "i think he's going to ask jisoo to marry him." he whispered. "really? finally. their relationship is as old as rosalie." jimin remarked. "i'm not sure though. he hasn't told me anything but he's been all antsy lately."

"jin? antsy?" jimin's eyes widened a bit. jimin had always thought kim seokjin's confidence was as unshakable as his shoulders were broad. his eyes narrowed a bit. "but how does him being antsy mean he's going to ask jisoo to marry him? he hasn't even told us and you know he would."

"junyoung." taehyung stated. jimin recognised the name. junyoung was the kims' chauffeur's chatty son. "his father told him that he drove jin to the jewellery store awhile back but he changed his mind and didn't buy anything at the last minute."

"well, then. i hope he makes up his mind soon. i want to be a groomsman." jimin commented. taehyung chuckled. "hey, jiminie?" he called. "hm?" jimin looked up from his drink. "you were ready to put a ring on a woman's finger once, were you nervous?" taehyung asked slowly. jimin paused for a minute before nodding. "i was scared shitless. and i ended up doing the opposite anyway."

taehyung's eyes raked over his friend's slightly saddened form. many things had gone wrong that time. but things were different now. they were all older and wiser.

"but jimin..." he ventured. jimin fixed his gaze on him. "can we go see rosalie tomorrow?" his upper lip was tugged behind his bottom lip which jutted out cutely as he made his eyes bigger.

jimin laughed, shaking his head at him. "okay, fine. we'll go tomorrow."

☀☀☀

yes, it's tae and he is finally in the picture! lmao i've been itching to get him in the story for a while now. and yes, jin's in the story as well but he'll show up much later bc i'm still figuring out how to write him into the story. but yeah, i looove vmin bc i think they have the cutest friendship and i just wanted to translate a version of it into baby mama, so number one vmin enthusiast here.