ACT XI | SCENE LIV

❝TASTE TESTING❞

JEONGGUK STOPPED THE car at the pastry shop that sold his favourite desserts and pastries. "this is it." he turned to yoongi, who stared at the building. jeongguk twisted around in his seat to beam at haneul. "we're here, haneulie." he informed, watching her already bright eyes glimmer even more.

she stretched forward in her car seat, attempting to look over the window at the shop. yoongi glanced at her and smiled before unbuckling his seatbelt and getting out. he opened the backdoor and leaned inside to release haneul from her car seat. lifting her out of the car carefully, he straightened to his full height. "now, you can see it without straining."

she beamed brightly and slipped her small hand into his. "let's go." he said just as she reached back inside the car for her backpack. closing the door after her, he took her hand and led her inside.

the inside of sweet spot smelt divine. yoongi couldn't pinpoint what exactly it was but it could only be described as the classic bakery fragrance. yoongi wasn't really big on sweets, but it would probably smell like heaven to a child. he glanced to the side and caught his friend's excited expression. and jeongguk apparently.

they walked up to the counter and haneul let go of yoongi's hand to stare at the pastries in the display case, hands and nose pressed against the glass. yoongi chuckled again. so there were circumstances where she would be the one to let go of him first—for example, where cake or toys were involved.

his phone began to buzz in his pocket. taking it out, he glanced at the contact name on the screen. a small sigh slipped past his lips. it was an important call and he was going to have to take it.

"little one?" he called. the little lifted her head to look up at him expectantly. "i have to talk to someone on the phone for a little bit." he told her and then crouched down. "so pick out the cake that you want. you can pick something for rian too. and her friend, nurse kim. she said he wasn't having a good day so you can pick something nice to cheer him up." he smiled, patting her hair.

"uncle nurse tae is sad?" her eyebrows went up and lips pushed out in a pout. "it seems so. so get him something he'll like, hm?" he replied. haneul bobbed her head in response. "and make sure to stick close to jeongguk and don't talk to strangers."

"okay." a small smile and another bob of her head. "good girl." he patted her hair softly and straightened to his full height. "watch her." he mouthed to jeongguk who nodded. his phone had already stopped buzzing by now.

he stepped away from the two, calling the number back. he turned his back to them, listening to the call connect. it rang twice before it was answered. "yes, hello? mr nam?"

"yes, president. i was calling about the information you requested?" the voice on the other end promptly began. yoongi remained quiet, waiting for him to continue. "i was going to bring a file to you but i was told you'd left the office early today." mr nam continued. "yes, i had something important to attend to." yoongi answered.

"alright, sir. i'll email the information to you today so you can access it quickly, since you said that you needed it as soon as possible." mr nam said. "oh, and sir? my wife also has some other suggestions. i wasn't sure if you'd want that, so i thought i'd let you know first so you can decide."

yoongi glanced back to see jeongguk and haneul having an amiable conversation with the person behind the counter. he heard snippets of what they were saying and deduced that they were already picking pastries. he smiled when he saw her point at something in the display case to which the attendant grinned and nodded.

turning back around, he focused on responding to the man on the other side of the line. "ah, yes. that would be more than fine with me. i want to gather as many resources as i can, so i'd like as many helpful suggestions as i can get."

"noted, sir. i'll have my wife detail it out and send it to you as soon as possible." mr nam answered. yoongi's lips pressed in a small, appreciative smile. "thank you, mr nam. your help is tru—"

"haneulie?!"

yoongi's heart rate spiked and he twisted around at the sound of jeongguk's sudden, panicked yell. the sight that greeted him made his blood run cold. jeongguk was on his knees, a pale faced, wheezing haneul in his arms. she was scratching at her skin which was gradually turning red, and crying even as she struggled to breathe. forgetting all about the call, he rushed to their side.

"what happened?!" he asked, glancing between a panicked jeongguk and the frantic attendant who was already calling 119. "i don't know. the attendant offered free tasting before picking cake flavours. she took a bite and she was going for another but the next thing i knew—"

"shit. were there peanuts in any of them?" yoongi asked, already unzipping haneul's backpack and frantically shuffling through its contents. "yes..." the attendant answered. "she's allergic." yoongi practically growled, tossing books out of the yellow bag. there was a collective gasp. "jeongguk, call rian, right now." he instructed and the younger man instantly lurched for yoongi's abandoned phone.

"sunflower, hold on, okay?" his voice was soft, greatly contrasting with the careless way his hands shifted things out of the little girl's bag. "keep your eyes open for me, hm?" he said, keeping his eyes on her paling face. her big brown eyes were tearing up and yoongi could feel his heart ripping to shreds.

feeling frustrated, he turned the backpack over and let the contents fall to the floor. finally, his gaze landed on what he'd been searching for. an epipen. he'd found it but he wasn't exactly clear on how to use it. and he wasn't planning on risking administering it wrongly and making things worse. "fuck. fuck. fuck." he muttered a continuous string of colourful words.

"how long till the ambulance gets here?" he asked the attendant. "they said they were sending one out immediately." she replied. it had been less than a minute but it felt like hours to yoongi. he turned to his friend desperately. "hasn't she answered?"

jeongguk looked at him with tear-filled eyes. "it's ringing."

🌻🌻🌻

*takes off running* love y'all! bye!