"oh my god! really?" jiah bursts out laughing, dropping the chopsticks on her plate as she's laughing so hard. jihun, who's sitting on a high chair beside jiah, stares at her with confused eyes. he eventually joins her in whatever was so funny, clapping his hands and laughs along with his mother and her friend.

"yeah, and then i just ended up embarrassing myself in front of him..." jaesung sighs, his cheeks turning into a shade of pink as he takes a bite of his croissant, "but at least we ended up together." he mutters in the end, to which jiah grins, nodding her head in agreement.

"yeah, that's a good thing. i'm literally so happy for you!" she says with a clink of their glasses. jaesung ends up smiling as jiah never stops gushing about how this was a great news. it's only when her phone rings, interrupting her praises, that she excuses herself and pulls back from the conversation to answer the call from an unknown number.

"hello, is it miss park jiah speaking?" it's a man's voice and jiah tries to remember if it could be parcel or something that she ordered and forgot.

"yes?" she hums.

"good morning, ma'am. i'm from the park group of companies. we went through your resumé and we'd like to inform you that you're eligible for the personal interview round with our team." he says, making jiah frown in confusion, for she's sure she never applied there after resigning.

"wait, i think there's a misunderstanding. i didn't apply for a job there." she says.

"is that so? your name and resumé was in the waiting list. the board short listed you out of a bunch of other people. i suggest you not lose this opportunity, since you've clearly added in your file that you wish to work with us." he's not rude, but the way he presses on bugs jiah a bit and she heaves out a deep sigh.

"where's your boss?" she hisses, getting no response from the man, which makes her chuckle in disbelief, "give him the phone."

of course park jimin would do something like this to get her back to work with him. he must be missing the secretary with whom he got to have fun with, joke around and even kiss sometimes. now thinking about it, jiah regrets giving in to his tempting personality and attractive aura. someone said it right, pretty boys are like a spell. and jiah felt quite restricted against it because no matter how much she likes being by herself away from negativity, her eyes betray her every so often and just end up sitting right on park jimin all for he's too hot to handle.

it's ridiculous at this point. annoying how he did so much and jiah still can't get over those beautiful eyes and lucious lips. if she meets him again and he tries anything funny, she might just say it to his face- "park jimin, i hate you for how you treated me. but fuck you're so gorgeous."

she rolls her eyes at herself, judging her own thoughts until the shuffling sound is replaced by a voice on the line. "i'm sorry," he says. she knows that.

jiah scoffs at his soft, hushed voice, shaking her head and hears him breathe this time before speaking up, "i'm really sorry for everything i've done so far. i know i acted like an asshole to you, and i don't blame you if you don't wanna bother yourself with me anymore. i did mess up pretty bad... i shouldn't've-"

"oh, get some help! you think doing all this now is gonna change anything?" she asks, her voice firm and confident. "i know what you want, mr park. your new secretary probably isn't doing enough to keep up with you- or maybe you can't touch and kiss her? is that why you want me back?"

"jiah." he warns her, "you know it's not like that. i never took any advantage of you, and i never will. i- i don't even..." he sighs deeply, "what made you say that? did i ever make you uncomfortable, jiah? swear on your heart and tell me, you didn't like it?"

jiah looks away, nibbling on her lip, "no," she says, scrunching up her face at the lie. every part of her body reacts to the absurd answer, knowing it very well that she was a sucker for this man's charming personality. it takes her a moment to gether herself back, remembering all the bad things he did to her all over again until she feels stable enough to not simp on him like a stupid girl.

"pretty little liar," jimin chuckles lightly, almost as he was mocking at her- as though he could hear ber thoughts, and that makes her breath hitch. "let's meet up? please?"

"no-"

"just for an hour? i just wanna explain everything to you, jiah. just hear me out once. i was drunk that night and just went to your place- that was a bad move, i know... but please, i just want you to let me explain and after that i'll accept whatever your decision is."

"why?" jiah asks, annoyed already with his request, "why do you have to do that? can't you accept my decision without all this drama? look mr park, i told you in the very beginning that i'm not the one you should fall for. but you didn't listen and then-"

"we can't do this over a call. please, let's just meet up, jiah. wherever you say, i'll come."

jiah massages his temples, "this will be the last time i'm giving in."

"thank you! thank you so much, jiah! so, where do you wanna-"

"i'll come to your office in an hour." she says with a determined nod to herself, "also, i did a mistake not making the payments clear earlier when i left. so, i hope you and your new fucking secretary will have my check ready on the table by the time i arrive. i didn't put up with you for free, mr park."

jimin just hums softly and jiah hangs up, groaning to herself for doing this. yes, she had to go there to collect her payment from the last month the twenty days she worked under jimin this month, because due to some technical issue a few employees including jiah didn't get their salary on time. it usually goes straight to her bank account, but now that she's not an employee anymore, the terms and conditions said that she would have to visit the office and sign a few documents to carry out the transactions, which doesn't even make sense to her.

returning back to their table after a long call where her friend and son have been waiting, she smiles awkwardly, picking up her chopsticks and stuffs her mouth with food. jaesung is about to ask her something, when her phone rings again, and this time it's jungkook. "i'm so sorry, jae." jiah pouts, picking up her phone and answers quickly, covering up her mouth with her hand as she whispers on the microphone. "hey, i'll call you back later. i'm kinda busy right now."

"busy doing what? i just called you to ask if you wanted to join me hit the gym?"

"uhm i don't know." jiah says, "now bye, i'm with a friend right now."

"oh okay, i won't disturb you then. but call me when you're done, i'll pick you up an-"

"thank you, jungkook. but i'll manage."

"i don't mind being your personal uber." he grins.

"okay, jeon. byyeee!" she sings whining to him before hanging up and switches her phone to silent mode, giving thumbs up to jaesung. "done. nobody will bother us now."

the guy chuckles at that, shrugging his shoulders and asks, "i told you about my love life. now it's your turn. why are so many guys calling you?" he wiggles his eyebrows at her, making her cringe.

"eh, it's not what you're thinking. the first one was regarding a job offer. and the second one was from jungkook. he was asking if i wanted to go to the gym with him." she says, taking a bite and realises it's too big. coughing a little, she instantly goes for her glass of water and takes a deep breath after gulping everything down.

"and you said no?" jaesung asks, "he's kinda hot i'd have to give him that."

jiah laughs at that, nodding slowly when she thinks about it, "he is... you're right." she mumbles, suddenly not finding it funny anymore and leans forward, "he's also been pretty nice and caring lately!"

"that's a plus," jaesung chuckles.

"yeah, but i don't wanna date- or like be associated with anyone romantically. we're friends right now, and i think i'd like to keep it that way." jiah nods with a small sigh, "and about jimin, he better learn soon that he was the one who pushed me away, that too in a very disrespecting way."

"exactly. you shouldn't go back to him ever. i don't understand why these guys keep hurting a sweet girl like you." he shakes his head, then turns to jihun and pinches his cheeks gently, "and this little baby just adds more to your sweetness."

"no, jae. he makes me turn into a dinosaur."

"mamma dino'shaur!" jihun laughs, "silly!"

"see?" jiah rolls her eyes, "he acts all sweet and innocent in front of others and mean to me because then i won't be able to get mad."

"mamma sho bad... nuh-uh," jihun shakes his head, "liar mamma. yoo'gi u'cle scoldin' mamma- bein' bad gurl!"

"no, he won't. i'll scold him first for teaching you all this." jiah huffs.

"no, yoo'gi is big! mamma shmall," he giggles, making jiah gasp while jaesung bursts out laughing.

"he's so smart for his age!" jaesung exasperates, "i've never seen a baby have such sharp comebacks."

"that's all thanks to his precious yoongi uncle." jiah groans, "i'll deal with you at home, jihun. who will save you from me then?"

"daddy!"

"oh..." jaesung quiets down, sensing how jiah falls silent for a moment. but instead of feeling bad or anything she pulls the toddler towards herself and leans closer, scrunching her face.

"mamma's stronger than your daddy."

"no, daddy sho stwong!"

"nah, daddy can't win against me." she grins, "and what kind of baby are you? you should be in my team, ji."

jihun pouts at that, "ji sho good baby..."

"yeah? but ji's turning into a bad baby."

"noooo! ji' sho good! mamma an-and ji wuv you..."

"okay then, i'll believe you. i love you too."

"mm," jihun nods, getting on jiah's lap and turns to jaesung, waving at him, "bye-bye, mamma an' ji goin'. bye-bye!"

"uh- yeah, bye," jaesung nods, waving back at him and jiah chuckles. they get up once they're eating, now having a struggle about why the other person can pay next time. jaesung wins and ends up paying with a grin, while jiah thanks him for the lunch, also giving a quick hug before parting ways.

"alright," she takes a deep breath, walking with jihun, who looks at her waiting for her to say something. "now we have to go to some really bad place and meet bad people to get some good work done."

"mm?" jihun tilts his head, not understanding any of it and jiah pats his head.

"means we have to go to jimin's office, meet him and get my cheque."

"chimin? who' dat?"

"jimin is... remember that man who came home like an idiot? he didn't have a shirt and you kept crying when you saw him?"

jihun doesn't listen to her, busy fiddling with her earrings that suddenly feel very fascinating to him. jiah sighs as well, not making more effort to get her two-year-old to recall an unpleasant day. walking to the bus stop, it doesn't take too long and at this point she wonders if taking jihun with her would be okay or not. she can't go back all the way to find yoongi in his restuarant to hand him over for a while, or go to seokjin at this hour when she knows that all the kids will be leaving soon anyway.

she already spent her afternoon gossiping with jaesung, and now it's almost evening, the realisation dawning upon jiah that she should've been studying at home instead. heaving out a deep breath of exasperation, she gets up from the seat that she sat on, getting on the bus that just stopped in front of her. she takes the single seat near the window, smiling at her son, who stands on the little space left on her side, leaning on the window.

"mumumummm..." he babbles, watching outside and jiah hums in response, holding him all the way so that he wouldn't lose balance and fall.

jihun turns around after a while, looking around the bus and leans on jiah, resting his head on her shoulder, quietly watching the old woman on the seat behind them. "are you sleepy, ji?" jiah asks, patting his back gently and jihun blinks a few times, not replying to her. "okay, sleep," jiah makes him sit properly on her lap and pulls him in a hug as he sits facing her on her lap.

"mamma..."

"yes baby? do you want something?" jiah asks, placing her hands on his back and leans down to kiss the tip of his nose, making him giggle lightly. "my baby's sleepy now, i see." she chuckles.

"mi'k mamma," jihun mumbles, touching jiah's top and she gasps, pulling his hand down and shakes her head.

"no, not here, and also you just ate." she says.

"mi'k!" jihun pouts, moving his other hand and grips on the fabric of her top, tugging on it with all his might.

"jihun, no." jiah scolds him, adjusting her top and sighs, "please, i'll feed you when we get home, okay?" she tries to reason him, as though he wasn't two. jihun starts crying, but thankfully for jiah it's already their time to get off the bus.

giving apologetic looks to the people around her, she quickly gets off in front of the building that belongs to park jimin, and now beside the street, she's trying to make her toddler stop crying. "hey, don't cry, ji. we'll go home quickly." she says, patting his back and heads inside the building, not giving a damn that people are giving her judgemental looks and unpleasant glances for having a wailing toddler.

she asks nothing to anyone and heads straight to the elevator, going to namjoon's office first. his secretary meets her on the way, smiling for she recognises jiah and bows to her, "hello, miss jiah." she greets, then sends a hesitant glance towards the sobbing jihun, still trying to get his mother to listen to him and breastfeed him.

"hello, uhm is president kim in his office?" jiah asks, "it's an emergency. i need to see him."

"yes, of course. he just got done with a meeting. you can head inside."

"thank you," jiah smiles, taking quick steps forward and barges in namjoon's office without even a knock.

"who- oh," namjoon breaks into a smile, "jiah?" although his smile doesn't stay for that long, because his eyes quickly travel back to his side where there's jimin standing. they were probably having an important discussion. jiah gulps nervously, walking with much slower steps now and mumbles out an apology.

"i should've knocked... i'm sorry," she mutters.

"it's alright," namjoon assures with a sincere smile, stepping closer to her and extends out his arms for jihun, who quickly leans forward and goes to him. "hey, what's making our little jihun so upset?"

"bad mamma...." jihun cries, hugging namjoon like his life depends on it.

"dramatic," jiah sighs, shaking her head at her son and namjoon just chuckles, rubbing the toddler's back.

"mamma giv' ji' mik..."

"you're hungry?" namjoon asks, sitting down with jihun. the toddler hums softly, sniffling and rubbing his eyes then points at his mouth.

"mi'k..."

"oppa, can you please distract him a little? i am here to talk to mr park," jiah says, glancing at jimin with her last words.

jimin sighs, straightening his coat and gestures his hand towards the door, "let's go to my office," he lets out.

"that would be better." jiah agrees, not wanting to do anything in front of her son and namjoon. "i'll come and take him a in a while, oppa. i'm so sorry, i had nowhere to leave him right now."

"it's okay, jiah. i barely get to see jihun these days. work can wait for a bit."

"thanks a lot. you're a lifesaver!" jiah smiles at him, before following jimin out of the office.

________

a/n- again after a long time. i know you all- some of you at least must've been waiting for an update. actually i was sick for the past few days and couldn't get anything done (maybe some of you even know about it if u read my message on my mb.) but now i'm feeling better thankfully, so again back to writing and studying and more writing and more studying lol 😭👍 anyway, vote if you like the chapter a lot. and please take care of yourselves it sucks to be ill 🤧

spoiler!!!!!! jimin and taehyung appearing in the next chapter shsksjkshskd