03 / Entangled in Unfaithfulness

Entangled in Unfaithfulness
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Wet.

His hair was extremely wet. Did he wet his car? Ara thought. She could see the small droplets of water falling down his hair and even his neck. How could someone not stare at him? He was too attractive. Ara just kept thinking about how his shirt would look if it were wet—if it would show more underneath it.

"Ara? Should we go now?" Jungkook asked, snapping her out of her imagination. Ara nodded, finding herself in a 'I don't want to be awkward' position.

In the car, Jungkook drove in silence, expecting Ara to say something. Of course, she was dumb enough to allow a stranger to take her home, which left Jungkook concerned. She was used to her spoiled life with bodyguards near her every second. Now, she had to live like a normal person and she had to get used to it.

"You trust me this much?" he asked, focusing on the road without taking a slight glance at her. Ignoring the question completely, Ara showed him an address on her phone.

"Try something funny and I'll spray you with my pepper spray," she said as he chuckled. He took a second glance at the address and his smile faded. It seemed too familiar.

"You live there?" he struggled to ask her. He had visited that house multiple times before so he was certain of who lived there.

"Basically, yes. It's my friend's house. We're roommates, but in reality, she just allows me to stay there. She already fully paid off the house. You see, she's very rich. Extremely."

Jungkook nodded, having a mental breakdown, of course, in his mind. Not only was Minji someone he knew, but that was his ex. The one who cheated on him with another person—a girl. He raised his eyebrow, thinking to himself. How is she doing? Is she still with that girl? Was that actually real, or did she lie about being a lesbian? He thought too much. He thought she probably lied to him in order to dump him in the end. That possibility really hurt him.

"Does Minji—have a girlfriend?" he asked, shocking Ara. She furrowed her eyebrows and looked at him, slightly confused.

"I never told you her name. Or that she had a girlfriend."

Jungkook gulped before he turned to face her for a second. He thought of something fast and blurted, "You mention the name, Ara! Don't you remember? I'm just worried about you. I didn't know if Minji was a girl or a guy and I assumed it was a guy since it sounds like the name Mingi. Which is crazy because I know someone at work named Mingi and it's a guy—so I asked if he had a girlfriend because I was worried your roommate might be a creep or something."

Ara looked at him suspiciously. She wasn't crazy. She never said her name and Jungkook's lies were remarkably straightforward. Jungkook parked on the side of the road and turned to Ara as he faked a smile. He didn't want to tell her something that was left in the past. All he thought was that it was a crazy coincidence to meet a friend of Minji's that way. Mainly, Minji's roommate.

"You know she's your friend's sister, right?" Ara asked, but he remained silent.

He ignored the question and just said, "I'm a good guy. Trust me."

He giggled softly at the end. Ara smiled back just like he did, faking it.

"You have a co-worker named Mingi, right?" Ara asked as he nodded. "What's your job?"

"You don't believe me, do you?" Jungkook asked, and Ara shook her head in response. He chuckled because at least she was being honest, and he admired that.

"I own a company," he said as Ara furrowed her eyebrows. "I'm the CEO of the publishing company JJ Inc. Last month, I took over as CEO when my father retired and stepped down. He named the company after him, Jeon Jaeyoon."

Ara swallowed his words but didn't know if she believed them or not. However, something was very familiar about the company's name. Strangely familiar.

"I'm not lying about this," he said. "We've had many popular writers sign with us. Let's see—oh—do you know Lee Chaewon?"

"Lee Chae who?" Ara asked, more in disbelief rather than confusion.

"You know, Byun Haneul's former wife—oh—wait," Jungkook replied before he realized what he was saying. A "Byun" was sitting right beside him while he was talking about her own parents.

"My mother, Lee Chaewon, and my father, Byun Haneul," Ara said as Jungkook remained with his mouth wide open. "That's why your company is so familiar. My mother signed with JJ Inc. when she published her books."

Jungkook remained dumbfounded. Now he was the one who wouldn't believe Ara. He couldn't. Lee Chaewon was a prodigy and, most importantly, rich. Ara was nothing. Ara, on the contrary, started making sense of his words little by little. Why would he lie about such a specific detail? He was friends with a successful man, so he probably was successful too. The elites always knew how to find each other. Mainly if they were in that one percent club. The reunions Ara always received invitations for, but never ended up attending. The invites that stopped arriving after the failed marriage. She was no longer worthy of joining the elites, as she wasn't one of them anymore.

Jungkook seemed like a successful man. After all, they were sitting inside a Maserati. He had to have money and too much of it.

At that moment, Ara noticed another car that wasn't Minji's parked next to the house. Whenever that car parked outside, Ara had to be gone for the next few hours. She knew that. If not, she would witness a lot of things she did not want to see, mainly after seeing Eunha grab those condom packages.

"To answer your question from earlier, Jungkook. Minji is dating someone. That's her girlfriend's car," Ara said, pointing at it. "And yeah, she's a lesbian."

"Oh!" Jungkook chuckled. His expression seemed like he was faking being surprised. He knew it. He nodded, taking in the information that was just told to him. Ara smiled and turned to the door. As she was about to open it, she stopped herself, realizing she had nothing else to do.

"Jungkook, are you busy today?"

+

"Come on, baby," he said, softly caressing her hair. "I know you want to try for a baby, but I think it's too early. What if we wait? Until after the wedding? Think about it. The companies need to process the wedding news first and it was just released not long ago. We need to give it time."

Eunha scoffed as she crossed her arms and turned to the side of the bed. She refused to talk to him. She wanted a baby—no—she needed his baby. Jimin did too, but things weren't so easy with an arranged marriage. There was paperwork to do and meetings to coordinate. A wedding to prepare was no joke. Everything took time and preparation. He also wasn't ready for a child at such a crucial moment in his career. He was afraid that he wouldn't be able to take care of a baby while he was busy with work all the time.

"Baby," he said. "I'm really sorry, but I promise you we will have a baby soon. Real soon."

+

"You like living dangerously, don't you?" Jungkook asked. "You barely know me, but you don't confront me for anything I've said or done. I feel scared for you."

It was a cold winter night. Jungkook joked around, seeing Ara freezing up as she walked down the street before him. He felt like he was the one in danger with her careless actions. However, the fact that she was Byun Haneul's daughter really left him intrigued. She entered a nearby cafe, and Jungkook followed right after her.

"Indeed, I live dangerously." She smiled, sitting down next to him on the stools. The weather outside was a nightmare, but inside it was warm and cozy. A server came along and handed the guy next to Ara a drink. He smiled and thanked her as she walked over to Ara, asking for what she'd like. Ara stayed looking at the man next to her. He looked pretty warm inside his hoodie, but even though he covered himself up, she could see him slightly.

"Two warm coffees, please," Jungkook said, noticing Ara wasn't listening as she focused on the man. The server left and Jungkook leaned forward to see the familiar phone on the table. The phone turned on with a notification and the wallpaper made Jungkook realize whose phone it was.

"Jimin? I was at your house today!" he said as he chuckled, giving a convincing and friendly smile. Ara then realized why the person looked so familiar to her. It was her new boss. He was finally wearing something other than a suit, but it still didn't answer whose shirts she had found before. They didn't match his sense of style, and she knew it. Ara had an ease to understand fashion. She had such an ability to know what type of clothes fit a person the best. She could sense a person's style of clothing from their personality, and those shirts were not hinting at Jimin whatsoever.

"Oh Jungkook, Ara. Nice seeing you both," he said as he also smiled back. That one wasn't convincing—at all. He took a glance at his phone and at the message that came in just before he grabbed his car keys and stood up. "I should go back home now. I'll see you tomorrow, Ara."

And just like that, he left. Ara turned to Jungkook, and he turned to her. They could both sense the strange aura he gave off. He didn't seem well, but at least the small interaction confirmed that Jungkook wasn't lying about being his friend. It left Ara more at ease.

"Maybe he had an argument with Eunha?" Jungkook wondered.

Ara just silently mumbled, "Maybe he did."

+

Early in the morning, Ara was making her special pancakes as Minji hugged her from behind. She apologized repeatedly for one simple reason Ara knew very well. The reason she couldn't go home the night before.

"Could she walk?" Ara asked, knowing her best friend and her special interests. "Seoyoon, I mean. The reason I had to take a detour last night before I came back home."

"Indeed. She was just extremely sore," Minji said. Ara looked down at the pancakes and sighed. She faked a smile for Minji and then grabbed a plate.

"Are you reminding yourself of your lonely sexual life? After your ex-boyfriend and after your ex-husband. You know, I could help fix that." Minji winked seductively. Ara glared at her in annoyance but continued making the pancakes she heavily asked for.

"Babe," Ara said as she took the plates to the table. "Your ex. Jungkook. What do you think of him?"

"Woah, slow down, sweetheart. H-How do you even know him? I never told you his name." Minji stuttered through her words. She sat down and started eating, stuffing the pancake in her mouth so she wouldn't have to talk. That relationship was supposed to stay in the past. Something she felt guilty of, but didn't want to speak about. She just wanted to avoid it as much as she could. She didn't want to remind herself of how terrible of a person she was.

"I met him yesterday. Your brother's friend, right? He drove me here and mentioned he knew who lived in this house. He told me about you both," Ara lied through her teeth just to get her to say something. She knew Jungkook wasn't willing to mention the past, so she had to get it out of someone else. Minji just stayed quiet. Ara nodded, responding to the silence. It wasn't Ara's place to be in, and she understood that pretty well.

"He's outside," Ara said. "He's taking me to work today. I'm going to change, so that means you can have approximately twenty minutes to talk to him. I recommend you do so. There seems to be something unresolved between you both, and it's unhealthy."

Ara walked to her room and left Minji debating over her decision. Then again, Minji wasn't about to blame anyone for what happened, except for herself. She had to apologize and say it to him face to face. She needed to close that chapter of her book properly, without hesitation.

Walking to the door, she opened it just to see a man leaning against his car. Indeed, it was Jungkook. He looked at his watch and then over to the front door. He saw Minji and completely froze. She walked to him and looked at his brown eyes that gazed into her soul.

"Hey," she said, in a low but audible tone. "Um, I heard you met my roommate, Ara."

Jungkook hummed in response as his body tensed up. He could barely look at her anymore.

"I know you don't want to see me again, but I need to apologize. I broke you. I did something horrible. I'm sorry."

Jungkook snapped back into reality when he heard those words. His world was crushed when he had to endure the breakup. He loved Minji so much, but that was the end. When she cheated, that was the end. It destroyed him so much that all his friends realized he really loved her. He endured so much confusion because his girlfriend had cheated on him with another girl. He couldn't understand if that was possible or if he was just being ignorant, but it hurt him so much. Right after that, she abandoned him.

"Are you dating her?" he asked, and she nodded immediately. She wasn't hiding any secrets at that point, and neither was he. "I don't resent you for it. You did what you had to do to be happy. I couldn't force you to like me if you didn't anymore. I just hoped you had told me beforehand. We could've talked about it. Yet, you told me after you slept with her and then disappeared."

"Jungkook, I'm extremely sorry," she apologized once again. "I just wasn't myself and she made me feel different. She made me feel so many emotions all at once. It's selfish, I know. And my words don't really help explain it—I just can't explain it. I know I should've told you about my feelings first. I was just a coward."

"It's okay, Minji. I'm happy for you," he said with a gentle smile appearing on his face. "I'm sure she makes you happy, and that's all that matters. All I ask is for us to go back to being friends. Just like it was in high school."

Those high school times were the best. They were the most known boy and girl of the school—even the most favorable duo amongst the students. Everyone adored them and they got along with most students their age. And then the feelings came along. They dated for a while. They did everything together. Constantly, they would walk to school as they held hands. They were in love.

She smiled warmly, and said, "Just how it was. Great friends."

+

"Come in," Jimin said with a pleasant smile. "Eunha isn't here as of now and I'll be going off to work, so I'll be back late."

Ara wondered about a lot of things. First off, how could a man like him date Eunha? He looked so innocent that Ara couldn't think of any other way to view him. Maybe he viewed Eunha in a way that was just like him: innocent. It left her confused, thinking that he wouldn't listen to his friends or even his sister when they told him the terrible things she had done. She couldn't understand how he wouldn't believe them.

Around an hour later, when Jimin left, Ara worked throughout the house as if it were her own. She cleaned up and down the stairs like a maniac. The house was never so messy when Jimin was there, but when Eunha slept over and stayed the whole day, everything was a mess. She thought women were supposed to be clean and organized, but Eunha didn't match the stereotype very well.

After the stairs, Ara was cleaning the kitchen floor until the front door opened and two figures walked in. She turned to look at the people from the corner of the kitchen wall and gasped in shock.

One was Eunha. The other was someone unknown.

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