─── ·𖥸· ───

Jeon Jeongguk. The name rolls off her tongue like acid. Bitter, rancid and unwelcomed.

"Welcome home, Ms Yoon."

Minhee mentally grimaces the way Secretary Kim softly calls her in, drawing her attention from the nameplate outside to him where he stands holding the door open for her. As per one of the clauses in the contract, she finds herself here in front of Jeongguk's penthouse with two suitcases.

She walks inside the house, hissing at how dark it is inside— and it's early afternoon. Secretary Kim slides the curtains open, letting some sunlight in and Minhee is taken aback by the bleakness of the house.

The last time she was here, she didn't really pay much attention to Jungkook's house. It was dark then too but Jungkook's room was relatively warm and bright. But now? The living room seems to be a large playground with absolutely no hindrances— no dining table, no photos on the wall— just a sofa and a side table along with the small chandelier hanging from the ceiling.

The penthouse is beautiful in itself, the view is mesmerising with the way you can see one side of the city, along with the tall skyscrapers where the logos of Wings' and BE glow. Even she doesn't have this view from the Yoon Mansion.

"Your room would be this way." Secretary Kim says, pointing to a closed-door just before the kitchen. Minhee nods, pursing her lips at the house. It's not warm like she had thought, not the 'home' she expected Jungkook to live in. When Secretary Kim lets her inside the room, Minhee sighs.

It is empty—with just a bed, dresser and a desk in the three corners of the room. It looks quite spacious and Minhee recalls that Jungkook's room wasn't so. If she remembers it right then it must be half the size of her room.

It's too big. Too cold.

"Well then, I will leave you to make yourself comfortable. If you need any assistance, you can contact me here." Secretary Kim produces a card from his pocket, handing it over to Minhee. The latter clears her throat before saying, "I don't see any maids or butlers...?"

"CEO Jeon usually stays with his parents, so he hasn't hired anyone here yet. If he does come here at times, he cleans it up all by himself but if you require one, let me know."

Minhee nods, understandingly. Secretary Kim bows, ready to walk out of the room when Minhee chimes, "Thank you, Secretary Kim."

"Anytime, Ms Yoon."

He turns again to walk out when Minhee chuckles. "Don't you do too much for what you get paid for?"

"What can I do as a salaryman?" Secretary Kim shrugs.

"But don't you want something big? Like maybe own a company like your father, brother...?" Minhee quirks an eyebrow up. Kim shows no crack in his facade, it makes Minhee want to press in more.

"I would be able to, if I save enough, yeah."

"You could buy now instead of waiting for your savings to be enough." Minhee steps forward towards him, eyes fixed on his curious ones and not caring about the pain that keeps building up in the back of her neck from holding his gaze. "Wings. You could come to us."

For a moment it seems like Kim smiles but it quickly morphs into a neutral expression. "That fish you had given to CEO Jeon...you didn't bug the fish or anything, did you?"

Minhee fights the urge to groan too loudly. Secretary Kim is frustrating, a simple conversation is not enough for him. Now she gets why Jeongguk seems to be so carefree in his decisions. It's because he has this man who looks far too good and innocent but has the mind of an eagle paired with that pretty mouth of his.

It would take a billion hits for her to get one crack in him.

"Maybe I should have done that..." Minhee grits her teeth.

Secretary Kim nods, "If you were a boss like that, I would have worked with you."

Minhee scoffs. The man's too ridiculous to hold that back. "Why Jeongguk of all people? You working as a secretary is already absurd because you're the heir to the entire Kim group. But yet, I can understand you must have had a reason to be a secretary instead. But Jeongguk, he has years left for him to reach where Wings is—"

Secretary Kim steps back, and the action has Minhee pause in between. "Instead of focusing on what he doesn't have, you should focus on what he does." Kim shrugs, raising an eyebrow, "Years you say? We live in 2021 and success is possible overnight."

Minhee furrows her eyebrows. "That kind of success is inorganic. Temporary. You die before you even realise you've won."

"Interesting Ms Yoon." Secretary Kim smiles slightly, it takes Minhee by surprise. "Your beliefs are quite traditional in comparison to your ways of working."

Minhee parts her lips to say something biting back to him, only to realise that she has nothing. She actually doesn't understand what he means when he says that.

"Yes, it might be inorganic, temporary as well, it all depends on what staircase you have climbed to reach that success.... Big steps, you could reach your goal only in three. Small steps? you reach the goal in five. It depends whether you want to take that risk of climbing a step that high, with a fear of losing a balance and falling back on the ground—bleeding or just stumbling with smaller ones—scratching your knee."

Minhee finds her heart thumping loud in the silence that settles thereafter. There's this determination, a spark in Kim's eyes right now which makes her want to hide under the bed while also wanting to stand face to face with him to take up a challenge.

Sensing Minhee's discomfort as she starts darting around her brain to say something, Secretary Kim bows and leaves, reminding her to call him if she needs any assistance. Minhee nods, still processing the man's words and wondering.

If she's been climbing the wrong staircase all this time.

...

Somewhere along the lines of unpacking, Minhee calls Eunwoo. Dahyun is back at home and Eunwoo jokes about how his best friends find an escape from problems away from their 'homes'. Minhee tries to ask him more but he dismisses all her questions, urging her to talk to Dahyun herself.

"I will," she says.

"You will, I know."

She proceeds to set her closet after and finds a bottle of wine in between her clothes. Somehow, the wine ends up being reduced to half till the time all the clothes are set and in place.

Minhee thinks about Dahyun, thinks about what Secretary Kim said, thinks about Jeongguk, then her marriage— somehow everything she thinks ends up making her feel worse. What good is there in her life? She asks herself. Everything is so wrong and she is such an embarrassment.

It's late evening when the house starts to feel too big, too cold and too quiet. It's not like Minhee ever had a home that was any other way, she should be used to it but somehow that's not the case.

Did she expect the warmth Jeongguk reminds her of when he smiles or when he touches her?

She of all should know the man is far from it. The warmth is just a facade and it's only her yearning to feel that 'unknown' again. The unknown he had made her feel.

A loud Disney musical seems like a good option but she puts up a random rock album anyway. Jeongguk has quite a nice sound system in his house, so she wonders if it is because of how empty his house is.

Around ten at night, the front door unlocks and Jeongguk walks inside with an exhausted look. Minhee is lying on the couch, literally, the only thing stopping her from falling is her ass that seems to be holding her up— it's a good ass if the dress at the cruise party had done it justice.

That's not an ass you should think of. Jeongguk scolds himself. But it's just because I wanna kick that ass, nothing else is what's his inside devil reasons.

"Can you lower the volume? The floor— it feels like an earthquake."

No response. Jeongguk sighs. He's to put up with this. Whatever it is.

He pads to his bedroom without sparing another glance at Minhee. She seems to be asleep, judging by the shallow rise and fall of her chest (he wasn't staring at her boobs in that thin t-shirt, not at all!) and closed eyes. He considers waking her up to sleep on a bed instead, or if the worst— carrying her to the bed himself.

Then he remembers it's Minhee and he would probably get punched the moment he touches her.

He changes into a loose t-shirt and sweatpants, wonders if Minhee ate something, brushes his teeth and wonders if she's settled in fine. The music is too loud for him to actually do something without hissing every moment— it's not something he would like to come home to.

He peeks outside again, Minhee is still in that position. Then he notices the wine bottle on the table— his white coffee mug with Secretary Kim's signature on it— because the man thought it would be the best thing to give his boss on his birthday. She probably couldn't find any wine glasses but he grimaces because it's still a cup he uses to collect the water drops that sometimes leak from his air conditioner.

He spots the remote to the television poking from under Minhee's waist. He could safely remove it and shut that hideous music off and go to sleep peacefully. He also notes down that bad music taste is a clause he would add to the reasons he would want to divorce her.

Starting the 'Mission: take the remote from the devil' by tiptoeing to the couch, Jeongguk carefully hovers over her figure. She's so still that if not for her chest heaving, he would think she's dead and poke his eyes to shed some tears before calling Daejun.

Minhee looks too peaceful while she's asleep, so much that he wonders what Minhee would actually be like as a person. He recalls the day when he had asked Yoongi to dig out more information about Minhee— basically the one's which have been hidden from the law.

"Oops," Yoongi says, raising a brow at Jeongguk. "Do I sense some trouble in paradise?"

Jeongguk turns his glare to him. "No. Minhee is just different than I expected."

Yoongi sighs as he claps Jeongguk's shoulder. "Researching someone's credentials doesn't tell you what kind of lover they are, Jeongguk."

And Jeongguk knew that, of course. He reminds Yoongi that he is the one who had said that the way one treats the law tells about a person and he is consulting Yoongi just for that but Yoongi only laughs in response.

"Minhee is just a client to me," Yoongi tells him with a shrug. "I never saw her date. People are different as professionals, friends, sons, life partners."

Jeongguk waves him off. It isn't important. He's interested in knowing what Minhee wants, he just doesn't get it. "Whatever. Taunt Jeongguk hours are up, go away."

He thinks of what his Hyung said and wonders how true it is. Will Minhee really be different? How would she have been if they had met under different circumstances? Then the music becomes louder than his thoughts, as his heart drops thinking of what must have made Minhee drink to sleep. And how much of it is because of him?

He grips the remote from underneath her waist, tongue poking out her mouth as he concentrates on not waking her up. He mentally notes to bring a blanket and pillow for her after this.

"Switch that off and you'll see the world glitching."

Jeongguk jumps, glancing at Minhee who's glaring at him. He scoffs. "Your threats are literally so out of place." and he slips the remote out of its place but before he can do that, Minhee is quick to get up and stand on the couch to take it from him.

Hands swatting each other's away, Jeongguk uses his height as his leverage as he lifts his hand up, keeping the remote from Minhee. Minhee tries to pull his hand down with his bicep— almost hangs from it— but none of them gives in.

"It's so fucking loud, you need to lower down so the ants could sleep!"

"They don't pay rent, Jeon. Fuckers should leave!"

It's not until Minhee pushes herself completely on him, so much that Jeongguk finds himself suffocating— in between her boobs— as she tries to climb up and take the remote away when Jeongguk gives up.

He drops the remote on the floor, mind wandering around everything appropriate. The lavender, the softness. The hell.

"Aha, what a quitter!"

Jeongguk looks up at Minhee who looks a little tipsy, judging by her flushed cheeks. No wonder there's this grin on her face that is too wide. Not something Jeongguk has seen and it does something to his heart.

Jeongguk's eyes glaze with something darker, Minhee doesn't notice but Jeongguk realises. He doesn't say a word more— walks into the kitchen, brings a knife out and plugs out the television before cutting the wire.

Minhee just stares at the television dumbfounded, before the night ends with her thumping on Jeongguk's closed door and Jeongguk wondering if it is really alright for him to stay under the same roof as Minhee.

─── ·𖥸· ───

and the chaos begins