i'm rly sorry for the late update! i had trouble writing this and, um this is quite long too! —xoxo, nick ♥

SCENE XV - ACT I

- FOOLISH SOLOMON

"yah! give me back my pretty mama!"

a grunt followed by a bright laughter booming in the jeon manor, jinyeon's contagious giggles mixed with annoyed remarks of aish! and argh! echoed as he followed jeongguk's running silhouette. "give me my pretty mama you ugly dragon!" puffing his cheeks little jinyeon continued. tightly pouting, the boy was just about to give up but upon seeing a particular object, the little boy beamed with a mischievous grin.

"you ugly dragon! prepare for yeon's wrath!" grabbing the broomstick he took a glimpse for a split second, the boy started chasing jeongguk like a madman. "you won't get away! yeon will slay you and get my pretty mama back!" yeon chilidhly exclaimed, waggling the broom as if it was a sword.

eyes widening as through his eyesockets, jeongguk stifled a laugh once he heard his son's remark. try me, son. bringing jiho closer to his body, a wide grin appeared in the older's lips as a blooming warmth grew in his heart. "come and catch me, you bratty little prince!"

"sure i will you pompous, arrogant and ugly dragon!"

"you idiots! stob it!" an annoyed whine erupting on jiho's lips, she tightly clutched on jeongguk's shoulder to prevent herself from falling when the man almost tripped. "yah! be careful you idiot number one!" playfully slapping jeongguk's chest, jiho rolled her eyes. "i swear, yeon and gguk! stob this instant! –yah! put me down, now!"

chuckles erupting on the father and son, the two shook their head as they both uttered a "no". "i am not yeon! i am prince and i'll save you, my pretty mama!"

"and i'm not gguk, i'm the handsome dragon!" the older man retorted before a smirk spread across his lips as he ran even faster. "no! the ugly dragon is kidnapping mama away!"

since jinyeon's bus was caught up inside a traffic, it took a little while longer before his school bus could fetch him for school and to buy time, jeongguk suddenly had the weirdest idea to kill time as they wait.

operation : save the pretty mama from the handsome (is that even possible?) dragon.

giggling and showing his bunny teeth into full view, jeongguk was clearly having fun. "correction you snotty, little prince it's a handsome dragon! run faster or i might take your pretty mama away from you, forever!" jeongguk laughed, teasing their son as jinyeon paced all over the house to catch his papa who took his mama away.

"no! mama is mine!" whining as the boy huffed, jinyeon let out a cute puff of annoyance and this action made jeongguk's threw his head back in laughter causing him to stumble on his tracks and tripping.

"jeongguk!"

"papa! mama!" eyes widening on the unforeseen turn of events as jinyeon's voice echoed at the back, jeongguk was set in a conflict. shit! no! jiho's going to get hurt! heart on the edge as his adrenaline kicked in, jeongguk tried so hard to prevent jiho from being crushed on their fall and as if on slow motion, he flipped their bodies – reversing their positions so jeongguk would took all the impact.

"argh" closing his eyes, a hiss erupted on jeongguk's lips. the man's body felt needle-like pain surging as he fell on his back while jiho is atop of his chest. "mama! papa!" panic erupting on yeon's lips, he marched quickly on his papa and mama's fallen state.

jinyeon helped jiho sit up straight on the floor before the two's eyes landed on jeongguk's pained expression. "jeon?" jiho hummed and jeongguk could only groan. "are you okay—" even before jeongguk could've responded, the little boy bombarded the older with other questions. "omg! are you still alive papa? you gotta be kidding me, you're the bunny muscle pig dying is not in your vocabulary and—"

giggling like a child, jeongguk was quite surprised of jinyeon's outburst and in an instant all the pain in his back disappeared. "really, yeon this is why you're my son." sitting up straight, jeongguk fixed his almost crumpled polo and beamed. "so, where were we?"

"oh—" jiho almost replied but was cut off when jinyeon's service honked it's horn and the three was taken in a surprise.

"oh!" jinyeon exclaimed as he grabbed his bag and the parents prepared their things for work too. "papa it's time for you to carry mama again! i'm going to school as you and mama go to work!"

going on their respective places, jeongguk carefully lifted jiho in his arms as he didn't notice the wide smile on his lips. this is fun, i'm happy.

reaching the doorstep, jiho and jeongguk carefully watched jinyeon trail behind them. "jeongguk—" eyes meeting jiho's, their noses brushed for a moment before jeongguk felt his heart trashing inside his chest only to be replace with sadness. "you can put me down,"

blinking, "eh?" jeongguk was quite surprised with the woman's hostile tone as she diverted her eyes from his, somehow that made his heart tighten. "you can let me go now, yeon wants a kiss from you"

"oh, yeah. yeah" timidly letting jiho stand on her feet, jeongguk felt as if breathing was getting hard again, frown unconsciously painting his lips.

eyes trailing on the woman, he saw how she crouched down to meet yeon's eye level before planting a kiss on the boy's forehead and cheeks. "bye yeonnie, see you after school. mama will be here" yeon's giggles were muffled as jiho's voice rang in his ears. hearing that she hadn't included his name made his heart churn even more as if pulling the invisible strings inside his heart.

eyes meeting with yeon, the man too squatted to meet yeon's eyes, "t—take care, honey. i hope you have fun"

lips meeting jeongguk's cheek, yeon suddenly hugged jeongguk tightly before whispering, "i wish i could see you and mama kiss each other's cheek once again"

caught off guard with yeon's request, jeongguk could only let out a strangled "eh?"

jinyeon pulled away and as if he knew something, his eyes met jeongguk's confused once as a half-baked smile spread across the younger's lips, "here, papa. read this when you're alone, okay? this is my advance gift five days before papa and mama's 10th year anniversary!"

eyes widening as his tongue suddenly went dry, "o—oh, um—"

"i love you papa as you love mama!" eyes getting glossy through his undeniably shaking form, jeongguk controlled himself as he swallowed the lump that formed in his throat. "y—yeah, i—i love you too as i love mama"

the weather was sunny and the bright sun was beaming, smilingly giving its rays on earth – it was a perfect time to be strolling for dates but at 13:00, a room is as cold as ice. two individuals sat on a reserved spot on a restaurant, the aura surrounding them were as thick and heavy as of a pile of snow.

fuck namjoon and his tendencies of giving me a hard time. biting the insides of his cheek, jeongguk swallowed the thick lump that formed on his throat. eyes slowly trailing on the woman who sat across of him on the restaurant, his heart dropped on the sight.

the woman's head was slightly hanging low as her eyes stared straight on the floor as if it was the most interesting thing she had ever seen. jeongguk suddenly forgot how to breathe as he drank the features of jiho – eyes swollen, cheeks and nose red and shoulders were slumped as if it carries something heavy. the woman looked undeniably, broken.

out of the blue, the man had remembered the events this morning and how warmth bloomed inside his chest when they had played with jinyeon. jiho was radiating and she was all smiles, jeongguk swore that his heart skipped a beat whenever he would catch a glimpse of her smiling. the feeling was exhilarating and it was enough to set him on the edge as he seek more of the feeling he had long lost. the jiho from this morning was just far too different from the jiho now.

mouth opening, jeongguk had wanted to say something but he found no exact words to speak. the two had agreed on meeting up today as they needed to find a place for the party, as soon as possible. namjoon wanted a result tomorrow and they had no choice but to meet up, even if they weren't on good terms.

sighing silently, jeongguk clasped his hands together as his head hung low. he knew he should do something to break the silence to get them working but, he didn't know how. jeongguk didn't know where to start and make this meeting end as soon as it started.

"um—" finally finding the courage to speak, jiho's eyes timidly met his but before he could've finished his next words, the chinese food that they had ordered came so jeongguk fell silent again.

the silence was sure just deafening.

drinking the water on the glass, jeongguk sat speechless as he saw how jiho was timid and quiet in eating, relishing this chance he forced every gut in his body to speak. "s—so, where do you think is the best place suitable for the welcoming party?"

gazes meeting, their eyes were locked before she couldn't bare it any longer and averted hers. this is ridiculous, we are ridiculous. jiho's thoughts were screaming at her. every bit of her skin was screaming awkward and hostile, how – just how did we even end up being this . . . this distant?

oh yes, it was because of the sex. i couldn't satisfy him. as the memories briefly flashed in her head of the times she and jeongguk's eyes were painted with love, a surge of regret and sorrow washed in her veins. shaky hands and ragged breathing, jiho knew that she was yet about to breakdown. no. not this time, control it and conceal. you can't let him see you crying again. be strong jiho, you are strong.

five days, you only have five days left to accept the truth that he's not yours . . . anymore.

forcing control to seep in her skin, she shushed the way the strings in her heart knot into multiple loops as she regained calmness and choked out the words she'd practiced over and over once jeongguk had initiated for her idea.

gazes meeting each other, the woman hummed before uttering, "y—you choose, i am only assigned to assist and see if the hotel is within taehyung's taste"

taehyung? taehyung again? jeongguk questioned and upon hearing that name escape in jiho's lips so casually made his body tingle with anger and the annoying sound of chopsticks harshly meeting the ground took jeongguk away from his train of thoughts. why was i— shock becoming evident on the man's features, he hadn't realized how reckless his feelings were.

"s—sorry, my hand slipped" lame excuse escaping on his lips, he tried to hide the way his hands couldn't stop shaking as it leave him confused why, why everytime jiho would speak of taehyung's name something inside him snaps and he could only see red.

sigh escaping in his lips, he had unconsciously let out the puff of his breath exaggeratedly and jiho couldn't help but frown and chime the words, "i think it's better if you work this thing with your secretary"

dazed and confused, jeongguk's brow furrowed, "huh?"

taking a napkin to wipe the remnants of rice on her cheek, jiho uttered, "i won't force you if you don't want to work with me, i can just ask taehyung to—" that name. jeongguk once thought as his eyes twitched. that name again, stop speaking of him. stop mentioning him when i'm right infront of you! stop— letting his feelings get the best of him, the words came out like spears stabbing jiho, "why can't you make this work? i know we both don't want to work with each other but can't you make it less obvious to me? at least pretend to act civilized. i thought you were better than this" jeongguk hadn't meant to sound harsh but before he could process what he had just said, everything just went downhill.

frown deepening on jiho's lips as her hand stopped from picking up the dumpling, she let her eyes meet jeongguk's regretful ones. "who are you to tell that to me? i am trying so hard to keep this professional, to keep this fucking foolish feelings at bay. i am trying to work this project with you in peace by letting you take the lead and yet, all i get are a series of sighs, grunts and clanking of chopsticks falling on the ground. you expect me to treat you with respect when you're not giving me one?" she countered as her brows furrowed while letting out a dry chuckle,

"look, jiho—"

"no" straightening her skirt, jiho started picking up her things, "right from the start, you could've just told your boss that you wanted to work with your secretary and not some woman who couldn't tend to her husband's fucking needs" at that point, after speaking her heart out with almost watery eyes, jiho was already pacing to the door.

why? why do you always find a way to hurt me? jiho wished with every fiber of her scarred being for jeongguk to chase after her. jiho wished for the man to apologize for being so mean and to tell her that he was wrong but as much as she hoped and prayed to the stars and heavens above, in her point of view jeongguk didn't even budge as she slipped off of the room.

why did i even come here? i've been humiliated more than enough, why did i even hope that i could work with him, even in this project? harsh footsteps coming from her five inches stilettos, she furiously wiped the threatening tears as she pressed the number of the one person she knew could make her day bright, within a blink of an eye. it was a good thing that on the first ring, he answered gleefully.

"sweet pea? why call -" cutting through the voice, she murmured,"entertain me, human" a melodious chuckle erupting on the other line, she couldn't help but smile. it was really a good decision that she called him.

on the other side of the picture, a shaky sigh escaped on jeongguk's frowning lips as he sat frozen on the spot, eyes fixated on where jiho came rushing out. dammit. trembling hands forcing itself to eat the food on his chopsticks, he had lost his appetite.

you're a fool, jeongguk. at least he knows what he is.