CHAPTER ELEVEN

After Youngjae’s arrest, the truth behind Kim Foods’ newest product was also revealed. However, Heechul used the circumstances to the company’s favor, playing also the role of the victim.

He acknowledged the Im’s as the rightful owners of the recipe and apologized for being careless, earning a positive response from the public.

Jaebum plays along – despite knowing that Heechul is only pretending to be apologetic – not wanting to be involved with Kim Foods anymore after the issue.

“What have you been doing, Jina?!”

Heechul slams the door to her office.

“I—“

“What excuse do you have now? How could you let this happen?”

“Dad, I didn’t know. I—“

“Stop calling me ‘Dad’’! I don’t have a stupid daughter like you!”

As much as she wanted to answer back, Jina chooses to keep shut because she knows fighting with her father would only make matters worse.

Heechul throws a thick brown envelope on Jina’s table. “Give this to Im Jaebum. I don’t want to see his face again. Make sure his family doesn’t interfere with our business ever again. Do your job properly!”

“Yes, Father… I will make sure I patch things up with them.”

“Patch things up? We did nothing wrong, Jina! Are you really that stupid to sincerely ask for their forgiveness?”

“Dad, Youngjae technically stole the recipe and we used that so in effect, we—“

“Don’t be stupid and meet with them. Just ask someone else to give the money to that man.”

But Jina is set on personally apologizing to the Im family. As soon as her father left, she went to visit them once again.

“I’m sorry but I need to talk to you, please.” She tells Jaebum when she found him outside the house.

“We should talk inside…” The man offers.

“Thank you,” she answers and follows him inside the house.

“Would you like a drink? You want coffee, juice or just water? Oh, and please take a seat and make yourself comfortable.” Jaebum gestures to the sofa.

“I’m good, thank you.”

They both take a seat, facing each other. Jina stares at her hands.

“So?”

“Mr. Im, I would like to apologize for everything that has happened. I’m so sorry if I humiliated you and I said all those awful things about you before.”

The man does not answer so Jina continues, “I actually had this investigated and I’m happy that this ended well. I still insist on you accepting the monetary compensation that we—”

“Forget it.”

The woman looks up and finds that Jaebum is not even looking at her. From the way he spoke and the way he looks, she knew that this man is still hurt and probably hates her for what she’s done.

“No, no… I insist.”

“It’s okay. Let’s forget everything.”

“But… Why…?”

“Well… I realized that the person who formulated that recipe wanted to share it anyway to the world. It’s just that… she didn’t have the capital to start a business… I guess this is a way of making her dream come true…”

“I’m s—“

“Anyway, don’t worry yourself anymore. I’m good now. She’s probably good with it, too.”

Feeling awkward and uneasy knowing who Jaebum is referring to, Jina decides that she should leave. She stands, surprising the other.

“Leaving so soon? Why don’t you stay for at least some snacks or something? This is the least I can do after… falsely accusing you… about Bambam...”

Just as Jina was about to answer, her phone starts ringing. ‘Oh no, Mark!’

“Thank you but I have to go. I’m sorry again.”

As she approached the door, it suddenly opened and in came a small child crying.

“Daddyyyyyyyyyy!!!” Bambam cries.

Before Jaebum even gets to his son, Jina crouches down and wipes the tears on the child’s cheeks, completely ignoring her fiancé’s call.

“What’s wrong? Did you get into a fight?” she asks the kid softly but the latter just cries, not even bothering to check who she was.

A few minutes of crying after, Bambam finally calms down and thanks the woman for comforting him.

“Thank you…?” he looks at her as if asking her who she was.

“Jina,” she answers with a smile.

Feeling uneasy seeing another woman being sweet and loving with his son, Jaebum interrupts and gestures for the child to come to him. “So, Bambam, what happened? Did someone hurt you?”

“Daddy, the kids were teasing me. They said I am a killer.”

“What?!” Jaebum and Jina both exclaimed, startling the kid. They both apologize and motion for the other to continue with his story.

“Well… They found out Mommy died after giving birth to me so the bullies teased me and…”

“And?”

“They also said Mommy’s special buberi cake… is an imitation of Kim Foods’ buberi.”

“But hasn’t this been resolved already?”

“They said Kim Foods’ is only covering for us… that we want money…”

Jina shifts her gaze back on her hands. ‘What have we done?’

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“Long time no see,” Yugyeom tells Jackie as he hands her a cup of Dairy Queen ice cream.

“Thanks.”

“I haven’t seen you since... ah, I don’t even remember when. Got a boyfriend now?”

The plump brown-haired woman laughs. “What makes you say that?”

“I don’t know… You have this rosy glow on you. You look like you’re in love.”

“Whatever… Anyway, I heard about your family business. The cheesecake issue.”

“Yeah, you know that Jaebum guy, right? Oh, is he your boyfriend?”

“Don’t be ridiculous! He’s my late best friend’s husband.” Jackie flicks the male’s forehead.

“Ow! Why are you so defensive?”

“Stop making up things and stop talking about love like you know a lot about it.”

“What do you mean?”

“All you know is , , …”

Yugyeom clutches his chest, pretending to be hurt. “Your words hurt me… You are so mean…”

“You won’t even pass for an extra if you act like that.”

The man circles an arm around Jackie’s shoulders. “Okay, just introduce me to your boyfriend. I’m curious as to who and how he is.”

“Maybe next time.”

“Oh~ So it’s not yet that serious, huh?”

“It is. We surely are.”

-------------------------------------------------------

After Jina left, Jaebum tried to distract Bambam into watching the child’s favorite cartoons on TV. He somehow feels relieved seeing the kid giggling and enjoying the show.

He sits beside his son, pretending to watch the show while he thinks of what had just happened. He could not believe that Kim Jina of Kim Foods had paid him a visit yet again to apologize. ‘Was that for real?’

He remembers saying that he will only forgive Kim Foods once he gets a proper apology. ‘And here she came, asking for forgiveness…’

How Jina looked, acted and spoke earlier was different from how she behaved during their first few meetings. Jaebum felt that she’s apologizing not only for the sake of saving her company’s reputation but also because the woman is sincerely sorry for everything she had said and done.

‘Maybe this is why it’s easier now to forgive Kim Jina and tell her to forget everything…’

Jaebum thinks that maybe this is the heaven’s way of telling him that he really should not bear any hard feelings against people. ‘Negative feelings only result to negative doings’ as Jinyoung used to tell him.

The sudden thought of his wife leads Jaebum to remember his disturbing dream. He thinks of what Jackie and the man had said and done. Somehow, he feels that the dream is trying to tell him something. ‘I want to get to the bottom of it but I don’t know how... Will something bad happen? Is Jackie hiding something from me? She wouldn’t, right? She’s Jinyoung’s best friend...’

A/N: Anddddd I'm back! Are you still reading this?? Heehee ^^ I was busy with work and I went on a well-deserved vacation last week so I wasn't able to update. I'm still tired from all the walking that I did so I don't know when I'll start writing regularly again TT^TT If you're a subscribernim too to my oneshots, I'm so sorry~ I'll try to update asap :3

I know nothing much happened here so please anticipate the next few chapters - there'll be revelations, realizations(?) and a guest appearance  of a member of another idol group! Please stay tuned! <3