As promised, here's another update :)

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CHAPTER FIFTEEN

“Hey, isn’t your girlfriend visiting today?” Jungkook asks Jaebum who is busy watering the plants in front of his house.

“What girlfriend?” The latter asks back without bothering to face his neighbor.

“The beautiful woman Bambam plays with. Not Jackie, the other one.”

Jaebum knows who Jungkook is referring to but pretends not to understand, “I don’t know who you’re talking about.” The former shuts the water hose and walks inside the house. He finally faces Jungkook who stops by the door. “Stop bothering me.”

“Eyyy, I know you’re just playing dumb. If she isn’t your girlfriend, then can I court her? She’s hot, man! A hot man like me and a hot woman like her; a perfect match!”

Jaebum rolls his eyes, “Whatever.”

“That’s a yes, then?!” The younger male excitedly asks but the other closes the door without even answering. “I’ll take that as a yes! Woohoo!”

“She won’t fall for you!” Jaebum teases from the other side of the door but Jungkook yells back, “I’ll make her!”

‘Tss. Not gonna happen...’

Ever since Jaebum offered to start anew and become friends, Jina started to frequent their home to play with Bambam and ‘unintentionally’ spend some time with him as well.

It didn’t really matter at first but the more Jaebum sees the ‘motherly’ side of Jina, the more he starts seeing her as a woman.

‘No... I’m just a lonely widower that’s why my heart’s vulnerable like this. I’m rushing things... I’m imagining things...’

“Bammie~!” A sweet voice excitedly calls from outside the door.

Jaebum’s heart jumps as he realizes who the owner of the voice is. ‘Perfect timing, ugh.’ He takes a deep breath and lightly slaps himself. ‘Stop imagining things, Im Jaebum. Get a grip!’

“Jaebum?” The voice calls again and the male finally opens the door.

“Hi!” Jina smiles widely as she shows the man a big black plastic bag. “I bought ingredients for Korean Kimchi Stew at the nearby grocery. Is it okay if I cook later?”

“Huh? Uhh, sure.” ‘Funny. That’s my favorite food.’

“Auntie Jina~!!!” Bambam runs down the stairs then straight to the woman. Jaebum takes the bag of groceries from Jina, accidentally brushing their hands together.

‘Godddd...’ He hurries towards the kitchen, out of the two’s sight. Jaebum clutches his heart and feels it beating fast. “What the hell is wrong with me? I think I’ve been watching too much soap operas with Bambam.”

“You’ve been watching too much what?” Jina suddenly appears beside him with Bambam tailing behind her.

“Ah? It’s n-nothing. I’m, uhh, weird; I like talking to myself, haha.”

“Why are you so jumpy and why do you keep stuttering?”

“Stuttering? Me? Nope~” Jaebum takes Bambam’s hand, cutting off their conversation. “Let’s watch Spongebob and let Auntie Jina cook, okay?”

“Okay, Daddy!”

Jina shrugs her shoulders and starts taking out the ingredients from the grocery bag. Jaebum, on the other hand, steals another glance at her. ‘When was the last time I saw someone cook in the kitchen and look so beautiful doing it?’

Jackie did cook at times but she never made him feel all ‘weird’ like he is right now. ‘Kim Jina, what the hell are you doing to me?’

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Yugyeom walks over to the bar and takes a seat next to Mark.

“Glad you accepted my invitation,” the older male says.

“Well, I guess you’re really going to marry my younger sister so I should get to know you.”

Mark laughs, “That’ll take time. I mean, we would’ve been married for years already before you discover everything about me.”

“You sound like you’re hiding something.”

“We all are.”

The younger male looks the other straight in the eye, “I don’t care about what you’re up to but lay a hand on my sister and you’re dead.”

“Ah, so that’s your secret; you act like you don’t give a but you actually care about her.”

“I’m not heartless—“

“Just lazy?” Mark smirks at Yugyeom who laughs at him.

“You make me want to punch you in the face but at the same time, I think I’d like to get to know you better. Let’s see how well my father chose.”

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“Tada~!” Jina carefully places the pot of Kimchi stew on the table. “Careful, it’s hot!” She tells Bambam who eagerly takes the lid off.

“Here, let me help you.” She takes the ladle that’s been sitting on the pot, not realizing that it’s gotten hot already.

“Oww!” She drops the ladle, accidentally spilling some soup on her hand. She bites her lip to keep herself from expressing how hot it was so as to not worry Jaebum and Bambam.

“Are you okay?” Jaebum asks, just looking at her hand, not wanting to touch her.

Jina hums a response and finishes filling all three bowls on the table before excusing herself. “I’ll just wash my hands; go ahead and eat.”

“Yes~” Bambam enthusiastically digs in while his father follows Jina back at the kitchen.

He finds her by the sink, washing her hand with running water. “That doesn’t look okay to me.”

Jina turns to face him and closes the faucet. “I... I was just washing my hands.”

Jaebum walks over and checks her hand, “Washing won’t ease the pain. Here.” He opens the faucet again and tells her, “Keep washing your hand under cold running water while I get something. Stay right there or I’ll get mad at you.”

Jina does as she’s told and follows Jaebum with her eyes. She sees him enter the bathroom and he comes back with a tube of toothpaste.

“Here,” he takes her hand again and dries it with the hem of his shirt.

Jina watches as Jaebum rubs some toothpaste on the burn on her hand. The cool sensation from the menthol relieves some of the pain and she barely feels anything after he’s covered the burn completely.

Even after he’s done, Jaebum stares at Jina’s hand. It looks so small next to his and her fingers look so slender and delicate. ‘I wonder...’

“Daddy? Auntie?” The adults turn to the source of the sound and find Bambam staring at them with a confused look. Jaebum realizes that he’s kissing Jina’s hand and he quickly apologizes and lets go of her hand.

“What are you doing, Daddy?”

“Huh?” The man approaches his son and disregards his question. “Nothing. Let’s eat.”

The little boy asks again, obviously wanting an answer. “Why are you kissing Auntie’s hand, Daddy?”

“I... I...”

“H-he was just helping me, Bambam. Uhh, trying to ease some of the pain, I think?” Jina cuts in. He turns to her but she avoids his eyes. “Anyway, let’s eat; the soup’s getting cold.”

“Okay!”

‘What did I just do?’ Jaebum asks himself as he makes his way back to the dining table.

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Later that night, Jina finds herself thinking of the incident back at the Im’s residence.

She thinks of how soft Jaebum’s hands were, how gentle he was in holding her hand, how serious and handsome he looked while he helped her with her burn, and how soft his lips were when they touched her hand.

‘He kissed my hand...’

She shakes her head, wanting to get rid of such thoughts but to no avail. Her cheeks start to feel warm and she covers her face with a pillow as she willed herself to sleep. ‘It’s nothing, Jina! Stop thinking about it!’

Jaebum on the other hand stares at his bedroom’s ceiling as he curses under his breath. “This is Jungkook’s fault. If he didn’t talk about Jina being my girlfriend, then I won’t be having this kind of thoughts... you, Jeon Jungkook.”

He is then reminded of Bambam seeing him kissing Jina’s hand. “Ugh.”

After Jina left, Bambam bombarded him with questions concerning her. He even asked if she’s going to be his mommy soon. ‘Mommy? No... I have a lot of baggage with me; she most certainly won’t consider that... Why the hell am I thinking about this, anyway?!’

He buries his face on his pillow. “What the hell is happening to me?” Jaebum definitely has an idea on what he’s going through but he’s not ready to admit it yet. ‘I’m just confused.’

“Arrghhh!!!” He kicks his blanket off and squirms on his bed like a worm as he kept on thinking of the episode earlier.

‘Maybe I’m thinking too much.’