o19 || business trip
the pursuit of happiness
Jaehyun entered his father's office to see him and his brother already seated on the couch.
"Oh, son! Sit down, I want to discuss something."
Jaehyun sat down next to his brother and waited for his father to talk.
"Well, we have to attend some events in Taipei. We have dinner with some important people on Tuesday night, a business conference on Wednesday, and a large banquet on Thursday night."
"Do I have to come?"
"Of course! You and Woo have to come and meet all the other directors. Maybe make a few propositions that can benefit our company. We're thinking of expanding to Taiwan in a year or two."
"I'm fine with that, but how about my kids? I can't possibly bring them there."
"And that's why I'm calling you here. All four of us, including your mother, will go to Taiwan on Tuesday. We probably will have to leave your sons with the maids."
Jaehyun furrowed his brows in disagreement.
"Letting them with the maids during the day is okay, but they can't sleep without me. Sungchan would be fussy and Jeno would be anxious."
"But we can't possibly bring your children to Taiwan. Our schedule is packed. We might have to make several company visits as well."
Jaehyun sighed as he tried to think of a way.
"What's with Yerim?"
"Your kids trust her a lot. She had spent a night with them too."
"I'm not going to burden her with my kids, Woo. I already felt bad that the kids have to crash at her workplace until I finish work these past few days because eomma had to attend events as well."
"But she liked your kids, and they liked her too. She's your girlfriend anyways. It's just for three nights," Jungwoo reasoned.
"Well, I have to ask her first. Speaking of which, I have to pick up my kids from her place anyways," Jaehyun said as he stood up, glancing at his wristwatch.
"Just ask her first. Please relay my greetings to her as well," his father added.
Jaehyun nodded and bowed to his father before leaving the office.
He arrived soon and as usual, he chose to press the doorbell. He knew the passcode but he just wanted to mess with her. A few minutes later the door opened to reveal Jeno who was happy to see his father again.
"Hey, buddy," Jaehyun greeted him with a kiss before picking him up with ease.
He walked to the kitchen to find Yerim with Sungchan in one arm, the other arm used to hold a spatula. She was frying something on the skillet.
"Hi! I'm frying fish for dinner!" She informed him happily before she turned off the stove and skillfully transferred the cooked fish onto a plate.
"Hey to you, and it smells great," Jaehyun grinned as he approached her. He puts an arm around her waist to pull her in for a kiss before he took the plated fish to put it on the dining table.
Jaehyun set Jeno down before he went back to the kitchen to help bring the dishes to the table.
"Rim?"
"Hmm?" Yerim hummed as she put the dry plates back on the rack.
"Can I ask you a favor?"
"Shoot away," she shrugged nonchalantly as she jumped to sit on the counter.
Jaehyun sighed as he put away the rag into a nearby basket before leaning against the counter next to her.
"Next week, I have to go to Taiwan with my parents and Woo. For three nights. We'll be departing on Tuesday morning and we'll return to Seoul on Friday morning."
"Business trip, eh?"
He nodded.
"Do you need me to watch over the kids while you're there?" She asked immediately and he sheepishly nodded.
"It's okay, I can do that. Might as well get Sungchan to be able to say imo. And also make Jeno like my cooking more than yours," she grinned.
Jaehyun rolled his eyes but he smiled thankfully at her.
"How can you be so cool about this? We haven't even dated for a month and I'm already forcing you to babysit my kids."
"I receive payments, don't worry. I'll send you my bank account number later," she winked playfully.
"Oh, okay," he nodded.
"God, Jaehyun! I was just joking! Geez, take a chill pill. I love your kids too much to charge you," she sighed.
He laughed until Jeno popped his head with Sungchan in his arms. It's quite a cute sight to see that Yerim can’t help but squeal upon seeing Jeno being a doting brother.
"Appa, Sungchanie is asleep," he said innocently.
"Eh? He fell asleep?"
Jaehyun took the baby from his son's hold to see that Sungchan is indeed asleep.
"And boy, that's your sign to go home," Yerim patted his shoulder before jumping off the counter to help pack his bags.
Yerim walked them to the door and waved her hand, "I'll see you guys again soon!"
Jaehyun pecked her lips and ruffled her hair, causing her to pout at her now messy hair.
"Me too! Kiss!" Jeno jumped.
"Of course, you kid," Yerim laughed and knelt to give Jeno a big smooch on his cheek. She hugged him tight and patted his back.
"See you soon, okay?"
"Mm hmm. Bye, imo!"
She waved her hand and watched them leave with a big smile on her face.
She felt like she had a new family now.
Yerim parked her car and walked to the airport. She immediately saw the Jungs near the entrance. Jaehyun had Jeno on his lap and it looked like the kid was crying.
"Good Morning, imo, samchon," Yerim bowed at Mr. and Mrs. Jung.
"Oh, Yerim! Thank you so much for coming!" Mrs. Jung hugged her immediately.
"When's the plane taking off?" She asked.
"The private jet will have to depart in 30 minutes, but Jeno still doesn't want to let Jaehyun hyung go. This baby here doesn't care though," Jungwoo grinned as he bounced Sungchan on his arms. The baby let out a gurgle, reaching out his arms at Yerim, who can't help but pinch his chubby cheeks.
Yerim then turned to see Jaehyun who had a worried look as he tried to console a crying Jeno.
"Appa will be back on Friday, Jen…"
"But it's too long! I can't sleep without appa!" He sniffled.
"But you have Yerim imo, darling. You said you missed her and you wanted to stay at her place again, right?" Jaehyun coaxed him.
Yerim sat next to Jaehyun and rubbed his back gently.
"Give him time. It's his first time being away for more than a day. You mentioned that he has separation anxiety, right?" Yerim said softly.
Jaehyun nodded with a sigh as he kissed the top of Jeno's head.
"Jeno, this is imo. Do you miss imo?" Yerim stood up to move and kneel in front of Jaehyun to face the crying child on his lap.
The boy nodded but he still hid his face in his father's chest.
"Jeno, your appa has to go to work. But appa will come again on Friday, so for the time being Jeno will stay with imo. We can do so many fun things together. You can be imo's little doctor assistant again if you want to. I know it won't be as fun without your appa, but your appa will always call you every day. We can do video calls like you did with me yesterday," Yerim coaxed him as she rubbed his back.
Jeno looked up and Jaehyun winced as he wiped the kid's tears. The last time he saw Jeno crying like this was when he had to leave them with the social service before he adopted them.
"Appa has to go, baby. But appa promise, appa will call you every day. Every single day. Remember what appa said? If you're scared and sad, you have Mr. Bunny. And now you have Yerim imo too. Here, let's seal our promise. Appa will be back on Friday," Jaehyun said as he offered the kid his pinky.
Jaehyun then set the child down who welcomed himself in Yerim's embrace immediately.
"Rim, thanks a lot for doing this," Jaehyun said as he watched Yerim stand up.
"It's just the kids, Jae," she took his hands and squeezed them reassuringly.
"Oh, come here," she laughed as she pulled him into a hug, letting him bury his face in the crook of her neck. She knew how much of a worry wart Jaehyun could be.
"Oh my god, hyung, you act as if you're going to be leaving Yerim noona and the kids for a whole year!" Jungwoo rolled his eyes, bouncing Sungchan in his arms.
"Hush, you! Give the new couple a break!" Mr. Jung scolded his son and Jungwoo snickered.
Yerim chuckled and freed herself from Jaehyun's embrace to take Sungchan into her arms.
"Hyung, we'll go in first. Join us quickly," Jungwoo said as they went in.
"Have a safe flight everybody!" Yerim waved her hand before turning back to Jaehyun.
"One last hug, and then go inside, okay?" She said as she opened one arm.
Jaehyun chuckled and hugged her hard. He squeezed her waist and kissed her. He then bent down to give his baby a kiss on the head.
"Don't give Yerim a hard time, okay, baby?"
"Appapapa!"
"Yes, yes, appa knows. Be a good little baby, alright? And now, you, buddy, give appa a big hug now," Jaehyun squatted and opened his arms. Jeno rushed to hug him tight and kissed his cheek.
"Be safe, appa. I will miss you," he whispered.
"I will miss you too, love. Be a good boy to Yerim imo, okay?"
He nodded his head and Jaehyun stood up and straightened his back.
"Alright, I'll go in now. Bye bye, see you on Friday!" He waved his hand.
Jeno sniffled and waved back.
Yerim smiled and took his hand.
"Let's go to imo's cafe now. We can eat ice cream and play with the dogs so you won't feel sad. Come on!"
Yerim decided to bring the kids to the cafe. She had stopped by Jaehyun's apartment to pick up their stuff for the next three days.
The cafe opened at 11 and it's still nine so it's pretty vacant aside from the workers cleaning and prepping up the place. The dogs are still in their cages in the shelter.
"Alright, Jeno, let's go grab some fruits to snack on, okay?"
She put Sungchan on his carrier and strapped it on her front before taking Jeno's hand to the kitchen.
"Imo, where are the dogs?" He asked, curious on why the cafe is not filled with his furry friends.
"They are still in their cages in the shelter. After we finish our fruit, we'll go bring them here. How's that sound?"
"Okay," Jeno weakly replied, still sad about his father leaving.
Jeno sat on a stool as he watched Yerim nimbly move around the kitchen to chop up some fruits into a bowl.
"Let's go," she smiled as she took Jeno's hand to lead him to a table.
"Sungchanie, you're nine months old and you've begun teething now. Here's some mango, try to nibble on it okay?"
Yerim put on his plastic bib and gave him a mesh pacifier containing a slice of mango. Jeno watched curiously as his baby brother put the pacifier into his mouth, on the fruit happily.
"Sungchan can eat fruit now?"
"Oh, he always can. But we always make it into porridge since he can't chew. But now he's starting to grow his teeth so he can start chewing on something soft," Yerim explained.
Jeno examined his brother closely. The baby was content on the juice of the mango messily.
Yerim secretly snapped a picture of the two brothers, wanting to send it to Jaehyun later.
"Jeno wanna help," the boy stood up as well and carried the empty fruit bowl, intent on following his imo wherever she goes.
He watched with curiosity as Yerim cleaned all the bowls.
"Well, now, shall we greet the dogs and bring them here?" Yerim grinned before taking Jeno's hand, leading him to the shelter.
"Snowy! Cookie!" Jeno ran to greet the two big dogs happily without fear.
"Hi, Russo, Tabby!" He bent down to greet the two smaller dogs. Yerim smiled, happy that Jeno has long gotten over his fear of the dogs and has gotten very comfortable at handling them.
"Today we will be bringing four other dogs to the cafe. Which ones should we bring with us Jeno?"
Jeno stood in the hallway looking at the rows of dogs on either side of him.
"This one is cute," he pointed to a senior chihuahua.
"Ah, it's Raisin. Okay, Raisin it is. 3 more?"
Jeno walked and picked a stray mongrel that was wagging its tail happily when it saw Jeno.
"This one, imo!"
"Ah, Chico. Okay, we can bring him."
"And this one too!"
Yerim smiled when she saw Jeno squatting in front of a cage, putting a finger inside to touch a labrador retriever.
"This is Bear. Okay, we'll bring Bear. One more?"
Jeno walked around and stopped at a dog who looked very sad and lonely.
"Imo, this one looked very sad," Jeno pouted as he pointed into the dog's direction.
Yerim looked at the black dog.
"Oh? I don't recognize him. I think he is new."
She opened the cage and beckoned the dog to come out. It crawled out timidly and Yerim checked for its gender.
"It is a boy! He's definitely new. Wait," she stood up and left Jeno with the dog as she went to the reception to ask about the dog.
"Mei, is the black dog in cage 23A new?"
The female at the reception opened a log book before nodding.
"Yes, ma'am. He's new, still nameless. Just came in less than a week ago."
"Oh, okay."
Yerim adjusted Sungchan's position on her waist before walking back to see the sight of Jeno petting the black dog gently.
"He's a new dog, Jen. Want to name him?"
Jeno nodded excitedly.
"I will name him… Lulu."
Yerim blinked. Lulu sounds like a girl's name.
"Why Lulu?"
"It sounds cute," Jeno shrugged.
Yerim laughed and nodded, "Okay, Lulu it is. Okay, I'm going to let out the other three dogs you pick."
She opened the cage and the three dogs came out running.
"Alright, let's take them to the cafe, shall we?"
She walked in the front with Jeno surrounded by the dogs behind her. She could hear him yelping and giggling, seemingly having forgotten about his leaving father. She hoped he could still be as cheery as this when the night comes.
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