Minjeong stormed into Yizhuo's office.

"Thanks for knock-"

"What the hell happened?!" Minjeong sat in the chair in front of Yizhuo's desk.

"Minjeong, first of all-"

"Don't ask me to be calm, just explain!"

Yizhuo let out a sigh and placed her hand over Minjeong’s. "Irene contacted me. She claimed to have grounds for the case to be investigated again."

"Grounds?! What kind of grounds? What does she think she's doing?! The case is closed!" Minjeong couldn't control the volume of her voice.

Without a word, Yizhuo grabbed one of the many folders on her desk, and from it, she removed a few paper sheets, turning them to Minjeong, who widened her eyes the second she looked at it.

"W-What is this?"

"Photos of Jimin entering your house with you and Yerim about a week ago."

"Why is this considered evidence of anything at all and what does Jimin have to do with this? And why... how do you have these photos?"

"Irene sent them to me, she said she was the one taking them. She saw you together."

"W-Why would she take pictures of us? What's going on?!"

"Listen. I've been doing some research and I found something," Yizhuo said, her voice even more serious than before.

She grabbed another folder and took some more papers from the inside. Minjeong narrowed her eyes at them. Printed on the paper sheets were internet news articles.

"Hyoseob worked for the company that belonged to Jimin's father, which she inherited, and then changed its name."

Minjeong blinked, her heart shooting up in her chest just by hearing the name. "Okay, and?"

"Hyoseob was the one giving Jaehyun the false lead, on purpose. Seems like her father profited from this venture instead of Jaehyun."

"What does that have to do with me or Jimin?" Minjeong's anger boiled in her blood.

"According to her, Jimin could have been the one feeding the false information to Hyoseob in the first place, which ended up falling in Jaehyun’s hands, effectively eliminating his competition and earning her family a large sum. We know how it all played out, with Jaehyun losing everything. Now you were seen with Jimin, and their theory is that you were both already having an affair and planned this together to bring Jaehyun to ruin, get revenge, then you and Jimin would take the money her family earned from the venture and live happily ever after and off into the sunset together," Yizhuo explained.

Minjeong stayed silent, her mind working so fast she couldn't accompany her own thoughts.

"Do these people seriously believe I would be capable of something like that?" Minjeong scoffed.

"I don’t know if they believe it for real or if they’re just trying to annoy us, honestly."

"But I met Jimin like, three weeks ago? And that happened five years ago! Yizhuo, that's not possible, I had no idea who Jimin even was!" Minjeong talked fast.

"I know, Minjeong, it literally doesn't make any freaking sense. It’s nuts. But you know Sooyoung never moved on from Hyoseob's death, and now that she saw the slightest chance at justice or whatever, she'll do anything she possibly can."

Minjeong rested her elbows on the desk and buried her face in her hands, letting the tears run down from her eyes.

"Why..." Her whole body trembled. "When I thought it was all over..." She grasped her hair. "How am I supposed to move on like this?! ing , Jaehyun keeps haunting me even after he's dead! As if all that debt he left me with wasn't enough!" Minjeong yelled, shaking her head violently.

Minjeong felt two hands on her shoulders and a breath near her ear.

“We’ve been through this together, we’ll go through this together again.” Yizhuo’s soothing voice, alongside her hands massaging Minjeong’s shoulder were able to keep Minjeong present in the moment. "This is just a setback. They don't have evidence to put you in trouble, okay? This is purely an emotional move on Sooyoung's part, that's all. It doesn't make any sense. I will work my hardest to get you out of this, I promise you.” Yizhuo kissed the top of Minjeong’s head.

Minjeong raised her head and looked at Yizhuo through clouded eyes.

“What am I supposed to do now, Yizhuo? What if Jimin... What if, somehow, she actually is behind that? Hyoseob did work with her, technically. What if she is not the person I think she is?”

“Don't jump to conclusions once again. Innocent until proven guilty, remember? Don't let these two cloud your judgment. You know very well what they're claiming about you is a bunch of lies, so why couldn't they be lying about Jimin too? Also, they may have worked in the same company, but that's far from them being even close,” Yizhuo said, putting the papers back in the respective folders. “And let’s say Jimin was even involved, worst case scenario. You still would have had nothing to do with what happened five years ago.”

“I’ll get to the bottom of this.”

“No, Minjeong, don’t do anything.”

“So, what do you want me to do? Stop seeing her?”

“That’s not what I’m saying. Keep seeing her as usual. Don’t jump to conclusions.”

Minjeong bit her lip, her feet tapping on the ground. That would be an impossible task. And the rest of the day was a nightmare itself. Minjeong drowned herself in thought, imagining a hundred different scenarios of what could have really happened that day.

Jimin couldn’t have been part of it. She wasn’t like that.

Was she?

Minjeong still didn’t know her enough. There could be a side of Jimin Minjeong never dreamed about, but now, she was starting to. She couldn’t just sit and wait for whatever was to happen, knowing what she knew now.

She needed to think about something, anything at all, that could tell her enough to either be at ease with Jimin for the time being, or tell her the truth.

—

Minjeong held a glass of water between her hands, eyes fixated on nothing in particular. The horrible night of sleep she’d had only made her even more nauseated and dizzy.

“Good morning, Mom.” Yerim’s voice brought Minjeong back.

“Yerimie, good morning.” Minjeong turned to her and pulled her into a hug, kissing her forehead.

Yerim fetched chocolate milk from the fridge and sat down beside Minjeong.

"Are you sad?"

Minjeong gave her an apologetic smile. "Not exactly... well, you can say so."

"Why?"

Minjeong stared at Yerim's innocent features for a few seconds, her eyes moving away as she tapped her fingers on the glass still between her hands.

"Just like I don't have any particular reason to be sad, I don't have one to be happy."

"If you don't have any reason to feel happy or sad, why are you sad anyway?"

If only it worked like that...

“I’ll make you breakfast. Will that make you happy?” Yerim asked, leaning on the table with her elbows.

Minjeong couldn’t help but smile. “How about we prepare breakfast together?”

Yerim shot up from her seat and ran to the fridge. “I want egg toast!”

—

Since there were pictures of her with Jimin, Minjeong couldn’t walk a few steps without looking back and around her, as if someone was following her. Maybe she was being way too paranoid.

But what if Jimin had someone following her now, that they claim to have evidence against them? She was somehow famous and, well, a millionaire. She wouldn’t be in danger, right?

A sudden urge to see her made Minjeong grab her phone and call her.

“Hi, Minjeong.” Jimin picked up almost immediately, making Minjeong smile.

“Hello, Jimin, I hope this wasn’t a bad time to call.”

“If it was, I wouldn’t have answered. How are you?”

“Better now,” Minjeong blurted. She had to start thinking before speaking whenever she talked to Jimin.

“Smooth. Cheesy too.” Jimin giggled.

“Yeah... I know. H-How are you?”

“I was okay, now I’m great.”

“And I’m the cheesy one.”

“You know, I just cashed out big on this investment.”

“Oh.” Minjeong couldn’t hide the disappointment in her voice.

“I’m joking.” Jimin laughed, and Minjeong sighed. “Of course it’s because you decided to call me. Any special reason, or did you just want to hear my voice?”

“Both. I wanna be with you.”

“Are you working the late shift?” Jimin asked, and Minjeong could hear the smirk in her voice.

“No, but I thought we could meet later."

"Great for me. What time?"

"Five. Will you still be working?"

"Yes, I'll be at my office."

Minjeong gulped. "T-Then, I was thinking that I could meet you there. I-If that's okay, of course. You have your own office, right?"

"Yes, of course it's okay. You can meet my team then! I'll text you the address. Call me when you're here."

"Okay, thank you, Jimin. Also, do you wanna have dinner at my house? Yerim misses you already. And... You can stay the night. I-If you want to, of course. I said before we could only be together if I worked the night shift, but if you would like to stay over instead, my shift doesn’t really matter. My bed isn’t the biggest, but I’m sure we both fit."

Jimin let out a melodic giggle. "More opportunities to be with you? Sounds absolutely perfect. I'm looking forward to it."

Minjeong could perfectly visualize the beautiful smile behind Jimin's voice in her mind.

—

Minjeong parked her car and stood by the door of the modern building. Was Jimin's company that big? Did she run all of the building? She did inherit her father's company, after all. Minjeong felt nervous and overwhelmed without even stepping inside.

Just as Jimin said, Minjeong called her and a mere minute later, Jimin was in front of her. She was dressed in a black suit and high heels, and as they entered the elevator, Minjeong took a quick look at herself, in her casual and comfy jeans, sneakers, and sweater. She should have thought about it and dressed at least more presentable. What if Jimin’s colleagues judged her? It would be a very formal environment, right?

Minjeong followed Jimin through a corridor on the ninth floor, and as they stopped in front of a closed door, Jimin looked back at her.

“Don’t be scared.” Jimin smiled and opened the door, stepping inside and Minjeong followed her, gulping.

“ YOU, RYUJIN!”

“ IT, HEEJIN!”

“Girls, behave, Minjeong is here,” Jimin said, closing the door.

Minjeong widened her eyes as the three girls inside the room turned their heads towards her.

“Minjeong!” A girl with long, light brown locks wearing a drinking hat with a can of Gatorade on one side and one can of Red Bull on the other, stood up. “I’m Heejin. So nice to finally meet you!” She walked towards her and shook her hand.

“H-Hi, Heejin, likewise.” Minjeong peeked behind Heejin, and a large TV on the furthest wall of the room showed what the girls were doing – playing Mario Kart.

“Hey, I’m Ryujin.” The other girl also stood up, offering her hand with a warm smile that contrasted her intimidating and cool aura. She looked Minjeong from head to toe, and irked an eyebrow at Jimin. “Nice catch, Boss.”

Jimin rolled her eyes. “Since when do you call me boss? And yeah, nice catch but not for you, so watch it!”

Minjeong, whose cheeks were burning, looked at the last girl, who sat at the corner of the large table at the center of the room.

“That’s Jisu, the closest to normal here.”

“Hi,” Jisu said, waving and driving her attention back to the screen.

“She’s a bit shy, but she’s really sweet and funny when she opens up. And when she’s with Ryujin,” Jimin mumbled the last part.

Minjeong smiled awkwardly. What in the world was that? That was Jimin’s team? Minjeong expected a giant room reigned by silence and full of people wearing suits, sitting straight in their chairs and looking at their screens. Not a small room with four computers, TVs hanging on the ceiling showing several graphs and numbers, Mario Kart, and was that a mini bar at the corner?

“Oh, Jimin,” Ryujin said. “Another one of those s called and said he has great info if we make an agreement-“

“ my life." Jimin cleared , looking at the surprised expression on Minjeong’s face. Minjeong had never heard her swear like that and lose her cool, especially that fast. "How many times do we have to tell them to stop trying to do that? How many more interviews and press releases do I have to put out to make it clear we don’t work that way?" And even though her voice appeared to be calm, Minjeong noticed her fists balled.

“Dunno. Sounds like a you problem.“

Jimin clicked her tongue. “Yeah, yeah, now get your on the phone and tell him to off, Ryujin. Please, and politely. I know exactly what happened in the past with those great infos, and we’re far too smart for that.”

Minjeong stopped to think. What happened in the past? Like, with Hyoseob?

Jimin sighed. “We make business decisions on our own. End of story.”

Ryujin raised her hands above her head. “Kinda killed the vibe, Jimin, but whatever. Thought you’d get a good laugh, that’s all. Over and out.”

Ryujin went back to her chair. She stole the Gatorade can from Heejin’s hat, who whined, but didn’t really do anything to fight back. Jimin pulled an extra chair and waved at Minjeong to sit.

“I’m sorry about that,” Jimin whispered, grabbing her hand. “I didn’t mean to... relax my composure around you. It’s a sensitive subject. But after all, where would be the fun in investing if I didn’t take risks? I don’t care if I lose sometimes.”

Minjeong gulped and squeezed her hand. “D-Don’t worry. I’m really happy to be here, and they seem like a fun bunch to hang out with. You can be comfortable around me.”

“I’m glad you liked them. Now, are you okay with me finishing up some stuff? You can go play Mario Kart if you wanna.”

“I’ll stay here. I came here to be with you after all, not to play Mario Kart.”

The corner of Jimin’s mouth raised. Jimin looked ahead at her screen, as Minjeong watched her. She didn’t understand a thing about what she was doing or analyzing, but it didn’t matter.

Whatever doubt Minjeong had about the person Jimin was had already been erased. She knew, deep down, Jimin wouldn’t be like that. She was a serious and fair person. If she was indeed referring to what Hyoseob did, Minjeong could see how bad that made her feel. There was no way she could possibly be involved in what happened, and Minjeong felt bad for even assuming it. Minjeong could now allow herself to relax.

—

“What do you have there?” Minjeong asked, noticing a bag Jimin carried as they walked up the stairs to Minjeong’s apartment.

“Oh, you’ll see soon.”

Minjeong whined and opened the door, Yerim running to the couch after taking her shoes off.

“Yerim, wanna go play with me?” Jimin asked, sitting next to her.

“Yes!” She stood up and walked to turn the Wii on.

“Wait,” Jimin called, making her look back at her. “Here.”

Minjeong sat beside Jimin and observed as Yerim accepted the bag from her, taking a box from the inside.

“What is it?”

“Open it, it’s for you.” Jimin smiled. "I wasn't here on your birthday, so I got you this."

Yerim took no time at all to ravage the paper around the box to find a brand new Nintendo Switch. Yerim’s eyes threatened to jump from her eye sockets and her chin dropped.

“I got some extra controllers too, so the three of us can play together,” Jimin said, making Yerim run back and launch herself to hug her.

"Thank you so much, Jimin! I can’t believe I finally have a Switch!”

Minjeong closed her eyes and felt everything spinning around, as images flashed on her mind. Not again.

“Mom?” Yerim called, making Jimin look at her as well.

“I’m gonna make dinner.” Minjeong stood up and walked towards the kitchen.

She leaned against the counter with her hands and tried to stabilize her breathing, clenching her jaw. Why, why, why?!

A hand on Minjeong’s shoulder made her flinch, gasping for air and widening her eyes.

“Minjeong,” Jimin called in a whisper. “I’m here.”

She let Jimin pull her into a hug, caressing her hair. “What happened?”

“I just felt dizzy.” Minjeong closed her eyes and allowed Jimin to be the only thing on her mind.

Jimin pulled away and cupped Minjeong’s cheeks, kissing her forehead. “You know I’m here for anything, right?”

Minjeong nodded. “I know. I’m sorry for ruining the mood. Jimin, I can't even begin to thank you. Yerim loves her Wii, but I know it's an old console and she's been asking me for the new Switch for the longest time, but I'm not in a place to give it to her, not even for her birthday.”

"I know. She told me that the other day, and I thought it would be the perfect gift. Just wait until she manages to open the box and finds out I also snuck in a copy of Just Dance."

"Jimin, you really didn't have to, I told you I don't want to be accepting money and gifts from you all the time and..."

"Don't worry." Jimin brought a finger to Minjeong's lips. "I know people at Nintendo. I got it all for free."

Of course she did. Jimin really was something else.

"JUST DANCE?! YOU’VE GOT TO BE SHI-!"

“YERIM!” Minjeong yelled back before Yerim could complete her sentence.

“YOU’VE GOT TO BE KIDDING ME!”

Both women chuckled.

"I'll go help Yerim set everything up while you take care of dinner." Before she turned around, she gave Minjeong a quick peck on her lips. “Whatever’s on your mind, don’t think about it. I’m here.”

Minjeong didn’t know how Jimin could read her so easily. Jimin never demanded an explanation for Minjeong’s behaviors, yet she was always there for her. It was somehow unfair, but was Minjeong ready to tell her anything at all?

No, not for now.

—

“Yerimie, time for bed.” Minjeong patted her head.

Yerim whined. “I wanna stay until Jimin needs to leave!”

Minjeong’s cheeks warmed up.

“Maybe your mom forgot to tell you, but I’m staying tonight.” Jimin smiled at her.

“Oh? You’re staying?” Yerim beamed, then irked an eyebrow. “Where are you gonna sleep, though?”

“I’ll just sleep with your mom.”

Minjeong widened her eyes, but couldn’t come up with anything to say. What did she think she would tell Yerim, anyway?

“Her bed is small. Wanna sleep in mine? I can sleep with her instead.”

Jimin laughed, then messed up Yerim’s hair. “Don’t worry. You need to sleep well since you have school. It’s like I’m having a sleepover with a friend, something I haven’t done in a while!”

“Me too! Mom, can I invite Yeojin someday?”

“S-Sure, sweetheart. Now go, brush your teeth and head to bed.” Minjeong pulled her in for a hug and kissed the top of her head. “Sleep well.”

“Good night, have fun at your sleepover!” Yerim waved at them and skipped down the corridor.

Jimin burst out laughing the second Yerim closed the bathroom door. “Have fun at your sleepover... she’s so cute.”

Minjeong slapped her arm. “God, I was so nervous. Thank you for dealing with this. I had no idea what to say.”

“Don’t worry. I just thought you had told her before that I would be staying.”

“I... it slipped my mind. I’m sorry.”

“You don’t need to apologize. Let’s also go to bed? Since we won’t be sleeping right away.” Jimin wiggled her eyebrows.

Minjeong shook her head with a shy smile and lead the way to her room.

“Mind if I undress already?” Jimin asked after closing the door behind her.

“Oh.” Minjeong cleared , plopping down on her bed. “G-Go ahead.”

“You should do the same. Human heat is enough to keep us warm,” Jimin said, ing her shirt.

Even if Minjeong wanted to keep her eyes somewhere else, she couldn’t. Mostly because Jimin made sure to stare back into Minjeong’s eyes, and she was definitely not undressing in an innocent way.

“Like what you see?” Jimin smirked.

“You know I do. A whole lot.” Minjeong smirked back, also taking off her clothes.

Jimin irked an eyebrow. “Have I told you I love that side of yours?” She climbed on the bed, trapping Minjeong below her.

Minjeong locked her gaze and cupped her cheeks, pulling her into a slow but deep kiss.

“Jimin,” Minjeong whispered, breaking the kiss. “Do you only love that side of me?”

Jimin laid down, resting her head on Minjeong’s shoulder.

“What... What are we, Jimin?” Minjeong asked before Jimin could even answer her previous question.

The wait made Minjeong gulp as her heart thumped harder.

“I think I like every part of you, Minjeong,” she said, her fingers roaming around Minjeong’s arms and stomach.

“You think? Is there any part you think you don’t like?”

“I didn’t mean it like that. I know there’s still a lot of things I don’t know about you, and I hope that with time, I’ll be able to know all of you.” Jimin rested a hand on Minjeong’s neck.

There she was, figuring out on her own a lot more than Minjeong ever wanted to show.

“Me too, Jimin. I want to get to know you more. And I want you to get to know me.”

“Then let's just keep it going. I don’t think we need to label our relationship. But if you want to say we’re dating, then I would gladly be your girlfriend.”

“Y-You want to be my girlfriend?”

“Am I not already?” Jimin chuckled, pecking her lips.

Minjeong was left speechless. But there was one question lingering in her mind. “How was a person like you single in the first place?”

“I can ask the same,” Jimin said, but not even a second later her eyes widened as she hugged her. "Gosh, I'm sorry, I just... forgot for a second. , I really messed up.”

“It’s okay. As you said earlier, you’re here now. It's now that matters.” Minjeong kissed Jimin’s head.

“And answering your question, I was single because I still hadn’t met you.”

“What kind of answer is that?” Minjeong laughed.

“Just being cheesy. To be honest, when you’re me, it’s difficult to find someone that doesn’t want to take advantage of you and your wallet. But even if it’s not that, people usually think they already know me before we’ve even met because of what they’ve read and heard about me. But, even though we had a misunderstanding or two at the beginning, I could see your genuine intentions. You’re different. You’re you, the one that makes me smile and feel… actually loved, with no second intentions behind your actions and words.”

Minjeong pursued her lips. Jimin also seemed to have some ghosts of her past, even though they didn’t seem to haunt her as badly as Minjeong’s did.

“Jimin,” she called, making her look up and meet her eyes. “What happened in the past must stay in the past. We have each other now.”

What a hypocrite, Minjeong.

Jimin smiled, caressing her cheek. “I know.”

“And... I’m glad you feel loved, because I think I really like you.”

“You think?” Jimin teased.

“I’m sure I do. And if I’m sure I do... it’s because I really do, Jimin. I haven’t felt this way in ages. Or maybe it’s the first time.”

“I’ll make sure you’ll feel liked back, Minjeong, because you don’t deserve any less.” Jimin caressed her cheek, offering one of her beautiful smiles. “Wanna go somewhere tomorrow morning before work?”

“Anywhere, as long as it’s with you.”

“Then let’s visit my dad.”

---

A/N: sorry I couldn't update yesterday! 

hope you liked Jimin's team hehehe and some backstory being revealed... :))))

Twitter - @itzloonatic
CuriousCat - curiouscat.me/itzloonatic