35

"Is this your version of ten minutes?"

Every time I tried to get a soft side for this asshole, he just put a cactus up my butt to remind me.

"It's only been fifteen minutes," I said through my teeth, a serious glare as I snatched the helmet from his hands. "I have people to report to before I step out, if you don't know."

"Miss Kang," he said taking the bike off the stand. His trousers flexed over his thighs when he settled himself perfectly. "When I tell you I want to see you in ten minutes, I want to see you not a minute late."

My eyes trailed down to the gloves he had worn, his exposed part under the sleeve of his rolled-up shirt, shifted. How does someone have such sculpted muscle there?

"Are you my boyfriend?" I rolled my eyes, fixing my helmet strap and trying not to blush that my mind just recalled the 'hardening' out of nowhere, "Why should I leave everything and come running for you? This is your last warning to stay within your limits. Or watch as your female colleague raises sexual harassment accusations against you for buying her the maternity gift."

He chuckled low, twisting his body to look at me, "Skirt." He pointed at my outfit. "How will you get on?"

"It's going to ride up." I shrugged. "But not that much. It's not a short one, either way." I lifted my leg to show him how this skirt was right up to below my knees. "You didn't exactly give me time to decide what to wear."

"Wait." He said, unbuttoning his vest and offering it to me. "Cover up with this."

"Aw." I tilted my head because he couldn't see my dramatic blinking through my visor. "Are we filing for marriage or is this just an engagement gift trip?"

His visor was down, and I couldn't even see his face, but I was sure he was sending me a death glare through it. "Miss Kang, cover your legs and stop talking."

Hah. Like it mattered to me.

I rolled my eyes, tilting my head from side to side to mock him more.

He didn't retaliate.

I lifted myself and put my legs around the bike. Then, grabbing his vest, I covered my thighs with it.

It was impossible to avoid feeling the rich fabric of his vest. It was too good to be an ordinary vest.

My eyes caught the label behind the neck and my jaw fell open when I saw the brand. This motherfucker was wearing Met Gala shit to Neureva like it was normal. Heat bounced off the walls inside the helmet. My face burned. Was I committing a fucking felony by using this god-given fabric like extra scrap?

The bike jerked to start and I gasped, deliberately punching his shoulder when I caught it for support.

"Don't try to get all 'biker' here," I warned.

He chuckled, "Stop daydreaming then."

We finally sped off. Our Undercover mission, baby shopping finally stole the breeze. I hated how amazing riding on his bike felt. All the wind, the people staring at us like we were the next hit thing this summer. I'd probably look cooler with my chestnut hair tasting the wind. I could be a cool female biker if I wanted to. Apart from the fact that I'd have to learn to ride a bike first and stop my parents from interfering with my confidence. I think I'd do a pretty great job.

I sat straighter, my eyes chasing the view passing us by as if I hadn't seen it through the bus window a million times already.

The baby shop ended up being a twenty-minute ride on his bike. I was half expecting him to start ranting about it and the importance of saying the correct time so that he can get his minutes back to push the cactus further up my ass. He didn't. He didn't say anything to make me angrier than what I was preparing myself to be.

My skirt coordinated with me and I got off the bike pretty smoothly, proud that I didn't need help anymore.

My foot landed on something soft. And I looked down at the grey vest under my feet.

A gasp tore through my throat as I bent lower to pick it up. It was like dropping crisp currency on the ground—and hell, stomping it too. Why the heck was I so concerned about his vest, anyway? It wasn't like he was going to let me encash it after this.

He bent down to pick it up at the same time as me. His helmet cracked on my head. I gasped and lifted my head only to get a front-shot of it. I yelped and nearly stumbled with the impact when I straightened.

"Fuck—" Jungkook grabbed both sides of my head with his gloved hands. "Miss Kang, I'm sorry! Fuck—""

I smirked, "We're only getting the engagement gift and you're already abusive."

His humour was rotting. He didn't even smile at what I said. With a swift pull, he yanked his helmet off and hung it aside on the handle of his bike, while his other hand remained on the side of my head.

"Are you hurt?" His thumb pushed my chin up to take a better look at my forehead.

I smacked his hand off me. "I'm fine. I've never been better so stop acting like you're not trying to get dragged to the HR." I rolled my eyes at him.

He sighed and then picked up the vest from the ground, dusting it like it didn't even mean anything to be trampled on like that.

"I guess I deserved it for the vest. I stepped on it." I muttered. He turned to me like I had grown two heads.

"Oh, come on!" I groaned, my fingers sliding through my hair despondently. "Just let this be a joke for once! You're ruining my comebacks!"

His jaw twitched, unamused, "I don't joke about this, Miss Kang. I thought you'd know that."

Realisation came like a slap.

Oh, right.

My face fell.

His mother. Of course, he didn't find it funny.

I rolled my eyes and nervously looked away, embarrassed, "I'm just kidding. Don't get all serious on me."

"Sure. Do you want me to buy you a floor mat or was the vest enough?" Smirked he.

There we went.

I rolled my eyes, pretending that I wasn't relieved that he was normal again. That weird look on his face scared the shit out of me for a moment.

'I don't joke about this, Miss Kang' - he says as he looks like he's about to kill me and throw my body in the river.

Jerk.

He followed me into the shop that was too pink for its own good but it was so cute that I wanted to squeal. And I would have, only if Bo Ah was with me right now. Who knows what this jerk might say if I acted like that? He might turn this into a domestic abuse subject and make it my mistake.

The fragrance of something candy-like hung in the air.

I scuttled down the aisle excitedly, looking around at the colourful things.

"What do you think we should buy?" Jungkook said behind me.

"Let's see..." I looked around, thinking hard. I spotted him looking at tiny baby clothes and shook my head. "Not baby clothes. They grow out of them too quickly and it's not the ideal gift."

He was startled by my deduction but only nodded as he followed me down the aisle.

"Then no shoes either?"

"Babies don't walk. They don't need shoes." I stated as a matter of fact.

The aisle was filled with things so beautiful that my hands were itching to buy them. But that would be the joke of the century and my family would think I had fucked up my life with this.

I picked up a pre-mom self-care kit and turned to see Jungkook was still far behind me.

His shoulders were hunched, and he looked really weird and awkward among all those tiny and small things. Like a lockness monster crawling towards a city. Oh, men. They were, in fact, lockness monsters crawling towards cities. Very metaphorically philosophical of Jungkook.

I laughed, "Look at you moving around like Godzilla."

He rolled his unamused eyes, "You have an opinion, Lilliput?"

My jaw shifted and I rolled my eyes, pissed off again. "I found this. Hold this."

"Found it?" He quickly examined the box. "Then this is it?" He blinked at me stupidly.

"No, you master of patience. We're going to shortlist things and then select the best one." I explained aggressively.

He leaned lower to try and get to my level, "But why explore if this seems good enough?"

I gawked at him, horrified, "Where's the effort, huh? Can you at least try to look interested in the task?"

He was just not getting it! This was a serious matter. A seriously enjoyable one, but yes.

I spun around and began moving through the aisle, my eyes darting in every direction for what I'd prefer if I was about to be a mom.

I heard the rapid tap of his shoe just behind me, indicating that I had defeated that asshole and dragged him by the collar. And he was supposed to. It was like my colleague was going on maternity leave or something.

"What's this?" Jungkook picked up something like an oxygen mask in a plastic case.

I frowned. Did moms have trouble breathing too?

"What..." I took the packet from him and turned it over to see the name written on it. "Are you crazy? It's a breast milk suction pump."

"A what pump?" His head snapped at me. "What the hell is that supposed to do?"

I rolled my eyes, "What school are you from? Because this is ridiculous." I snarled as I put the pump back in its place. "Moms lactate so this is to collect the milk in a container. The baby can drink it later."

He rubbed his jaw, blinking and nodding as if anything had arrived at the terminal of his head. Clearly, nothing had.

He was going through a gender shock right now and he deserved it.

My breasts shrivelled just at the thought of that suction pump. I could barely handle the pain in my breasts on my period, I'd probably die lactating if I birthed a child, that is if I didn't die during childbirth.

We walked further into the aisle where a bit of weirder things started coming into view.

But what I hadn't realised was that I was already in hell. This was a fucking insane place. The gadgets were no joke and everything I picked up to examine, I had to throw back into the shelf because of how terrifying they were.

Silicone nipple shields, I don't know for fucking what. As if bras weren't terrible enough for the women today. Electric breast pumps with all the wires that looked like the tentacles of a half-alive octopus. Heck no.

Then there was this postpartum belly wrap that looked like a wrestler's belt. I almost shat myself when I saw that. It was supposed to bind the abdomen but my knees were already realising the dark part of this motherhood cycle. There was another shelf filled with donut-shaped cushions that I couldn't think of a reason why moms would use.

But the final straw ended up being the weird gels and tubes for repairing and healing moms down there.

"Nope. If I have to use an ice-pack down there I'm not going to get in that situation at all!" I complained. "Child-free!"

I tried to breathe steadily as Jungkook watched, probably judging the hell out of me. Meh. I wasn't particularly calm there.

"It's your body, Miss Kang. You can be child-free if you want to." He blinked.

I rolled my eyes, "My mom and her family are already pushing me into stupid blind dates. Do you think my family is going to sit back and clap if I refuse to have babies?" I worriedly exclaimed. The thought made too much sense in my head when I said it out loud. "They're going to force me into an altar and make me pop out a football team."

His brows drew into a knot, unappealed by my rant as any normal human being should be. "If you find a man that loves you right, you won't ever have to be concerned about things like that."

"A man who loves me. Hah." I scoffed, walking swiftly into a better aisle. "That's a dream. Even if women find respectable men, their families end up being bitches. It's never easy." I let a deep breath go and shook my head as I picked up another item to shortlist and tossed it in his hand. "But those machines there are scary as fuck."

"It's your body." He waited to say. "What you want should happen with it. Nobody else has a say, Miss Kang."

I peeked at him. I hadn't expected such a response from him but there we were. I was glad that at least he understood boundaries in that matter. Men in my vicinity were all dumb doorknob materials for brains.

"Okay, Jackson Wang." I rolled my eyes and looked at the item on the top shelf.

I jumped, trying to reach for it. Then, I heard him snickering in the back.

"This one?" He said reaching for it before I did.

"Yes. Hold it." I said, turning into the aisle at the same time that a tall man did.

"Whoops!" I stepped behind, getting closer to that rabid man instead.

"Miss Kang?" Taehyung blinked at me.

"SUV?"

His jaw fell open, speechless for a long second as his eyes hovered over the entire situation I was in. Pretty misunderstandable. I know.

"Wow." He blinked hard and fast. "The hair is just beautiful. The colour suits you."

He was really looking at it. Like, really closely. The attention to detail just made me feel like a teenager. I smiled coyly and bowed, "Thank you."

The shock on his face eclipsed so quickly after that that I barely had the time to brace myself for what hit me next.

"You're—you're pregnant?" He choked on his own words, flashing his eyes at Jungkook standing behind me and then back at my face.

My stomach dropped because heck no.

"No!" I scowled, hastily adding the words. "Maternity present shopping. Not me. Never me."

His shoulders relaxed and he nodded. "Good. Good that you're not. But you'll make a really cool mom, I tell you." His syrupy voice curled into a chuckle.

"Not in my world." I rolled my eyes, trying not to blush at the fact that I was just complimented. Again. "What—what are you here for?"

"Oh," He was startled. He hesitantly looked around and gulped. "I mean...same kind of stuff. My friend sent me to buy things for her."

"Ah, I see," I nodded and looked at the brown packet he was offering me.

"And I was about to drop by at your office to pass these." He said, showing me the familiar packaging. "I got some more of those cookies for you. Thank you for looking after my brother."

"Danish cookies?!" I exclaimed, almost jumping with excitement as I took the bag from him and checked. OH YES. The chocolatey fragrance hit me and I almost swooned shamelessly. "Goodness, I owe you one for this."

"Not a problem." He grinned and then looked behind me again as if a tornado was approaching.

Oh, right.

Tornado Jungkook.

"Oh," I stepped behind to let both of them see each other. "Mr Jeon, this is Kim Taehyung, my teammate Kim Seokjin's brother. He just returned from Copenhagen last week. And SUV, this is Mr Jeon Jungkook. He's a director at the company. Mostly cybersecurity..." I dismissively waved the packet in the air as I explained.

Kim Taehyung smiled professionally as he stepped ahead and lent his hand out for a shake, "Nice to meet you, Mr Jeon. Thank you for always taking care of Miss Kang at work."

I blinked. What? Taking care of me?

Jungkook hesitated, the things in his hand crunching in his grip as he delivered the handshake rather weirdly. He looked almost...constipated.

"It's a pleasure to." He calmly addressed despite it.

Why did Jungkook look like Taehyung had kicked his puppy?

"Miss Kang, you must be all the rage at your office to make errand boys of directors." He smirked at me.

"I wish." I rolled my eyes. "But I'm the errand boy here. And I haven't really told anyone I'm doing this part-time errand stuff so please don't tell Seokjin."

Taehyung nodded, "Whatever you say."

"Miss Kang." Jungkook's voice cut in sternly. "It's getting late. We have to go." He said with his jaw tightened as if I was a second away from being dragged out by my chestnut hair.

I wanted to stomp on his expensive shoe because he was right. We really needed to go back before people started asking.

"Yes. I do need to leave. Thanks, Mr Kim—"

"Taehyung." He raised his paws up. "Taehyung is just fine."

"Okay." I nodded hastily. "Thanks, Taehyung. Bye."

"Ba-bye" he waved at me. "And again, lovely hair."

I smiled and spun around, quickly assessing the shortlist and picking out two of them as the official presents. But Jungkook said he wanted to buy all three of them so we went with his idea. Once we were at the checkout counter, I turned to Mr Constipated jerk and smirked.

"See? My hair's a hit. You're the only one who thinks a rooster threw up on me."

"Yeah?" His brows rose, eyes on the products that were being handled by the cashier. "That guy's clearly interested in you. That's why he said it."

"What—no!" I stepped behind, looking him up and down, "Maybe, yes. But we're really strangers at this point. He cannot just like me out of nowhere. How cruel do you have to be to say that my hair's only being complimented because someone likes me? Ridiculous."

"That will be ₩128,000," the cashier said and my breath choked because what the actual fuck was this cost?

Another reason to reject the thought of having a baby.

Jungkook smirked, reaching for his wallet in his trousers and fishing out a black card. A fucking black one.

My eyes.

Someone save me because my eyes just saw something blinding! Was I just attracted to a financial flex? No, Haerin. Bad Haerin.

I remember Jong Suk had one too. But I never got to see it because of other reasons. His mother was already shooting me down for being a money-whore so getting excited over a black card would prove her right.

The cashier quickly put everything into a cute pink bag and wrapped it up with beautiful pink ribbons for us. I was about to get the bag but Jungkook swooped in like an aggressive eagle and took it first.

Show off.

"Can you keep this in your baby bag till we—"

"No." He shut my Danish cookies out.

I frowned. "I'm sitting on this roller coaster of a god damn bike. How will I hold it and make sure I don't fall? Are you trying to kill me?" I spat, annoyed.

"Leave the cookies then."

"But—" I hopped. "They're Danish! And they're really good and it's a present!"

"Do I care?" He said, inserting my head into the helmet and strapping it on. "Absolutely not, Miss Kang. Sacrifice the cookies and you can get on the bike."

"Are you kidding me?!" I yelled. "You know what? You can go on your own. I've helped you out now. I'll take a cab and get to the office." I began taking the helmet off without taking the strap off and he snatched the paper bag from me and stuffed it in the baby bag.

"You'll crush them!" I raged but he just rolled his eyes at me through the open visor and revved his bike louder.

"Argh!" I roared at the sky and aggressively got on his bike. My thigh slammed against his but he didn't even flinch—like a damn wall. "I'm going to get back at you for this, you just wait."

"I'll be waiting, Miss Kang." He chuckled.