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“Who’s this?” Mai turns your phone around, holding it high because your fingers are covered in flour from the dough you’re rolling out.
“Bean,” you say with an authoritative edge, “you’re only supposed to be looking at the pictures of the garden,” you wipe your hands clean on the apron Jungkook put on you, “nosy.”
Mai giggles when you swipe her nose before taking your phone back, “that’s my friend.”
“What’s his name?”
You chuckle, sliding the dough over to Jungkook who’s cutting it into circles with a can, focused on the task at hand while you and Mai go back and forth. His eyes only avert from what he’s doing when he looks at his daughter.
“How ‘bout some manners, Mai?” He starts, “and sit right on that stool before you fall off.”
Mai huffs, dropping her leg and letting it dangle.
“His name is Jaehyun,” you answer without thinking as you wash the flour off your hands and scrape the remnants from beneath your nails.
Jungkook stops, ears perked up and hot at the familiarity of your friend’s name. He clears his throat, cutting out the last circle from the dough, “Jae-Jaehyun? As in Yuno-Jaehyun?”
He looks at you as you nod, retrieving a bowl of the dumpling mixture Jungkook’s mom dropped off for Sunday dinner. You call Mai after she washes her hands, pulling up a standing stool next to you. She bounces upright and listens to your instructions, watching with careful eyes when you show her how much of the mixture to spoon into the circles.
Jungkook mans his station, pinching the dumplings closed, “you uh - you saw him?”
You nod again, “he was in town for a work trip, he-um — he just wanted to see me.”
“He’s a boy,” Mai starts after successfully spooning the mixture into a few.
You smile, “he is.”
“So,” you start to smile at the teasing sound in Mai’s small voice, “is he your boyf-”
“Jeon Mai…”
You laugh when Jungkook cuts her off.
Mai looks up at you when Jungkook becomes distracted with his work, the window in her missing teeth showing with a bright smile after you wink at her.
You notice a shift in Jungkook’s demeanor when the dumplings finish steaming, allowing Mai to do most of the talking to which she gladly takes the reigns. Be it for the few questions she tries to get in about your friend, Jaehyun.
“So he’s not your boyfriend?”
“Mai,” Jungkook groans, hand swiping over his face. All he wanted was to enjoy dinner with his daughter and best friend, especially after the grueling week he’d endured of open houses and finicky clients.
“It’s okay Jeon,” you laugh, patting his arm, “he used to be bean, but you were super little at the time.”
“Oh,” she says, mouth full of food. Jungkook blinks, a small break in his otherwise flat smile when he sees a droplet of soy sauce clinging to the corner of his daughter’s mouth. He leans forward with a napkin and swipes it clean.
“Did you like him, daddy?” She looks at him. Her question causes you to choke on your bite while Jungkook’s face flushes.
“He wasn’t his favorite,” you answer for him, “but this isn’t table talk for kids-”
“What number did you give him?”
Jungkook can’t help but laugh at his daughter’s question, noting the way you roll your eyes with a tinge of a smile; “are you proud of this Jungkook, teaching your daughter to rate my boyfriends?”
“But you said he’s not your boyfriend,” Mai quips, poking into her dumpling with the tip of her chopsticks.
“He’s not-”
“A five.” Jungkook snorts.
Mai giggles, hand covering her mouth.
You sit back, pushing your tongue into your bottom lip, “yes, it’s so funny, your dad is hilarious.”
“Five is not good,” Mai says in a small fit of laughter, head falling against your arm.
After dinner the three of you clean up Jungkook’s kitchen before settling on the couch for a movie of Mai’s choice. Jungkook waits for the popcorn to pop while Mai leans into your hold, focus going between the movie and idle hands playing with the rings on your fingers.
Her head shoots up, bending back until her doe-like eyes sparkle up at yours. You lift your eyebrows in question, “yes?” You speak softly, feeling the couch dip when Jungkook comes back with two bowls of popcorn - a small one for Mai and a bigger one for the two of you to share.
“I didn’t mean to hurt your feelings if I did,” she whispers harshly, allowing Jungkook to still hear her as he tosses a few pieces of popcorn into his mouth, “I’m sorry.”
You chuckle, leaning in to push the tip of your nose into her cheek, “you didn’t, bean, but thank you for the apology.”
Her giggle alerts Jungkook even more, “I bet he’s more than a five, daddy was just playing.”
His face burns when you look up at him for a second, “let’s watch the movie, punk,” he says. Mai purses her lips shut, scooting closer to her dad when he holds out the small bowl of popcorn for her.
Thirty minutes of the movie is left when you come back from a bathroom break, noting the look on your best friend’s face who’s staring off, attention far from the floating lanterns on the television screen.
“What’s up with you?” You ask, breathing a tender laugh as you brush his bangs back teasingly. Your expression matches the frown on his face when he moves his head back, a strained laugh coming out of him.
A few minutes of blind focus passes after you get under the blanket Mai brought for you and her to share, blind focus set back on the movie.
“So uh, was it a date?” Jungkook asks in a hushed tone.
Your lip twitches “I don’t know, I guess?”
“Did you kiss him?”
You curl your lip this time and arch a brow at your best friend, “that’s kind of rude to ask?” You look down at Mai whose head is laid in her dad’s lap, soft breathing to indicate she’s fast asleep.
Jungkook rolls his eyes, training them back on the television. His fingers comb through the top of his daughter’s hair that’s getting longer every day, refusing to cut it. A faint smile touches your lips at his adamants to keep her hair long given the few trims you sneak in there, continuing to watch the way he massages his fingertips into his little girl’s scalp.
A few minutes of monotonous banter plays on the screen before you sigh, looking over at Jungkook who’s gnawing at his bottom lip.
“You know me better than that,” you breathe, focusing on the show as Jungkook flits his eyes back to you, “my kisses are sacred, I don’t just hand them out, especially to an ex-” you look at him with a pointed expression and devastating smirk, “dummy.”
Hopeful to make him laugh, you sigh again when the dissatisfied look remains on Jungkook’s face; “but you’re seeing him again?”
You shrug, “I don’t know, he was busy with work a.k.a work trip so we only hung out a few times, I can’t determine what my plans are with Jae yet.”
He stretches his neck forward to make sure Mai is asleep before continuing. Watching the movie is long past as your eyes strain to watch Jungkook’s odd and strained movements. “I just don’t get why you’d want to date him again.”
You snort, “I get it, you don’t like anyone I date.”
“That’s not true,” he defends, “you just always end up breaking it off with them, what am I supposed to think?”
He’s got you there.
You stir beneath the blanket, the playful tone that was once there is overtaken by a hostile feeling, “I just don’t want to waste my time on relationships that are going anywhere.”
“But dating Jaehyun again isn’t wasting your time?”
You sit up defensively this time, “what’s with the third degree - grump!”
Mai groans, arm stretching upward before it falls against her dad’s shoulder. Jungkook soothes her back to sleep, fingers molding around the back of her neck to give it a few comforting squeezes.
“Sorry,” he breathes lowly, “I just - I know you, even if I don’t get why you break up with them-”
“And you tease me about it,” you add, hoping to break the tension.
He chuckles, “I know you end it for a good reason.”
“You’re protective of me,” you say, drawing Jungkook to finally look at you for the first time after Jaehyun’s name was brought up, “I get it, Jeon.” He struggles to keep his composure when you smile at him, both caught in a staring contest before forcing yourselves to look back at the movie.
“He-he isn’t that bad,” the words come out with varying struggle, “he was polite the entire night, and um - he wanted to kiss me but I said no.”
Jungkook swallows the thick bile growing in his throat as he listens to you, face growing hot once again.
“He respected that,” you say.
“Good.” He answers in short.
“He wants to see me again - asked if I’d come out there to visit him for a weekend.”
“Already?” Jungkook spats.
You laugh quietly, “I’m a big girl Jungkook, I can make these kinds of decisions.”
He shrugs, “of course, I know that.”
“I thought you’d be, I don’t know, relieved?” You mean for it to come out jokingly but the offense in your demands to be heard.
“Relieved, why?”
“Because I’m making an effort to actually see someone? You always have a lot to say about my breakups,” you defend yourself, “you don’t seem to have a lot to say about this.”
Jungkook’s head falls back against the sofa, the ending of the movie lost to the two of you and a dreaming Mai.
“You’re acting weird, Jungkook.” You huff like a child, arms crossing when you sit back against the plush pillow.
He sighs, thumb brushing across his daughter’s cheek as he battles between utter distaste in hearing about you potentially getting back with your ex and feeling bad for making you feel like this.
“I — we care about you,” Jungkook finally says, struggling to look back at you, “just don’t want to see you hurt.”
“So trust me then,” you feign a chuckle, “I’m a little indecisive, but I know what I want in the end.”
Jungkook just nods, fingers rubbing out the knot sitting inside of his chest.