Crossroads and Rings | Super slow updates

Chapter 9

It's a short chapter. Jungkook's POV coming next. Wohoo!

I'll post that tomorrow.

***

Jimin settled in his seat opposite Katy in their private jet. It had been a week since the attorney's visited his office. They were relentless, but he made sure they never entered the building again.

With a lot more digging, Jimin discovered that the public was now aware of the will. The business rivals had used this opportunity to lash out at Jeon for hiding his illegitimate daughter from the world. So, Mr. Jeon now wanted Katy to repair the damage. In all honesty, he wanted Katy to put up a show for the public so it appeared that they had an amicable relationship.

Jimin's father doubted there was more to this than just a good PR. Knowing Jungwoo, Jimin's father claimed that Mr. Jungwoo wouldn't want his daughter to inherit the assets.

Katy was staring into space again with that pinched face. Jimin sighed before moving to the seat beside his friend and bumping into her shoulders. It was one of those expressions she often pulled when she questioned her entire existence. Katy slanted a glance, her expression not altering, and went back to staring again.

"Hey..." He poked her side. "Stop pulling that face."

"Tell me why am I doing this again?"

"For million reasons..." Jimin shrugged. "To show your so-called-father that you're a capable individual and him being a Jeon slash asshole changes nothing. To tell him to take whatever he wanted to tell you in person to shove it up in his ass and flip a bird if possible."

"Right." She nodded in determination. "To do exactly that."

Jimin shook his head with a small smile. "I got you, pumpkin." His side hugged her and she relaxed in his arms, leaning to him.

"I'm more worried about seeing him..."

"Him?"

She scowled at him. "You know...him," she stressed and this time Jimin laughed.

"Good, isn't it?" He squeezed her shoulder. "There can be only two outcomes in this. Either you get to sign him post-nup and start over or we can get that divorce and put everything behind us." Katy frowned again, staring at her hands this time.

"I'm not sure if I'm ready to break it off." She nibbled at her bottom lip. "He was...um...nice, you know."

Jimin lifted a brow. "You're still not over that. Katy, you knew him for what? A week? And you got married in a drunken haze. And you're telling me that you don't want a divorce."

She slapped at his knee with a scowl. "I'm not telling that. It's just..."

Jimin chuckled, his features softening as he remembered Tae's words. He had to tread this carefully. "He left an impression, didn't he? Listen, I'm not forcing you to break it off. I was... kind of until Tae spoke to me. But you have to talk to him, figure things out."

"You could say that." She examined her nails. "Aera said he must be really good if he was able to charm me in a week." A smile tugged at her lips. "I...ah, don't want to end this...without giving him a chance. Besides, I owe him an apology, don't you think? I left him without an explanation."

"You don't owe him anything."

"No, you don't understand." She shook her head, toying with the wedding ring. "He...respected me. I remember...um, trying to...ah..." Her shoulders slumped. "...on our third date. Well, I don't remember much except trying to kiss him and take his clothes off, but he didn't. He said he wanted me sober and would never take advantage of me like that. Then...there were a lot of things like that. The wedding night was when we actually...ah, I wasn't drunk, Minnie. We were both sober and we both knew we wanted to be together, consequences be damned." She bit her lip. "The next morning, I panicked because I realized I had to tell you guys and wasn't sure how I'd tell you guys. I left for a walk, ran into Yoongi Oppa, and talked to him. He told me to go back to the room and talk to Hobi, but when I went back, he already left. I didn't even leave him a note...so he must have thought I dumped him."

"Tae said you texted him."

Katy sighed. "I did. But I was being a coward. I texted him just saying hi."

"And he didn't respond."

"Well, I just realized only I took his number and didn't give him mine. And while we were together it was always like we kept running into each other like the universe wanted us together all the time. Everywhere I went he was there." There was a huge smile on her face when she spoke and then she cleared her throat. "Anyways, I should have texted him again, but again...I was afraid it will piss you off more and then...I found out who he really was and..."

He squeezed her hand. Guilt flooded him. "I'm sorry for being hard on you."

"You were looking out for me." She rested her head on his shoulder. "I'd have done the same if I were in your shoes. You were right to chastise me. I mean...I was reckless."

"I wish I had handled it better," Jimin admitted. "Instead of handling it like an adult, I yelled at you, which in turn forced you to hide his identity from us. I don't want you hiding things like this from us, Jeoni. I'll stand with you no matter what, you know this."

"I know." When Katy showed up in his hotel room that morning with a disheveled look, he almost wanted to kill that guy for taking advantage of her. But once he cooled off he realized both were equally guilty and he can't just hold Hoseok responsible just because he was the man.

***
"How are things between you and Joonie?" Porshiya grabbed the phone from Aera, scrolling through the messages, and smiled seeing the texts. "Finally, someone is talking."

"Yeah." Aera smiled. "He texts me at every chance he gets. He said he will come to meet us in Seoul."

Porshiya hummed. "Hmm...Katy's birthday is in November. I know they'll be here no matter what."

In all these years there were only a handful of times Yoongi or Namjoon missed important occasions such as this. This year it would be special because they were going to Seoul together after so many years. Yoongi often traveled to Korea for business, but the quintuples avoided Korea because of Katy, who never wanted to go back.

"So, you forgave him yet?" Porshiya asked after a moment of silence.

"Not yet." Aera rolled her eyes. "He has to work harder and I know the devil is working on something with him."

"And you allow her to get away with shit like this." Porshiya shook her head with a fond smile. They knew whatever the other did was with the best intentions at heart. And they all knew the other only stepped in when needed.

"We'll get our chance." Aera wiggled her brows. "Haven't you noticed how she gets when she talks about her Hobi?"

"I do." Porshiya smirked. "This is gonna be fun." She reclined in her seat, adjusting the footrest to lie back comfortably. "I love our jet, much better than the flights."

Aera hummed. "So, when are you meeting Jin? Is he coming to the airport?"

"No. That'd warrant too much attention. I'm meeting him at the penthouse." Her cheeks heated up when she thought about their conversation that morning. She couldn't wait to meet him. Long distance relationship was really hard, but distance and time difference blurred when they both talked.

"That's cool. You'll be away from public eyes too."

"Yes." She inched closer to Aera, resting her head on her shoulder, her gaze finding Jimin and Katy talking deeply two seats away. "I can feel her restlessness even from here. She's anxious and hadn't slept in two days."

"I hate her father. Why does he have to come back after all these years? He won't let her be in peace," Aera grumbled.

"Minnie said her step mother is not a pleasant person to be around. That there are some trouble in Jeon household. Jungwoo-ssi called Uncle Park and demanded directly that he goes to the Jeon mansion. Uncle Park declined the invitation saying he's now retired. But it's obvious we can't drag this for long. They will find her in one way or another."

Aera nodded. "It's not like she wants the inheritance. Her net worth is more than what that Jeon and Jung's net worth combined," she huffed. "She doesn't need all this drama now."

"I agree. But that's why we are here, aren't we? We are making sure that we all have a good time while we are here and possibly get her man back." Porshiya fist pumped with Aera with a knowing grin. No matter what they won't let these issues bring them down. They will protect each other and will always stand together.