BABY MAMA | pjm

XLVI

ACT X | SCENE XLVI

❝DANCING PRINCESSES❞

THE BELL JINGLED as jangmi walked in hand in hand with rosalie. jimin's head shot up at the sound, getting on his feet as he spotted them, waving his right hand to get their attention. jangmi was the first to see him, whispering to their daughter and pointing in his direction.

where rosalie's face brightened like the sun, jangmi's expression was cold as a biting winter. it was the same way she had looked at him when they first reconnected. she let go of rosalie's hand to allow the grinning girl run toward him. crouching down, he opened his arms in waiting, a smile plastered on his face. he hadn't seen her for an entire week, not after that sunday he'd come over to find a very comfortable looking hoseok at their house, hair damp like he'd just stepped out the shower.

he grunted as the four-year-old threw herself against him, closing his arms around her and lifting her up slowly. "did you miss papa?" he asked as she smiled into the crook of his neck. "yes," she nodded, leaning back to look at his face. "papa missed you more." he whispered as small hands landed on his cheeks, squishing them with a giggle. jangmi had stopped in front of them by now, gaze flicking momentarily in his direction before sitting at the table without uttering a word.

taking in a deep breath, jimin carefully placed their daughter on a chair before sitting down himself. "so princess, what flavour of ice cream do you want?" he smiled sweetly at her. "chocolate and strawberry with gummy bears and sprinkles." she replied. "that's pretty specific." he observed. "the first time mummy buyed me ice cream, she buyed me that type." the little girl informed. "it's her favourite." jangmi supplied quietly. "what about you? what flavour would you like?" he asked, eyeing her seemingly distracted form. "mint chocolate chip." she replied, not looking at him. "okay," he got on his feet. "papa will be right back."

he walked over to the counter, making an order, eyes glancing back at the two. jangmi was smiling now, tucking stray strands of hair out of rosalie's face and behind her ears. he watched them chat animatedly, finding himself curious about what they were so avidly discussing. "here you go, sir." the boy behind the counter called his attention back to him. three cups of ice cream had been placed on a tray, waiting for him to collect them. "thank you." he mumbled, picking up the tray and returning to the table.

he slid the tray onto the table, placing their cups in front of them before sitting down and digging into his vanilla ice cream. "so what have you been up to, princess?" he turned to the girl who was awkwardly stuffing chocolate and strawberry ice cream into her mouth. he waited for her to swallow. "we went to the plane house." she told him. "plane house?" his brows moved higher on his face.

"mhm, uncle hobi is flying today." she scooped more ice cream, struggling to get a yellow gummy bear into the spoon, tongue sticking out at the focus it seemed to require. jimin's eyes shifted to jangmi who was staring down at her ice cream in thought. "so he's travelled." his voice pulled her out of her reverie. "hmm?" she hummed, softly stabbing at her ice cream as she glanced at him.

"rosalie tells me hoseok's travelled." he watched her carefully. she seemed somewhat distracted, making him wonder if she was missing the man in question. "yeah." she answered, spooning the cold confection into her mouth, her eyes just as cold. she scraped a hand through her hair. "are you okay?" he asked, looking at her again. "i'm fine. just peachy." her tone said otherwise.

"mummy is excited because she's teaching dancing princesses and they're going to dance in front of everyone." rosalie opened her arms wide, lifting them up, her eyes glinting with pride. "really?" jimin's eyes widened. "yeah, the school's having a dance recital next week." jangmi replied, scooping ice cream into her spoon and in her mouth.