Mrs. Original Visual (Irene x Fem Reader)

Chapter Twenty-Four

You watch in delight from across the table as Kai's eyes light up the moment the waiter sets the pizza down in front of him. It's his favorite food in the world.

It's even more special because Irene is with the two of you.

You shift your gaze to your wife who sits right next to Kai. "How was the meeting yesterday?"

"Oh, it was productive," she answers as she puts a slice of pizza on Kai's plate. "The producers want to meet with the rest of the cast on Wednesday."

"Are you excited to get back to filming?"

She looks at you and smiles. "I am. You know how badly I wanted to get back to work."

"Does that mean you'll have less time for me?" Kai butts in, pouting.

You and Irene can't help but chuckle. Perhaps he's gotten so used to being with his eomeoni most of the time that he fears she'll be snatched away from him by her job.

"No, Kai. Of course not," Irene assures him. She pushes his hair off his face. "I'll see to it that you and I will still have plenty of time together."

He brightly smiles up at her, then he shifts his attention to you. "I wish you too would spend more time with me, Mommy."

"My schedule isn't as flexible as your eomeoni's, son," you explain. You give him a sheepish smile. "But I'll try to spend as much time as I can with you on my free days. Okay?"

"Will we see Yu-ri again? I wanna play with him."

You look at your son with wide eyes but you quickly recompose yourself before your wife notices the horrified expression.

"Who's Yu-ri?" Irene asks him.

"A friend's nephew," you answer quickly. "We bumped into an old friend and her nephew yesterday at the aquarium and we hang out."

"Friend?" She raises an eyebrow at you and does not make an effort to hide her being suspicious.

"Mommy's friend," Kai informs her. "Aunt Chaeyoung."

Oh God, please stop him from talking, you desperately pray in your mind.

"I don't think I've met a friend of yours named Chaeyoung, [Y/N]," your wife challenges in a calm but cold manner.

You take a sip of your soda, steeling your courage before answering. "Yeah, we went to college together," you lie. Of course you wouldn't admit to her that the Chaeyoung that your son met was Rosé. "We lost contact after we graduated because she migrated to another country. I didn't know she'd returned to Korea."

"Is that so?" She crosses her arms over her chest. "Because I happen to know someone whose fans call her Chaeyoung."

You lean forward and lock eyes with her. "Can we please not do this in front of our son?" you shoot back through gritted teeth. "Do you really wanna fight in front of him?"

She furrows her brows at you and stares you down for a few seconds. Finally, she breaks the staring contest; feeling relieved, you watch as she closes her eyes and gives you an almost imperceptible nod.

"Kai literally blurted out that he met you," you whisper through the phone. You shake your head as you recall how he could've unknowingly ratted you out to your wife.

Your heart flutters as you listen to Rosé laughing from the other line. "Oh, darling. You must've been nervous." Even though you don't see her, you're certain that she is smirking. "How did you get away from it though?"

"I told her it was an old friend. Someone I'd gone to college with."

"And she believed you?" she says with a chuckle. "She's so dumb."

You purse your lips. Had it been another person who said that about Irene, you would've thrown fists at them for talking shit about your wife. But this is Rosé; you cannot find it in you to even call her out.

"For the record, I did go to college with someone named Chaeyoung," you inform her simply. "But we weren't friends."

"Hey..." Her voice suddenly sounds serious. "Remember what I told you about yesterday?"

"Oh, right." You scratch your nape. "I haven't told my wife yet."

"Well, you better hurry because we're leaving in a week. Lisa is expecting an answer. I am expecting an answer. And you know that I won't take 'no.'"

"Look, Rosé..." You sigh. You're still unsure how you'll tell your wife about this thing with Rosé without having her suspect anything. "I'm still not promising anything. Okay? I haven't even figured out a way around it. I'll try my best, though."

"Well, you better try harder," she retorts sternly. "I don't want to be a third wheel to Jennie unnie and Lisa."

"You won't be. Jisoo will be there too, right?"

"But I am not dating her, [Y/N], I am dating you."

"I'll see what I can do." You turn to look as the door opens and your wife steps into the bedroom. "I'll see you tomorrow at work." You hastily drop the phone call.

"Who was that?" Irene asks.

"That was Appa's secretary," you lie. "She filled me in with my schedule for tomorrow."

"Jam-packed schedule, I suppose?"

"Yeah, but—" you pull her to a hug "—it'll all be okay. Nothing I haven't done before."

She lets you lock her in an embrace for a full minute; then she pulls away and gives you a dagger look. "Were you planning to tell me about this friend of yours that you bumped into yesterday?" She says the word friend rather sharply.

"I was going to. I really was, but then I'd completely forgotten about it. It's a good thing that Kai mentioned it because I suddenly remembered."

She squints her eyes at you. "You're not lying, are you?"

"Of course not." Your voice cracks at the last word; you clear your throat before continuing, "I wouldn't dare lie to you again, darling."

Once again, you lock her up in an embrace; you're thankful that this time, she does not pull away.

You would've hugged her all night long but you remembered the conversation with Rosé. And though you did not make her any promise so as not to get her hopes up but you really did mean it when you said you'd at least try.

You quickly come up with a lie.

"Joohyun, there's something I've been meaning to tell you," you say softly. She pulls away and looks at you, waiting for you to say it. "Appa wants me to go to Thailand to meet up with a Thai businessman. He's looking to invest in our firm and Appa wants me to handle it."

"Thailand? But why so sudden?"

"I wish I knew, babe," you answer. "But knowing my father, he wouldn't have entrusted this to anybody else except me. He's relying on me now more than ever because he is retiring in a few years and as you know, I'm the sole heiress of the firm."

She sighs. "When are you leaving?"

"Monday next week. I won't be gone for far too long, it's just a 3-day business trip."

She closes her eyes and massages her temple, and you know that she is carefully measuring her thoughts.

"It's not like I'm in the position to stop you, right?" she retorts as she opens her eyes. "You better not do anything stupid, [Y/N]. Because I am telling you: I will find out."