The Light of Dead Stars | KSJ

55

Jin enters the conference room 15 minutes before the executive committee meeting is scheduled to start. He would do this as his chance to check on the directors and ask them how their weekend was - a way to nurture relationships, his father had told him. It's been weeks since the last time he did given all that's happened, and he's met with genuine smiles and stories of what they did the last few days.

You enter the room and his smile brightens. He looks so much better and lighter, like he was able to pull from inside of him that drive to continue working, one which withered away for a bit. He just needed time, he'd told you this morning in the car; he just needed to be reminded of what he'll lose if he doesn't get himself together. And he doesn't know what would scare him more than losing you.

He starts the meeting and engages each presenter with their reports, something he also used to do but fell short of doing recently.

As expected, the company's numbers haven't been great; not terrible, but definitely needs a lot of work. Brand perception has been low, too, and Jin knows that's on him. Market engagement skyrocketed but for the wrong reasons, and it was a tense moment for a while when it was brought up, but it's what he uses as a segue to say that he'll be taking various trips in the next couple of weeks to regain trust and reestablish the company and himself. He says he'll mention developing a new product, which is really one of his ideas from before that he didn't get back to.

"Why not develop it already?" Their PR director asks. "You and Mrs. Kim and her team can work on it together to have something more than an idea to present to the Board and the shareholders, maybe meet with new distributors in the conferences you'll attend. I know it seems trivial to them but it'll show that the work doesn't stop, and well, having your wife there might also be good. To, uh..." she trails, looking away.

"Show that those rumors aren't true, of course," Jin finishes for her, catching you off guard because it's the first time he addressed the issue directly. "___ and I work well together and they'll see that. Maybe they'll see how in love she is with me, too."

Laughter echoes in the room, as Jin only occasionally engages in jokes and teasing, but never directly at you. He's definitely being bold, and you fake gag at him before laughing along.

"Please observe him the next time I speak; you'll see who's head over heels for who," you counter, but eventually apologize for that unprofessional back and forth with your husband in front of the executives.

"Ah, not a problem at all. We need all the laughter we can get at times like this," someone pipes in. "I'm just glad everything is okay."

You smile at her and continue with the meeting, presenting your report with ease, and you notice a few of them glance at your husband and then giggle after. You pitch in a few ideas to add to the new product, and you get the consensus to focus on this first.

"You're embarrassing," you mumble as you and Jin both walk out the room and decide on the spot to have lunch out. "I was so caught off guard! But isn't that you overcompensating? You're rarely ever sweet to me."

"___, they know how I look every time you report or even show up in the room," he says. "I've been heart eyes for you for months. That wasn't me overcompensating."

You smile sweetly at his admission, kissing his nose right as the elevator doors open where a few employees witness the intimate moment and giggle themselves. You bow and let them in, apologizing for what they saw.

"Imagine if they looked at me while you were presenting and I looked bored," he chuckles. "That would've been so embarrassing for you."

"Yeah, do that and you're sleeping in the guest room," you warn.

He laughs and takes your hand as you both walk out the elevator. He takes advantage of the few people in the lobby to whisper to you. "Seriously though, you're so good when you present. And you looked so hot earlier, I almost got a boner."

You gasp as he chuckles, enjoying how he's making you feel flustered. "Kim Seokjin! You're gonna be the death of me!"

**

Aside from meetings you need to attend, you spend most of your week in the food lab, working with a team to develop the new product.

Creating the perfect recipe for fish cake crackers is not easy, despite the simplicity of its core ingredient. Jin always insisted that it's distinct from the classic and well-loved fish crackers - there's a certain tastiness and depth of flavor of the former that he wants so badly to capture. There was a time when he had it every single day and so the taste lives in him, he said once, and you understand him; that's how you feel about your mother's vegetable mandu, too.

You and your team add to the research and try the variations that Jin had experimented on before. There's already a working recipe that you just have to improve on, so coming up with the proposal for its production in a week isn't entirely impossible. Still, it doesn't mean it's not pressure-packed and stressful.

You and Jin eat different types of fish cake all week, from family-run restaurants to those being sold by street-side vendors. It's fun, working and discovering more about food in this way. You always said that Jin is inspiring like this, even more now when he has something to prove.

Back home, you talk about it some more and bounce off ideas - not just with the product but his meetings, too. You plan the trips you'll accompany him to, and thinking about all the places you'll go to in a matter of weeks is already tiring you. The schedule is tight and it's not something you're used to.

Since becoming director, your regular trips are always in the Southeast Asia office in Singapore. Occasionally, there's the Food Expo in another Asian city, but that's really it. Your work is behind-the-scenes, in the lab. You breathe food in there and you love it. You're not made for the busy, jet setting life of your husband who sometimes takes helicopters for a lunch meeting in Tokyo.

"It's gonna be fine, love," he comforts you that Saturday before your late evening flight to Dubai. "There's lots to do there. And you already know we're gonna eat the best food and I'm gonna give you a massage every night."

There's a business summit where he'll be meeting important people and he wants you by his side. But there's also a food expo happening in the complex across the street and you say that's where you'll spend most of your time.

"And what if there's nothing to amuse me when you have another event to attend?" You cross your arms.

"Then you take Yoongi with you and go shopping," Jin hums, earning him a groan from the man in question from the passenger seat.

"He'll hate you," you reply, as if he isn't there.

"Nah. Just say you'll take him to where there's booze or jewelry and he'll be sold; he'll buy Dara something from there for sure and then he'll be happy."

"Can those two just get together? They've been skirting around each other for months," you giggle, completely ignoring the fact that he's in the car with you. Even Mr. Lim can't hold his laughter.

"Yoongi is just taking his time since he wants to be sure and doesn't wanna get hurt. My best friend's a softie deep inside, you know?"

"Wow, he's finally upgraded to best friend?" You tease. "Since when?"

"Since I lost myself back there and he didn't let me slide further down," Jin responds. "You know he attended a meeting on my behalf because I wasn't prepared and he was?"

"You should promote him," you suggest.

"He doesn't want to accept it, says it's easier to take orders from me because he can disobey them if he thinks they're shit."

"Makes a lot of sense. Yoongi is a keeper, though. Gotta tell my best friend," you quip.

"You two are insufferable sometimes," the man groans again. "I can't believe I have to babysit you both during all these trips."

"It's gonna be so fun, Yoongs! We'll behave, we promise," you wink, as you exit the car.

"You better or else I'll quit," he says, unable to hide the smile that creeps up his face.