paste you to the pages of my heart

Chapter Twelve

The high from Minji's surprise visit doesn't last until the end of the week.

"He's insisting that we give him a reply within the seven days since he's sent the letter."

Nayeon scoffs and she can't help herself when she says, "That's bullshit. The letter explicitly said fifteen days."

Mina nods but her expression is hard to decipher. She looks kind of mad. Nayeon isn't sure if it's because of this Park Jinsoul's assholery or something else. "That's what I told him, too, but he and his lawyer were adamant about it. Even threatened to raise it to court now if we don't reply within his new timeframe."

Nayeon clenches her jaw. Seven days. That means they have until Monday to formulate a suitable response to the stupid complaint or it'll be escalated to court. Just their luck that it's already Friday.

Fuck.

"That means overtime," Nayeon points out, finally understanding why Mina looks so frustrated. Overtime means working on weekends which would mean that Mina won't be able to spend time with their daughter.

If Nayeon were in Mina's shoes, she would've been pissed, too.

Mina nods again but this time she says, "Yes. I found some more information about Park's tendencies that I mentioned last time but I would need more time to further substantiate it. I think it's our best shot to make him confess—or at the very least, settle with an agreement—instead of bringing it up to court."

Nayeon previously mentioned that Mina is good at her job but did she also say that she used to get more drawn to Mina whenever she's in her zone? That Nayeon used to cut off Mina's tirade about asshole clients and working overtime on lawsuits with a kiss and by pushing her against whatever furniture was nearby?

And it seems that five years of no contact weren't enough for Nayeon's subconscious to forget that.

Nayeon tears her gaze away from Mina's to avoid being caught in the act of thinking that an infuriated Mina talking about law-related things is... well, hot.

Fuck, Momo is going to absolutely murder her.

"O-Okay." Shit, she stuttered. Nayeon clears her throat, pointedly looking at the blueprints on her table to avoid meeting Mina's eyes. "Let's just do what we can finish by tonight. If we need to work tomorrow, we can... do it in my apartment."

"Eh?"

Nayeon finally looks up to see Mina tilting her head at her, confusion evident in her brown eyes. "What do you mean by 'eh?'"

Mina blinks. "I can go to your apartment?"

It's some sort of silent agreement between them that Mina will only meet up with Minji anywhere but at their apartment. Nayeon didn't give their exact address and Mina didn't dare ask. Even during their beach getaway, Mina was only allowed to wait at a convenience store nearby as per Nayeon's instruction, instead of at the Ims' actual apartment building.

So, Nayeon understands that Mina is shocked to hear Nayeon's statement.

But Nayeon is getting tired of 'gatekeeping' Minji from her mama when the two obviously adore each other to the point that they literally glow when they're together.

Besides, it's well within Mina's rights to spend more time with their daughter.

Getting to know their address is just a consequence of that.

"Yes," Nayeon replies, "that way we can also spend time with Minji. Her godmothers are busy this weekend so it'll just be the three of us again, anyway."