𝐓𝐇𝐄 𝐏𝐇𝐎𝐄𝐍𝐈𝐗

Simmering Underneath

It was the cool, conditioned air against her skin that was making her shiver slightly. Yup. That was it. Her slight tremors had nothing to do with the fact that she was sitting alone in one of the best restaurants in the city, right inside the area of the SC Mall, all alone, waiting for Anatoly to come and meet her for lunch. Her shivering also had nothing to do with the fact that she had left the mansion all alone, in her old, red Lamborghini that she had brought along with her to the mansion. She was kind of attached to the thing, .

Anyways, the point was that it was around an hour after noon, she had told no one where she was going, except Jimin, whom she had ditched for the first time in her life, spinning a lie about spa and girl time that he didn't need to know about. The poor sucker of a sweetheart had believed her but remained stubborn as to accompany her to the mall, at least. That's where the ditching had come in. In her defense, she did feel bad about that and she did not want anyone, especially her husband, knowing she was meeting Anatoly.

She had to push the wheels on figuring out what Jungkook had on her father, and the only way she could even know where to look was by having Aantoly at least give her a hint as to what it was. Her arsenal was full of big eyes, batting eyelashes and heart-warming smiles that she was definitely going to use on her uncle. It had only been just ten days of her marriage, and though she had to admit Jungkook was being more bearable than she had expected, she still wanted that out. She needed that out. And the only, only way for that was by knowing what leverage Jungkook had.

She took a bite of her nachos, looking at the time. Anatoly was slightly late, and she couldn't afford anyone discovering she was missing. For one, Jungkook, with his weird protective tendencies that she still doubted were genuine, would be angry. Not that she could not handle him, but with the tension between them since their last confrontation, with both of them just being super polite to each other, the last thing she wanted on her hands was another showdown. Plus she felt bad whenever she saw his hand. He had already had enough pain in his life.

And that day the idiot had broken a big glass vase, one of the pieces of which had embedded itself deep inside his left palm. She had been frightened at the amount of blood he had lost but he had shaken it off, cleaning the wound and wrapping it in bandages while she had just watched, with a sort of numbness coming over her. That was when the politeness had started, for her. She did not want to look too deep into why him being hurt had bothered her so much. She was still not delving into that one. Nope. She wasn't even going to touch it with a ten-foot pole. Not that she had any of those lying around. Well, Jimin could always get some for her.

"Моя милая принцесса."

Jolted out of her mental rambling, Chaeyoung looked at Anatoly coming to the table, getting up to give him a tight hug that he returned in kind, the smile on her face warm and genuine.

"You are late," she admonished warmly.

He grinned, the wrinkles around his eyes crinkling. "I had to look pretty for my princess, no?"

Laughing, Chaeyoung shook her head. "You always look handsome, Anatoly."

They sat and ordered food, chit chat about this and that when Anatoly finally took her in. "How is your husband treating you? He keeps you well, no?"

The concern in his accent was thick and Chaeyoung took in a deep breath, seeing her chance and grasping it. "He is a stranger, Anatoly. In fact, I called you here so you could tell me about him. Who is Jeon Jungkook?"

Anatoly sighed, wiping a hand across his face, suddenly looking his age, the tiredness pronounced in his eyes. "He is not a cruel man, if that's what you are asking. Despite everything he has done recently, he is one of the better men I have seen."