A SMILE IN THE MIND || VK

39

Jeongguk slammed the car door behind him sauntered towards the main door and entered the house. He was certainly in a bad mood and he hoped he would not lose his cool, scaring anyone in the house. He almost lost the contract today if it wasn't for him who literally had to take an excuse of a power outage. With great difficulty, he could convince the investor. 

Rose looked up as soon she heard the noise of someone padding their feet and walking into the house. 

"hey, Gguk" she chirped, cheerful to which Jeongguk only nodded before he skipped and ascended towards the first floor towards his room. 

Rose pouted a little before she quirked an eyebrow up in confusion. She stirred the soup in the pot wondering "What is wrong with him?" 

Jeongguk trudged towards his room and undid his first few buttons as he walked to the crib. He frowned when he couldn't find Ji-ah there. He wondered. She usually sleeps in the crib at the time of his arrival. 

He walked out of his room to find her. He decided to check for her thinking as she might be resting in Rose's room sometimes. But before he could climb down the stairs, he could hear faint giggling noises from the next door. It was Taehyung's. He decided to check there once. 

He didn't bother to knock and entered the room after twisting the knob open only to find Ji-ah giggling as she lay on the carpeted floor while Taehyung hovered above her a little as he tickled her with his fingertips slightly but with a great impact, occasionally giving her pecks on the cheeks. 

As much as Jeongguk loved the scene, He wanted to tame the younger. He couldn't let him go scot-free every time he committed a mistake. He decided to ignore him for a while. 

He simply walked into the room and bent down to pick up Ji-ah. When Taehyung saw someone abruptly picking the baby up, he darted his eyes to the person only to smile wide. 

"Kookie!" He exclaimed and jumped on the bed making grabby hands indicating him to lift him as well. But to his despair, Jeongguk walked out of the room carrying Ji-ah to his room. 

"K-kookie" He immediately jumped out of the bed and skidded out of his room, following Jeongguk. He was about to enter the elder's room but flinched really hard when Jeongguk closed the door in his face with a loud thud. 

Taehyung's jaw hung open as tears brimmed in his eyes with his lips slightly wobbling. He anxiously started biting on his paw as he stared at the closed door. "Is he m-mad with me" He pondered 

"He didn't even kiss me after coming home" Taehyung's lips curved down.

Jeongguk sighed as he undressed after he laid the baby on the centre on the centre of the bed who flapped her limbs excitedly as soon as she saw her father. She kept giggling, kicking her feet in the air and muttering incoherent noises that made Jeongguk smile in adoration. 

As much as he wanted to cuddle and pepper her with kisses, he knew he had to clean himself first. All that shaving foam from the previous moments made his back sticky and itchy. He immediately discarded his clothes on the chair in the corner of the room. He stood there in his boxers, exposing his tattoo sleeve, as he closed his eyes for a while, resting his hands on his hips, and cracking his neck from left to right. He felt instant relief. 

He decided to continue with a few push-ups on the floor. He strained his muscles as he flexed him, later finding instant relief with the quick exercise. He immediately picked the pillows and created a boundary around Ji-ah making sure she wouldn't roll and fall in his absence. 

He trudged towards the bathroom after he picked up his towel. He ran a cold shower before he shampooed his hair and scrubbed his back. He stood under the shower for a while after turning the faucet towards the right for steaming hot water to flow through his body washing his tiredness away. He carded his fingers through his hair as he felt his muscles loosen. 

He completed his skincare before he walked back into the room with a towel around his waist. He ruffled his hair. It has grown long for a while now. He didn't bother to groom it. He saw how Ji-ah was now lying on her stomach staring into space as he chewed on her fingers. 

She excitedly flapped her feet again as soon as she saw Jeongguk walking towards her. 

"Are you hungry, princess?" He asked as he climbed onto the bed and sat on his knees before he bent down to peck her cheek with a wide smile. Ji-ah giggled gregariously melting Jeongguk's heart. 

"Just a second and I'll be back" Jeongguk hushed before he sprang out of bed to put on a new pair of boxers. He directly walked towards the bed again, not bothering to put on a shirt. He has to feed her anyway. 

He adjusted his pillows back in their place before he slid himself into the duvet and brought his daughter closer. He reached out for a tissue from the nightstand and cleaned the little girl's fingers that were wet due to the constant chewing. 

"Don't put your fingers in your mouth, Ji-ah" He rasped, trying to sound stern, as he cleaned them only for the baby to giggle again making him smile. 

He tossed the tissues and rested his head on his left palm standing on the elbow, water droplets dripping down his arm as he left his air to air dry, before he brought her closer to his chest with his right tattooed arm, helping her latch on his nipple for her feed. He sighed as he caressed her pudgy cheeks with the pad of his thumb, who was busy gobbling down her milk. 

A few minutes into it, Jeongguk heard a doorknock. "K-kookie" he heard a faint noise call for him. He could also hear the voice waver. Was Taehyung crying? That worried him now. He frowned and looked back at Ji-ah who was very close to falling asleep as she suckled.  

He heard the door knock again. "K-kookie, can y-you open the d-door?" He could hear the younger murmur with sadness but loud enough for him to hear. He could certainly tell that the younger was pouting behind the door. He pondered whether he should open the door and check on the younger. He wondered if the younger had eaten. 

But after giving it a thought, He decided not to slide his mistakes this time. He needed to tame the younger sometimes to get him back on track. He marked on his words to give him a silent treatment for a while. 

"Brat" He mumbled and turned to the other side along Ji-ah to feed.