Family Complex | TWICE!FamilyAU

Ch8

Jeongyeon patiently waited in his car for his wife to come down. He was tapping away on his phone (searching for more memes to send to his kids, no doubt) when Nayeon suddenly yanked the door open and climbed into the passenger seat before slamming it shut.

"Your son is scheming something," she seethed, throwing her purse in the backseat. She then harshly yanked the seatbelt and buckled it with a click.

"Well, good evening to you too, sweetheart," he snorted and added, "So he's only my son if he's scheming? Weren't you fawning over him just last week?"

Their eldest son, Jihyo, had insisted on staying late at the office for a couple of days now, and it's putting his wife in a bad mood for some reason.

"You don't understand, Jeong; he's never been this eager to do any of my work!" Nayeon petulantly crossed her arms over her chest and sank into her seat.

"Ah, so you finally admit to pushing all your work onto our son." Jeongyeon chuckled, rolling his eyes. He slipped his phone into the cup holder as he started the engine.

"That's not the point!" She let out a scandalized gasp when a sudden intrusive thought came to mind. "What if he has a girlfriend and that's why he's staying up so late? A secret midnight rendezvous?!"

"They'll all leave the nest at some point, right?" he said carefully, sensing that there was no point in changing the subject when his wife got into one of her delusional tirades.

"Jeong, we talked about this," Nayeon huffed, jabbing him in the shoulder. She suddenly smiled in a terribly devious way that he didn't like. "Do you want me to bring up Tzuyu again?"

"That's different! Tzuyu is a goddess, and no mortal will ever be good enough for her!" he snapped back immediately, once again getting dragged in by the mention of the tall maknae. His hands tightened around the steering wheel; it was a good thing he wasn't driving yet. "Besides, she's still a baby—my baby—but a baby nonetheless! She's too young to be thinking about these things!"

"Exactly! That's how I feel about Jihyo; he's my protégé." She smiled, nodding in agreement and gestured for him to continue.

"Jihyo is our eldest; why not worry about Dahyunnie or Chae?" Jeongyeon asked, brows furrowed. He glared at her instead of giving her the satisfaction of pushing her narrative.

"Because Jihyo is my heir! He can't just associate with anybody!" Nayeon exclaimed, her voice rising louder than she was aware of. He flinched a little as she continued, "And you know those two aren't interested in business; they're too free-spirited. They'll be eaten alive if they ever step into our office building... I'd be lucky if Tzuyu was interested, though; that girl will rule the world someday."

The last bit wasn't meant to be heard, but she is Jihyo's mother, after all.

"Don't you dare..." Jeongyeon muttered bitterly, shaking his head. He exhaled loudly and ran a hand through his hair, frustrated. "Okay, fine, I can understand you somehow. Office politics is something I don't like to dabble in... or any type of politics, really."

Nayeon nodded and stared outside the window. They sat in silence for a few minutes before he revved up the car again and started driving home.

—

Working in a library wasn't that exciting. There was a lot of standing around, rearranging books on the shelves, helping customers find the books they needed, and manning the checkout counter.

Occasionally, she would ask people to leave if they were generally being rowdy or unproductive, like any passed-out ajussi who somehow managed to get inside or horny teenagers making out in a dark, secluded corner.

Mina wasn't having it today. She had been working for nearly fifteen hours. A coworker called in sick, and she had to fill in for them on top of her own shift, which started right after.

She adopted a zombie-like shuffle, with her shoulders hunched over as she aimlessly wandered through the aisles. Sometimes, she would move towards a bookshelf and comb through the titles to amuse herself.

Her break starts around midnight, which is just a few minutes from now. She just needed to bear it for a while until she could finally go out and buy something from the nearby convenience store. This evening had been uneventful; hopefully, it stays that way.

She turned around a corner to check a peculiar area in the library. It's a small hideaway spot that people used to sleep in. Mina herself is guilty of this.

What greeted her when she got there was a mess. Books and folders sprawled out across the small table. An open laptop was placed in a corner, forlornly. The screen was black, but there was a blinking light—a sign that it was turned on and was probably in sleep mode.

Seated at the table was a familiar young man. Curled up on one of the cushioned seats with his nose buried in a book was her 'not stalker,' or at least he said he wasn't.

'I actually never got his name...'

"Hey," she greeted him tiredly. He wasn't being a nuisance, but she would have to ask him to clean up after himself when he was done studying.

He squeaked at her sudden presence, the book in his hands snapping shut.

"Mina?" he asked as if he weren’t quite sure it really was her. He stared at her with a slack jaw and wide eyes, stunned. "What are you doing here?"

She rolled her eyes. "I work here, remember?"

"Oh yeah..." He spoke with a confused expression on his face, as if he didn’t have the slightest clue where he currently was. He glanced down at his watch and gasped, "Wait, it's this late already?!"

"Please keep your voice down," she shushed as he frantically gathered his things. "You can stay here a little longer if you'd like; the library is open 24/7."

"Wait, really?" he asked, his voice much higher than usual. His shoulders slumped in relief before he stiffened once again because of a loud grumbling noise.

She watched as his face slowly turned bright pink; it was cute, though. It was different from Momo's laughter and asking what's for dinner, or his excessive whining for more food.

"Are you hungry?" Mina smiled gently, as if coaxing a small frightened animal. "There's a convenience store and a café right across from the library. My break is about to start; would you like to come with me?"

His face exploded into a wide grin, his eyes sparkling, with the tips of his ears still pink. "Um, yes, please!"

She seemed to find him adorable and harmless as he shoved his things back into his bag haphazardly. They made a quick stop at the checkout counter so she could help him borrow a few books.

"Thank you!" His inability to stop smiling at her made her stomach lurch. It must be the hunger...

"You're welcome..." She briefly glanced down at his library card before handing it back to him. "Chaeyoung-ssi."