Trouble Tamer

43. Mina

Taehyung's POV

The smell of pancakes wafted through the house as I flipped the last one onto the plate. It was a Wednesday morning, and the only thing on my morning agenda before work was spending time with Jungkook, though convincing him to sit still for even a minute was a mission in itself.

“Jungkook!” I called out, carrying the plates to the table. “Breakfast is ready.”

No answer.

I sighed, knowing full well where this was headed. My Jungkook was in one of his moods again. I set the plates down and wandered to the living room, where I found him sprawled out on the couch, one sock missing, his face buried in his phone.

“Jungkook, I said breakfast is ready,” I repeated, leaning over the back of the couch.

He didn’t even glance up, just muttered, “Not hungry.”

I narrowed my eyes, trying not to smile. “Not hungry? I made your favorite.”

Still no response. He knew exactly what he was doing, and I wasn’t about to let him win.

“Fine,” I said, pretending to retreat. “Guess I’ll just have to eat it all myself—”

“Wait!” His voice was urgent, and he finally looked up, his big doe eyes wide with fake betrayal. “You wouldn’t.”

I smirked. “Oh, I would.”

He jumped off the couch in record time, darting past me toward the dining table. “You’re so mean,” he pouted, plopping into his seat. “Just a lil more convincing, I was going to come anyway.”

“Sure you were,” I teased, sitting across from him.

Jungkook piled three pancakes onto his plate and smothered them with syrup. He took one bite, his cheeks puffed out like a chipmunk as he chewed.

“Good?” I asked, already knowing the answer.

He nodded but didn’t bother with words, too focused on his food. I couldn’t help but smile. Moments like these made my heart ache in the best way—watching him be his carefree self while I sat there, utterly smitten.

Halfway through his second pancake, Jungkook looked up, a mischievous glint in his eye. “You know,” he said, mouth still half-full, “you’re lucky to have me.”

“Oh, really?” I raised an eyebrow, playing along. “And why’s that?”

“Because,” he said, pointing his fork at me, “I make your boring life interesting.”

I laughed, shaking my head. “You’ve got that right.”

He grinned, clearly pleased with himself. Then, as if deciding I wasn’t giving him enough attention, he grabbed a piece of pancake, leaned over, and held it out to me.

“Here,” he said. “Eat.”

I blinked, caught off guard by the sudden gesture. “I already ate, Jungkook.”

“Don’t care.” His tone left no room for argument. “Open up.”

I sighed but obeyed, letting him feed me the bite. He watched me closely, his face lighting up when I hummed in approval.

“See?” he said smugly. “You can’t resist me.”

“No,” I admitted, reaching across the table to ruffle his hair, “I really can’t.”

----------

The office was quiet, save for the faint clacking of keyboards and the hum of the air conditioner. I was buried under a mountain of documents. Just another day as CEO.

I was signing the last sheet in a stack when my phone buzzed on the desk. I glanced at the screen—an unknown number. Strange. I hesitated before answering.

“Hello?” I said, my tone professional.

“Hi, honey! How are you?” chirped a high-pitched, feminine voice from the other end.

I blinked, completely thrown off.

“Uh… I’m sorry, who is this?”

The woman gasped dramatically. “Don’t you remember me, sweetheart? Come on, we had fun the last time we met. How can you forget me?”

I froze, my pen slipping from my fingers. Fun? Sweetheart? My brain scrambled to make sense of this. Who was she? I couldn’t think of anyone—was I being pranked?

“I… I’m sorry, ma’am,” I said, my voice unsure. “I think you have the wrong number.”

“Wrong number?” she repeated, sounding affronted. “Are you serious? Taehyung, it’s me! Don’t tell me you’ve forgotten already.”

My pulse quickened. “I-I don’t…” I stammered, feeling my palms sweat. “Wait—how do you know my name?”

Meanwhile, back at home, Jungkook, the mastermind behind the chaos, was struggling to keep it together. Hiding in the corner of the living room with the maid’s phone, he was biting his lip to keep from laughing out loud. This was too good. My panicked reaction was everything he’d hoped for.

“Taehyung!” the voice on the phone scolded. “You’re being so mean! I thought we had something special.”

I rubbed my temples, on the verge of losing my mind. “Look, ma’am, I really think you—”

And then it clicked.

The overly dramatic tone. The fake high-pitched voice. The muffled laughter I could barely make out on the other end.

It was Jungkook.

I leaned back in my chair, letting out a breath I didn’t know I’d been holding. Of course, it was him. Who else would pull something like this?

But two could play at this game.

“Oh, right,” I said smoothly, my tone shifting. “Now I remember. Mina, isn’t it?”

There was a pause. “W-What?” The voice faltered, clearly caught off guard.

“Yes, Mina,” I continued, fighting back a smirk. “How have you been, darling? It’s been so long.”

Back at home, Jungkook’s jaw dropped. He stared at the phone, mortified. This wasn’t how the prank was supposed to go. He fumbled, trying to regain control.

“I-I mean… yes, Mina! That’s me. I’m… great!”

I chuckled inwardly, imagining his flustered - frustrated face.

“I’ve missed you, Mina. When are we meeting again? I’ve been thinking about you ever since our last… encounter.”

Jungkook nearly dropped the phone. His face turned red as a tomato from anger. “T-Tae! I mean… uh, Mr. Kim! Stop it!”

And there it was. His bratty facade crumbled in an instant.

I couldn’t hold back my laughter anymore.

“Nice try, Kook,” I said, my voice warm. “But you’ll have to do better than that to fool me.”

There was a long silence before he finally muttered, “Who's this Mina, hyung?”

"Yea, life's good." Taehyung muttered with a whipped smile while looking at his husband who was checking his each and every single chat to find that one supposedly contact name, "Mina"

"Lemme-"

"Shut up, I am gonna find that witch!" Jungkook whispered in frustration, totally ignoring his husband beside who looked like a kicked puppy.

Life's good, as Taehyung says.