BABY MAMA | pjm

XLII

ACT IX | SCENE XLII

❝LITTLE MERMAID❞

JANGMI PRESSED THE phone to the side of her face, holding it between her ear and shoulder as she tied a bow at the end of rosalie's pigtails. "hello?" she let out carefully, realising she hadn't bothered checking the caller id before answering.

"hey, jangmi." she was greeted by jimin's voice. "oh, hey." she fluffed the red ribbon and moved on to the second. "do you need anything?" she questioned, trying not to let the phone slip out of the awkward grip she had it in. "i wanted to let you know i'd be coming. i was hoping to take rosalie out." he answered. "ah..." she trailed off, too distracted with tying the bow perfectly to string words together.

"here you go." she muttered to rosalie as she straightened, patting the girl's hair. "go meet your uncle. i'll be right out." she told the girl quietly. rosalie nodded and skipped out the room. "sorry about that." she pulled the phone from the hold of her shoulder, moving it to her other ear. "it's fine." jimin replied. "and about taking rosalie out, uh...we're kind of going out already." she informed. "we?"

"yeah, hoseok and i are hanging out with her today." she sat on rosalie's bed, the plush material dipping under her weight. "but jangmi." he began to protest. she weaved her hand into her hair. "i'm sorry, jimin. maybe tomorrow?" she suggested. "i really want to take her somewhere today."

"i didn't know and we already had this planned." jangmi replied, dropping her hand down to the bed. "can't you cancel it?" jimin queried. her brows furrowed. "no, we can't. you can't expect us to change our plans because of you." she answered, slightly annoyed. "but, i'm her father." he mumbled. "nobody's arguing her paternity with you, jimin."

"i have a right to spend time with her." he stated. "i'm not stopping you from doing that! i'm just saying today's not possible." she rolled her eyes. "and why not?"

"jesus christ, jimin, i thought we already established that." she sighed. "that you're putting hoseok over your daughter's father? yeah." came the saucy reply. her eyes widened. "are you serious right now? hoseok is leaving tomorrow. this is his last full day with us, we won't see him for another four weeks after this."

"yeah well, i didn't see my daughter for four years." jimin retorted. she let out an incredulous laugh. "wow, real mature, jimin." she remarked with a shake of her head. "why can't you just cancel it?" he asked, ignoring her remark. "did you not hear me? oh my god! would it kill you to reschedule?!" her voice rose an octave higher. "what the hell is even the matter with you today, jimin?" her brows dipped together in a frown. "my problem is that i want to see my daughter but i can't because another man is deemed more important than i am." he said, voice strained.

"jimin, why are you acting like this? it's really quite irritating." she told him. "i get that you're in love with hoseok, but i wish you wouldn't sacrifice my relationship with my daughter because of it." his voice was full of bitterness. her jaw slacked at his words, mind reeling and unable to find a proper reply for a full minute. she blinked, still not believing he had actually said that.

gathering her wits about her again, she spoke. "i have neither the energy nor the time to deal with your crap today, jimin. you can think whatever the hell you want, i don't really give a damn. if you still want to spend time with your daughter, you can come for her tomorrow. good day." she hung up without letting him say anything.

getting on her feet, she tossed the phone on the bed angrily, pacing back and forth. she ruffled her hair, trying to dispel her irritation. just when she thought things were getting better between her and jimin, he had to go and ruin it. she hated how he always seemed to blindside her with simple words.

she groaned, mussing her hair up even more. "what a bastard!" she hid her face behind her hands. she tried to take deep calming breaths, putting her hands on her hips as she gazed up. jimin just knew how to rub her up the wrong way. the things he'd said just reminded her of how infuriating he could be when he wanted to.

"mummy, hurry up!" she heard rosalie's voice before she reentered the room. "let's go now so we can see the little mermaid." she tugged on one leg of her mother's faded jeans. jangmi instantly fixed a smile on her face, brushing her hair down with her hands to fix the mess. "yes, love." she said and let rosalie take her hand and pull her out of the room.

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