vermilion. || nct taeil [COMPLETE]

epilogue.

MOON-LEE RESIDENCE - 10:26 PM.

Rin had brought the office at home again. She had tons of manuscripts to re-edit and it's all due next week. She wanted to finish it all before Friday so she'd have her weekends free. Taeil comes out of their bedroom, drowsy from the nap he just took.

"Hey." He joins Rin on the couch, browsing through her work. "You still doing this?"

"Yeah, I want to submit it to Author Suh before the weekend so I'll be free by then." Rin yawns, leaning her head on his shoulder.

"I'll make you some tea, then." Taeil pecks her forehead, and heads to the kitchen to brew her favorite chamomile tea.

"Thank you!" Rin calls after him, smiling at how thoughtful he is. Minutes later, a small figure emerges from the other bedroom, having the same sleepy look as Taeil.

"Mommy?"

Rin looks over to find her 5-year-old, in her strawberry pjs, making her way to her lap. "Hey, Raehee. Can't sleep?" she coos, ruffling her daughter's hair.

"Daddy kept the night light on..." Raehee murmurs sleepily, snuggling onto Rin's chest.

"I'm sure he left it open so you wouldn't be scared," Rin consoles.

Taeil returns from the kitchen, with a cup of tea that he places on the coffee table. "Hey, cupcake. What's wrong?" he sits beside Rin, peeking at his daughter.

"I can't sleep. You guys are working late again..." Raehee whines with a cute scowl.

Taeil and Rin share a look before choking fondly. It wasn't enough that they keep nagging each other. Now, their daughter's doing it - and that says something.

"I promise we'll go to bed soon," Rin promises, kissing her daughter's forehead.

"Can you read to me? I like your impressions better than Daddy..." Raehee gives her mom a puppy look, pairing it with a pout. She knows it's both Taeil and Rin's weakness.

"Hey!" Taeil gapes, offended. "I'm trying my best, okay?"

Rin laughs at her husband's childish pout. She cups his cheek, pinching it adorably.

"Don't take it personally, honey," she comforts.

"Still..." Taeil continues to sulk as Rin stands up, holding her hand out.

"C'mon, let's put her back to bed." the two hold hands, carrying Raehee back to her room. Rin places her gently on her bed, humming a soft tune to help her doze off. Taeil covers her with a blanket, tucking her in for the night.

Story-telling didn't push through because Raehee falls asleep as soon as her head hits the pillow. Taeil and Rin give her their goodnight kiss, turning the night light off and exiting her room.

"For the record, some of her impressions require difficult accents," Taeil brings up.

"Tae..." Rin sighs, seeing her husband still affected by his daughter's words. "C'mon, you don't have to excel at everything. Raehee likes your robot voice!"

"That's my normal voice!" Taeil retorts. "My own daughter doesn't even want me reading to her. I'm a terrible dad."

"Hey, c'mon. We've talked about this." Rin reaches over to rub his shoulders soothingly. "You're not a terrible dad, okay? Raehee loves you, alright? She just has high standards on... everything."

"Wonder where she got it from..." Taeil trails off, lifting an eyebrow at his wife.

"You?"

"Excuse me?!"

"Why are you surprised, Mr. Perfectionist?"

"You're the perfectionist here, Rin."

The couple continues to bicker until Taeil grew tired of throwing the term back-and-forth. They're both perfectionists anyway so there's no point.

They go back to the couch, Taeil lending his wife a hand with her work. Well, their work. This affects their company after all.

"Can't believe the great Author Kim has agreed to renew contract with Moon Publishing," Rin mentions with a chuckle.

"It's Moon-Lee," Taeil corrects with a glare. "How many times do I have to correct you?"

"I-It's weird to adapt to the change, okay? You didn't even have to change the company name. You built it yourself..." It was Rin's turn to pout. Taeil was always so iffy about the company name.

"Fine." Rin rolls her eyes, cuddling to her husband's side while reading Author Kim's new contract terms.

"By the way, Chaeyoung's asking for a get together at the bar. She's been promoted to editor-in-chief. Wants to buy us some drinks to celebrate," Taeil mentions.

"Yeah, she texted me about it. I'm so proud of her," Rin hums in response. "Though, I think I'm gonna take a break from drinking for now."

Taeil laughs at that. "Sure, you do." He isn't convinced at all. Last time she said that, she ended up getting wasted and Taeil had to nurse her back to soberness at a convenience store.

"What? I'm serious! It's for my health and-" Rin stops herself. She thinks it's the perfect time to tell her husband.

"Please the only time you actually stopped drinking for a long time was when you were pregnant with Raehee and-" Taeil stops talking as well, looking down at his wife expectantly. "Rin."

Rin lifts her head from Taeil's shoulder to meet his gaze. "Taeil."

"Are you...?" Taeil's eyes gaze down at her stomach, a smile growing on her face.

"Yes." She answers, smiling widely. "3 weeks."

"Oh my god!" Taeil pulls her into a hug, kissing her temple. He holds her by the shoulders, staring at her lovingly.

"I'm sorry, you know I'm bad at telling people stuff so I didn't know when I should tell you and-" Rin was rambling but Taeil cut her off with a soft kiss on the lips.

"I adore you. I adore you so much, Lee Chaerin."

Rin smiles at him softly. "I love you too, Taeil."

End.

--

Hi, so here's the epilogue!! Just wanna say thank you all again for reading this book!!! I had fun writing redhaired and grumpy Taeil! I hope you guys enjoyed it as much as I did!

I know I had some inaccuracies in the book and to be honest I don't even know how a publishing company works I just googled staff and how a book process works but my 2 braincells still couldn't understand!!

If you're wondering though, I came up with this fic while watching What's Wrong With Secretary Kim? LMAOOO. I absolutely love that drama and the CEO is actually a nice dude who is also a FUCKING DORK. He's one of my inspiration in Taeil's characterization here so yeah. :D

So anyways, thank you thank you thank you for reading and supporting this book all through it! Your comments push me to write and do better!! I know this book had some holes in it but I promise I'll write better in my upcoming books so I hope to see you guys there as well!

This took a lot of months writing and nothing feels more satisfying than to press that Completed button SO HERE WE GO.

THANK YOU GUYS AGAIN AND WE CAN CRY TOGETHER AT THE COMMENTS BELOW. HAVE A NICE DAY/NIGHT.

p.s. I WANNA WRITE A SHORT SEQUEL TO THIS AND I'VE DECIDED THAT MARK WILL BE THE MAIN CHARACTER SO YOU HAVE UNSOLVED PROBLEMS HERE COMMENT BELOW AND I'LL TRY TO INCLUDE IT IN THE MINI-SEQUEL. THANK YOU.