𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐖𝐞𝐝𝐝𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐁𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐤𝐞𝐫 » taennie

Chapter 14

Sandara rummaged through the clothes that had just been prepared by Yura, her assistant at the boutique. The white color was chosen for the Jennie's engagement dress. Made from cotton-blend poplin, the one-shoulder bustier style has an exaggerated ruffle along the shoulder and falls to an ankle-skimming hem.

Dress, check. Make-up, check. Venue, check. Catering, check. Guest list, check. Invitations, check. All the preparations for Jennie's upcoming engagement party were almost done except for one thing, the bride-to-be; Jennie hasn't been informed of her own engagement.

Sandara was really sure that Jennie has no boyfriend. Her daughter was slammed with a lot of work these days. A lot of men tried to approach her but all she did was ignore them. Sandara could already predict how Jennie would react, she would definitely give a thousand and one lame excuses to avoid the engagement like the plague if they told her earlier. This time, Sandara was determined to follow her husband's plan. Let Jennie come home first and only by then, they will tell Jennie about her engagement.

Yura, who was still busy arranging flowers, was left there while Sandara went to her office inside the boutique. She paced back and forth, thinking of the best way to brainwash Kim Jennie so that she would come home this weekend. For these past two months, Jennie hasn't come home at all and gave unconvincingly feeble excuses to Sandara and Soohyun. Meetings there, meetings here, fashion runway, new summer collection, orphan programme. Jennie acted as if the distance between their house in Gangnam-gu and her current apartment was 5 hours when in truth, it barely took half an hour.

Jennie's phone number was dialed. The phone rang several times before being picked up. "Hello." A man's voice answered the call. Sandara frowned, since when did Jennie have a boyfriend? Did she hide her boyfriend all this while?

"Hello."

"Do you want to talk to Jennie?"

"Yes. Please tell her it's her mother." Without reluctance, Taehyung jogged to get Jennie who was with the down syndrome children, Sungchan, Jisung and Winwin in the room. He approached Jennie and an evil smirk was formed on his face.

"Baby, your mom is calling." Taehyung's face showed no emotion when he said that, definitely looking for trouble. Her phone was still with him, her mom was listening. Jennie grasped her phone and narrowed her eyes in irritation.

"Hello mom."

"Hello, Jen. Who was that?" Ah here we go again.

"A new boy registered earlier, mom. He has mental problem." Jennie slowed down her voice, not wanting Taehyung to hear what she was saying but Taehyung was already right behind Jennie. "He's grown-up and tall but he thinks and acts like a child. I put the phone on the table and I didn't realize that he was playing with my phone."

Taehyung's body stiffened in annoyance. How dare Jennie told her mom that he's one of the disabled children in the orphan house? He crossed his arms on his chest, sulking but still continued to eavesdrop on Jennie and her mother.

"Huh? If that so, then I guess I have to come home this weekend."

"Take care mom. I love you. Send my regards to dad, tell him I miss him. Bye." The line was switched off. Sandara wanted her to return to their house in Gangnam-gu early in the Saturday morning. Jennie sighed heavily, wondering what secret her mother was trying to keep from her.

Jennie turned around, wanting to continue her task of teaching Sungchan, Jisung and Winwin to recognize alphabets but her body crashed into a slender figure behind her. Taehyung backed away but unfortunately stepped on Sungchan's toy, causing him to slip and fall on the floor. Before he could complain of pain, Jennie landed on him and god, the agony is unbearable.

But seeing the beautiful Jennie on top of him kept all the suffering gone. All there was a beautiful moment of him being embraced by Jennie, albeit unwillingly. Jennie groaned, trying to get up but pain was all she had to endure, she felt as if someone is piercing through her spine. Jennie's face reddened, bearing the pain stoically.

"Jennie, get up. I can't stand up if you keep clinging to me like this." Taehyung spoke in a teasing manner but softened his gaze as he saw Jennie's adorable face with her cat eyes looking straight to his orbs.

"Mr. Kim, do you think I stay in this position for fun?! My back hurts as hell and I can't move." Jennie retorted with a pout and buried her face into Taehyung's chest, concealing her embarrassment. Taehyung chuckled as he saw Jennie's reaction. God, how can someone look cute and sexy at the same time?

"Why are noona and hyung cuddling on the floor? Do you guys love each other?" Winwin asked innocently causing Taehyung to let out a small laugh but his laugh halted when Sungchan, Jisung and Winwin started to encircle them. Ashamed of the children, Taehyung immediately grasped Jennie's body and changed their position so that Jennie was the one lying on the floor. He got up before lifting Jennie onto a nearby couch. Fortunately, the room was a bit far and hidden from other rooms, at least it's less embarrassing.

"Hyung, knead noona's back. Whenever my body aches, mom always does that." Sungchan nodded his head in agreement with his own opinion. Although Sungchan suffers from down syndrome, he's aware of the emotional state of people around him. He can adapt his delivery and behavior to meet people's physical, emotional, and intellectual needs.

Taehyung, who was at the end of the couch, extended his hand to massage Jennie's back. Jennie warned him without realizing that she unintentionally dropped the formalities. "Taehyung, don't!"

With a smirk, Taehyung questioned. "Oh, so we're on a first-name basis now?"

"Ugh, whatever. Mr. Kim please get your hands off of me, I'll ask Taeil to help me."

"Taeil is not around, he had an emergency at the horse club."

"Why didn't you tell me earlier?"

"Taeil told me before he went back and I'm telling you right now. You're busy teaching earlier, weren't you? I talked to him with the principal." Taehyung exclaimed and regardless of Jennie's pigheadedness, he kept massaging her back. Jennie didn't stop him either, she felt relieved with his massage even though she wouldn't admit it.

Jisung came and stood in front of Jennie with a strawberry-flavoured lollipop in his small hand. He caressed Jennie's cheeks before grinning delightfully. "Noona, here's a lollipop for you." Jennie felt the sharp sting of tears behind her eyelids, touched by Jisung's small act. She pulled Jisung towards her and engulfed him in a hug, ruffling his hair and whispering in his ear. "Thank you, Jisung. I love you."

Jennie and Jisung's little interaction made Taehyung realized that Jennie's love is very pure and has no limits. His heart was pounding to have the girl legally but his ego was still in his way. Taehyung was worried on how his family members would view him if he decides to marry Jennie. How would his friends react later when they meet face-to-face at parties? If Jennie accepted his offer to be his mistress, he would definitely love Jennie with all his heart and soul. If the act is wrong then they can marry secretly without anyone knowing about their relationship. But does Jennie want to be hid forever?

"Mr. Kim, please teach Sungchan, Jisung and Winwin." Jennie pleaded, startling Taehyung who was engrossed in his thoughts.

"I'll try." Taehyung got up, guiding Sungchan, Jisung and Winwin back to the table. He sat cross-legged and began to teach the children. Teaching them was not as difficult as he expected to be.

Jennie's eyes was riveted on Taehyung who was getting more and more busy entertaining the three children. They would occasionally laugh at Taehyung's jokes while Taehyung seemed sincerely happy and overjoyed teaching them, one side of Kim Taehyung that she had never seen before. Jennie enjoyed observing them so much that she didn't notice she fell asleep on the couch.